Student housing to become reality

by Boyd Fletcher and Clayton Woullard
The Metropolitan

Housing designed with Auraria students in mind will become a reality this August, with the completion of the first phase of a housing project at the former Regency Hotel. (over all site view)  and  from the Valley Highway (I-25)

The former hotel, located at 3900 Elati St., nearly three miles from campus, is under renovation and will open in late August with 307 beds.

The Regency: Aurariaís Student Housing Community, L.L.C., the company behind the project, will open 393 more beds by next January, totaling 700 beds, according to Mike Francone, Director of Student Housing for the project.

Housing will only be available for students at Metro, CCD or UCD. Undergraduate and graduate students are eligible, as long as undergrads are enrolled in at least six credit hours per semester for at least two semesters, and grad students are enrolled in at least five credit hours per semester for two semesters.

The entire project will be modeled after a residence hall at a traditional campus with dormitory rooms (floorplan). Rent starts at $450 for one bed in a two-bed unit, and includes utilities, basic cable, high-speed Internet access and local phone service. The cost for a single-bed unit starts at $860 and a bed in a suite, or two double-bed units that share a living room area, start at $650.

All rooms will have a bathroom with a toilet, sink and bathtub/shower, as well as a desk space and dresser for each person and a shared closet.There will also be a full-service kitchen with meal plans available.

    (simgle room)   (double room)   (suite)

The former ìGrand Ballroomî of the hotel will be converted into two full basketball courts, a fitness center and weight room, with an indoor tennis court. (main floor plan)

Also planned is a casual social area on the first floor with a coffee/juice bar, pool table and a large screen for movies. Quiet study lounges will be available on the second floor.

(perspective 1)   (perspective 2)   (perspective 3)   (perspective 4)

Francone said free shuttle-bus service to and from campus will be available, but a schedule has not been established.

The building had fallen into disrepair in recent years, and was purchased last year by Denver native Robert Salazar for $6.4 million though his company Regency Realty Investors, which he established for the purpose of buying the property.

Francone said the Regency student housing will bring a sense of community Auraria students havenít had before.

ìTo the students that are living there ... itís going to give them a sense of community,î he said. ìAfter you leave the school you can go to the Tivoli, but you go home and you may not see these people again. But with this youíre living with these people 24/7; and just that alone adds a sense of community.î

Two other projects are also in the works and are scheduled to be completed by August, 2006.

Urban Ventures L.L.C. is on schedule to begin construction next month on what will be the nearest housing project to campus, also scheduled to become a 700-bed housing unit. The dormitory-style residence will be built on the west end of campus at 4th and Walnut Streets, on the former site of Atlas Scrap Metals, which is slowly but steadily vacating the lot.

The third student housing project in the works is at the 30-story Executive Tower Inn, located at 1405 Curtis Street. Dean Wolf, Auraria Higher Education Center Executive Vice President for Administration, said the plans are still on schedule to begin construction in April of 2005.

He said the three projects will be open to all Auraria students on a first-come, first-served basis and will not be limited to one institution over another.

ìI think its going to have, certainly if not a direct, an indirect impact on enrollment,î Wolf said. ìItís not necessarily out-of-state students, either. We have a number of students in the metro area that would rather live closer to campus, so there will be that impact as well.î

While no prices have been announced for the Urban Ventures and Executive Tower Inn units, market research was done and completed last June showing estimated prices starting at around $625 per month, Wolf said.

All three locations are private projects to be managed by third party companies with no direct involvement by the campus or its institutions.

Wolf is also executive director of the Auraria Foundation, a non-profit organization separate from AHEC, which is overseeing the development of the Executive Tower Inn.

Any profits from the operation of the Executive Tower Inn will flow back into the campus through the Auraria Foundation, Wolf said.

For more information, a link to a FAQ file and two page colorful brochure (in PDF format) have been provided.