UH wants hotel or
apartments to sub as dormOfficials are looking at facilities
that can be used for several years
The University of Hawaii is looking for a hotel or apartment complex that can be used to house up to 500 students this fall.
The university issued a request for proposals yesterday seeking a building that can be turned into a dorm for the next two to five years.
"We are looking to get an entire hotel," said Margit Watts, the interim director of housing at UH-Manoa.
The university already rents rooms at the Ohana Reef Hotel in Waikiki for about 140 students. Yesterday's request asks for a minimum of 400 rooms.
Watts said UH would like to lease an entire building so that the students could have study lounges, security and other amenities such as a kitchen large enough to offer a student meal plan.
"We're hoping that there are some properties out there that will work," she said.
The university shut down the Gateway House dorm last week because of electrical problems, and the 214 students and six staff members who live there had to be relocated.
The 10-story, twin-tower dorm is being closed indefinitely. Watts said the university is waiting for a report before deciding if the dorm can be renovated or if it must be rebuilt.
Frear Hall, next door to Gateway, is already closed because it is obsolete. The university is considering a plan to tear it down and build a new dorm.
Watts said if the university can contract to lease a building for several years, it can close other dorms for needed renovations and house the students in the leased building.
She said university housing officials have visited possible sites that could be turned into off-campus housing, but she does not know if there are owners who would be interested in turning their buildings into a dorm.
Another possibility to relieve the housing crisis at UH is to have a private developer build and operate a dorm for the university.
Developer Peter Savio is looking into the possibility of building a dorm at the site where the Varsity Twins theater is located.
Watts said any talk about privatized dorms is preliminary.