August 18, 2020
Mr. John G. Picerne
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Corvias Group
1405 S County Trail #530
East Greenwich, RI 02818
Dear Mr. Picerne:
We write to request information regarding recent reports of Corvias putting profits above public
health during the COVID-19 pandemic as the company reportedly seeks to “influence return-tocampus plans during the coronavirus pandemic” for the colleges and universities at which it
owns and manages student housing. 1 Institutions of higher education within the University
System of Georgia (USG) and Wayne State University – both of which have student housing
agreements with Corvias – have been “moving to bring students back to campus and to hold inperson instruction this fall,”2 like colleges and universities across the country, grappling with
how to do so safely. But reports that Corvias has been pushing for a less restricted reopening of
on-campus housing that would be inconsistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) guidelines raise serious questions about the nature of these partnerships and the private
sector influences affecting campuses as they make important public health decisions for the Fall.
In 2014, Corvias entered into a decades-long $517 million Service Concessionaire Agreement
with USG to manage and operate nearly 6,200 beds and construct over 3,600 new beds across
nine institutions of higher education.3 A review of this and similar agreements presented at a
meeting of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers reported that under this agreement, the
institutions and the Board of Regents – the centralized governing and management authority of
USG – would “serve as primary stakeholders,”4 retaining “exclusive authority over setting
residency requirements for students at each institution,” with “no minimum occupancy levels”

Business Insider, “A student-housing developer is facing backlash after pressuring schools to bring college kids
back to campus so it could keep its revenues up,” Meghan Morris, August 10, 2020,
https://www.businessinsider.com/corvias-faces-questions-over-return-to-campus-influence-georgia-michigan-20208.
2
Inside Higher Ed, “Housing Developer Pressured Universities on Fall Plans,” Rick Seltzer, August 7, 2020,
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/07/housing-developer-reminded-universities-about-project-debtthey-mulled-fall-plans.
3
Id.
4
University System of Georgia, “Terms of the Deal: Highlights,” accessed on August 11, 2020,
https://www.usg.edu/assets/usg/docs/USG_Corvias_2014.pdf.
1

 guaranteed.5 And Corvias indicates that its agreements with colleges and universities allow these
institutions “control of strategic decisions” and “flexibility to change as campus evolves.”6
However, in a recently revealed May 29, 2020 letter from Corvias to the USG Board of Regents,
Corvias asserts that the Board does not have “the unilateral right” to prohibit students from living
on campus or to reduce housing fees and concludes that “limiting the occupancy of on-campus
student housing will not ultimately benefit students or the University community.”7 Corvias
reportedly sent a similar letter to Wayne State University – another institution with which it has a
decades-long agreement to manage and operate student housing. 8
CDC guidelines indicate that residence halls should be closed where feasible and that residence
halls opened at lower capacity with closed shared spaces still present more risks.9 In the letter
however, Corvias notes that while it supports following CDC guidelines that call for “reducing
density in student housing,” and taking into consideration the location, size, and structure of each
institution, it does not support a reduction in “the number of students that can be housed in a
given building” and believes “a more appropriate course of action would be … [to] limit the
occupancy and use of common areas, shared bathrooms, and elevators.”10 In fact, the letter
appears to indicate that Corvias does not support – and will not necessarily follow – all CDC
guidelines: “while the CDC said reducing density in student housing – making double rooms into
singles, for example – could reduce infection, Corvias said it wasn’t required to shift roommate
numbers or overall building numbers.”11
The May 29 document also revealed how, after the closure of campus housing at USG
institutions earlier during the pandemic, the Board of Regents “provided $13.4 million in rent
refunds, depleting its reserves” but that “Corvias did not cover or share in responsibility for this
refund nor indicated a willingness to do so for Fall 2020.”12
Ulmer & Berne LLP, “Cool Pools Rule: Development and Financing of 21st Century Student Housing; Public
Private Partnerships and Other Private Housing Development,” Bill J. Gagliano, October 2015,
https://www.ulmer.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/21638131_Fall-2015-ACREL-Student-Housing-SeminarMaterials-B.-Gagliano.pdf.
6
Corvias, “Maintain ownership and control,” accessed on August 13, 2020, https://www.corvias.com/highereducation-partnerships/maintain-ownership-and-control.
7
Letter from Corvias to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, May 29, 2020,
https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/media/Georgia-Corvias-Letter_0.pdf.
8
Inside Higher Ed, “Housing Developer Pressured Universities on Fall Plans,” Rick Seltzer, August 7, 2020,
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/07/housing-developer-reminded-universities-about-project-debtthey-mulled-fall-plans.
9
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Considerations for Institutions of Higher Education,” accessed on
August 11, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/colleges-universities/considerations.html.
10
Letter from Corvias to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, May 29, 2020,
https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/media/Georgia-Corvias-Letter_0.pdf.
11
Business Insider, “A student-housing developer is facing backlash after pressuring schools to bring college kids
back to campus so it could keep its revenues up,” Meghan Morris, August 10, 2020,
https://www.businessinsider.com/corvias-faces-questions-over-return-to-campus-influence-georgia-michigan-20208.
12
Business Insider, “A student-housing developer is facing backlash after pressuring schools to bring college kids
back to campus so it could keep its revenues up,” Meghan Morris, August 10, 2020,
https://www.businessinsider.com/corvias-faces-questions-over-return-to-campus-influence-georgia-michigan-20208.
5

