2.7    Housing Element

Data and Analysis

2005-2015 Campus Master Plan Update

a)      Inventory of Beds (Design Capacity)

b)     Graduate Student Housing

The University does not currently provide housing specifically designated for graduate students

c)      Married Student Housing

The University does not currently provide housing specifically designated for married students.

d)     Other On-Campus Student Housing

e)      Historically Significant Housing on Campus

The University does not own any historically significant housing on campus.

f)       Description of On-Campus Housing

The University’s first housing project was opened in the fall of 1968.  This project has a design capacity of 436 student spaces and consists of four residence halls (Volusia, Lake, Osceola, and Polk Halls) that are two story structures with suite-style living units.  Each suite consists of two double rooms, a common living area and bath, and in some cases, a single room.  This area is known as the Apollo Community.

The second housing project was build in 1980 (the Libra Community) with a design capacity of 445 and consists of three residence halls (Brevard, Orange, and Seminole Halls) and a commons building.  Orange and Seminole Halls are four story buildings with Brevard Hall being a three story building.  All rooms in this area are suite style with tow double rooms sharing one bathroom.

In 1994, the on-campus housing options for students were further diversified with the opening of the Lake Claire Courtyard Apartments.  This facility, which consists of fifteen three story buildings and a commons building, has a design capacity of 697.  The apartments were designed to meet the needs of single upper level undergraduates and graduate students.  Aside from offering cooking facilities which the residence halls do not have, each apartment has four single bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a living room.

Phase II of the Libra Community opened in the spring of 1999.  Citrus, Sumter, and Flagler Halls, with a capacity of 580, were designed to meet the continued demand to house lower level students on –campus.  All rooms are double occupancy suite-style, with four students sharing a bathroom.  The rooms are configured around a common lounge/student space.  Additional commons space was added to the Libra Community with this project.

The Academic Village project (design capacity of 1,634) was constructed in two phases.  Phase I opened in 2001 and Phase II opened in 2002.  Each phase consists of a combination of double occupancy suite-style residence halls where four students share a bathroom and single occupancy apartments that house either two or four students.  The student to bathroom ratio in the apartments is two students to one bathroom. The residence halls are three story structures with the apartment building ranging from two to four stories in height.  Student programming space is included in both phases of the project.

Note:  Bed counts below do not include student staff member accommodations.

g)     University Owned Off-Campus Housing

The University does not own any housing facilities that are located off-campus but refers students to university affiliated housing when on –campus facilities have reached full capacity.  Affiliated properties include Pegasus Landing (2,525 beds) and Pegasus Pointe (1,224 beds).  The University provides UCF Residence Life services at Pegasus Landing and UCF Police provided services at both Pegasus Landing and Pegasus Pointe.

h)     Estimates of University Housed Students By Classification

Undergraduate students:                            3,783 (including student staff members)

Graduate students:                                      6

Married Students                                         0

i)       Full-Time Students Living in Non-University Rental Housing

Considering current occupancy rates, there are approximately 6,500 students living off-campus along the Alafaya Trail corridor and University Blvd. immediately adjacent to UCF in privately owned, non-affiliated apartments that offer individual leases.  Approximately 3,500 students live in privately owned affiliated housing.

j)        Host Community’s Rental Stock by Rental Range

k)               An analysis of existing University policies regarding the percentage of students for which on-campus housing is provided.

The 2000 plan, recognizing the need to provide on-campus housing for students at a comparable rate of other Florida public universities established, the goal of providing on-campus housing for 15% of enrollment.  Freshmen will be given priority for 80% of the beds.   This policy responds to the University’s goal of enhancing the first-year experience of UCF’s students and the overall collegiate environment.  All housing on campus today contain handicap-accessible units, and future housing will continue to provide such provisions.  More on campus housing will continue to strengthen the university community and alleviate the impact on neighborhood surrounding UCF.

l)               A projection of the number of students to be housed on-campus in University-provided facilities based on the existing policies for provision of on-campus housing.  This projection shall include a description of handicap-accessible beds/units.  Projections of the number of students to be housed in on-campus are based upon the University’s goal of providing housing for 15% of the Orlando campus headcount enrollment.

