ISU Cardinal Court Project

– Image provided by Illinois State University 

NORMAL — Bad weather postponed the groundbreaking of the first-ever public/private housing development on the Illinois State University campus last week.

Developers of the $59.6 million Cardinal Court project, involving the construction of an ISU-owned complex that will include five four-story apartment buildings, a community center, a grass-covered quad and 700 parking spaces, plan to reschedule the groundbreaking in the near future.

Construction of the 14.5 acre complex that will be located east of Weibring Golf Club on Gregory Street in Normal on the site of the recently demolished Cardinal Court apartment complex is expected to start this month and end August 2012.

Designated for "older students with families," the Cardinal Court apartment complex opened on the ISU campus in 1958 and included 192 unfurnished one- and two-bedroom apartment units.

In October 2010, the ISU Board of Trustees approved the demolition and decommission of the apartment complex after determining it was unfit for students. They also approved a public-private housing initiative, along with the redevelopment of housing facilities on the site of the Cardinal Court apartment complex.

As part of the public-private housing initiative, the board of trustees agreed to use private money to finance the redevelopment of the site, while allowing the university to manage the new housing facility.

After reviewing several proposals from private organizations, ISU selected non-profit organization Collegiate Housing Foundation for the management of the finance and construction of the project.

Based in Fairhope, Ala., CHF created a limited liability company on behalf of ISU and secured $59.6 in loans to finance the project. They also selected American Campus Communities of Austin, Texas, as the developers of the project. ACC will receive $45 million to build the apartment buildings and community center, including a $1.8 million development fee.

Once complete the project is complete, ISU staff will manage Cardinal Court.

Through rent and other income, Cardinal Court is expected to generate $4.1 to $4.9 million in annual revenue. ISU will pay 1.5 percent of its annual revenue to CHF for an annual membership fee. The remaining annual revenue will cover day-to-day operating expenses including on-site ISU staff; annual debt service payment; and funds placed in reserve for future maintenance and replacement costs.

The Cardinal Court apartment buildings will include 228 units and 896 bedrooms, and house nearly 1,600 students when it opens in the 2012 fall semester. Included in the apartment buildings will be 96 four-bedroom, two-bathroom units; 48 three-bedroom, two-bathroom units; 12 two-bedroom, two-bathroom units; 64 four-bedroom, four-bathroom units; and eight two-bedroom, two bathroom units. Each apartment unit will include a washer and dryer, kitchen and dishwasher.

Students living in Cardinal Court will have the option of buying off-campus meal tickets to use ISU dinning halls. They will also have access to a café that will be located in the Cardinal Court Community Center. Café menu items are "still under development."

"The café was designed to provide much more limited options as opposed to those offered by one of the on-campus dining centers," said ISU Vice President for Finance and Planning Dan Layzell.

Also included in the community center will be lounge space, meeting/study rooms, a fitness center, an indoor half-court gym, a mail center and management/administrative space.

Although the apartment complex will be considered "on-campus," freshmen will not be allowed to live there.

"Cardinal Court will be considered to be part of ISU’s overall on-campus housing program as it will be one of the options available in meeting the two-year, on-campus housing requirement for new freshmen," said Layzell. "Freshmen will not be placed there, although sophomores will have that as one of their options, as will juniors and seniors should they want to live on-campus."

ISU expects some of the students who will be displaced when the Hamilton-Whitten and Atkin-Colby residence halls are decommissioned in spring 2012 to be residents of Cardinal Court.

Cardinal Court apartment rents will range from $575 to $800 a month per student.

A date for students to start reserving apartments at Cardinal Court is undetermined.

"Those plans are still under development, but we envision the process and schedule to be different from that used for traditional residence halls," said Layzell.