Completion is Realistic
The Student Society is trying for the third time carry out the completion of a new building on the empty prison lot. Again, financing is the biggest obstacle to the goal.
Tekst: Hilde Ørbo, Markus Tobiassen
"We’ve never been as close as we are now,” says Dag Herrem, leader for the Finance Council for the Student Society (Samfundet).
New Building on the Prison Lot
A new building on the prison lot has a price tag of about 30 million NOK. The new building is planned to house practice rooms and offices, thereby making more room for commercial activity at the Student Society’s main building.
The process was resumed after a decision by NTNU’s management to begin negotiations with the Student Society regarding the purchase of the empty lot behind the Samfundet-building, the so-called “prison lot.”
The new building will be financed through the sale of the remaining parts of the lot, increased subsidies for maintenance costs from NTNU and external parties, such as SiT.
After 20 years of plans for a new building on the empty lot, Herrem believes a decision will be made by Christmas.
Both the Student Society, NTNU and the local county are optimistic, despite previous failed attempts. In 2003, the first concrete plan to build a new building on the lot failed. In 2006 the project was then adjusted.
The sketches for building now on table are an integrated solution between NTNU and the Student Society. The Society wants the building to be around 1200 square meters with accompanying basement areas. The rest of the old prison lot will be sold to NTNU. A rush to start the project is driving the progression of the sale.
In June, NTNU made a board decision to enter a dialogue with the Student Society regarding the purchase of the lot. Many things indicate that NTNU is rushing to procure the property. NTNU’s property manager, Lindis Burheim, believes that this is the most strategic property for which are bargaining.
“It’s extremely important for NTNU to secure the purchase of the lot for long term expansion,” says Burheim.
She also emphasizes the need to get the ball rolling on the realization of the Student Society’s new building plans.
An obstacle for NTNU is that they, like all universities in Norway, do not have the right to complete the purchase of a new property without a corresponding sale of another property.
“In order to buy the lot, we need to obtain the right to use operational funds for the purchase of the lot, which we’ll get through the regrouping proposition to be taken up in the Norwegian parliament this December,” she says.
No Problems with the Plan for Regulation
Additionally, the local county must approve the suggestion for a regulation plan from the Student Society for the lot, before the procurement of funds can begin.
Project leader for Trondheim county, Anne Reinton, believes that it should not be problematic to approve a new building for the old prison lot. “For the Student Society’s new building, the plan for regulation is as good as finished,” she says.
She believes that the project can be completed and emphasizes that a new building could be advantageous to the Student Society, NTNU, SiT and the local county. “It is totally realistic for the Student Society to construct a new building on the prison lot when all of the parties involved have an interest in its completion,” says Reinton.
Financing the Biggest Obstacle
The details for the plan for regulation will determine how much the Student Society can receive for the sale of the lot. In the sale of the remainder of the lot, the society will be paid an amount per square meter that is developed.
“I think that a lot depends on what price we can get for the lot,” says Dag Herrem.
It is not possible for the society to take out a loan in order to finance the project. Currently, the plan is that the costs will be covered through the sale of the lot and an increase in financial support for operations from NTNU for a period of ten years. It will still be necessary to find external funds to cover the entire cost.
“Financing will definitely be the most difficult part,” says Herrem.
SiT would like to contribute financially to the realization of a new building on the prison lot. Still, leader for the association, Knut Solberg, cannot give estimates or actual numbers. “We need an estimate of how much it will cost and the Student Society’s precise plans, before we can make a statement regarding how much we can contribute,” says Solberg.
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