New contracts for the University-owned, Greek-letter townhouses will lower summer standards for filling the housing space and reduce the summer price of a Townhouse Row bed by $600, senior administrators said this week.

Under the current contracts – which expire this year – Greek-letter life groups were expected to fill 95 percent of the beds in their townhouses all year. If groups fell below this occupancy level, they were liable to be charged for each unfilled bed. The stipulation originally left at least three Greek-letter groups with charges upwards of $10,000 before Senior Vice President for Student and Academic Support Services Robert Chernak forgave the organizations’ debts earlier this month, citing the past year’s sluggish economy.

Seth Weinshel, director of GW Housing Programs, said summer occupancy levels will be set at 70 percent under the new contracts. He added that if a Greek-letter group meets full occupancy during the fall and spring semesters, summer occupancy levels would be reduced by an additional 5 percent for each respective semester.

Prices per bed during the summer months will also be lowered to help make it easier for these organizations to fill their townhouses over the summer, Chernak said. Under the current contract, students were charged the same price to live in an Ivory Tower quad as they were to live in a Greek-letter townhouse, something Greek-letter life leaders said made the process for finding prospective occupants difficult.

Weinshel said that the price per bed in a Greek-letter townhouse over the summer will decrease by $600 for the summer’s two terms. Last summer, students paid $1,800 for half of the summer and $3,400 for the entire summer. Those prices have been reduced to $1,500 for half of the summer and $2,800 for the entire summer.

“GW has heard what the Greek community has said about the summer occupancy rate when they met with Vice President Chernak, and GW will lower the occupancy level requirement and the summer housing rate based on that meeting, as well as [try] to provide incentives for chapters to make it easier for them to fill their houses during the summer,” said Seth Weinshel, director of GW Housing Programs.

Chernak said he promised to help Greek-letter chapters affected by summer housing issues, adding that he thinks the changes made are reasonable and fair.

Weinshel also announced that two additional University-owned townhouses will be reserved for Greek-letter organizations for the 2010-2011 school year, increasing the number of Greek-letter groups who will have University-owned houses on campus. Both townhouses are located on F Street, next to South Hall.

In addition, the current Pi Delta Psi townhouse located on F Street next to the Newman Catholic Center will be swapped for a Scholars Village townhouse at 526 22nd St., Weinshel said.

Interfraternity Council President Chas Pressner said these changes will enhance Greek-letter life.

“Any new additions to Greek housing is always a great step forward,” Pressner said. “I am really excited for the new houses to come online.”