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Case Statement
Iowa State Chapter of Triangle
Prepare for the next 50 years
April 2012
ContentsSection Page
History and Background.......................................................................................................................1-11.1 Our Chapter....................................................................................................................................1-11.2 Alumni Base....................................................................................................................................1-2
Looking Ahead.....................................................................................................................................2-32.1 Triangle Fraternity..........................................................................................................................2-32.2 Iowa State.......................................................................................................................................2-42.3 Engineering, Architecture, and Sciences.........................................................................................2-42.4 Greek System..................................................................................................................................2-4
The Plan...............................................................................................................................................3-53.1 Five-Year Plan.................................................................................................................................3-53.2 Current Facilities.............................................................................................................................3-6
3.2.1 Amenities in the 2000s......................................................................................................3-63.2.2 Current Costs.....................................................................................................................3-6
3.3 Facility Options...............................................................................................................................3-73.3.1 Concepts............................................................................................................................3-73.3.2 Amenities...........................................................................................................................3-7
3.4 Preliminary Evaluations..................................................................................................................3-83.4.1 Structural Analysis.............................................................................................................3-83.4.2 Cost Estimate.....................................................................................................................3-83.4.3 Financing............................................................................................................................3-9
3.5 Path Ahead.....................................................................................................................................3-9
Appendix A – rebuilding detail............................................................................................................4-10
Appendix B – purchasing 223 Lynn......................................................................................................5-12
DOCUMENT.DOCXRO/[INSERT DOCUMENT LOCATOR] III
1 History and Background1.1 Our ChapterThe Iowa State Chapter of Triangle Fraternity was organized in 1963 and petitioned National Council with 32 young men to become a chapter. On April 25, 1964 the chapter was installed. Triangle Fraternity is a men’s social fraternity whose members are recruited from undergraduate college students majoring in the field of engineering, architecture and the sciences. Throughout the years 463 young men have been activated into the active chapter. Our alumni have gone on to great success as entrepreneurs, executives, professors, adventurers and great men.
Shortly after the founding, the chapter purchased its main house at 125 North Hyland and the annex at 122 Campus Ave. In 1989, the chapter purchased another parcel adjacent to the main house and annex and own the entire tract of land between N Hyland and Campus Ave approximately 100 feet by 325 feet (about three-quarters of an acre). The main house was built in the 1926 and the annex in 1920. Capacity of the main house was approximately 35 brothers with an additional five in the annex. The only liabilities against the properties are with the national fraternity in order to facilitate a capital campaign. Currently there are 27 fraternity houses and 13 sorority houses on campus – all others are on the south side of campus.
The properties are located one block from the west edge of campus with engineering and architecture buildings centered on this side of campus. A new recreation facility recently opened (on the site of Clyde Williams Field) in addition to recent additions to residence halls and academic buildings on this side of campus. The neighborhood is dotted with apartment buildings and houses rented to college students. Apartment buildings dominate the area along N Hyland while Campus Ave remains about split 50/50.
In January of 2011, the Alumni Board decided to close the active chapter. Due to falling numbers over the past few years and low morale, the Active Chapter requested the suspension. The main house had also fallen into a state of disrepair which rendered it unlivable. Immediately following, the Alumni Board began discussions with the National Office to re-colonize at Iowa State. In the fall of 2013, with the help of the National Office, the re-colonization will be officially kicked-off by the Alumni Board. It is anticipated within a one to two years the group can reach chapter status and complete the return to Iowa State.
125 North Hyland
From the Triangle Review
1.2 Alumni BaseThe Iowa State Alumni Database has information about 411 living alumni. We have deliverable email addresses for 324 (and growing) of them.
Here is how they break down by decade of initiation:
1960’s 95 23%
1970’s 91 22%
1980’s 105 25%
1990’s 75 18%
2000’s 56 13%
The Alumni Board consists of 7 brothers:
Jason Carroll (President)[email protected]
Brant Bristow (VP)[email protected]
Nate Engle (Treas.)[email protected]
Josh [email protected]
Chris [email protected]
Bill [email protected]
Alumni Board mailing list:[email protected]
The Alumni Organization is currently collecting rent from students renting the Annex house. These proceeds go towards paying taxes and insurance on all properties.
