Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/564824
SPECIALIZED HOUSING JULY/AUGUST 2015 STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM 42 CAMPUSES SEE GROWTH IN SPECIALIZED HOUSING Outside of traditional student housing, universities and developers are using creativity to offer housing options for students with special needs and circumstances. By Scott Reid F For so long, much of on-campus student housing stock consisted of high-rise and mid-rise buildings packed with small bedrooms for two students to share, along with a com- munity bathroom at the end of a hall. As enrollment becomes more competitive and diverse, howev- er, universities are updating out- dated housing to be more special- ized and unique, ofering a more attractive on-campus residential experience to today's academic- and budget-minded Millennial students. According to Ross Robb, direc- tor of development for pub- lic/private partnerships with University House Communities (UHC), "We are seeing more and more of specialized, targeted housing, all based in the con- cept of attraction and retention. Universities compete against each other to whatever extent they can to provide state-of-the- art housing in order to be more competitive in the market and to meet the demand of students," he says. Robb says that UHC believes in demand-driven development, whether it be in traditional stu- dent housing or specialty hous- ing types. "If we understand the demand, if we understand where and how that specifc demand is cur- rently being met at that particu- lar campus (if at all), and if we listen closely to the priorities of the students we hope to serve, we greatly increase the chance of having satisfed residents, which is good for both the university and for the developer/owner of the housing," he says. Technology is great, but not perfect. There will be glitches. We don't pretend they won't happen. But at Elauwit we anticipate a bug every now and then, and we react quickly. Elauwit (el•ah•wit) is a customer service company...providing Internet, video and more. www.elauwit.com The special interest village at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Ga., includes 10 houses with 12 beds each, as well as a central meeting room, kitchen and living room area. Photo courtesy of Thomas Watkins Photography