UH Board of Regents approves Frear Hall development agreement and contract

Approval clears the way for construction to begin on new student residence hall

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Carolyn Tanaka, (808) 956-9803
Mia Noguchi, (808) 956-9095
External Affairs & University Relations
Posted: Oct 20, 2006

HILO, Hawaiʻi — At its monthly meeting held today at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, the UH Board of Regents (BOR) approved the development agreement and contract with American Campus Communities for construction of the new Frear Hall student residence at UH Mānoa. A groundbreaking ceremony is being planned for November 2006 with construction scheduled for completion in time for student occupation in Fall 2008.

The BOR approved authorization for contract negotiations to proceed during its last meeting held in September along with the caveat that construction costs not exceed $71 million. The planned complex will be comprised of two 12-story buildings with approximately 800 beds for students.

Frear Hall is the first new student residence to be built on the Mānoa campus since 1978.

The BOR also approved the university‘s two legislative proposals for submittal to the Governor for inclusion in the Administration‘s package of bills to the 2007 State Legislature. One proposal would reinstate the university‘s authority to develop internal policies and procedures for procurement of goods, services and construction, as previously conferred upon the BOR by the legislature in 1998.

The second proposal seeks to provide the university with increased flexibility in the administration and financing of capital projects, including the ability to designate any appropriated special and revolving funds as a source of "revenues of the university" and the ability to issue bonds for a "university purpose."

The legislative package is consistent with the spirit and intent of the constitutional amendment granting the university greater self governance.

In other action, the BOR approved the establishment of the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Administration of Justice and the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.