Student housing plan near UW-Fox Valley gets final OK [The Post-Crescent, Appleton, Wis.]

Dec. 28--MENASHA -- The Neenah developer behind the $2 million private student housing project near the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley campus on Midway Road said the project seeks to replicate an on-campus college housing experience.

Rod Fisk of Development Partners, said construction is expected to get underway in January and be completed by late May on the three-story, 20,412-square-foot Fox Lodge student housing complex after the Menasha Common Council voted 7-0 last week to approve a special use permit for the project.

The approval is contingent upon submittal of final lighting and site plans, approval of stormwater-erosion control plans and a provision that the property would make a payment in lieu of property taxes of at least $20,000 annually if ever sold to a nonprofit entity.

"It is our plan to make this off-campus housing as much like on-campus housing as possible to make it a full university experience," Fisk said.

Development Partners, a group of four local investors that is also pursuing private student housing projects in Grand Chute, Stevens Point and Rochester, Minn., said the first phase would include 17 units, one for an on-site director and 16 apartment units to be rented to 61 students.

The complex, which will eventually have five phases and room for about 250 student, will be built a short distance from campus just west of Sabre Lanes, 1330 Midway Road, on a vacant 2.5-acre parcel.

"I think it's a great project," said Mayor Don Merkes. "I think it's beneficial to help UW-Fox Valley to continue to grow."

The private living and learning facility for UW-Fox Valley students will be leased and managed by BMOC, Inc., a Madison firm, founded in 1984 to serve UW-Madison fraternities.

Leases are projected to be an average of $4,600 to $4,800 for the school year, comparable to similar on-campus housing elsewhere, Fisk said.

Future phases will be built to the north with an additional 48 beds in phase 2, 60 beds in phase 3 and 82 beds in phase 4. A fifth phase calls for construction of a 5,344-square-foot commons on vacant land to the north that would need to be acquired.

"We hope to be back shortly looking for an addition to the building," said Fisk. Based upon surveys of demand for student housing near the university, he believes the future phases could be started within two years.

The first rooms will be ready for occupancy by next summer and could be rented on a short-term basis for university or UW system programs or for visitors to the EAA Fly-In convention that annually fills hotel rooms in the region, Fisk said.

"We'll actually start accepting and signing leases for fall (2012 students) as soon as we start something coming out of the ground (in January)," he said.

The primary access drive will come off Midway Road just west of the Sikh Temple, 1304 Midway Road, with future plans to develop access from the north end of the site.

Merkes said inclusion of the payment in lieu of taxes provision prudent.

"I don't think there's a lot of chance of it becoming a nonprofit but there isn't anything wrong with an insurance policy," he said.

"It's an incredible asset to students getting their start in the UW system," said Merkes, a former UWFV student. "I think it allows student to get a start in living on their own but still gives them a little backup and oversight by adults."

___

(c)2011 The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)

Visit The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.) at www.postcrescent.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services