On the first move-in day of the University of Hawaii’s new dormitory for student entrepreneurs, Maverick Tongg came armed not only with his bags and boxes, but loads of ideas that he says could revolutionize Hawaii’s tourism industry.

But already the savvy businessperson, 19-year-old Tongg said he’s keeping his main concept confidential for now while he grows it, and cultivates a team from allies he expects to make among his dorm mates at the Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs.

For now the concept is “top secret,” Tongg said with a conspiratorial smile. “One of my big dreams is to really make it big as an entrepreneur. So yeah, I’m taking my time and learning.”

Such ambition and ideas are part of what founders of RISE are hoping to see grow across the expected 374 UH students who will live in this first-in-Hawaii residential hub for student entrepreneurship, opening this week after more than six years of planning and construction.

As the Honolulu Star-­Advertiser on Tuesday was the first news outlet to view the interior and operations of the six-story, $100 million complex at University Avenue and Metcalf Street, RISE was vibrating with activity. Cheery balloons, signs and staffers greeted streams of excited students and parents hauling carts and luggage, as workers were still hammering and painting, and tilling the front lawn for landscaping.

Final polishing touches on the residential portions of the 114,000-square-foot complex will take about another month, said Mike Lam, senior vice president of development and project lead at Hunt Development Corp. The Atherton wing, containing office and administrative space, is expected to be completed in January.

But already the sleek RISE facility is clearly a wide departure from most of UH’s other much older dormitories.

Designed to encourage young entrepreneurs to collaborate and develop their business ideas on-site, the air-conditioned complex includes spacious “community spaces” such as study areas, group kitchens and an outdoor deck. And a massive innovation-and-entrepreneurship center features a lounge for large gatherings, group tables, meeting rooms, and “maker spaces” with cutting-edge equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutters, tools, sewing machines, project workspaces and more.

Even more of a departure is the built-in business-related programming at RISE: Dorm life will include speakers, workshops and even “Get Seeded” nights, where students will get to pitch their business ideas, the audience will vote for their favorites, and winners will get up to $1,500 to kick-start their ideas. RISE’s entrepreneurship program will be managed by the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship in UH Manoa’s Shidler College of Business.

The vision is that “students will develop new skill sets so that they may become the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs who can positively impact our community,” the website says.

University officials said they believe RISE to be the state’s first true public-­private partnership, or “P3,” in that it was built with private funding and no taxpayer money.

UH and the University of Hawaii Foundation worked with bond issuer Public Finance Authority and El Paso, Texas-based Hunt Development Group to design, build and finance the project at the former site of Atherton YMCA.

Construction cost about $73 million, but with “soft costs,” including planning, design, permitting and more, the final total was close to $100 million, said Kalbert Young, UH vice president for budget and finance and chief financial officer.

“We (UH) are not operating it and we don’t get to control the revenues … (but) we’re satisfying a public need without having taxpayers or public funds having to be contributed, and the private partner is assuming a fair amount of the risk — and therefore that reduces the risk that needs to be placed on the public partner,” Young said Tuesday. “I cannot think of other public-private partnerships, any projects actually in Hawaii, that fit this bona fide P3 model.”

The operating budget will run about $5.5 million a year, but that won’t come from state funding either, said John Han, UH Foundation vice president for administration and chief financial officer. Instead, leases students pay for the RISE dorms, plus income from smaller residential organizations, such as a food vendor that will occupy the lobby, should cover operations. B.HOM Student Living will manage RISE, as the university’s first externally managed student housing complex.

RISE is also UH’s first new student-housing project in decades; the last project was a renovation of Frear Hall about 20 years ago.

And RISE is one of only five residential projects for student entrepreneurs in the U.S. that has 300 or more beds, UH officials said.

Residents can come from any discipline and are not limited to business students. The first cohort of RISE residents includes students from every UH college, and officials said that as of Tuesday, 97% of rooms had been leased, which they consider full occupancy.

Stella Adeyemi, a public health major, came all the way from Omaha, Neb., to live at RISE. Mylie McRoberts, a marine biology major came from Boise, Idaho. Both 18-year-olds said they’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and are excited to see if they can grow businesses in their respective fields of study.

McRoberts is interested in developing a business that focuses on recycling and helps to sustain and restore the ocean’s corals. Adeyemi wants to see if she can create products that improve people’s health.

“This is a very creative space, and they have a lot of resources for that,” Adeyemi said. “I feel like being around people who stimulate a lot of ideas is going to be really fun.”