Wichita State University, in Kansas (USA), is mulling the development of a student housing through the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

The new facilities will replace Fairmont Towers, which is a 52 year old residence hall. This old complex has US$4.7 million in deferred maintenance. 

The project will involve the development of a new 400 bed residence hall on campus. It will be developed near the university’s innovation campus, a complex that will be developed to hold experiential engineering projects and new business and product creation activities.

If the concession model is selected for the project, a private firm would take ownership of the property and lease it to Wichita State. The private party would be responsible for the project financing, which is expected to be closed through tax-exempt bonds.  

The decision to use the PPP model to carry out the project depends on the university’s enrollment level during this fall and it also depends on the environment for selling bonds to finance the project.

Wichita State University is the third-largest university governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. It offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in six colleges. The Graduate School offers 44 master's degrees in more than 100 areas and a specialist in education degree.