Phi Kappa Psi house open for leasing, fraternity still suspended

The Phi Kappa Psi house reopened this month in the midst of the fraternity’s four-year suspension. The house, which has been almost completely reconstructed, will be the first of its kind at UCLA to be built following environmentally friendly policies.

The new building, which opened on Sept. 7, is currently available as housing to any student, said Aaron Marzwell, the development manager for the house and a UCLA and Phi Kappa Psi alumnus. Leases start on Sept. 29.

To make it a green facility, building planners have incorporated components of the old building into the new one, which will keep still-useful parts of the house from going to waste. For example, the house’s foundation is partially built from the old one’s demolished concrete.

Some other green aspects of the house include energy-efficient lighting and water heaters, and a computer which monitors the house’s functions, Marzwell said.

UCLA’s Phi Kappa Psi chapter will not immediately be allowed to live in the house. The chapter was suspended in 2011 because of behavioral issues, said Troy Bartels, an adviser with Fraternity and Sorority Relations. According to Daily Bruin archives, the suspension occurred after a series of “risk-management” violations, which included alcohol use and unauthorized events.

Bartels said the earliest they will be allowed back is 2015, pending good behavior by current members of the fraternity.

Of the 24 rooms in the house, the price of triples starts at $987 per month, with Internet, electricity, water and basic cable included, Marzwell said.

In 2001, the Phi Kappa Psi Cal Ep Housing Corp. decided that the house, located on Gayley Avenue, needed to be rebuilt because of the wear and tear it had experienced in the past 80 years, said Jeremy Tillman, a member of the corporation and a Phi Kappa Psi alumnus. The corporation is the current owner of the house.

Since 2001, fraternity brothers of Phi Kappa Psi have worked together to raise $4 million and draft plans to rebuild their house with a new, green infrastructure.

The building was demolished in 2012, and construction started soon after. The $7.5 million project is funded by $4 million in alumni donations and $3.5 millionin a loan, to be paid back through leasing and property operations, Marzwell said.

Tillman said that tenant leases, coupled with donations from UCLA Phi Kappa Psi alumni, will be enough to pay off the loan in full.

For now, the Phi Kappa Psi Cal Ep Housing Corp. is planning to operate the building as a student housing project, Marzwell said.

Eventually, the group wants to run it as a fraternity house, Marzwell said.

The goal of the house is to be certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, program, level Silver, Marzwell said. If certified, this would be the first fraternity or sorority house at UCLA to be LEED-certified, Bartels said.

The Phi Kappa Psi house planners will know if they have been certified after the building has been completed and they have submitted the necessary paperwork, Marzwell said.