Why can’t WSU figure out The Flats?
Wichita State can’t get its story straight about The Flats.
University police filed a report of a “loud party with alcohol present” at the Flats on Sept. 10. The university showed inconsistency with The Flats website, listing policies that conflict with those WSU intends to enforce.
UPD Captain Guy Schroeder said UPD was told to treat The Flats the same as Shocker Hall, where alcohol consumption and possession are prohibited. Mandy Hambleton, assistant vice president for student advocacy, intervention, and accountability, said alcohol possession and consumption is prohibited in The Flats.
But, The Flats website offered a different policy, suggesting that students over the age of 21 are allowed to consume alcohol in their apartments, just not in public areas or in the presence of students under 21. This was not clear from the start.
In mid-July, WSU announced they would be closing Fairmount Towers and relocating those who reserved a space to The Flats. At the time, the impression was that MWCB, LLC, a private developer, would privately lease the complex. David Murfin, chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents, is part owner of MWCB, LLC. About a week and a half after the announcement that those students would be housed in The Flats, WSU suggested MWCB, LLC let them run The Flats like a dorm.
Approval for the lease agreement, which was required before the university could move forward, came 17 days after WSU announced the decision to close Fairmount Towers. Agreements for WSU to lease The Flats were made less than three weeks before the university’s move-in day on Aug. 19.
Yet, as WSU moved forward with the deal — a rushed effort — time wasn’t taken to determine conclusively how the facility would be managed. Less than a month after opening, we have our first example of inconsistency.
WSU clearly moved too quickly to establish any confirmation of policies.
The Flats were originally set to be available for students and non-students. After WSU insisted on closing Fairmount Towers, leasing became available to students only. WSU determined they would keep policies for The Flats congruent with Shocker Hall, prohibiting alcohol from being present in any of the apartments.
Before WSU announced the shutdown of Fairmount Towers, there were too many questions surrounding how a private complex sponsored by the university would run. Today, those questions are yet to be answered.
Evan Pflugradt is the former sports editor of The Sunflower. Pflugradt past served as the publication's Editor in Chief, Opinion Editor and a reporter....
Murfin Has It Figured Out • Oct 10, 2017 at 11:12 am
A nice Eagle story on issues.
http://www.kansas.com/news/local/education/article178028506.html
Fake Pres. Bardo • Sep 28, 2017 at 5:14 pm
The flats was always meant to be a haven for students and their parties. I do like me a Coca-Cola with some good ole 40%vol ethanol.
Stay thirsty my friends,
Fake Pres. Bardo
Steve • Sep 25, 2017 at 4:51 pm
We all know that The Flats was a scam from day one. A group of investors with those backgrounds and decades worth of experience in the Wichita real estate market knew that building would never fill up at those ridiculously high rental rates. The plan from day one was to build the building and turn it into a dorm immediately. Building a new dorm so soon after Shocker Hall would have met heavy resistance. So tell everyone you are building a private apartment building and just let the university pay the full instead.
Not So Fast • Sep 25, 2017 at 9:29 pm
Steve,
I disagree. If we get the details about how much the original MWCB proposal was going to return to the University based on their original pro forma I think MWCB asked themselves why wouldn’t they keep that much money instead of having WSU get it. It will probably be interesting to see the actual document that “earned” MWCB the private apartment project.
If Regent Murfin wants to be transparent he would just post their pro forma here and the documentation that was used to award them the private apartment complex. Transparency is actual pretty easy if you mean it when you say it.
Transparency • Sep 25, 2017 at 12:10 pm
Well, let’s get Regent Murfin to share details since he wants to be transparent. How much is WSU paying MWCB each month for Base Rent, Additional Rent, and Parking Fees that is in their agreement. That should be easy for Regent Murfin to share in the name of transparency. Andy Schlapp declared that MWCB was going to “lose their asses” in this deal because they cared so much for WSU. So let’s see the numbers and see how that is going.