The University of Wisconsin, in cooperation with Executive Management Inc., continues to push a multi-million-dollar redevelopment project at the heart of the UW campus. The public sector and private developer EMI are completing the preliminary stages of what will be a 12-story development plan on the University Square property.

The UW portion of the project includes the addition of a new University Health Services center and a new Student Activities Center, as well as the relocated Bursar’s Office, the Student Financial Services Office and other offices of the registrar.

EMI will also upgrade the current one-story square into a 12-story two-tower apartment residence featuring two floors of retail and two lower levels of parking.

The UW System Board of Regents approved the $56.85 million in funding required to build the university student services aspect of the plan Dec. 10. However, the regents did not approve a planned 800-bed University Square Hall when cost estimates came in at approximately $112 million.

Despite forgoing a plan to increase freshman university housing, UW and a number of students involved remain committed to redeveloping the square for the addition of several student services, according to Alan Fish, director of UW Facilities, Planning and Management.

“We’re trying, as we do facility planning, to both consolidate and locate services where they are most convenient,” Fish said.

Fish added University Square is an “ideal location” for the three UW components: UHS, SAC and financial services.

The earliest construction would begin in fall 2008 and may be pushed to 2009. Demolition of the current structure is set tentatively for Aug. 2006.

The consolidation of the university services will have a positive impact on campus by increasing efficiency two-fold, particularly in the UHS component, according to Brian Jensen, Associated Students of Madison intern for the UHS/SAC project.

“Essentially, you’ll have fewer people taking phone calls and more technological advanced building space available … You’ll also see more students utilizing the services,” Jensen said. “If you put a student hub there, you’ll have more student traffic.”

Susan Springman, president of EMI and former UW graduate, said the public and private partnership will affect more than the immediate campus.

“This project is going to serve students, but the retail component could service the whole central city,” Springman said. “The product mix downtown has missing pieces, and there are components still to add.”

Development of the current low-density square was restricted until 1996, when EMI owners Greg and Gordy Rice began looking into the next life of the project in partnership with UW, according to Springman.

EMI controls approximately 75 percent of the project design, with the university making up the latter 25 percent, she noted.

The housing component on the square will be apartment style, but the exact makeup has not been finalized. EMI is currently involved in research regarding the type of arrangements and residential design students are interested in and can utilize.

“Things in student housing have been changing in the last five years, and there may be demand for kids out of school that want to live downtown in a few years,” Springman said. “We can do a wide variety of things because the downtown housing market has been growing and changing rapidly.”

The present University Square structure holds 64,529 square feet of rentable space with four outdoor buildings, while the new retail space will hold approximately 200,000 square feet.

The retailers occupying the square will have the opportunity to come back into the remodeled retail space following the construction completion, Springman said.

“We’re committed to the downtown … we have a lot of money and hours, as well as our hearts, involved in this project,” Springman said.

Increased rents on the redeveloped complex may, however, prohibit some retailers from returning.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said he is hesitant the higher rents will be cause for concern on the square which resides in his district.

Verveer said he is “fairly comfortable” with the project concepts, but there still is a lot of work to be done between UW, EMI, the city and others involved in the project.

“There is strong support for the plan,” Verveer said. “On my list, the most exciting part of the plan is the new facilities for student services and organization space … This has been a long time in coming.”

The $56.85 million university portion of the project is slated for the 2005-07 budget and will require funding from the state. The development, UW’s No. 1 funding priority, will go to the state legislature in February, according to Fish.

In order to move forward, the university requires approval from the State Building Commission.

“If we can’t get a [finance] approval, we really do not have an alternative for these services, and that is why we’re so committed to this project,” Fish said.

ASM, in conjunction with UW Facilities, Planning and Management, has met with various legislators as well as specific members of the State Building Commission.

“We’re trying to make sure we can procure funding for this project, and with the budget crunch, sometimes it can be hard to get new buildings (funded by the state),” Jensen said. “The only thing we can do now is meet with legislators and wait.”

If SBC approves the project design, it will likely pass through the state budget, according to Jensen. The university, however, cannot move forward with the plans if state funding does not come through, and EMI would redevelop the property without UW involvement.

“If it doesn’t go through the budget this time, it might never get through,” Jensen said. “This is the closest we’ve ever been.”

EMI has already been working with J.H. Findorff & Son, Inc. and Potter Lawson, Inc. to analyze possible building plans, specific architecture and approximate costs.

Springman noted EMI prefers to work in coalition with the university instead of redeveloping the property without UW involvement.

Student tuition will be affected in order to cover the costs of redevelopment. Student segregated fees will provide $17 million after a 1999 referendum authorized such funding. While drawing from tuition, the fees will cost $20 per student per semester over the course of 20 years.

“It’s a small tuition hike, but what it comes down to is, although this may increase tuition, that $20 per semester was voted on by students 10 years ago and they continue to support [the plan],” Jensen said.

The university remains committed to centralizing student services on the widespread UW campus. According to Fish, abstaining from the dormitory plan was a reflection on the importance of centralizing student services.

Instead of focusing on building a large dormitory, UW will look to build a number of smaller residence halls in the lakeshore area in the next few years, Fish said.

The University Square Hall would have had increased occupancy for incoming freshmen by 800 beds. The scrapped plan was part of an initiative to combat the growing demand for freshman housing, according to the UW Residence Halls and Food Service Master Plan.

The dormitory would have opened for residency in August 2008. Verveer said forgoing the university dorm is disappointing because it delays plans to guarantee a bed for every incoming freshman.

UW is the only school in the Big Ten that does not guarantee housing for every incoming freshman.

“The dorm, at this time, was not economically feasible, which is a shame, but it’s necessary,” Jensen said. “You have to make some concessions to get something done.”

Despite the lack of university housing, the apartment addition will have an effect on the housing environment downtown.

Ald. Austin King, District 8, said he is in support of increasing available downtown housing, despite the failure of the university-housing plan.

“High vacancy rates allow tenants the ability to find lower rent,” King said.

The population in Madison continues to increase while also undergoing demographic changes, according to King. The movement of undergraduate and graduate students into the downtown area continues to draw a need for available housing, he noted.

Impact on downtown

The entire project plan must pass through City Hall after being approved by city committees and the full City Council. The large and visible project will receive extra attention from city officials on plans and design.

“It will be a very massive project … it will get a lot of well-deserved scrutiny,” Verveer said.

From a city fiscal perspective, Verveer noted the EMI redevelopment will remain taxable. If UW had built the dormitory on the property, it would have been tax exempt, as all university and state-owned structures are.

The development will also be in conjunction with a massive-scale, citywide project to revitalize the East Campus Mall, formerly known as Murray Street Mall.

King, who serves on the Joint Southeast Campus Committee, has been involved in the East Campus Mall project.

“The University Square project is a huge piece of Murray Street Mall in its totality. It will build on the possibility of a lively streetscape,” King said.

The mall will extend from Regent Street northward, connecting the new Park Street residence hall, the future Dayton Street hall, the Southeast dormitories, the redeveloped University Square and Library Mall.

“It will bring people under the tunnels and the railroads from the new dorms and tie the whole region together,” King said. “We’re absolutely going to go through with [the mall] because it’s a crucial link; it gives a uniform identity to the east campus.”

Some have proposed the use of colored pavement across University Avenue — similar to the Johnson Street walkway in front of Gordon Commons. A traffic light across University Avenue may also be added to the updated crosswalk.