POSTED JULY 24 AT 11:50 P.M.
One University Village “resident” will be saying goodbye to the apartment community this Thursday.
JPI, a Dallas-based firm that manages luxury and student residences around the country, has overseen the management of the Village for the past year. Starting July 26, the Department of Residence Halls will take over the management and operations of the Village, which began opening its newly constructed doors last September-a month and half after the expected date. The university has already taken over maintenance.
UM originally outsourced management of the Village in order to save money, said Gilbert Arias, assistant vice president for Student Affairs. Arias told The Miami Hurricane last week that JPI and UM have parted ways after “an amicable termination of the agreement.” He noted when the two parties initially signed the contract, both were given the option to leave the agreement after one year.
“It was a business decision to hire JPI because they had extensive experience,” Arias said. “We wanted students to feel like they were living in and renting their own apartments.”
In addition to leaving UM, Arias said JPI also plans to pull out of the entire on-campus student-living market. This will include communities at schools such as the University of Central Florida, Georgetown and University of California Los Angeles. Before this decision, JPI managed more than 202 properties and 52 student living communities, including the Village.
Arias said JPI did not give a specific reason as to why they decided to leave UM. The Hurricane contacted Stacie Mendelson, Village manager under JPI, but she said she could not disclose any information regarding the company’s recent decision.
Likewise, Sherry Green, a representative from JPI Student Living Corporate Headquarters said, “It is JPI’s policy that we do not give interviews.”
One noticeable change students will see with the handover to Residence Halls will be that students must call 8-CARE (8-2273) for maintenance problems, instead of the Village office.
Arias also said that, as of now, students will continue to sign a 12-month lease to live in the Village, but he will review certain polices and procedures regarding the Village, which may potentially affect the leasing term in the future.
Greg Linch also contributed to this report.
Karyn Meshbane is the News Editor and may be contacted at k.meshbane@umiami.edu.