Since the disillusion of the Active Chapter, the Alumni Board has held every-other week conference calls and bi-annual face-to-face meetings. This will continue through the rebuilding process, and likely beyond.
Regular communications have been sent to the alumni base about the current state of the chapter, and alumni interest has been positive. Social media is being employed to get the word out as well. To date, there are 78 members following us on Facebook, and 58 more on LinkedIn.
An Alumni Steering Board is being established, and Brothers Ed McCracken is64 and John Pritchard is82 have generously volunteered to Co-Chair the group. They will advise the Alumni Board on all matters from fundraising to facilities.
The Iowa State Chapter will be observing its 50th Anniversary on April 25, 2014, and the plan will be to have a new colony in process and the facilities plan in motion in time for that celebration. See Section 3, The Plan, for a more detailed timeline.
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2 Looking Ahead2.1 Triangle FraternityFounded in 1907, Triangle Fraternity continues to thrive as the only NIC fraternity that selects its members from the majors of engineering, architecture, and the sciences. Currently there are 27 fraternities, five colonies and two interest groups. Since 2008, five new chapters have been installed and with the number of colonies and interest groups as well as other plans to expand, Triangle Fraternity is truly thriving and growing. The National Office currently consists of an Executive Director (former Asst. Dean of Students for Greek Affairs at Iowa State) and four staffers plus three education and leadership consultants. Here are the recent colonization and re-colonization successes of the National Organization:
New Chapters
Date Installed Chapter Institution
April 19, 2008 Houston (hou)University of Houston, Houston, Texas
April 24, 2010 UC Berkeley (cal)University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
February 11, 2011 UC San Diego (ucsd)University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California
April 30, 2011 UNC Charlotte (char)University of North Carolina at Charlotte,Charlotte, North Carolina
May 7, 2011 Cal Poly Pomona (cpp)California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Pomona, California
Colonies
Date Organization Institution
2007-present Colorado State (csu)Colorado State UniversityFort Collins, Colorado
2008-present Michigan Tech (mtu)Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan
2008-present UC Irvine (uci)University of California, IrvineIrvine, California
2010-present Oregon State (orst)Oregon State University,Corvallis, Oregon
2010-present Cincinnati (cin)University of Cincinnati,Cincinnati, Ohio
Interest Groups
Date Organization Institution
2011-present Virginia Commonwealth(vcu)Virginia Commonwealth University,Richmond, Virginia
2011-present Penn State Behrend(psb)Penn State Erie, The Behrend College,Erie, Pennsylvania
2.2 Iowa StateThe fall of 2011 marked the highest enrollment in the history of Iowa State at 29,887 (compared to 12,451 in 1964). College of Engineering has increase enrollment by over 400 students the past two years. The College of Design (where the School of Architecture lives) has had steady enrollment due to the selective nature of the program. The vision for Iowa State includes advancing science and technology and as we know the seal of Iowa State includes the phrase ‘Science with Practice.’ It is quite clear that science and engineering will always be the foundation of Iowa State with a strong design program. Recently a new president of the University and deans of the colleges of engineering, design, and liberal arts and sciences have been appointed. All of these individuals have degrees in qualifying majors.
2.3 Engineering, Architecture, and SciencesEverywhere you turn the emphasis seems to be on educating young people in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). With the pace of advancements, continued shrinking of the world, increasing populations, climate change, aging infrastructure, and a plethora of other challenges, the world will only continue to rely on engineering, architects, and scientists. These professions are routinely ranked in the top 10 most admired and provide solid compensation right out of school.
2.4 Greek SystemIn the spring of 2011, the Assistant Dean of Students for Greek Affairs spoke to the Alumni Board. She noted that the Greek system hit something of a bottom in 2008 but has been growing ever since. The University has provided more resources and the start of Greek Getaway (a spring event to host incoming students) has been a huge success. In the fall of 2010, 470 new members joined fraternities (surpassing previous benchmarks). There are 29 fraternities on campus with Delta Upsilon re-starting in the fall of 2011. The Greek system is definitely on the upswing. The All-Greek Active Member GPA is well above the All-University GPA and when comparing similar groups (all-men’s and all-freshmen’s) the Greek members are always above the university average. As always, Greek students not only lead in their own organizations but across campus as well as contribute numerous hours and dollars to local philanthropies.
