Builders and developers nationwide are increasingly targeting universities to profit from a fast-selling college product: off-campus housing.
By focusing their efforts on selling upscale, mixed-use apartments to the general public, developers have capitalized off the growing demand created by a record number of students enrolling at universities across the country.
With the housing market buckling under a stifling economy, developers are striving to attract students with high-class features. One such housing complex, the Radian, opened its doors at 39th and Walnut streets last week.
At upscale off-campus apartments nationwide, developers say greater luxuries and more freedoms are the biggest selling points. Other luxury complexes that have been constructed near Penn's campus in recent years are the Hub at 40th and Chestnut streets and Domus at 34th and Chestnut streets.
That trend is extending nationwide: American Campus Communities, Inc. recently finished a large-scale off-campus development at Arizona State University.
When the smoke settled, Arizona students were introduced to the Vista Del Sol, a $130 million, resort-like development that features an outdoor swimming pool, fitness center and theater.
"The generation we see today is accustomed to having more privacy and more amenities than most on-campus housing has to offer," said Jason Wills, senior vice-president of development for ACCI. Wills said the company is in the process of negotiating a 1,000-bed project for Boise State University in Idaho.
"It really comes down to the student making a consumer-based decision," he said.
Steve Brown's Lucky apartment complex in Madison, Wis. - near the University of Wisconsin - also opened in August.
The complex contains two floors of retail space and apartments include features such as suede couches, designer chairs and dishwashers.
Brown - who has been in the business since 1980 - said more students have become open to the option of living off-campus.
"Each market is different, and in our case, it was a complicated partnership between the public sectors and private sectors that made this happen," Brown said of the agreement to build the 1.4 million-square-foot complex.
About 90 percent of the residents who live in Lucky are University of Wisconsin students.
While many developers rush to build upscale complexes near universities, Inland American Communities Group - developer of the Radian apartments - was invited to submit a bid to build the off-campus facility on land leased by the University, said Penn Facilities spokesman Tony Sorrentino.
The Radian is still having work done on its retail component, but its apartments are 100-percent leased.
"Our communities provide new, high-quality housing to meet the demand for off-campus living among the student population across the country," Inland Vice-President of Marketing Rachel Kihn wrote in an e-mail.
"Students are interested in off-campus living that offers the best experience for the best value, based on the amenities, technology and resident services being offered," she added.
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