Private financier builds student accommodation at KTH
The entrepreneur and hotel owner Bicky Chakraborty is constructing a building for student accommodation on the KTH campus on Valhallavägen. The building shall comprise accommodation for students registered at KTH and will contain 42 apartments. It is estimated that students will be able to move in in 2013.
Elite Hotels' founder and owner Bicky Chakraborty is financing the construction of a student accommodation building on the KTH campus on Valhallavägen. The construction will commence in autumn 2012 and it is estimated that students will be able to move in in 2013.
Increased access to student accommodation is an important issue for KTH and crucial to attracting students, both nationally and internationally. Bicky Chakraborty's student building will constitute a particularly desirable accommodation option as it is located centrally within KTH's campus.
"Bicky Chakraborty's student accommodation building is a most welcome addition to the KTH campus environment. Access to elegant student accommodation in a good location is a crucial part of the competition for the best students, both nationally and internationally. To a great level, the building will also contribute to the attractive and dynamic campus environment that KTH is actively planning," says Peter Gudmundson, President of KTH.
Bicky Chakraborty's connection to KTH goes right back to 1966, when he first came to Sweden. He first lived on Körsbärsvägen, close by KTH's campus. Bicky has fond memories of this time.
"My student years laid the foundations of all my business from there on. I have very happy memories from these years and the fantastic fellowship we had as students. My company, Elite Hotels, was student-owned at first, and we worked with accommodation and social activities for foreign students who came to Stockholm. So to now provide opportunities for the students of tomorrow to feel the same happiness and fellowship during their time as students as I did in mine feels like completing the circle," says Bicky Chakraborty.
Bicky Chakraborty has previously shown great generosity to KTH through a donation in 2006 to a professorship in Product and Service Design.
"I see this as a logical continuation of my previous engagements in the research that is carried out at KTH. I also wish to contribute to raising the reputation of the hotel industry in academia. KTH is Sweden's leading technical university, with cutting-edge expertise in a number of important areas. Being able to improve this environment with new accommodation for students is incredibly gratifying," says Bicky Chakraborty.
KTH Chairman, Börje Ekholm, CEO of Investor AB, is thrilled about the news.
"Being able to offer KTH students accommodation of this calibre right in the heart of the campus is an incredible asset, not least in terms of the competition for top international students. At the leading international universities, student accommodation on campus is a given, and something which plays a large part in the choices one makes as a student," says Börje Ekholm.
Peter Larsson