 These revelations present serious concerns regarding Corvias’s role in addressing the student
housing issues and funding problems that campuses are dealing with during this pandemic, and
raise questions about the nature of its public-private partnerships with public institutions of
higher education and their governing bodies. An investigation of privatized housing in the
military has revealed potential concerns about these public-private partnerships and about your
company in particular. The Department of Defense’s privatization initiative that provided
Corvias and other private housing developers the opportunity to “own, operate, maintain,
improve, and assume responsibility for military family housing” on bases across the country has
resulted in deeply flawed and decades-long agreements that guaranteed private providers large
profits and sizeable incentive fees, earned at the expense of the health and safety of
servicemembers and their families. 13
It would be troubling if Corvias was once again prioritizing its profits over the health and safety
of its residents. To ensure that this is not the case, we ask that you provide a response to the
following question no later than September 1, 2020.
1. Please provide a list of all partners with which Corvias has an agreement to manage,
operate or construct student housing for institutions of higher education.
2. Please provide copies of all written communication between Corvias and these partners
regarding the status of student housing for the upcoming academic year.
3. Has Corvias taken any actions or communicated any advice or legal opinion to its student
housing partners indicating that they cannot or should not reduce occupancy levels of
student housing?
4. CDC has assessed risks for on-campus housing at institutions of higher education as
follows: “Lowest Risk: Residence halls are closed, where feasible. More
Risk: Residence halls are open at lower capacity and shared spaces are closed (e.g.,
kitchens, common areas). Highest Risk: Residence halls are open at full capacity
including shared spaces (e.g., kitchens, common areas).”14 Does Corvias agree with these
CDC risk assessments? If so, what actions are you taking to reduce risks or the
residences you manage under contract with higher education partners?
5. Did Corvias consult public health experts or local and state officials to determine that a
reduction in “the number of students that can be housed in a given building” is not
necessary for the all campuses for which it operates and manages housing?

13

Letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren to Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Armed
Services, April 30 2019, https://www.warren.senate.gov/oversight/letters/senator-warren-releases-her-investigationof-the-pentagons-substandard-military-base-housing-program, Letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren to military
housing developers, February 08, 2020, https://www.warren.senate.gov/oversight/letters/senator-warren-questionsmilitary-housing-developers-on-defense-dept-partnership-agreements.
14
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Considerations for Institutions of Higher Education,” accessed on
August 11, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/colleges-universities/considerations.html.

 6. Please provide full copies of all original agreements and amendments under which
Corvias has assumed responsibility for developing, operating, or providing any other
service to and for institutions of higher education.
7. Are the profits Corvias receives from constructing, managing or operating housing for
institutions of higher education set in or otherwise outlined in these agreements? If so,
how are these profits set?
Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

___________________________
Elizabeth Warren
United States Senator

___________________________
Rashida Tlaib
Member of Congress