In addition to the programmed housing supply mentioned above, this plan has identified three sites for potential housing expansion.  Those areas include the Northwest portion of campus (+400 beds), the central northeastern portion of campus (2,000 beds), and the redevelopment of the Apollo housing site (400 beds).  If built, these sites would provide an additional 2,800 beds to the campus. 

m)                A projection of the number of students to be housed in non-University provided facilities on-campus (fraternities, sororities, etc.).  There are currently twelve fraternity and sorority houses on campus, accommodating 400 students.  Due to an existing house expansion, 22 beds are being added in the fall of 2004.  It is anticipated that 12 more Greek groups will have the ability to develop housing that will provide approximately 400 new beds. 

n)                 An analysis of the existing housing provided on campus, including: 

1.      Age of buildings that house students and programs to retrofit or replace aged structures; 

• Lake, Volusia, Osceola, and Polk Halls were built in 1967

• Brevard, Orange and Seminole were built in 1980

• Lake Claire facility (15 buildings) was built in 1993

• Citrus, Flagler and Sumter Hall were completed in 1998

• Academic Village Buildings 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106 and 107 were completed in 2001.

• Academic Village Buildings 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, and 114 were completed in 2002. 

2.      Physical condition of those buildings; and 

UCF addresses maintenance needs as they arise.  Issues concerning life safety are constantly being addressed and maintained.  Presently, all of the facilities on campus are considered to be “clean and acceptable” housing.  As a result, there are currently no difficulties in renting existing buildings.  In January 2005, a program to renovate the mechanical, electrical, and life safety systems of Lake, Volusia, Osceola, and Polk Halls will begin.  A building per year will be renovated with the process being completed in 2008. 

3.      The existing rate structure charged for on-campus housing. 

o)               An estimate of the number of additional on-campus housing units, by type, necessary to meet the (apartment, suite, dormitory, etc.). The University currently provides housing opportunities for more than 15% of the student body through on-campus and University affiliated housing.  With the inclusion of the Pegasus Landing and Pegasus Pointe Properties, as well as the addition of the Academic Village Housing Complex, the University complies with this goal.  The University is committed to maintaining the 15% goal; this Master Plan shows potential sites on-campus for approximately 2,800 more beds.    

p)                An analysis of potential on-campus sites and of the capacity of these sites (beds).  This analysis shall describe the method used to translate total beds required into building and site requirements.  The existing Greek Park is build-out with all lots occupied.  Future Greek housing developments should be constructed at a level more dense than the current Greek Park (9.6 beds/acre) over the next ten years as the University responds to the housing shortfall projected in 2.7(2)a) above.  Comparatively, the Lake Claire complex has 73.9 beds/acre and the Libra facility has 150.8 beds/acre.  Maintaining density will allow the University to fulfill the goal of providing more housing as enrollment expands and will contribute to development which will sustain the University’s land reserves.  The ability to plan and develop future housing on campus is limited due to the availability of revenue bonds, which is the typical funding mechanism used for on-campus housing.  Therefore, future housing sites have been identified, however, all potential sites are not fully described and/or associated with a funding source in the Capital Improvements Element. 

q)                 A projection of the number of students that will be housed off-campus in facilities provided by others (private market housing). 

Based on the housing supply reference in Table 2.7(2) a) above, projections of the number of students that will be housed off campus are as follows:

r)                 An assessment of the student impacts on the occupancy of the host community’s rental stock. 

Approximately 30% of students who live off-campus find housing along the Alafaya corridor adjacent to the campus.   The  University is committed  to both developing new housing on the UCF campus in an effort to increase the overall number of students on-campus and working within the community to foster the growing neighborhood.