It canÂ’t even pay its debts.

A private developer shuttered Texas Southern University's two newly constructed parking garages and shuttle service today after the financially troubled school stopped paying its bills.

The move left thousands of students, faculty and staff members scrambling at the commuter campus, while the roughly $35 million project is at risk of default.
The Integrity Group made the decision less than three years into a 30-year lease with the university, which hired the Cleveland, Ohio-based company to construct and manage the parking garages and six-shuttle service.

The two garages, totaling 2,000 parking spaces, opened last year. But the university did not collect adequate fees or occupancy rates to pay the debt service on the project, and students recently voted down a proposed fee to pay for the shuttle service.

Campus leaders have asked the state Legislature for an emergency appropriation of $1.7 million to cover the shortfall. But lawmakers have balked because the expense is not directly related to education.

Time to merge the scandal-plagued, failing, third-rate educational institution with the University of Houston – only a few blocks away – and put an end to this embarrassing remnant of the Jim Crow era.

Posted by: Greg at 11:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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