Written by: Matthew Orquia
The cost for Southern Adventist University’s upcoming cottage housing project has increased in order to build infrastructure required by the City of Collegedale, according to Marty Hamilton, senior vice president for financial administration.
Some requirements included a 26-foot paved road for emergency vehicle access and a residential sprinkler system in each housing unit. Due to these additions, the expected infrastructure cost rose from $500,000 to $3,315,000.
Hamilton said even though some aspects of the increase were unexpected, the cost also serves as an investment in future housing. Having this infrastructure in place will reduce the cost per unit for additional cottages in the future. The university already plans to build additional cottage units in the future, based on Southern’s housing needs, according to Hamilton.
“I think the irony here is [that] fast-tracking this is basically costing us more,” Hamilton said. “If we had a little more time to work through the process, we probably could have saved some money.”
According to Hamilton, Southern didn’t anticipate all of the requirements they would have to meet, which is why their early cost projections were incorrect. He said that building the cottages is a new type of project for Southern.
“We’re basically creating a subdivision,” Hamilton said, “so I should have thought that through more and realized it was going to require a whole lot more investment.”
Hamilton also mentioned that rising costs in labor, material and equipment have had an impact on the cottages, as well as other building projects around campus.
“That’s hard, you know, but we’ve got wonderful donors,” Hamilton said. “Southern’s got great support.”
The number of cottages being built has changed from 25 to 27, according to Hamilton. Southern’s goal is still to have the units completed for next fall semester, despite the unexpected issues.
“That’s where we’re pushing really hard, and so, yeah, there’s been setbacks,” Hamilton said. “In my work here at Southern, this is typical because we all have a vision of, ‘Okay, we’re gonna get this done,’ and there [are] always surprises.”
In addition to rising costs, it also took longer than expected for the manufacturer of the cottages to receive certification under the state of Tennessee’s modular building program, Hamilton explained. According to the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance website, the builder must follow “construction standards for factory built structures.”
“So when they get certified, that means that this kind of modular house can be built in any city, any county in the state of Tennessee,” Hamilton said. “You don’t go through inspections, because it’s certified by the state.”
Despite some of the hurdles they have faced with the cottages project, Southern still sees value in growing their housing developments, according to Hamilton.
“I think you have to look to the future, and that’s kind of where we can say, ‘Look, it makes sense,’” he said. “We don’t have any additional housing for students right now, so we need to do something.”
