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Granville Towers celebrates 50 years

The facility was a separate entity from UNC until it came under the jurisdiction of the University in 2009.

The development was the first test to test if students would live in boxed housing by a private company, said Chris Richards, chief operating officer and executive vice president of EdR, a national student housing company.

“It was a business model that worked,” she said.

While the property is managed by EdR, it’s owned by the UNC Chapel Hill Foundation. The UNC Residence Hall Association and the Department of Housing and Residential Education oversee the residential life component.

“There’s a direct tie between residential life and Granville Towers,” said Gordon Merklein, executive director of real estate development.

Paul Bower, now the chairman of the EdR Board of Directors, served as assistant general manager of Granville Towers in 1969. He said his job was not much different than working in traditional college dormitories.

“We’re still serving the same college students,” he said.

However, he said certain aspects of life at Granville have changed. In the 1960s, Granville East was a women’s dorm, and men couldn’t get past the lobby, he said.

Seniors Victoria Berg and Louise Chen, exchange students from a university in Denmark, said they chose to live in Granville because of its nice facilities, the Agora and its close proximity to Franklin Street.

Berg said other exchange students recommended that they live in Granville.

“We were told this was the place to live on campus,” Berg said.

Another resident, Chelsea Nebolisa, a freshman, said she does not feel like she is missing out because she lives off campus.

“I’ve made an effort to go toward South Campus and meet new people,” she said.

Freshman Paris Evans lives in Granville and said she does sometimes feel like she is missing out, but she believes Granville is much better than on-campus housing.

“You just have to make an effort to stay out (on campus) a little longer,” Evans said.

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Bower said being privately run allows the towers to provide better services than the University would because they have a profit motive.

“Colleges ought to teach, and the private industry ought to run the services,” Bower said.

Over its 50-year history, Granville Towers has taken significant steps toward modernization, Merklein said.

Beginning in 2010, Granville went through an extensive renovation during a three-year period, updating amenities, rooms and the fitness center.

“It’s important to keep the rooms modernized ... just to make sure we keep current with the demands of what the students are accustomed to,” Merklein said.

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