The privately managed Cambridge Oaks Apartments has another 210 units, housing between 400 to 600 people. A privately managed complex similar to Cambridge Oaks Apartments is planned to help alleviate the campus housing crunch. Campus housing is an auxiliary service of the university, so part of the difficulty is that we have to make sure we are running at capacity in order to generate the revenues needed to break even. Sometimes, we're not sure whether students will actually be occupying rooms until the very start of the semester, so we may accept more students than we have room for at first. Blank emphasizes that students sleeping in overflow areas do so voluntarily and are able to void their housing contract should they not wish to wait for dormitory space to become available.
Relief is on the horizon for the campus housing crunch, at least in part.
Groundbreaking is expected in coming weeks on a new 220-unit housing project to be located just south of the Cambridge Oaks Apartments. The new facility is expected to add about 500 beds to the university's current housing capacity. It is being developed under a contract with Austin-based American Campus Communities. The company will provide all project funding and would be repaid through room and board fees. The complex is scheduled to be ready in time for the fall 2001 semester.