Having aborted sale plans, University of Iowa eyes upgrades to Mayflower Hall

IOWA CITY — Having abandoned plans to sell its “last-chosen and first-transferred-from” Mayflower Residence Hall, the University of Iowa is looking to spend $2.4 million to transform the 57-year-old former apartment complex’s ground floor.

Proposed renovations going before the Board of Regents next week include an open study lounge with adjacent small-group study rooms; an expanded fitness center with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out toward Iowa City Park and the Iowa River; and a centralized vending area.

“These renovations aim to optimize functionality and create a more welcoming, student success-centered environment,” according to the project proposal, which officials said aligns with a broader UI goal to “reinvest wisely in existing facilities to extend their life and provide a high-quality student experience.”

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‘Continue to use Mayflower’

UI officials two years ago told regents they planned to sell the 326,000-square-foot property along N. Dubuque Street due to its mile separation from the main campus’ academic buildings, food service amenities, and other residence hall neighborhoods.

“For first-year students, it is the last-chosen and first-transferred-from residence hall,” according to the campus’ master housing plan summary in 2023. The hope was to sell Mayflower for $45 million and then build a new $40 to $60 million residence hall specifically for returning students — as most halls prioritize freshmen.

At that time, officials suggested Mayflower’s final year would be the 2024-25 term — pulling 1,032 beds offline, some of which would have been replaced with the new hall.

But the university pulled the building off the market last year — without landing a buyer — citing “immense interest from returning and prospective students” wanting to live on campus.

“Based on the future goals for occupancy of the residence hall system by first-year and returning students, we will continue to use Mayflower for student housing,” UI Assistant Vice President for Student Life and Senior Director of University Housing and Dining Von Stange said last May.

The university currently houses 6,471 students — up from 6,345 two years ago and putting it at 99 percent capacity, with expectations to reach total capacity at 6,612 students next year.

An updated Iowa City assessment values the property at $26.3 million.

‘Additional supports and amenities’

Built in 1968 as eight-story Mayflower Apartments, the university started leasing portions of the apartment building in 1979 due to overcrowding in its student housing — buying the building outright in 1983 for a “bargain sale price of $6.5 million.”

It was renovated in 1999 — to include a game room, coffee shop, and multipurpose room — and again after expansive flood damage in 2008. But student interest in the hall — offering both single and double rooms with shared kitchens and bathrooms — still waned.

Having shelved the sale, UI officials last year looked to increase the hall’s popularity by adding more study spaces and single rooms.

“Campus leaders are working with students to determine what additional supports and amenities may be offered,” officials said a year ago, when the campus also cut the cost to live there.

Instead of $9,041 charged for a standard double with shared bath, the university this year charged $8,073 for a Mayflower double — putting it in line with the standard double rooms across campus.

With the proposed renovations planned to begin this spring and wrap in the summer — also updating flooring, wall treatments, restrooms, and activity rooms — the university has proposed raising the Mayflower price the same 4 percent as the rest of its rates.

That will keep the Mayflower double cheaper than other doubles with a shared bathroom — while still raising its cost to $8,388.

If approved, the project is expected to save more than $100,000.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com