COVER STORY, MARCH 2007

Western Kentucky University’s Mixed-use Development

Fairmount Properties is acquiring land to develop a $30 million mixed-use project that will connect Western Kentucky University with downtown Bowling Green, Kentucky. A university bookstore will anchor the development, which is scheduled to be in use for the 2008-09 school year. It will include retail, hotel and office space as well as a residential village.

Fairmount Properties is currently leasing space for a $30 million development that will connect Western Kentucky University with downtown Bowling Green, Kentucky. The project will include retail, hotel and office space as well as a 48-unit alumni residential village and 30 for-sale flats targeting faculty members.

Fairmount is in the process of acquiring land adjacent to the university and the project is slated to break ground in late fall. The first phase will include 111,650 square feet of retail space and 36,000 square feet of office space. Residential space in the first phase will include 10 for-sale townhomes and 30 flats to be completed in time for the 2008-09 school year.

The retail space will be anchored by a campus-operated bookstore. According to Randy Ruttenberg, principal of Cleveland, Ohio-based Fairmount Properties, “College bookstores often look to increase their visibility and sales volume by locating just off campus into larger hybrid stores mixing textbooks and mainstream bookstore merchandise, thereby catering to both students and the local community.”

The company has commitments for more than 60 percent of the in-line retail and office space, including a 9,800-square-foot grocer, three well-known regional chef-owned restaurants, a bank and a hair salon.

University president Gary Ransdell believes this project will have a major impact on Bowling Green. “The area — a series of blocks at the north edge of our campus — is currently depressed,” he says. “We’d like to see it replaced with a high-energy, upscale, economically stimulated area.”

“This market has a significant supply deficit in the restaurant and specialty retail categories and provides a great opportunity to replace a declining residential area adjacent to campus with new vibrant mixed-use choices,” Ruttenberg explains.

While Western Kentucky University is not a financial partner in the development, the university is contributing to the project. The university is bringing the bookstore along with a coffee shop and a deli/café operation to the development. Both of the restaurants will be operated by Aramark, the on-campus food provider.

Additionally, the university is helping to attract hotels. Ruttenberg says, “The university will help to ‘guarantee’ a significant number of room nights, which has helped us to begin productive conversations with two different hotel operators.”

As for the residential components, Ruttenberg says, “The president of the university is crafting a very unique package for alumni who purchase residential units. The package will include a yearly pass for all athletic, cultural and fine art events as well as access to university amenities such as the rec center and the library.”

“Residents will be fully engaged in the life of the university,” says Ransdell. “This is an attractive value-added asset for these residential properties.”

While the university and Fairmount Properties have to work out the details of such a creative package, Ruttenberg and Ransdell explain that it is likely that $25,000 from the sale of each residential unit will go into the university’s endowment to fund the yearly expenses associated with the costs of providing the amenities.

“There will be other tangible benefits to the university via income derived from the bookstore and the Aramark operations. Intangible benefits will come from creating a great gateway into the campus community, which will help recruit and retain students and faculty,” says Ruttenberg.

Ransdell believes that the residential component — attractive housing within walking distance of campus — will help to recruit faculty and staff.

Ransdell also indicates that the university is interested in building five fraternity houses and three sorority houses beside The Boulevards project, further integrating the project with campus life.

Ruttenberg says, “The president of this university ‘gets it.’ He is uniquely entrepreneurial and has an uncompromised passion for providing the best he can to the entire university community. He’s well respected at the local and state level and has a very strong working relationship with the local government, which has been key to moving this along.”

“Fairmount has been great to work with,” says Ransdell. “They’ve been responsive and have moved quickly. I’m excited about the possibilities, and I hope it all comes together. I think this will be an important new dimension for our campus.”

Fairmount Properties University Realty Trust, a division of Fairmount Properties, focuses on the niche of developing in college towns. Fairmount looks for institutions with strong growth trends in enrollment and that drive significant visits from sporting events, research activity, or cultural events.

— Jaime Lackey


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