Fw: Group to study student housing | TuscaloosaNews.com

[Joe Bruner]

 

LIVE LIFE WITH LOVE.
JOE BRUNER

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To: Gary Limmroth <zap...@hotmail.com>
Cc: Robert Parsons <pars...@gmail.com>; Joan Barth <joanm...@aol.com>; Gabriella Merriman <gmer...@bama.ua.edu>; Lib Davis <buckeye...@yahoo.com>; Tom Fanning <tomg...@comcast.net>; Patricia Dotson <pdot...@bellsouth.net>; Jil Chambliss <dana...@comcast.net>; Debra Brown <dbrow...@aol.com>; Sharon Pate <shar...@juno.com>; Joe & Freddie Bruner <joebr...@yahoo.com>; Easty Lambert-Brown <borg...@bellsouth.net>; Kelly Fitts <k2rf...@gmail.com>; Linda Parsons <lind...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 1, 2013 6:31 AM
Subject: Re: Group to study student housing | TuscaloosaNews.com

When did the Chamber ever want to get in control of anything?

On Aug 1, 2013, at 7:26 AM, Gary Limmroth <zap...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Nice quotes Robert. You will represent TNT and residents well. 
 
Plus we now know all the initial players.  I am concerned that the chairman may be allowed to appoint four members. Seems like for the perfect opportunity for the Chamber to get control of the committee. 
 
Gary  

 

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From: jo...@photographybyearl.com
Subject: Group to study student housing | TuscaloosaNews.com
Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2013 03:45:39 -0500
CC: joanm...@aol.com; gmer...@bama.ua.edu; buckeye...@yahoo.com; tomg...@comcast.net; zap...@hotmail.com; pdot...@bellsouth.net; dana...@comcast.net; dbrow...@aol.com; shar...@juno.com; joebr...@yahoo.com; borg...@bellsouth.net; k2rf...@gmail.com

By Jason Morton
Staff Writer

Published: Thursday, August 1, 2013 

TUSCALOOSA | A task force formed to examine the student housing market will hold its first meeting next week at City Hall.
Set for 3 p.m. Wednesday, the meeting will bring together the 16 members chosen by Mayor Walt Maddox, the City Council, local universities, lending institutions and home builders, among others.
The chairperson of the task force, once that position is decided, could add four more members to the panel.
“Our goal is to get a finding of the facts, understand the market conditions and use those facts as a basis of policy moving forward,” said Maddox, who formed the task force in June with an executive order. “As I've reviewed the various (task force members) ... they all bring a lot of knowledge to the table and, hopefully, some very sound advice for city leaders.”
The mayor formed the task force to address the boom in new student housing developments that has occurred in Tuscaloosa in recent years. Its findings likely will lead to policy changes that the City Council will consider.
The chairman of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission has compiled data that shows the University of Alabama has, since 2002, added about 13,000 students for a total student population of about 33,500.
In that same time, the city has seen the construction of 12,432 new multifamily bedrooms with another 8,711 in some form of planning or construction.
Factoring in the 3,700-bed increase on campus, that leaves almost 12,000 private student bedrooms unfilled.
Jay Evans, president of student housing company College Station Properties and a member of the Student Rental Housing Task Force, said he believes the market to be oversaturated, but he plans to keep an open mind before reaching any final conclusions.
“I think we're getting to a critical point and if these mega-complexes continue to come in, I don't know if we're going to get enough students to fill them up,” Evans said. “But I don't have all the facts.
“There's a lot of smart people on (the task force) and I'm excited about serving with this group and us coming up with some educated decisions.”
Robert Parsons, a resident of the Forest Lake neighborhood who has an extensive background in finance and has been examining the city's student housing boom for the past two years, said he is convinced that the number of local college students will not be able to adequately support the numerous student housing projects in the coming years.
This is one reason he has helped lead the fight against any proposed student housing development for the area of Hargrove Road across from Forest Lake. These efforts have led to the rejection or withdrawal of three student housing projects for the tract known as the Arlington site.
“The economic event that's about to buzz saw this town is very real,” Parsons said, “and because I live so close to it and it's so important economically to this town, that's why I'm on this committee.”
Committee members were chosen by various officials, agencies and companies that have a stake in the outcome of the task force's findings.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20130801/NEWS/130809997/1007?p=1&tc=pg 

John Earl

jo...@photographybyearl.com

205 345-2410

(c) 205 310-4007

www.photographybyearl.com

www.photographybyearl.us

[Joe Bruner]

 

LIVE LIFE WITH LOVE.
JOE BRUNER

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Sent: Thursday, August 1, 2013 10:06 AM
Subject: Response form Mayor regarding housing task force

 
Walt promptly answered my email suggesting adding city engineering to the housing task force.  I have attached his response below.  It seems fair to me. 

Gary,

City staff will be called to the committee to provide testimony.  I would imagine that David, John and Steve Anderson would be called. At some point, you will probably see Tim Nunnally.

There are no city staff serving because I want to avoid the inference that I am influencing the Task Force which should not start with a conclusion and work backwards.  The flexibility to add four additional members is to provide the Task Force the ability to add citizens who can add value.  The Chairman can only add with a majority vote of the entire task force. 

 

Walt

 

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