The owner of Centennial Commons and its bondholders announced today that they reached agreement in an effort to make the Joliet Junior College student housing complex more attractive to students and financially stable in the future.
Foundation Housing, a limited liability company that was formed by Joliet Junior College Foundation, owns the student residential facilities located on the main campus of Joliet Junior College. In May 2002 Will County issued bonds totaling $14,435,000 to finance the construction of the complex. The bonds, which are payable solely from rentals, have been sharply downgraded by Fitch Ratings over the past two years because of disappointing revenues stemming partly from low occupancy and a poor financial outlook.
Centennial Commons will now be operated under new management, Campus Advantage, which has been successful in turning around financially distressed student housing projects elsewhere. Effective with this announcement, Campus Advantage has replaced Century Campus Housing Management, the original contract manager since the opening of the facility in the Fall of 2002. As the new manager, Campus Advantage is responsible for all day-to-day activities, including leasing and rental collection, property maintenance and continuous onsite supervision of the 296 bed student housing facility. Campus Advantage will work with Foundation Housing and the bondholders to assure that Centennial Commons will continue operating and to increase its residential appeal for students attending the College.
The bondholders have also agreed not to take any steps to foreclose on the complex for the next three years, subject to an annual performance review, even if scheduled principal and interest installments cannot be paid in full during that time. They also expressed a willingness to make additional expenditures from their own funds for certain changes that might be needed for a successful turnaround. After three years Foundation Housing and the bondholders will re-assess the financial condition of the housing project to evaluate the possibility of restructuring the debt in a manner that will allow it to be repaid from the rentals over the remaining term of the bonds. Foundation Housing and the Centennial Commons bondholders welcome this development as a step in a new direction that can guarantee safe, affordable modern housing for the students attending Joliet Junior College over the next three years and strengthen the finances of the housing complex so that future JJC students will have this same housing opportunity.
Additional
News Articles:
Herald News Online:
JJC Student Housing Gets New Managers
Morris
Daily Herald Online: JJC Student Housing Under New Management
