Future Needs Privatizing housing is the biggest trend in the student housing market, says Godwin. Most universities need replacement housing. “That trend will continue to grow because university buildings are getting older, and it’s getting more expensive and difficult to maintain them,” he says.
While it’s easier to demolish older buildings and rebuild them, Ambling recognizes that it has to give the university a reason to do business with them. Competition in the student housing market is increasing, and because universities are public entities, they must select a firm through a request for proposal. “Universities want alternatives that will allow them to have top quality housing on their campuses,” says Godwin. “It’s our responsibility to bring that opportunity to them.
“The university will select the developer, contractor, and manager who has the financial capacity to fulfill its obligations, the experience that the university can draw on to make decisions, and the capacity to manage the property the way the university wants it to be managed,” he says.
Ambling believes it can meet all of those needs, and over the next five years, the company plans on growing its on-campus business. It’s confident in its track record and its ability to produce on time quality housing. “Universities see less risk in doing [business] with us then with someone who hasn’t done it before,” says Godwin. “So, we will continue to expand on our experience.”
High Society Most of the on-campus student housing that exists today was built in the 1950s and 1960s. The idea was to build 100-year buildings, explains Michael H. Godwin, president of Ambling Cos. Inc., a student housing provider. “What wasn’t thought of was how society is going to change. Society has changed so much that the buildings are now obsolete.”
Many developers and managers are quick to say, “students are more demanding than students 10 to 20 years ago.” However, Ambling believes that students are simply asking to continue the lifestyles to which they have grown accustomed. “They are not more demanding,” says Godwin, “they are just saying ‘This is what I had at home. This is what I expect when I go off to college.'”
Two of the biggest changes are design issues. Students don’t want to share a bedroom or a bathroom, and older dormitories can’t be converted to meet this demand. Traditionally, dorm rooms were 80 square feet with two occupants, says Godwin. Today, the company provides anywhere from 100-square-foot to 140-square-foot single-occupant rooms.
Technology also is very important to students. The company provides everything from phone service to security cameras. High-speed Internet is a must, and many older buildings don’t have the electrical capacity or the proper wiring to offer it. Even though most students today come to college with their own computers, Ambling provides a computer lab in almost every property.
The company’s properties also offer a host of amenities including billiards tables, ping-pong tables, volleyball courts, basketball courts, swimming pools, and sun decks. All of its off-campus communities offer parking, and some of the properties offer shuttle buses to campus. In addition, at its off-campus communities, ancillary services include tanning beds, ATM stations, and water submetering.