Caring for Student Housing Facilities

Maintenance of Residence Hall at University of South FloridaOne of the areas that is largely misunderstood as it relates to the operation of student housing communities is how they are typically managed. Capstone works closely with our institutional partners to identify the most efficient and mutually beneficial approach to maintaining a project to ensure a seamless student experience. As your P3 partner, we are generally responsible for delivering the maintenance, custodial and long-term facility management or “capital renewal” of the buildings, while also supporting the university’s delivery of a quality residential life program.

This is all achieved via an Integrated Management model. This model combines the strength of the university’s student support programming capabilities with the private partner’s efficiency and focus in providing capital renewal, custodial and facility maintenance and financial reporting, all in an integrated operating structure.

Thinking About the Short-Term and Long-Term

Ground leases of 30 years or more require that we think both short and long term for the optimal care of a student housing project. Planning for the short term is achieved by:

  • Developing robust reactive and preventative maintenance programs to timely address daily work orders.
  • Structuring our annual budgeting process so that it allows for the proper allocation of project revenues to address short term facility maintenance needs.

The long-term care of your student housing project is equally critical. During our predevelopment efforts, capital renewal plans are developed for the entire ground lease term to ensure adequate reserves are available to complete estimated repairs and replacements to major building components.  This capital renewal plan is carefully reviewed and updated annually through the completion of routine building inspections which identify evolving facility needs.

Our immediate and long-term management approach provides a complete and effective facility maintenance solution offering differentiated value by demonstrating confidence that the assets we design and deliver will be maintained to a high standard of care, supporting the ongoing goals of marketability and student occupancy, as well as maximizing the useful life of the student housing community.

Authors: Robert Brown, Vice President of Asset Management and Dr. Matthew Brown, President Capstone Management Partners