Colleges are competing for students today, and they’re often investing in new student housing and athletic and recreation facilities to attract the interest and tuition dollars of these potential newcomers to their campuses.
An example? The Opus Group in August began construction on the Gerdin Fieldhouse for Athletics and Wellness at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.
The project includes a major renovation of the existing 200,000-square-foot athletic facility and a 15,787-square-foot addition.
Jeff Smith, senior vice president with The Opus Group, said that the Luther College work is just one example of the investments that colleges continue to make to upgrade their housing and athletic facilities.
“This is often about keeping up with their competition,” Smith said. “In Iowa, all the high schools seem to have athletic facilities that are almost over the top. In some ways, these smaller private schools must up their game to not make it feel like a downgrade from what students were used to in high school.”
Smith said that during the last 10 years, Opus has taken on a steady stream of construction and renovation work at colleges across the country.
“We haven’t won all the jobs that have come up that we have competed on, but it sure seems like a trend that colleges and universities across the board are investing more in their facilities,” Smith said. “There are new pressures on colleges and universities. They are trying to be strategic about how they invest in their programs and facilities to better compete.”
The Regents Center, built in 1963, has long housed the athletic teams at Luther College. College officials decided it was time to invest in the facility to support its student-athlete recruitment and retention efforts.
Construction on the Gerdin Fieldhouse for Athletics and Wellness, possible through a historic $10 million gift from Michael and Nicole Gerdin and the Gerdin Charitable Foundation, marks one of the largest renovation projects in Luther’s 162-year history.
Opus is the college’s design-build partner on the Gerdin Fieldhouse and has worked on several athletic facilities and additional campus improvements over the last 25 years, including construction of its Center for the Arts, the Sampson-Hoffland Science Center, an addition to the Jenson-Noble Hall of Music and renovations to Valders Hall of Science and Miller and Dieseth Halls.
Work on the Gerdin Fieldhouse includes construction of a 5,787-square-foot public lobby on the facility’s north end to include a new concession stand, restrooms and a Hall of Fame space.
A new 10,200-square-foot wrestling training complex will also be built and extensive renovations will be made to the existing basketball and volleyball arena.
In addition, athlete training and rehab facilities, locker rooms and meeting and study spaces for use by all 21 Norse athletic teams will also be renovated. Construction is expected to be complete by December 2025.
Opus is the design-builder working in partnership with RDG Planning & Design.
The work that universities and colleges are putting into athletic and recreational facilities is matched by their efforts to improve their student housing.
As Smith says, the old cinderblock dorm rooms of the past aren’t good enough for many colleges and for many students.
“It was common in my time as a college student for student housing to be four block walls, two beds and two desks in a dorm room,” Smith said. “That is how it was. That is not cutting the mustard anymore. It’s the same thing that we are seeing with sports facilities, universities are investing again in student housing. The college landscape has become more competitive.”
Part of this reason? Many of the students coming to colleges are coming from households in which they have their own bathrooms, high-end swimming pools and home theaters. As they hunt for colleges, they are demanding more comfortable living conditions.
Opus has completed a significant amount of student-housing work during the last decade. And most of the housing that the company builds now features granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances and high-end common-area amenities.
The common-area amenities include study rooms and spaces for students to collaborate and work on projects. They also include club rooms, outdoor patios, fire pits and pools. Some student-housing projects boast golf simulators and movie theaters. On-site fitness centers and pickleball courts are popular, too.
“We’ve done it all,” Smith said. “When done right, this housing with in-unit and common-area amenities proves to be very popular. Students gravitate toward them.”
Student housing in general has become a desired commercial product by both residents and investors, Smith said. The demand for new housing on college campuses continues to rise. The only recent slowdown? During the middle of the pandemic. Today, though? Opus continues to be called upon to build or renovate student housing on campuses across the country.
“Demand for new student housing is definitely coming back,” Smith said. “We are seeing enrollment growth at many colleges. These colleges need new student housing to meet the demand. We often develop and build student housing and then sell it. Student housing continues to be an asset class that institutional investors have a desire for.”