As you can see by the chart on the following page, the Iowa State Greek System is at a 10-year high for membership.
More facts about Iowa State and its Greek System:4
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Number Undergraduates
23,399 22,230 21, 354 20,732 20,440 21,044 21,607 22,521 23,104
Undergraduate Men
12,948 12,477 11,983 11,708 11,546 11,944 12,154 12,731 13,006
Total Number Greeks
2,570 2,397 2,389 2,076 2,266 2,335 2,439 2,507 2,648
Total # Greek Men
1,519 1,326 1,343 1,049 1,289 1,308 1,288 1,316 1,363
% of Greek Students
11% 11% 11% 10% 11% 11% 11.3% 11.1% 11.5%
% of Greek Men 12% 11% 11% 9% 11% 11% 10.6% 10.3% 10.5%
Freshmen Males 3,258 2,219 2,806 2,780 2,271 3,054 3,176 3,100 3,113
IFC Fall New Members
442 380 398 348 418 432 408 423 446
3 The Plan3.1 Five-Year PlanAt this turning point in our history, we have a chance to learn from our experiences and grow even stronger. Our plan is to re-colonize in the fall of 2013 with the assistance of the National Office. They will be on-campus to recruit the seed group of students to become the interest group. We anticipate a successful recruitment and that the interest group can complete the required steps to become a colony and then a chapter within 12-24 months. The Alumni Board will develop an alumni mentor group that will pair up with all the officers of the Chapter and other members to assist with their duties as officers and any other questions – this group will be assembled by the
fall of 2013 and ready to work as soon as the members are recruited. A facility group will also be formed to care
for the facility to assure maintenance is occurring. The Alumni Board overall will implement policies and procedures to provide more direct oversight including budgeting, recruiting, academics and involvement including regular goal setting and review.
A facility capital campaign has begun with the plan of securing donations and developing a detailed plan within 24-36 months. This will set the tone for the facility of the new group of brothers. A facility is seen as crucial for a campus such as Iowa State as all other large, successful Chapters have facilities of their own.
3.2 Current Facilities3.2.1 Amenities in the 2000sThe amenities are as diverse as the students. The latest residence halls to go up on campus are “suite-style” living where 4-people share a bathroom instead of a whole floor (see picture). Additionally many of the dining centers on campus have been renovated to provide students a variety of options – these look very much like cafeterias at major corporate campuses for their employees. Other typical amenities are cable TV, internet and laundry. Parking is typically not provided at residence halls or in the Greek system. AC is provided in new structures but older places do not have it…..in my experience it is only an issue with summer and a week or two at the beginning of classes. A new Rec Center was recently built on the old Clyde Williams Field that includes a pool and other typical rec center amenities.
The large cold air dorms are being phased out. Some houses are going to sleeping in double rooms, but most seems to consolidate into smaller cold-air type rooms with 6-18 people per cold-air. The most interesting renovation was just completed by Delta Upsilon where they devoted part of their house to the Entrepreneur Learning Community and will be living side-by-side as well as using part of the House for a café run by the learning community.
3.2.2 Current Costs Higher education costs are increasing dramatically across all areas from tuition to books to board and students are taking on more and more debt to complete their degrees. Residence halls are approximately $2,000 per semester (plus dues for floor activities) for a traditional room with roommate; the more desirable suite-style rooms are $2,800 per semester (plus dues). Meal plans are $2,000 per semeser for 19 meals per week. The Office of Greek Affairs at Iowa State has compiled the below table of average Greek costs:
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As evident, the costs for residential halls and the Greek system are very comparable.
Estimated cost of living in the residence halls:Fall & Spring
Year '10-'11 '11-'12 '12-'13
Room & Board $7,472 $7,622 $7,878
3.3 Facility OptionsWe believe there are three general options for a facility. A fourth option could be no facility, however due to the current Greek culture at Iowa State a facility appears to be a must. The options are:
1. Renovate the current main house
2. Tear-down and re-build on the current site
3. Sell the properties and purchase/build closer to the other Greek houses
Criteria for the decision include cost, ability to fundraise, availability, and amenities for future brothers. The capital campaign will facilitate the decision-making process and work in concert with the re-colonization efforts.
