The Ohlone College Board of Trustees continue their conversation about the on-campus student housing project at the Newark campus. During the Feb. 11 board meeting, the trustees received information from college staff about the proposed ground lease for the student housing project and a coordination agreement.
Vice president of administrative services Wrenna Finche said during the meeting that the purpose of the ground lease is for the college to lease the land to their nonprofit partner Community Facility Public Private Partnerships.
There was a discussion about language. For example, the term “rent” will not be directly applied to students. What students will be paying is a “housing fee.” Since the students will not be paying rent, landlord tenant laws will not apply.
The overall concern is how much the entire student housing project will cost. Trustee Richard Watters asked if the college staff and student housing consultants knew how much it would take to run a residence life program, hire security and the amount Ohlone College will receive from housing fees.
Finche said they have a preliminary cost analysis for college security and campus police needs, and the amount college will receive each year in housing costs.
Watters expressed that he’s concerned about the overall costs, especially since the board was not presented with those costs during the meeting.
Board president Elisa Martinez agreed. “It is kind of like just marching into the abyss. I have some numbers in my head that you will quote periodically, but I haven’t seen it,” she said. “I am a big supporter of this project, but I too get uncomfortable because I don’t know.”
Trustee Dr. Rakesh Sharma said there’s a dilemma. They want the housing project to be affordable to students, but some students will not be able to afford anything. “We want to rent it to people who cannot afford market rate,” he said. “At the same time we’re building this structure which has a lot of liability…and if not paid it falls down to the college.”
Finche said financial aid and scholarships can help students with housing fees.
College president Charles Sasaki said during the board meeting student housing is a tool to retain students. “Philosophically it’s about ensuring that we have a higher retention of students that don’t have to worry about where they’re gonna sleep at night,” he said. “That if we take away that worry for them they’ll be able to concentrate on their studies.”
The board also received information about a coordination agreement, which involves who is responsible for which part of the project. Ohlone College communications director Ryan King said through email the ground lease and the coordination agreement are up for a vote as soon as mid-March.
Martinez said the board should have a workshop session in order to go over both documents carefully. “I think that…for us as a board, it’s going to be very difficult for us to approve, unless we’ve got that, at least the assumptions, and then we’ll vote our conscience.”
