Shoreline Community College continues to move forward to build student housing on campus. Last fall, the Board of Trustees approved funding for a feasibility study of on-campus housing, and Spectrum Development Solutions was selected through a competitive process. Spectrum worked during winter and spring quarters on a feasibility study that includes financing, site, market, and demand analyses. Following internal review, the College received the final report.

Feasibility study outcome

The feasibility study indicates that, given current information and the analysis conducted to date, the College can support a 220-to-250-bed facility on campus, with a total anticipated cost of approximately $31.1 million. Public Facilities Group, a local entity with broad experience in public agency finance, is working with the College to fund construction costs of the housing through bonds. The College administration would participate in all decision-making regarding the project, including the selection of the architect, design of the project, and operation of the project. At the end of the 30-year term of the bonds, ownership of the facility would be transferred to the College.

Location and design

The site analysis considered five possible locations on campus, including the soccer field, which was originally envisioned to be the location. Following careful analysis of alternatives, including environmental impacts, Spectrum’s recommendation is that the housing be sited instead at the location immediately south of the Pagoda Union Building (PUB), which is currently a faculty and staff parking lot.

Design of the building has not yet begun, and it has not been determined whether existing parking south of the PUB will need to be moved. If faculty and staff parking spaces were used for the project, the spaces would be relocated to another part of campus beginning sometime in 2018. Additional student parking may need to be constructed to ensure that the College has the number of spaces required by the master plan approved by the City of Shoreline.

The location adjacent to the PUB has several advantages. It is at the front of campus, which allows easier access and offers better safety. The location is also served by Metro Transit and is near the center of campus, where students have access to food service, the campus store, the library and learning center, tutoring, the gymnasium, and student services. Siting the project in this location also has some advantages with regard to utilities, and it allows the north part of campus, including the soccer field location, to be considered for long-term development.

Board of Trustees’ role

After consultation with staff at the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges earlier this week, the College learned that it is necessary to have the Board of Trustees pass a resolution requesting that the State Board include the project in its budget request to the legislature for the 2017–19 biennium. This is necessary even though no state funds would be appropriated for the project. The Board of Trustees will take action on the resolution at its June 22 regular meeting.

“We’re very excited to see this project move forward,” said President Cheryl Roberts. “While there are many more steps along the road to building housing for our students, we’re now farther along than we have ever been.”

The target move-in date for students is currently fall quarter of 2019. The campus community will continue to receive updates as the project continues. Questions can be directed to Stuart Trippel, Executive Director, Business and Student Support Services, who is coordinating housing efforts on behalf of the College.