ABOUT STRAYER UNIVERSITY
* University enrollment: 52,253* Enrollment by degree: 75% bachelors, 22% masters, 3% associate, 1% certificate* Student profile: 69% female, 34 is average age, 76% are students of color* Enrollment status: 11% full timeSource: Strayer University
Strayer University has opened a Chattanooga campus downtown where its officials hope to take advantage of the central city location to woo students.
Meanwhile, the owner of the Market City Center building, where Strayer is leasing space, is taking issue with city and Hamilton County officials who claim the 10-story tower isn’t in compliance with a tax-incentive agreement.
Jeanne Poindexter, campus director in Chattanooga for the private, for-profit university, said the site is its first location in the Scenic City after already having facilities in Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis.
She said the Chattanooga campus will offer associate and bachelor degrees and coursework in such fields as business administration, criminal justice and information systems. In addition, the university will offer master’s degrees, including an MBA, Poindexter said.
Nationwide, more than 50,000 students take classes at over 70 campuses in 15 states and Washington, D.C., or via the internet, according to Strayer.
Poindexter said Strayer isn’t providing physical class offerings at the Chattanooga campus yet. Students taking online classes can come to the space for support, tutoring or enrollment information, she said. Plans are to offer on-site classes potentially early next year, the director said.
The space at Market City Center, located on the 700 block of Market Street, provides a student lounge, a classroom and offices, the campus director said.
“It’s got this storefront look,” she said. “It’s that downtown area that kind of brings out students who are often nontraditional.”
Poindexter said students can park in the adjacent SunTrust Bank parking garage, and the campus is located on a public bus line.
Market City Center, the tallest building to go up in the heart of downtown since the 1970s, opened in 2017. The $30 million structure built by Atlanta-based The Simpson Organization was raised to hold 125 apartments along with retail and office space.
But the building has struggled to find tenants, and its owner this year converted half of its housing units into Stay Alfred Vacation Rentals.
Last week, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke and Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger said in a letter that converting apartments to hotel rooms “is in violation” of the tax agreement with the city and county.
But Boyd Simpson, CEO of The Simpson Organization, said in a letter that Market City Center is in full compliance with its obligations under the Payment-in-Lieu-of-Tax agreement.
He said none of the 25 apartments available for low- and moderate-income residents have been converted to a different use.
“As of the current date substantially all of the subsidized units are leased to qualifying parties. We have no intention of changing this,” Simpson said.
He said The Simpson Organization has invested a lot of money in downtown. The group also owns the SunTrust Bank building and Warehouse Row.
Simpson said he is “astounded that you would send us such a letter without the benefit of prior discussion, which would have entirely removed any controversy.”
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.