The University of Connecticut”™s Stamford campus is no longer a runner-up prize for students wanting to attend the university”™s main Storrs campus.
“Six years ago we had part-time MBA, two small business undergraduate programs and we were largely a feeder school for students wanting to get to Storrs,” said John A. Elliot, dean of the UConn School of Business, at the June 15 CEO Evolution panel hosted by the university in Stamford.
“Today that world has changed immeasurably. We”™ve become a four-year vibrant urban campus,” he said, listing the various masters and digital degree programs the university has brought to the campus in the last five years.
“The biggest step has been that we finally closed the deal on a residential home for students here in Stamford,” Elliot said.
That new home for students is a three-story, mixed-use building with 116 apartment units under construction t 900 Washington Blvd., a little more than a quarter-mile from the Stamford campus.
The university since 2014 has issued requests for proposals from developers but the student-residence project was stalled by zoning conflicts. The 900 Washington Blvd. project would be the first dormitory housing the UConn Stamford campus has offered students since its founding in 1952.
Elliot might have been premature in calling the deal closed. University of  Connecticut spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said there are a few more hurdles to overcome for both the university and the property”™s developer, Randy Salvatore, founder and CEO of RMS Cos. in Stamford.
Reitz said UConn and RMS representatives have signed a term sheet outlining the potential steps that need to be met before the site can become an off-campus residence for students. “If all progresses as expected, we expect to sign a letter of intent and other legal documents later in the summer that nail down more specifics and put the project in motion,” she said in a statement. The deal also must be approved by the UConn Board of Trustees, which might vote on the proposal later this summer.
The university plans to house between 250 and 350 students in single- and two-bedroom units in the downtown complex, Reitz said. The building could be ready for students by the start of the fall 2017 semester.
“We are pretty much there,” said Salvatore. He said he was optimistic RMS will receive needed zoning approvals from Stamford officials. “So far we have received really favorable feedback from all the constituents throughout the city,” he said.
Salvatore declined to disclose the cost of the planned development. The property in the short term would likely yield a bigger profit from market-rate rentals in Stamford’s growing luxury apartment market, the developer said, but he opted to take a “long-term view of the asset” and saw a stable tenant in UConn.
Reitz said the RMS property was among 11 proposed sites considered by the university and was chosen because of its location alfway between the Metro- North train station and campus, the size of the building and the fact the project already has been approved for residential apartments and is under construction.
Salvatore could have a very stable tenant in UConn. According to a UConn Today article, the university and its campuses set a record for freshman applications for the 2016 fall semester with more than 36,000 applications. Enrollment at the Stamford campus has grown from 1,275 students in fall 2011 to 1,564 students in fall 2015.
For Elliot, who joined the university”™s business school as dean in 2012, the growth of the Stamford campus reflects the university taking its place as a leading institution in the city.
“We are a growing force in Stamford,” the dean said. “When I came there are those who said, ”˜UConn needs to do more in Stamford,”™ and I am pleased to say that today I can honestly say I think we are doing more. It”™s a pleasure to do more.”
