Handicapped by dwindling funding, the University is planning a public-private partnership to subsidize new housing.The University is considering entering a public-private partnership to fund new graduate housing to replace the Nicholson Apartments, which have reached the end of their use, said Eric Monday, associate vice chancellor for Finance and Administrative Services.University Auxiliary Services Director Jason Tolliver said the University will have a private business partner which would invest capital to build the facilities. The company would lease the land from the University to recoup the investment.The exact business model hasn’t been decided, but the end result would be a residential area mixed with private businesses, Tolliver said.”There is only so much you can raise through student fees, and there is only so much you can get from the state,” Tolliver said. “So how can we do these things to enhance our campus without spending precious institutional dollars? We have found that this is a model that works very well for us.”Tolliver cited the new bookstore and parking complex and campus dining options as examples of how the University has formed mutualistic relationships with private companies.Monday said utilizing the land with retail partnerships can generate extra revenue to subsidize the projects or student rent.”The goal of this is not to build new housing and the same students who live in it today can’t afford it,” Monday said. “The product is going to be state of the art and improved. The price is going to be at market with some type of subsidy, or it’s going to be below market, and we will balance that out with other types of revenue sources.” Arizona State University has built residential areas using multiple methods of public-private partnerships.One model has the private company collecting rent, but the institution gets the ground lease payment from the company. The private companies also put up the money to build the facilities, said Michael Coakley, executive director of University Housing for Arizona State University.This model allows for the private company occupying University land to bring in retailers approved by the University. Coakley said one facility at ASU has a Domino’s Pizza, coffee shop, nail salon and skateboard shop, among other businesses.Monday said the University is looking at a similar models, but hasn’t decided exactly what the private partnership will be or what type of retailers would be allowed to help subsidize the project.”It is going to be a mix of residential and retail,” Monday said.Tolliver said the project will be spread through the next five to 10 years because the amount of work required to develop the business plan and the 35 to 40 acres where old Alex Box Stadium and Nicholson Apartments currently sit.Coakley said the traditional way of building residential halls with University funds is ideal because the first year experience for students is more difficult to navigate when a private company manages the residential facility.”But if the institution doesn’t have the debt capacity, it does make a lot of sense to do it this way,” Coakley said.Tolliver said a secondary goal of the project is to improve the appearance of the Nicholson Drive entrance to campus.Editor’s note: For an in-depth look at LSU online degrees, another possible funding source, check Wednesday’s edition of The Daily Reveille.–Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]