Regents also approve additional funds for Sixth Street Garage greenhouse

The Arizona Board of Regents approved Friday the creation of a non-profit corporation to pay for building graduate student housing.

The Arizona Capital Facilities Finance Corporation will be able to issue up to $24 million in tax-exempt bonds to pay for construction of new buildings and use the revenue from the buildings to pay off the bonds. After 30 years, when the debts are paid off, the property will be transferred to the University of Arizona.

In other words, UA gets the property without incurring more debt in the short run, and the non-profit assumes the risk for the success or failure of any project.

ãItâs a new way to do things · for many people this is suspicious, but I can assure (the regents) itâs perfectly legal,ä said Joel Valdez, UAâs senior vice president for business affairs.

Building graduate student housing between the Tyndall Avenue Parking Garage and Coronado Residence Hall is the first project the finance corporation will undertake.

Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University have used similar financing techniques to build housing.

In related news, the Arizona Legislature approved a plan that will make it easier for UA to get bigger future loans to construct more buildings.

Right now, UA lobbyists go to the state Legislature every five years and negotiate for the amount of money they can borrow. Under a change approved recently, the universities can borrow 8 percent of the total amount the state allows in loans, meaning that UAâs capacity to borrow money for construction will increase in the future when the state has an increased capacity to loan out money, said UA lobbyist Greg Fahey.

Changing the amount UA can borrow to a percentage from a fixed dollar amount was an important accomplishment, said UA President Peter Likins.

In other news, regents approved $500,000 more to build a greenhouse with tighter security on top of a parking garage being built near East Sixth Street and North Highland Avenue.

ãThe structure of the parking garage needs to be engineered in such a way that it is secure so that the bad guys canât get to it, because weâll have some valuable stuff in there that needs to be secure,ä said Gene Sander, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The greenhouse, which will house valuable transgenic plants, will be moved from its current location south of the Chemistry building to make way for renovations.

Regents approved $1 million earlier this year to build the greenhouse.