3.3.1 ConceptsA wide-variety of facility options are available and being utilized across the country for Greek organizations. Some of the more popular include: modulated housing where part of the facility can be closed off and either rented by non-members or not used; lodge-style where only a couple people live at the facility, but the facility is designed to host larger numbers for meetings and social functions; suite-style rooms where a few members share common bathrooms and common space near their sleeping quarters; Or traditional fraternity houses where there is a common sleeping quarter and smaller rooms for personal item storage and study space with larger common areas. These and other options are all to be considered and evaluated keeping in mind the climate of Iowa State and mood it will set for the brothers.
3.3.2 AmenitiesCollege students today expect high-technology, quality accommodations and privacy. These will need to weighed against cost and feasibility as we develop the facility plan. Some of the common amenity decisions include kitchen/meals, house mom, sleeping arrangements, room size, common space, study areas and recreation as well as many others. Kitchen/meal plans vary widely at Iowa State from a full kitchen with a chef to almost no kitchen and catered meals. The trend appears to be towards a catered meal plan. House moms (or house parents) are much less common with only a couple fraternities having them although most sororities still do employ house moms. Sleeping arrangements are evolving from the ‘cold airs’ style we currently have to smaller sleeping rooms for only a few to a dozen brothers to sleeping in individual rooms. Common space, study areas and recreation facilities are very important, particularly are they relate to the cultivation of brotherhood. These spaces should be designed with a great deal of thought and care.
Current Greek Organization Member Costs, ISU Office of Greek Affairs
Items Average Cost Per SemesterRoom & Board $3,000 – 4,000Chapter Dues $200Out of House Member Fee (often called Parlor Dues) $200Pledging & Initiation* $250
*one-time fee usually due the first semester of membership
3.4 Preliminary Evaluations3.4.1 Structural AnalysisThe existing North Hyland house was investigated by two structural engineers (one of which is a member of the Alumni Board). In their opinion, the main house would need substantial upgrades effectively taking a renovation down to the skin of the structure and re-building. This can be very costly in a structure as old as the one we own. Their professional opinion was that tear-down and re-build would be a more cost effective.
3.4.2 Cost EstimateThe three general facility options have been evaluated for a preliminary cost. The tear-down and re-build option is the most straight forward option to cost, however the quality of amenities can dictate major swings in the overall cost. A similarly sized facility to the current main house would be $3-4 million.
* more detail for the analysis above in Appendix AThe renovate option is difficult to estimate a cost due to the complexity of a renovation to that extent without a very thorough evaluation. The cost is likely 1.5 to 2 times the re-build cost.
The sell and move option is highly dependent upon available properties in the area currently occupied by other Greek organizations. Our current properties have been evaluated by a local real estate professional and valued at $350,000 based upon development into apartments..
The Beta Sigma Psi property at 223 Lynn Avenue has become available, and details of how we might proceed with the purchase of that property are detailed in Appendix B. The property was built in 1985, and represents much less of a need for fundraising than either the build or renovate option as it needs much less work than our current facility. The property also has the dual benefit of being much closer to the Greek System and is still almost equidistant to Marston Hall (main engineering building) as our current property. It has the added benefit of being
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much closer to the university football and basketball facilities, which were on the west side of campus when we first came to Iowa State as well.
Were this opportunity to not come to fruition, we’d likely need to wait several years or longer before a similar opportunity presents itself.
3.4.3 FinancingIt is likely the new facility will require a combination of donations and debt service. We are very lucky to have the Triangle Building Loan Fund and a solid base of alumni to accomplish this task. It is estimated that an active chapter of about 30 brothers could handle a debt service of $500,000. We assume dues, room and board, and other expenses will be about at the mid-point of the other fraternities at Iowa State and competitive with the residence halls. This will be further evaluated as the options become more refined.
3.5 Path AheadAs the capital campaign develops, the Steering Board comprised of those committed to it will direct the campaign and advise the Alumni Board on the appropriate course of action for a new facility. We anticipate relying heavily on the time, talent and treasure of our alumni throughout the re-colonization and facility planning process. It is with the combined efforts of many that we can again grow our fraternity into a life-changing experience for future brothers.
