Saturday, September 28, 2002
BY IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The new $22 million University Courtyard apartment complex has taken shape in the city's Smoky Hollow neighborhood.
Gray peaked roofs cap off the four-story plywood exteriors of one building in the bottom of the hollow. Even without paint or siding, the modern, suburban-looking building stands in stark contrast to the 1950s homes that once marked the neighborhood.
About 100 yards in front of the building, on top of a mound held up by a stone wall, the first floor of the complex's second building is under construction.
Next fall, the 103-unit complex will serve as home to 408 Youngstown State University students. August Anderson, the construction manager for the project's developer, said each room in the apartments will include outlets for cable television, phones and high-speed Internet access. The apartments also will have an air-conditioning unit.
Anderson is set to give university officials a tour through the complex in the next few weeks. As of Friday, workers had started installing interior drywall and cable television, computer and phone wires in the first 59,296-square-foot building. Workers also had begun laying the brick exterior of the building.
The second building, slated to cover 88,865 square feet, will include a retaining wall that will keep it from sliding off the hill. Due to the construction of the wall, the second building is scheduled for completion after the first.
Occupancy
Each building will include one-, two- and four-student apartments. The university will pay to install televisions, computers and kitchen and bath appliances in each apartment.
The four- and two-student apartments will include two full baths. Monthly rent for the four-bedroom apartment will be $415 per bed; for the two-bedroom apartment, $495 per bed; and for the one-bedroom apartment, $600.
Anderson noted that the area between the buildings will be developed to include a basketball court, sand volleyball court and a gently sloping hill, which he called "a great place to sunbathe."
The target market for the apartments will include juniors and seniors as well as graduate, nontraditional and married students.
hill@vindy.com