The WKU Board of Regents approved the university’s new public-private dorm partner on Thursday, and a plan that would give the university power to set how much students pay for dorms for the first time since 1999. 

WKU approved a $5.8 million pre-development agreement with Gilbane, a Rhode Island-based international real estate company, to operate and manage, as well as construct and renovate the university’s current and future dorms. The cost of pre-development will be initially covered by Gilbane and then reimbursed through the project’s financing. 

Gilbane will bring with it the Collegiate Housing Foundation, a national non-profit that will “sit in a very similar seat” as the Student Life Foundation, said Julian Sagastume, a senior analyst for consulting firm Brailsford & Dunlavey. The SLF was created by former WKU President Gary Ransdell in 1999 to take on construction and renovation debt as well as ensure money generated by housing was spent on housing. The Collegiate Housing Foundation would own WKU’s dorms over the 40-year deal, after which ownership would transfer to WKU. 

WKU President Timothy Caboni initially announced his interest in a public-private partnership at a June 6 Board of Regents meeting. The new model is a response to the closure of Hilltopper, Normal and Regents halls, following the discovery of structural failures. 

Hilltopper Hall was the first dorm to close in 2024. It was initially opened in 2018 for $40 million and is now set to be demolished in the summer of 2026. It housed 400 beds. 

Normal and Regents halls, which housed a total of 635 beds, were closed in May. The dorms were opened in 2021 for $48 million, and the SLF has been approved for a $60 million bond for repairs. 

The SLF will be “retired” in May, according to a slide shown at the meeting, with the operation and management being transitioned to Gilbane in the same phase. WKU will set housing rates, a task currently under the SLF’s responsibilities. 

Caboni said Thursday that at the end of the spring semester, there was a “real question” about whether the relationship with the SLF could continue. Caboni said the university will “continue to explore” the relationship with the SLF so it can continue to pursue litigation over the dorms’ problems.

Sagastume said the initial investment into the new housing plan will be “north of $300 million.” He also said the university will be able to finance the plan without raising housing rates.

Caboni said Gilbane and the Collegiate Housing Foundation will make a $26 million investment into current facilities, which will be discussed further at the board’s meeting in February. Caboni said the plan for the $26 million will be finalized “probably toward the end of the spring semester.”

Gilbane will also be responsible for eliminating the SLF’s debt, according to a slide shown at the meeting. 

WKU’s dorms will be renovated and replaced across two phases, with completion scheduled for fall 2030. 

“Phase 1” of the proposal will deliver more than 1,000 beds to Freshman Village across suite- and hotel-style residence halls to open in fall 2028. 

“Phase 2” would start construction in 2028 and include more than 1,400 beds, replacing Pearce-Ford Tower, McCormack, Gilbert, Hilltopper and Rodes Harlin halls, according to Gilbane’s proposal. 

Sagastume said the “re-arrangement” of housing will be used as an opportunity to look at WKU Housing and Residence Life as a whole, especially through the failures of Normal, Regents and Hilltopper halls. 

“It’s great to use this crisis moment as an opportunity to come out of that and really provide something better for students,” Sagastume said. 

Campus Flats

The Board of Regents also approved a two-year lease on the Campus Flats apartment complex for $140,000 per month.

WKU will use the 288-bed apartment complex to serve as additional housing, as Douglas Keen and Hugh Poland halls will be offline starting in fall 2026, General Counsel Andrea Anderson said. Gilbane’s original proposal to WKU stated Hugh Poland would be online in fall 2026, but WKU Housing and Residence Life Director Catherine LaRoche confirmed that both halls would be offline in fall 2026. 

WKU will have the option to extend the lease for up to three one-year periods. 

Caboni said adding Campus Flats will improve the university’s housing portfolio, as it continues recovering from the failures of Normal, Regents and Hilltopper halls. 

“(Douglas Keen ans Hugh Poland) are some of our most challenged dorms, and so I would argue the overall housing portfolio this summer will be better than it was last summer,” Caboni said. “And that will continue to escalate through 2030.”

Anderson said Campus Flats will still operate with hall directors and RAs, like the Kentucky Street Apartments, and will be leased exclusively to students. She said the rates will be priced “commiserate” with Kentucky Street Apartments, with a discounted rental rate for students who currently live at Campus Flats. 

According to an email addressed to Campus Flats residents and posted to the WKU Parent Group on Facebook by user Paula Cobb, rates for students who renew their lease will be $650 a month beginning Aug. 2026. 

Monthly rent will be $750 a month for new residents. 

Cobb wrote in the post that the rate would be a $155 monthly increase over what her student currently pays at the complex.  

Kentucky Street Apartments are $975 monthly for a one-bedroom and $850 monthly for a two-bedroom.