WKU President Timothy Caboni will request that the Board of Regents approve a predevelopment agreement with a private company to manage WKU’s current and future dorms at Thursday’s Board of Regents meeting.
Caboni is requesting approval for Gilbane, an international real estate firm based in Rhode Island. Gilbane has public-private housing partnerships with 10 universities.
In addition to university housing, Gilbane has been involved in various high-profile projects and lawsuits resulting in settlements.
The agenda for Thursday’s meeting includes renderings for a proposed two-phase plan to overhaul WKU’s housing.
Phase one of the proposal includes a “state-of-the-art” first-year suite and hotel-style residence hall to open in fall 2028, and more than 1,000 beds in Freshman Village.
The second phase includes two residence halls, one where Pearce-Ford Tower sits and another hall replacing McCormack, Gilbert, Hilltopper and Rodes Harlin halls. Phase two is scheduled to start construction in 2028 and include more than 1,400 beds.
Caboni originally announced the new dorm plan at a June 6 Board of Regents meeting. A new dorm plan was deemed necessary after the closure of Hilltopper Hall in 2024 and Normal and Regents halls in May. Hilltopper Hall was originally opened in 2018 for $40 million, while Normal and Regents halls opened in 2021 for $48 million. All three halls failed to meet Kentucky building codes and are not structurally sound. Hilltopper Hall will be torn down and the Student Life Foundation, the owning body of WKU’s dorms, has been approved for a $60 million bond to repair Normal and Regents halls.
Tad Pardue, SLF attorney, said SLF leadership has participated in discussions and has been kept up to date about the potential partnership with Gilbane.
Pardue said in an email to the Herald that while all the details of the partnership are not clear and still pending approval, “SLF has committed its support to the University in its pursuit of this partnership for the benefit of current and future students living on campus.”
Caboni said at the June 6 Board of Regents meeting he specifically looked at Eastern Michigan University’s public-private partnership with Gilbane when considering it for WKU.
Jeanette Zalba, director of housing and residence life at Eastern Michigan, said she was part of a committee that chose Gilbane.
“For my involvement, Gilbane had excellent references, their team members, including contractors, had a high level of experience doing this work, and they were student-centered in their framework,” Zalba said in an email.
Zalba said in an October interview that a drawback of working with Gilbane sometimes Eastern Michigan must sometimes “negotiate” for repairs.
Gilbane started as a carpentry firm in 1870, founded by Irish immigrant William Gilbane. Since then, it has grown into a multinational company that generated $7.7 billion, according to its 2024 annual report.
Gilbane has been contracted for numerous projects, including:
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
- 1980 Winter Olympics Facilities in Lake Placid, New York.
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
- National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
- Fenway Park improvements in Boston.
Gilbane has also been involved in several recent lawsuits for violating the False Claims Act.
The False Claims Act was enacted in 1863 as grounds for any person who “knowingly submits, or causes to submit, false claims,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
In 2022, Gilbane, along with Hunt Construction Group Inc., paid a $1.9 million settlement after Massachusetts prosecutors alleged the companies falsely inflated the participation of women and minority owned subcontractors.
The city of Worcester, Massachusetts, contracted Gilbane and Hunt as construction managers for Polar Park, a $100 million project for the Worcester Red Sox, a minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
Gilbane and Hunt employed a subcontract with the requirement that the subcontractor meet a 15% participation of women and minority-owned businesses for the construction of Polar Park. The subcontractor reported less than 3% participation to Gilbane and Hunt for 17 months. Gilbane falsely reported 15% participation to the Worcester Redevelopment Authority, according to Massachusetts Superior Court filings.
A representative from Gilbane and Hunt “expressly stated” three months before Polar Park’s opening day that woman and minority owned business participation was at 18% when it was actually less than 12%, according to the court filings.
Gilbane also paid a $1.1 million settlement in 2015 to resolve accusations against W.G. Mills Inc., a company that merged with Gilbane in 2010. W.G. Mills was accused of creating a front company, Veterans Constructors Inc., according to the Justice Department.
W.G. Mills created Veterans Constructors Incorporated to get a contract from the U.S. Coast Guard designed for “Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses,” the Justice Department said in a 2015 press release.
Gilbane paid a $1.3 million settlement to the U.S. government in 2010 for allegedly failing to make timely payments to subcontractors in violation of its federal contract, according to an Office of the Inspector General press release.
