North Campus Dorm Redevelopment Project – News & Updates

[Buster Bluth]

OSU officials counter that freed-up housing near campus could be filled by juniors and seniors who live in more distant areas of Columbus right now and commute to campus.

“We want our community to live and be close to campus and we’re particularly interested in our juniors and seniors feeling comfortable and confident living very close to campus,” said Adams-Gaston. “We think east of High would be a wonderful place for them if they have places that are attractive for them to live.”

Talbott said it’s “a myth” to assume that OSU students living in other areas of Columbus would head back to campus if housing was available. He says that when OSU enrollment dropped in the mid-1990s and his vacancies rose, he had trouble luring those who lived far off-campus into coming back to High Street.

“These are serious kids that may have to work their way through school, and I just don’t think there is the backfill possibility they see,” he said.

This is entirely what my planning studio this quarter is focusing on. We’re trying to find out for the university what factors decide where one lives, and what strengths and weaknesses were common trends.

Everyone thought, but accepted, that they were being ripped off by their landlord and lived in substandard housing in a neighborhood that wasn’t particularly safe. Still, people overwhelming flock to off-campus housing over living on-campus.

I have no sympathy for the landlords, and I’m willing to see if Ohio State responds to the desires of sophomores (more living space and privacy–> suite dorms) and really pumps the money into building great dorms to judge this plan. If they are throwing as many students into older-style dorms then this plan will fail miserably.

[leftovers]

I think low cost is high on the reason list especially when considering the rising cost of tuition. Back then I would rather have split a place and paid $300 or less than had a really nice dorm I really didn’t spend much time in and would be paying off for the next 20 years. I think the key factor in South Campus is its proximity and price.

I do realize that this does also create the student ghetto conditions. Unfortunately, I do not have an answer to how to fix that problem. Even with the the looming move of sophomores to the dorms I see increasing house conversions in Weinland Park. These new dorm policies do not look to have slowed the campus landlords appetite for housing despite all of the talk.

A smaller secondary reason (for students wanting to live off campus) is also the freedom that off campus housing allows – parties, pets etc. That was never a major concern for me, but I am sure it is for some.

[rory]

leftovers said:

I do realize that this does also create the student ghetto conditions. Unfortunately, I do not have an answer to how to fix that problem. Even with the the looming move of sophomores to the dorms I see increasing house conversions in Weinland Park. These new dorm policies do not look to have slowed the campus landlords appetite for housing despite all of the talk.

And that’s why we in Weinland Park fully support moving the sophomores onto campus. Sooner than later.

[dirtgirl]

Setting aside issues of what this does to the neighborhood, the dorms cost more than off-campus housing and come with a steep price tag for the mandatory meal plan. With tuition rising, this will hit families already struggling to pay for college, or saddle students with yet more student loan debt.

And, call me crazy, but with the move to privatize campus parking lots, are dorms far behind? Investing $350 million in buildings and requiring twice as many students to live in them could command a steep lump sum for the franchise if leased for decades to a private operator.

[bucki12]

As an outsider to most of this, but a Weinland Park resident, I realize that a vast majority of the housing in Weinland Park belongs to absentee landlords. The question is who will they end up renting too?

[columbusmike]

bucki12 said:
As an outsider to most of this, but a Weinland Park resident, I realize that a vast majority of the housing in Weinland Park belongs to absentee landlords. The question is who will they end up renting too?

Most likely Juniors, Seniors, and Grad students will move into these apartments. I think most students, if they have the opportunity, want to live close to campus. I tend to agree that these landlords won’t really be affected. They will still be able to rent to students, unless the quality of their property or their prices are too high. In those cases, I have absolutely no sympathy.

[howatzer]

I don’t understand why the interests of area landlords should have any influence over OSU residency policies.

[rory]

bucki12 said:
As an outsider to most of this, but a Weinland Park resident, I realize that a vast majority of the housing in Weinland Park belongs to absentee landlords. The question is who will they end up renting too?

If the neighborhood is safe and attractive and has a decent residential quality of life then quite a few people will want to live here. Weinland Park is incredibly walkable; you can be in the heart of the Short North or the Gateway in minutes. Who lives in Italian Village or Dennison Place? There’s quite mix including students. I can see the same thing in Weinland Park. There was a time not to long ago that both Italian Village and Victorian Village were largely owned by absentee landlords. And I doubt that the city and other organizations have pledged $15 million dollars to make it safe and attractive for just couch burning sophomores.

[cbus11]

rory said:
And I doubt that the city and other organizations have pledged $15 million dollars to make it safe and attractive for just couch burning sophomores.

Lol

Though I recall seeing some rental flyers showing scantilly clad undergrads on party decks. I think per sq foot WP can really kick Victorian Village’s butt in the all important ‘party deck ratio’. ;)

Personally, I think OSU’s motivation is not about the surrounding neighborhoods. I don’t think things are going to change much if sophomores are moved to campus dorms. The campus area has a big draw for that age demographic and a lot of the ‘students’ in the area are from other places (cscc, ccad, etc) or not even attending school at the moment. Finding bodies to fill apartments isn’t really going to be a problem for the landlords.

That said, I can understand why people who live in the northern section of WP would be doing everything possible to keep the wilder aspects of South Campus from creeping in.

[surber17]

I’ve said this before in other threads and my position hasn’t changed. 99% of landlords are about one thing, making money. Esp. on campus, if a landlord can rent out a home that is barely even safe to live in they will. Landlords will always hate this idea (just like with the Edwards Development) because its going to give students more, and better, choices than what is currently out there.

For the community though this is fantastic for a couple reasons:

[*]Updated housing stock will cause competition and landlords will either sell their places and the owner occupied option comes into play or update them to compete with new builds – either way more money and pride is invested into the community[/*]
[*]Improved infrastructure[/*]
[*]More vibrant and dense business area[/*]

I have others in my head but i have to run….

[surber17]

Progress on this project!!

Business First Article

[surber17]

More info – Dispatch Article , with their timeline I’m guessing ground will be breaking this year.

[rory]

Hopefully this will encourage campus landlords to make the neighborhood more appealing to a wider audience by fixing up their properties.

[mrmann]

rory said:
Hopefully this will encourage campus landlords to make the neighborhood more appealing to a wider audience by fixing up their properties.

Long term I think what Rory is saying will happen in Olde North Columbus. The way South Campus housing is so cut up and bastardized, I assume it will always be aimed at students or ‘student like’ people.

[News]

Published on September 2, 2012 2:00 pm
North Residential District Plan Approved at OSU
By: Walker

A transformational plan to densify student living on the northeast corner of The Ohio State University’s main campus was approved on Friday. The North Residential District project will increase the number of student dormitory beds by 3,200 and increase the number of dining, recreation and support facilities for the north campus area. The project will also assist with the process of eventually housing all sophomore students in dormitories by 2015.

READ MORE: https://www.columbusunderground.com/north-residential-district-plan-approved-at-osu

[Author]

Posts