YSU OKs deal for student housing

By Harold Gwin

The $7.5M first phase of the complex should be open for the fall 2010 semester.

YOUNGSTOWN — US Campus Suites LLC will pay Youngstown State University $110,000 for the right to build a 115-bed student apartment building on the north side of campus.

The private developer is leasing six parcels totaling just under one acre from the university at the corner of Elm Street and the Madison Avenue Expressway West Service Road for the first phase of a proposed four-building complex that will eventually provide 450 beds in 216 apartments. It will be called The Flats at Wick.

The lease covers 40 years and the $110,000 will be paid up front. The lease offers a 20-year extension at a fee of $220,000.

At the end of the lease, the building will belong to the university.

The YSU Board of Trustees approved the agreement Thursday, and Dominic Marchionda, president of US Campus Suites, said construction on the first building should begin in May. It will be ready for occupancy in fall 2010, he said, predicting that it will be 95 percent occupied within three months of going on the market. Rent will range from $685 per month for single apartments to $510 per student per month for quad units.

Phase one has a $7.5 million price tag and Marchionda said bank financing has been secured for the work.

The total project development will cost about $28 million and US Campus Suites will have to lease additional property from the university to erect the other buildings.

The buildings will be constructed and operated in compliance with existing YSU on-campus housing regulations and the university has final approval on site and building design. Apartments won’t be rented to freshmen, and the plan calls for the building’s security system to be tied into the campus police station.

YSU has been experiencing an increased demand for on-campus housing, said President David C. Sweet.

The university is very pleased to be taking this step with a private developer, he said.

YSU won’t have any money in the project, but it will have to maintain some of its existing parking facilities on the site. It will also have the right of first refusal should the developer ever decide to sell any or all of the buildings.

The trustees’ Finance and Facilities Committee reviewed the project immediately before the official vote, and the committee voted 7-1 to recommend approving the lease.

Student Trustee Stephen Foley cast the dissenting vote after asking questions about parking and other matters related to the development. He declined to say why and later didn’t oppose the granting of the lease during the trustees’ meeting. Committee members Daniel DeMaiolo, H.S. Wang, Harry Meshel, Dianne Bitonte Miladore, Carole Weimer, Larry DeJane and Scott Schulick favored the plan.

Marchionda said he had a study done that shows a need for the housing. YSU has 891 students living in its residence halls and an additional 400 in the University Courtyard Apartments complex.

There are about 6,000 commuter students who live at home, but there are 6,000 more in various forms of rental housing ranging from one-half to 15 miles away from campus, some of them in substandard facilities, he said.

The US Campus Suites buildings will have fitness, laundry, computer and study rooms.

gwin@vindy.com