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Condominiums Set for August Completion: Star City Units Can House 300

Posted on: Monday, 19 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

By The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Jun. 19--WVU students should be able to move into the new condominiums along the riverfront in Star City on Aug. 15, according to developers.

The University Commons Riverside, a seven-building complex, is at 453 Oakland St., near the Caperton Trail, and features a swimming pool, courtyards and balcony views of the Monongahela River.

The condos have no official connection to WVU and will not be limited to students. However, developers at Collegiate Homes Inc., based in Roanoke, Va., say they designed the complex with WVU students in mind. All units come with four bedrooms, each with a private bathroom; cable and high-speed Internet access.

The seven buildings will consist of 84 units, with a potential to house more than 300 people.

The purchase price is between $172,950 and $178,950 and parents of WVU students are the target audience.

"We give students and their parents the opportunity to buy, and it becomes a good investment," said Frank Koehler, vice president of sales.

The idea is for a parent to buy units for a son or daughter, and then rent out the other three bedrooms to roommates, Koehler said.

Richard Koehler, a partner with his father in Collegiate Homes, said 80 percent of the 62 units that have already been sold were bought by parents.

According to WVU spokeswoman Becky Lofstead, "there is a definite need for student housing in Morgantown."

Lofstead says that WVU will be able to accommodate 5,200 students in its 16 resident halls. This includes Lincoln Hall, which is still under construction on the Evansdale campus. Total student enrollment is about 27,000. This leaves 21,800 students needing housing off campus.

Not only will University Com- mons Riverside be marketed to current WVU students, but to graduates as well. One of the seven buildings will be called the "Mountaineer Clubhouse" and will be geared toward attracting alumni as a weekend getaway and a place to entertain before WVU football games.

The layout is the same as the student buildings, but the difference is that buyers can have their units furnished -- from the dining tables, sofas and beds to the drapery, bedding and kitchen utensils -- for an extra $37,000.

For $52,000, they can have the furniture, plus upgraded features such as crown molding, granite counter tops, and hardwood floors in the kitchen and entryway, just to name a few. Could give city a boost

Allen Sharp, Star City mayor, said an influx of more than 300 new residents could mean economic development to his city of 1,366 people.

Students need places to shop and Sharp said he hopes businessminded people will seize the opportunity to set up shop.

"We'd like to see business offices, retail shops and residential developments," he said. Also, City Council hopes to build a ramp that would connect the Caperton Trail to River's Landing on the other side of the Star City bridge. "This would grant access to the other side of Star City without having to cross Monongahela Boulevard," Sharp said.

To finance the ramp, City Council applied for a grant from the Department of Highways last fall. Sharp said he expects to know sometime this summer if the city will be awarded the funds.

Star City also was on the receiving end of a major cleanup of contaminated land. According to Collegiate Homes partner Rick Dunlap, the University Commons site was once an oil storage facility operated by Pennzoil, now Shell Oil. Collegiate Homes and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection worked with Shell in a voluntary remediation project that restored the land for residential use.

Sharp welcomed the cleanup effort, saying that it had to be done.

To Star City residents concerned about 300 students living down by the river, Dunlap says that they have not had problems at the University of North Carolina, Texas A&M, the University of Florida, and other sites where Collegiate Homes has developed similar projects.

"The kids are more responsible because it's theirs. You give them something nice, and they take care of it," Dunlap said.

Sharp said he's not heard any complaints about the new development.

"There wouldn't have to be students down there for there to be parties," he said.

As for the increase in traffic, he says that he has a few ideas about how to ease congestion, although nothing in the way of a solid plan yet.

"We could maybe widen Boyers Avenue or try to get the Mountain Line (bus service) to come down here."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Dominion Post (Morgantown, W.Va.)

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