New student housing will not be among the many changes at MSU Denver.
According to the provost’s office, dormitories are not on the table, making the university one of the few in the state without its own dorms.
Auraria does have a few options in student lodgings, though, including the Auraria Student Lofts, Campus Village and The Regency. Housing in the three locations offers students a wide array of amenities that range from bowling alleys to theaters to room service. The Auraria Student Lofts and Campus Village are within walking distance of the campus.
Websites for all three housing complexes list cyber cafés, high speed Internet, fully furnished rooms and on-site laundry facilities among their conveniences. They all cite courtesy patrols and secure access as security measures. After these similarities, the amenities change and each complex becomes a little more individual, offering options that become tipping points for many students.
Freshmen Cailee Van Norman and Krista Rivera chose to live at the Auraria Student Lofts.Located on 1501 14th St., two blocks from the campus, the building offers apartments for up to four students as opposed to the dorm room style of both the Regency and the Campus Village.
“It feels more grown up,” Van Norman said.
Both Rivera and Van Norman had a number of reasons that they preferred the Auraria Student Lofts over both the Regency and Campus Village, mainly because of security.
“We have a night guard on Thursday, Friday and Saturday,” Rivera said. “And there’s an off-duty cop who lives here, too.”
Chris Barnes, who mans the front desk at the Auraria Student Lofts, said that the building has been getting a face lift from a new management company. He said that the company has also put more effort into advertising and making the lofts a better place to live. Among these measures is an agreement with the Curtis hotel, which backs against the building, to provide 24-hour room service to residents.
“For the first time in the building’s history, we’re full,” Barnes said.
UCD student Sarah Miller lives in a dorm at Campus Village. She says the safety is good, but that the residence is costly.
“It’s expensive,” Miller said, “especially with someone living right there in the room with you.”
The other dorm-style residence, the Regency broke ground last month for the Villas at Regency, a new complex being built just north of the original building at 3900 Elati St. According to a statement released by Camille Courtney, executive director of student housing for developer Central Street Capital, the Villas will offer students “a continuum of student living during their entire college career, from dorm style rooms to studios to traditional apartments.”
The company plans to have the Villas ready for lease in the fall of 2013.
People: Cailee Van Norman, Chris Barnes, Kelli Heitstuman-Tomko, Krista Rivera
No comments yet.