ON-CAMPUS HOUSING On-Campus Housing Prepares for a Better Year American Campus Communities’ Manzanita Square was one of only three on-campus student housing facilities that remained open at San Francisco State University (SFSU) during the Fall 2020 semester. Construction Moves Center Stage Not all student housing processes were halted when the pandemic took hold. Some developers and owners used this “pause” to complete renovations, while adding features that may play into post-pandemic trends. “Prior to the pandemic, ACC had been working toward the modernization of resident halls and design-ing living-learning communities to replace traditional residence halls built in the 1950s and 1960s,” says James Wilhelm, executive vice president of public-private part-nerships at Ameri-JAMES WILHELM can Campus Com-Executive Vice munities (ACC) in President, Austin, Texas. “The ACC impact of COVID provided the indus-try and our company with a sense of urgency to accelerate modernization efforts relating to older traditional residence hall communities.” One of the biggest trends Wilhelm sees emerging from the pandemic is the need for more private spaces. The best place to start, he believes, is with bathrooms. “In the long-term, universities will be best served by modernizing their traditional resi-dence halls into modern suite-style commu-nities with in-unit bathroom accommoda-tions,” he continues. “Modern residence halls with in-unit bathrooms will permit effective residence life programming while eliminat-ing problematic traditional group bathing facilities.” Jay Pearlman, senior vice president of The Scion Group’s advisory services division in Chicago, believes this will be a key trend moving forward as well, along with a focus on academic-oriented amenities. “One trend that will certainly continue is the focus on smaller spaces with purpose and intentionality,” he says. “Today’s students 48 March/April 2021 Image courtesy of Bruce Damonte I Closed facilities, budget woes and a virus that spreads easily among its resident base impacted signifi cant parts of the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, but on-campus housing offi cials are prepping their communities for (hopefully) a return to normalcy. By Nellie Day It was a rough year for everyone, but certain industries absorbed more of the brunt than others in 2020. This would include hospitality, airlines, restaurants and on-campus student housing. There was no clear map for navigat-ing the COVID-19 pandemic, and while cam-puses and on-campus housing offi cials tried their best to keep everyone safe and healthy, everyone experienced a turbulent year. Some on-campus housing communities closed for parts of the school year. Others is-sued lockdowns that required students to stay in their rooms for up to two weeks at a time. Many tried to stay open, only to fi nd that off-campus gatherings spread COVID like wild-fi re once it reached housing facilities. Now that a return to normalcy is imminent — thanks to vaccines and a promising reduc-tion in the number of COVID deaths and cases — on-campus housing executives are tasked with welcoming students back safely while planning for an uncertain future. “The next six months will be dominated by test-ing, vaccinations, mitigation require-ments, class delivery modalities, planning for fall opening, and occupancy and budget projections,” says Ana Hernan-dez, assistant vice ANA HERNANDEZ president of housing Assistant Vice and residential edu-President, cation at the Univer-University of South sity of South Florida Florida in Tampa. “Many campuses are taking a strategic pause on new housing develop-ments to reassess demand, design and fi nanc-ing based upon their campus experience over the last year, while others continue to move forward.” How quickly a campus moves forward is up to them, but with students returning, proj-ects in the pipeline and future development to think about, many are re-evaluating the issues and trends that will shape housing post-pandemic.
Student Housing Business March/April 2021: Page 48
