Page 16 - College Planning & Management, January 2018

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: A PATH TO SUCCESS
Funding A New Campus
or resulting from the project, such as student housing revenues
or revenues from increased enrollment that will be applied to the repayment of borrowed funds; and any creative financial options, such as a PPP or tax credits, that might support some portion of the cost of the project.”
Officials are encouraged, and there seems to be a sense of en- ergy across campus. Jackson pointed out during the run-up to the fall 2017 semester that Stockton was expecting its largest freshman class in its history, and that enrollment deposits were up some 50 percent from 2016.
Growing With a Goal
Rowan University, another growing institution in southern New Jersey, is an additional case in point. Located in Glassboro, a community of 19,000, the university has added at least 6,000 stu- dents within the past several years, making for an undergraduate- graduate population of about 18,000. The goal, Rowan spokesman Joe Cardona pointed out in a 2016 interview, is 25,000 by 2023, including graduate and remote students; the university’s 100th anniversary.
Accordingly, the university is deep into an assertive, 20-year program that has included, among other changes, new engineer- ing and business buildings, an expanded recreational center, renovations across campus, and the acquisition and development of a 600-acre parcel called West Campus, 1.5 miles from the main campus. According to Rowan, all athletic facilities may eventually be housed at West Campus, opening up space for more university buildings at the main campus.
Closer to campus, the centerpiece of the efforts by developers is Rowan Boulevard, a $400-million revitalization project. The goal, according to Glassboro, is to link the campus “with the borough’s downtown retail district, creating the quintessential college town,” through a strategy of “smart growth living with mixed-use buildings” with residents and retail. The move is generating tax revenues and jobs, according to the borough.
Growth continues. Two major campus buildings were
The new campus initially will consist of the student residence with three retail stores on its ground floor—retail, possibly including a coffee shop, will help offset construction costs, Jackson says—a $35 million academic building across the street, and a $35 million parking garage beneath utility company offices atop it. Overall, the city’s boardwalk attracts 20,000,000 visitors annually, or an average of almost 55,000 each day, which could contribute significantly to traffic in the development’s retail stores. Ancillary development around the campus will likely add to that traffic.
The project is a public-private partnership (PPP) between Stockton and a non-profit redevelopment company, Atlantic City Development Corporation. The funding mix is as creative as it is complex, and includes $50.6 million in Atlantic County Improve- ment Authority bonds “secured by almost $70 million in tax revenues” from the state; $77.2 million in county lease revenue bonds “payable by the university,” and a $22 million state higher education capital improvement grant, according to Stockton. Another $8.3 million is coming from a utility company, which is constructing offices atop a university parking garage that is swiftly taking shape.
There is also $18 million in Stockton funds. The money comes from the proceeds of a sale of a shuttered Atlantic City casino building that Stockton had bought, in a plan later discarded
due to use restrictions, with the intention of converting it into
a 4,000-student high-rise campus. However, the reversal—and reported attempts at acquiring land in the city over the years— didn’t stop various entities from remaining open to new possibili- ties. Such was the case when the final plan was put together, with Brian Kowalski, Stockton’s interim general counsel, crediting the cooperative efforts of Stockton University; AC Deco; and the state, county, and Atlantic City governments.
The approach may be of interest. Kowalski says it is important to weigh certain things when hammering out financial packages for projects, such as “the cost (interest rate) and terms of any borrower funds to finance the project; the projected revenues generated by
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16 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / JANUARY 2018
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