4 Appendix A – rebuilding detail
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5 Appendix B – purchasing 223 LynnOption to purchase 223 Lynn Avenue detail
BackgroundBeta Sigma Psi was once on North Hyland, similar to Triangle. In the 1980’s, they purchased land and built a new facility at 223 Lynn Avenue, about a block and a half south of the ISU Memorial Union. When they moved, Triangle and Alpha Sigma Phi were the only fraternities left on the west side of campus.
Alpha Sigma Phi left and recolonized without a house in the 1990’s (leaving Triangle as the sole fraternity on the west side), eventually purchasing the Sigma Nu house on Sorority Circle. With dwindling numbers, they sold this property to Beta Sigma Psi in 2010 and moved into 223 Lynn Avenue and paid rent to the Beta Sigs.
Beta Sigma Psi was in the process of raising funds to sprinkle and renovate 223 Lynn when the Alpha Sigma Phi house on Sorority Circle became available. Beta Sigma Psi is now eager to sell 223 Lynn Avenue and get out of the landlord business. Alpha Sigma Phi is not in the financial position to purchase the property, though they would like to remain as renters as long as they can. Beta Sigma Psi is offering the property for $650,000. Alpha Sigma Phi is currently paying $1500 per man per semester, but would likely be willing to let us restructure the arrangement to remain in a fraternity house (the only one currently available).
Why this makes sense financially for TriangleAs you can see above in section 3.4.2, the cost estimate of rebuilding a 30-man facility at 125 North Hyland would be approximately $3.5M (more to renovate). Assuming we could obtain a mortgage for $500K, that would require us to raise $3M from our 400 living alumni.
This option would require $650K to purchase the property and another ~$850,000 (Beta Sigma Psi’s estimate) to add a sprinkler system and renovate the property. Selling our current property for $350K leaves total cost of $1.15M, or $2.35M less than building new.
How would we do it?After speaking to the bank, here is how we might proceed:
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We have ~$350K in value for our current properties, though they will probably appraise for ~$600K. We could leverage 65% of the $350K to use as down payment for the Lynn property, or $227,500.
We need to put 35% down on the Lynn property, which is, coincidentally, exactly $227,500. We don’t need to sell the North Hyland properties in order to use them as leverage, however we will not
get “credit” for it and mortgage payments will be based on owing the full $650K. The bank will allow us to pay in 2 semi-annual payments. Owing the full $650K, these payments will be
$26K. Upon the sale of the North Hyland properties, we will then owe $423K and mortgage payments become a more manageable $16K. The loan will be at 4.95% for 20 years.
Brother Ed McCracken is64 has generously volunteered to guarantee the loan on our behalf. We will continue to rent the Lynn property to Alpha Sigma Phi for 3 years. They have 17 committed to
return in the fall, with a pledge class goal of 20 men. With the ability to rent out extra parking spaces and empty rooms if we need, we should be able to make $10K in summer rent and $40K each fall and spring semester.
Fundraising pledges will start coming in prior to our recolonization effort in the fall of 2013. Until then rental revenue, the sale of the N Hyland properties, and a $20k start-up donation will carry us through that time.
Income and expensesrenovation
summer, move-in fall
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017Beginning Account Balance
$20,000 $22,000 $408,000 $524,000 $35,000 $256,000
Rental Revenue $50,000 $90,000 $90,000 $80,000 $90,000 $90,000
Fundraising Revenue ($1.2M)
$400,000 $200,000 $200,000 $200,000 $200,000
Expenses Mortgage $26,000 $32,000 $32,000 $32,000 $32,000 $400,000 Recruitment $20,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 Insurance $5,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 Taxes $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 Misc repairs $5,000 $10,000 $10,000 $5,000 $5,000 $5,000Total Expenses $48,000 $84,000 $74,000 $69,000 $69,000 $437,000
Renovation Expense $20,000 $100,000 $700,000
Annual Income $2,000 $386,000 $116,000 ($489,000) $221,000 ($147,000)
Ending Account Balance
$22,000 $408,000 $524,000 $35,000 $256,000 $109,000
