The state Board of Regents on Wednesday selected a Rhode Island-based contractor to build and manage some student housing on nine campuses in Georgia's University System.
The Corvias Group oversees campus housing for students at the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine in Dothan, Ala. The company also has experience managing military housing at Army and Air Force bases across the country.
Nine companies bid on Georgia’s plans. Corvias was one of three finalists. The Regents want to outsource student housing to help reduce some of the university system’s overall debt, almost $4 billion.
Corvias will take over management of existing dorms and build new dorms on some campuses as part of a $517 million deal. The company will not pay property taxes on any of the campus properties it oversees. Earlier this month Georgia voters approved a referendum allowing that tax exemption. The arrangement will save the company between $6 million and $7 million in property taxes, according to Susan Ridley, the University System finance officer leading the project.
The University System is following other states, including Kentucky and Florida, that have already privatized student housing at some campuses. Georgia’s plan, which includes nine institutions and almost 9,900 new and existing beds in the initial phase, would be among the largest projects of its kind.
Under the Georgia plan, the University System will still own the buildings and land, and Corvias will operate the dorms and collect rents under leases that would extend up to 65 years. Corvias will also have first rights on new projects at the institutions.
To keep rents manageable for students, the system has included a 3 percent cap on annual rent increases the company can charge, Ridley said. That cap could be adjusted to keep rent in line with competitors’ charges.
The participating campuses are: Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Armstrong State University, College of Coastal Georgia, Columbus State University, Dalton State College, East Georgia State College, Georgia Regents University, Georgia State University and the University of North Georgia.
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