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GREENSBORO — UNCG has a contingency plan to house students once renovation of the Quad residence halls starts next year — leasing existing apartments.

During a committee meeting Tuesday morning, members of UNCG’s board of trustees discussed leasing off-campus space for student housing, in case it is needed while the Quad undergoes renovation.

Committee members expressed concern about how the off-campus units would be managed and wanted to discuss the matter with the full board, said Mike Byers, associate vice chancellor for campus enterprises.

Byers said officials haven’t spoken with any apartment owners. The university is exploring its options, he said.

“I’m predicting that it’s not likely we can find enough inventory close to campus that would also meet the state’s specifications,” Byers said later Tuesday. “We just need to have that in our tool kit as a way to deal with having fewer beds in our inventory when we close the Quad.”

Byers said the university system has a “fairly restrictive” set of qualifications for housing students that some older apartment complexes may not have to adhere to, such as having fire-sprinkling systems in every unit.

While Byers said there is no way of knowing how much it would cost to lease apartments without bidding, the university did consult the state property office to provide the trustees with some estimates.

According to information provided to the committee, it could cost about $5,475 per bed annually. The university would want to contract for up to 500 beds during any semester over the next four years, beginning next academic year.

Renovation of the Quad is scheduled to begin in May 2011. It will cost about $52.5 million to renovate the seven dormitories, which were built in the 1920s, into suite-style units.

A new residence hall on Spring Garden Street is scheduled to open in fall 2011 and will reduce the number of beds lost during the Quad renovation. But Byers estimates there still will be about 350 fewer beds without the Quad.

“It starts to cramp our ability to house upperclassmen for one year, possibly two,” he said.

The Quad renovation and construction of a new dorm are part of UNCG’s plan to address projected enrollment growth and encourage more students to live on campus.

The full board of trustees will meet Feb. 18.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 373-7080 or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com