Purdue student housing project achieved commercial, financial close

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (October 29, 2018) - Purdue University’s new 1,300-bed student housing project passed its final major milestone Friday (Oct. 26), before construction begins next month.

As previously announced, the university selected Plenary Properties Purdue LLC as the preferred proposer of the project in July of this year. The team is comprised of Plenary Group USA Concessions Ltd., Corvias, Gilbane Building Co., MSKTD & Associates, Mackey Mitchell Architects, Schneider Corp., MKSK and Applied Engineering. The organizations reached commercial and financial close Friday on the housing project that includes the two new residence halls currently known as Third Street North and Meredith South.

Purdue’s Physical Facilities team has managed the innovative public-private partnership procurement method, launching the process in March, shortlisting two of the six initial proposers for negotiation of terms in May and reaching final agreement with the Plenary-led team earlier this month. To facilitate the process Purdue provided updates and received Board of Trustees approval at two critical junctures, first in August when the board approved initial development terms offered by the Plenary team, and later in October when it approved the final project plans and specifications. Within the past two weeks the project has also received approval of the State Budget Agency and the governor, in keeping with the university’s land grant mission and public process.

“Due to the P3 delivery method being used for this project, we’ve been able to go from the issuance of the RFP to commercial and financial close in less than eight months,” said Jay Wasson, chief operations officer for Physical Facilities. “It’s been a highly collaborative process that will result in significant avoided costs for the university since this process allows for private-sector innovation in both project design and execution. We’re excited to see the project move into the construction phase and to start to see the buildings going up.”

“At the core of what we do is helping solve our partners’ challenges and this public private partnership exemplifies that,” said John Picerne, founder of Corvias. “The Meredith South and Third Street facilities will help Purdue University meet their primary goal of securing student affordability for their growing enrollment, while also ensuring the long-term operations, maintenance and student satisfaction for generations to come. Corvias has been relied upon for decades by the military, municipalities and universities to advance their infrastructure goals, and we’ve done so by maintaining the highest-quality facilities and assuming and managing risks for our partners—exactly what we will do for Purdue throughout this partnership.”

Construction will begin in late November, with the two residence halls ready for student occupancy in time for the 2020-2021 academic year.

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About Corvias

As a privately owned company headquartered in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, Corvias partners with higher education and government institutions nationwide to solve their most essential systemic problems and create long-term, sustainable value through our unique approach to partnership. Corvias pursues the kinds of partnerships that materially and sustainably improve the quality of life for the people who call our communities home, purposefully choosing to partner with organizations who share our values and whose mission is to serve as the foundational blocks, or pillars, of our nation. To learn more, please visit corvias.com.