Some construction on hold

Those living in Hinton James Residence Hall will be long gone and graduated by the time the building sees a complete face-lift.

UNC's Department of Housing and Residential Education has downscaled its master construction plan and put projects like Hinton James on hold, after an over-budget project and a spike in construction costs.

Full-scale renovations of South Campus high-rise residence halls, which were originally scheduled for this year, won't start for at least five years, said Larry Hicks, director of the housing department.

Housing's budget challenges stem from unanticipated costs of Ram Village apartments.

The department reached its maximum debt capacity after the apartments were completed in 2006 at a cost of about $15.3 million, or 22 percent more than the project's original budget.

But smaller-scale, less expensive projects are already under way, and others are planned to upgrade selected buildings, primarily focusing on improving heating and air conditioning systems.

Window air-conditioning units will be installed throughout South Campus residence halls to provide air conditioning to all of campus housing within several years.

Faulty heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in Carmichael Residence Hall will be replaced this year, and similar work will begin next year in Old East and Old West residence halls.

"The No. 1 issue is air conditioning," Hicks said.

Rising material costs

While the Ram Village apartments were under construction, the price of building materials, including concrete and steel, increased in price by 30 percent to 40 percent.

"The project that jumped the tracks was Ram Village," Hicks said.

The project cost $15.3 million more than officials had expected.

While renovation projects were largely unaffected by the price change, Ram Village required the construction of five new buildings.

"It was a lot of concrete and steel," said Steve Lofgren, assistant director of housing and facilities.

The price spike was caused in part by Hurricane Katrina and the war in Iraq. In addition, the demand for materials in North Carolina was high because there are many construction projects under way, as part of the state's higher education bond program, Hicks said.

Hicks said the higher prices prevent student rents from covering construction costs. "The plan was for Ram Village to pay for itself."

He added that raising student rent could help cover costs but that the department cannot take that step because campus housing contracts are voluntary at UNC.

Almost all housing department funding comes from student rents.

The design for Ram Village was scaled back as prices rose - with a reduced number of floors in the buildings behind Craige and the change from single-occupancy to double-occupancy rooms in one building - but the project overall still vastly exceeded the budget.

Other University construction projects were affected by higher input costs, but many were able to secure additional funding in order to be completed, said Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for facilities planning.

"It was quite a severe negative impact," he said. "We were able to get through that though with all of our projects."

While Ram Village was under construction, the University also was carrying out new construction with the first phase of the science complex - Chapman Hall and Caudill Labs.

"We had to look at making reductions in scope of projects," Runberg said. "We had to find additional funding for a couple of the projects. There was a wide range of solutions."

Clearing the air

With debt at a maximum and the projected cost of a full renovation on Hinton James increasing by about $10 million, the housing master construction plan had to be shelved.

"We've had to scale back on that aggressive list," Hicks said.

The new construction schedule began this summer when housing staff started to rewire electricity in Hinton James in order to install window air-conditioning units.

The project will continue this summer, and the building will be completely air conditioned by next fall at a total cost of less than $1 million. Once Hinton James is air-conditioned, Craige and Ehringhaus will get window units the following summers.

While housing officials said window units are not the most efficient way to cool a building, they said they are the most cost-effective approach.

Heating and air conditioning also is a key factor in the department's decision to close Carmichael, Old East and Old West for a year of renovations each.

Because of budget cuts when Carmichael was constructed in 1986, replacing a faulty HVAC system has become necessary.

"They put in an inferior HVAC system," Hicks said, noting that in recent years the system has been failing and causing condensation. "You had a building where it rained. We felt it was time to replace that."

Old East and Old West will be closed in the 2008-09 school year to address similar issues stemming from what Hicks called "inferior renovations" in 1993.

"The HVAC system is very similar to Carmichael," Hicks said. "We've already replaced the roof once."

The department will manage interior renovations, such as installing a new HVAC system, while repairs to the historic buildings's exteriors will be conducted by the University, Hicks said.

Once Old East and Old West reopen in fall 2009, all campus residence halls will be open, increasing the department's bed capacity to an all-time high.

But once the project is completed, the department still must find funding for complete renovations - similar to the recently finished Morrison project - to Hinton James, Craige and Ehringhaus. Hicks said he couldn't give a timeline for the projects.

Each of the high-rise renovation projects are not currently feasible because the cost of building materials remains high and the department has not paid off debts related to the construction of Ram Village and other projects.

Lofgren stressed the importance of the complete renovations, despite the department's inability to fund such projects in the near future.

"By the time it's 40 to 50 years old, you need to do it all," he said.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.