NPC housing project delayed due to rising costs
Due to the recent rise in building costs, National Park College will delay its new on-campus housing project.
The announcement came during Wednesday’s monthly board of trustees’ meeting, after the project was approved at last month’s meeting.
NPC’s vice president for administration, Kelli Embry, said the initial approval to move forward with the predevelopment agreement included cost estimations of around $12-$13 million for the project’s total. However, that figure rose to $17 million in two weeks due to escalating interest rates — 4% to well over 6% — and increased construction costs.
Embry said at that cost, the college would struggle to cover its debt and still keep within its goal of providing affordable student housing. She said that the team will regroup to consider other scenarios.
“We will definitely not have an opening date of fall 2023, but we are looking to open as soon as possible,” she said. “We are also looking at different scenarios as far as housing mix, location, and other details to see if we can identify some cost savings.”
The board approved a resolution last month to add housing as one of four initiatives in phase one of the college’s master plan, as it has continued to see a demand for on-campus housing following the completion of its first housing project, Dogwood Hall, in the fall of 2020.
Embry said this does not mean the college is putting the project off for a year and then reevaluating, but rather it is immediately looking at options to follow through with the project as quickly as possible.
She said the fall of 2023, al
though initially doable, would have made for an extremely compressed timeline for the builders, architect and everyone involved, but this will “give everyone a little breathing room” to focus on some of those things.
“We won’t wait a year. We’re actually looking at things right now because the markets change all the time,” she said.
NPC released a request for qualifications in January to identify a partner that would be able to design, build and furnish a new residence hall. A campus committee reviewed the applicants and recommended Servitas to the board. She said Servitas is currently looking at different scenarios and ways to provide some savings for the project.
NPC President John Hogan said now is a different environment than that in which they built Dogwood Hall, which opened to students in August 2020. He said the college is still committed to student housing, but that they are having to reevaluate the timing.
“The delay in the housing project is disappointing but it doesn’t take away from our determination to meet our students’ needs for safe, affordable housing options,” he said. “We won’t allow roadblocks to stand in the way of progress. We’ll reassess our options and move forward. I’ll keep you posted on how that develops and (will) be tireless in trying to ensure that our students’ needs are met so they can be successful in the classroom.”
Hogan stressed their object is to still follow through on expansion of housing, but they “have to do that in a responsible cost environment, and we’re just not there yet.”
He noted this will lengthen the planning process needed to accomplish that.
Embry said part of the reevaluation process will involve talking with students in Dogwood Hall to get their feedback regarding what they would like to see. Some of the options Servitas is currently looking at, she noted, include having fewer beds.
“We know that students wanted the majority of the rooms to be singles, but if it’s not financially feasible, what might that mix look like?” she said.
NPC Board Chair Forrest Spicher said the college is not alone in this situation, as the rise in building costs is currently affecting everyone. The important thing, he noted, is for the college to remain responsible in how it completes the project.