The University of Iowa's Mayflower dorm will stay open to accommodate large numbers

Record enrollment numbers have motivated the University of Iowa to temporarily pause selling one of its oldest dormitories.

Mayflower Residence Hall will house students through the 2024-25 academic year, the university announced, citing record-high new student applications and large interest from returning students. The school had planned to close the dorm after the current school year in an effort to move student housing to a more central location.

Mayflower is located on N. Dubuque Street across from the Iowa River.

The decision to stay open for another year comes roughly eight months after Mayflower was listed for sale for $45 million. A sales agreement would be contingent on allowing the university to continue to use the building for student housing through the 2024-25 school year, a UI spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.

The building opened in 1968 as a privately owned apartment complex. The UI began leasing portions of the facility in 1979 and acquired the full space in 1982.

Mayflower spans 326,000 square feet and includes 278 units, home to more than 1,000 students.

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Record enrollment prompts pause

More than 1,500 returning students have already applied to remain on campus in the coming academic year, the University of Iowa said in a release. A record number of new students have already applied for the fall, though the UI did not specify a specific number.

University architect Rod Lehnertz told the state Board of Regents last year that returning student housing capacity would be reduced from roughly 1,000 to 300 if Mayflower were sold. In its plan to the Regents, the UI accepted that it would have to "closely manage" its returning student population which meant they possibly could turn returning students away from university housing.

Mayflower's distance from campus has also been a key factor in putting the building up for sale. It is the only residence hall more than a mile off campus. Still, Mayflower provides an attractive spot for new and returning students because the room suites include shared kitchen access and private bathrooms, a rarity elsewhere on campus.

From June: The 55-year old Mayflower Residence Hall's sale is part of Iowa's push to centralize student housing

The UI plans to use some of the funding from Mayflower's sale to construct brand-new student housing on university-owned land near downtown, which could include a 250-to-400-person residence hall exclusively for returning students.

That new building would sit either on the east side of campus, at Market Street and Clinton Street near the Pappajohn Business Building, or on the west side near Slater Residence Hall. Those plans are still yet to be confirmed and remain contingent on the university's ability to use some of the money raised through the sale of Mayflower.

“Space for students who wish to continue living in the residence halls past their first year will be limited during the interim period,” UI media relations manager Chris Brewer told the Press-Citizen last June.

What are the operating costs of Mayflower?

Mayflower's Realtor.com listing includes operating costs for prospective owners, including income before taxes and expenses, property tax costs and more:

• Gross Income — $8,094,600

• Operating Expenses — $2,177,862

• Property Tax — $940,885

• Maintenance Expense — $296,640

• Heating and Cooling Expenses — $127,500

• Electric Expenses — $127,500

• Water Sewer Expenses — $98,500

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Mayflower's history and the land it inhabited

The Walter Terrell Mansion, built in 1851, originally sat on the property at 1110 N. Dubuque Street. In the mid-20th century, it became the Mayflower Inn, home to the Mayflower Night Club, according to Our Iowa Heritage, before it was destroyed and the eight-story apartment building was constructed.

The May Flower Apartment Community originally opened in 1968. The university first leased portions of Mayflower in 1979 before the building was entirely acquired by the UI in 1982. Mayflower was the largest on-campus housing structure before Catlett Residence Hall opened in 2017.

The original dormitory featured an indoor pool before it was closed as a cost-saving measure in 1987.

The university renovated the building in 1999, spending $1.5 million to add a game room, coffee shop, and multipurpose room.

Before the city raised Dubuque Street and Park Road Bridge to one foot above the 100-year flood level, students were required to walk up exterior stairs or take the ramp into the residence hall at 1110 N. Dubuque Street. The building was surrounded by water during the 2008 floods.

Now, its front entrance sits level with the street.

Mayflower was in the news in November 2022 when a student fell out of a sixth-story window while allegedly playing catch in his kitchen. He was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

The university’s sale of Mayflower would mark the first major downsizing of residential living on campus since the demolition of the Quadrangle in 2016. Catlett was opened a year later.

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: University of Iowa pauses sale of Mayflower dorm to accompany record enrollment