In a recent announcement from UNCW’s Director of Housing and Residence Life (HRL), Dr. Kevin Meaney, said the university will be leasing off-campus apartments to students who are classified as upperclassmen — juniors and seniors. With recent over-admittance rates, on-campus housing cannot support the influx of students. Students looking to rent an apartment through the HRL office will have the ability to choose off-campus housing.

Meaney confirmed that UNCW is not looking to purchase the apartment complexes, but rather lease out the buildings to have additional beds for the 2024–2025 school year. To get approval for a master lease — an agreement of an income-producing property is leased as a single tenant and then subleased to tenants to get rental income — but must be approved by the Board of Governors. Currently, UNCW is looking to enter into a lease agreement with Plato’s Lofts at Randall.

UNCW underclassmen, freshmen and sophomores, who do not have residential status in Wilmington are required to live on campus for two years. Upperclassmen students have expressed concerns about not finding on-campus housing, even if they want to live on campus. The process for selecting ideal apartments included looking at properties that are on the city bus lines.

“If we hit our targets for enrollment next year, we’re going to just not have enough space on campus to also be able to accommodate the juniors and seniors,” Meaney said.

After contacting the university’s Office of Business Affairs, the Office of University Relations (OUR) informed The Seahawk that there are currently no updates regarding finalizing the terms of the lease. Meaney also confirmed that HRL does not have plans to continue leasing off-campus apartments because UNCW is in the final stages of finalizing their plan. This plan highlights the Office of the Chancellor’s goals for the university and serves as a “discovery phase.”

“We just didn’t want to have nothing for our juniors and seniors,” Meaney said. “We know there is a desire for our upper-class students to at least lease through the university to simplify that payment process and that piece of their financial picture.”

This is a developing story. We will update you as the situation continues.