Regents approve south campus housing after long debate

The Board of Regents unanimously voted in favor of the ground lease agreement for an 864-bed dorm complex on south campus. Before the decision, however, several community members and UNM staff and students voiced concern about the project. Steve Borbas, a former campus planner said he came to the meeting to voice his opposition to building off campus dorms.
“We have learned from campus planning across the country that students would like to be on the central campus,” he said. “They would like to be close to academic, recreational and social action. They would like to use the library, the computer center, the student union, recreational facilities and medical facilities. None of these functions are on the south campus.”
New housing is needed Borbas said, but it should be on campus, possibly east of the Architecture and Planning building.
“We have lots of space on campus,” he said. “I think we are just a little afraid to say ‘No, a parking lot is not a sacred site. It is something that can be built upon’.”
Regent Jamie Koch said the public had plenty of opportunity to give input, but many critics did not speak up.
“Steve, I didn’t see you at any one of our meetings,” he said. “We had 13 public meetings. There is no question that everything we have had has been completely open to the public. Now we are at the final stage. We have negotiated the areas that were of concern to us.”
South Campus is the only place for the university to successfully expand, Koch said.
“We are landlocked on main campus,” he said. “We are an island and the only place we have is, really, south campus. Potentially the south campus will now become more of a community for the University.”
Continuing to build housing around Central Avenue and Lomas Boulevard will economically help the city, said City Councilor Issac Benton.
“We might be missing some opportunities with Lomas and Central quarters,” he said. “Major universities all over the country have thriving commercial quarters that are not just student focused. It’s a very important redevelopment opportunity for the city. ”
ASUNM’s David Conway and Monika Roberts voiced support for the project.
“I can say that as a student I would live in that apartment,” Conway said. “A lot of students live off campus; a lot of students live in things that are not involved in student life, that do not have any student life component to it — this does.”
Building on UNM’s parking lots is not an option Regent Jack Fortner said, and students have the option to choose where they live.
“Students are going to live there because they want to, not because someone says you have to,” he said. “You say parking spaces aren’t a sacred site but there are thousands of students that would disagree with you. Parking is a problem; we are already short parking spaces and you want to take away spots. What do you say to the students?”
Elisha Allen, staff council president, said students won’t get the same educational environment provided by main campus housing.
“My question is whether or not we are really going to get the academic achievement benefits of having student housing in that location,” he said.
ACC President Bill Bayless said, aside from the location, the new dorms will have all the same amenities of an on-campus residence hall.
“The community has been designed as an active living and learning center,” he said. “We will have the same type of on-campus staff you would expect any university owned facility. All the things you have come to expect in an on-campus residence you would operate yourself will indeed be conducted in this community.”
Koch said that the Board of Regents contains a successful business man and an experienced lawyer to ensure the agreement is solid and beneficial to the university.
“Don Chalmers is truly a business man. He understands business, understands putting a deal together, and how that deal should be put together,” he said. “Gene Gallegos was an attorney for over 30 years. Gene Gallegos went through all the language page-by-page.”
The partnership with ACC will allow the University to generate currently unavailable revenue for future housing projects, Koch said.
“If we wanted to build our own dorms, we first would have to have the revenue source to do that. Secondly, we would have to go through about three years of approval to get it done,” he said. “We are having a ground lease that over a period of time is giving us a guarantee of revenue. If we wanted to be able to remodel the dorms, we could do that. Over a 40 period that’s $22 million of revenue.”