University Unveils New John Street Residence

Students moved into the new residence hall at 55 John St. last week amidst a mixed reaction from students in the University community.

On April 9, plans were revealed for the addition of a new 500-student residence hall located at 55 John St. The new building is part of the University's effort to create and provide an all-inclusive campus in Downtown Manhattan.

As a result, housing options in Brooklyn Heights were drastically downsized. The St. George has been limited to 90 students this year; housing in Clark Hall has been eliminated. Members of the student body expressed concern over the new housing arrangements and subsequent increases in housing fees.

According to Director of Housing and Residential Life Andrew Patrick Roger Gordon, the decision to limit Brooklyn housing was the result of student and parental demands for more Manhattan options. Gordon said parents have been "critical of the University's limited ability to provide Manhattan housing."

Gordon anticipates the John St. building will be a positive long-term investment. "The University does not make financial profit [from 55 John]. While the addition of the new building was met with speculation from some members of the Pace community, the office of Housing and Residential Life believes 55 John will revitalize the University as an important part of Downtown NYC."

According to Gordon, the building will increase opportunities for students who require housing for summer internships and will generate revenue for the University, which offers rooms in the building for non-matriculated students. "All additional revenue streams based on outside clientele benefit students by softening future price increases," Gordon said.

Some members of the student body have questioned the University's decision regarding the new residence hall.

"Negotiating real estate in the downtown area is an arduous process at best, and I think it is clear the administration has worked very hard to balance all of the needs in question," Gordon said, adding that the University looked into many options and locations before settling on John St.

Though the prices and housing options frustrated some, Gordon reaffirmed the decision. "55 John might not have been a perfect solution to our needs, but it is clearly the best solution available to us."

Prices for the new building vary and are subject to change. Double rooms cost approximately $7,215 per semester and triples are approximately $6,840.

Junior business and economics major Anthony Polanco said, "The John St. dorm just isn't worth the money. The rooms are ridiculously small for $15,000 and there is only one kitchen on the 18th floor. The tour guide said [John St. architects needed] to be creative about space. But for $15,000, I don't want to have to be creative."

Due to projected enrollment increases for Fall 2007, the University had to accommodate 140 extra freshmen requesting on-campus housing and would not fit in Maria's Tower, the freshmen residential building. The Administration made a decision to use unoccupied space in the John St. building for those freshmen. Furthermore, first-year students in John St. are paying the Maria's Tower rate of $3,770 per semester.

"This is not fair to the upperclassmen that freshmen are getting a reduced rate," junior theater major Jessica Mbakwe Jones said. "This also is not fair to the other incoming freshmen that will have to live in Maria's Tower with communal bathrooms and many amenities that need to be fixed, while others pay the same rate and are allowed to live in a brand new luxury building."

Jones believes between the limited availability of rooms in Brooklyn set at $5,090 per semester, and the price of John Street, the only affordable option is Fulton Hall, which was not affected by the lease with John St. "Fulton closes in the winter which deters some students from living there because their budget does not allow them to go to their homes which may be very far away," Jones said.

Sophomore international business major Tamar Wilson said, "I think [the choice to] house freshman students for cheaper for this year is okay. However, Pace should not continue this next year because then it'd be a blatant slap in the face to all other students. Eventually, they need to offer rooms in John St. to freshmen letting them know that if they choose it - they're going to be paying the normal rate."

Gordon said he understands student perspectives but stands behind the decision. "This was a very difficult decision for the administration, and I think students need to know that," he said.

"Pace needed to meet or exceed its recruitment goal. In a very real way, meeting the recruitment goal required our being able to offer first year students housing in Manhattan, and due to the size of the incoming class, this was only possible by housing some of the incoming freshmen at 55 John St."

Because of the enrollment dip and its subsequent financial loss, maintaining a stable enrollment rate was crucial. "When we finally signed the [lease] for the John St. building in February of this year, it was long after most of the recruitment of the new class had taken place," Gordon said. "Offering 140 incoming freshmen the new building at a rate roughly twice what they had expected could have been disastrous. As many would have chosen not to attend Pace - a decision Pace could not afford."

Gordon said future costs in tuition and housing would rise for all students had the University not made the decision to place freshmen in John St. for cheaper.

Gordon also said the perception of unfair treatment by returning students is an issue. "We understand the very real difference in cost, but we considered several factors. First, all students who entered Pace as freshmen had already experienced the first year housing rate, which is the lowest we offer - we wanted to make sure that all of the incoming class had this benefit as well." He said students who participated in Room Selection Daze knew the prices before they signed their contract, which, he said, was a benefit the incoming students did not have. "For this reason, charging freshmen the full rate for 55 John would have been much more unfair to those students than the instituted pricing plan is to returning students," Gordon said.