Students residing in the University Apartments can expect new carpets and furniture in addition to the landscape changes made during the summer.
Renovations are in process for Flickinger Court, South Lake Village, Hadley Village, Creekside Village and Flint Village residences. The apartments, which were built nearly a decade ago, are seeing improvements across the board, according to Thomas Tiberi, general manager for the University Apartments.
The apartment makeovers will be completed by next summer, around the time when the apartments become unoccupied after students under 12-month contracts move out.
Most improvements will involve aesthetics, geared towards improving the looks of the apartments.
"The big push right now, other than normal painting and cleaning, is carpet replacements," Tiberi said.
Following carpet replacements, furniture will be gradually upgraded. Bedroom sets have already been allocated to Flickinger Court for the first time since construction. Hadley Village is next on the list to receive the furniture. The target completion date of the project is late October.
"We're doing them in order as they age," Tiberi said.
The University Apartments also will bring in generators. Currently, there is no emergency power source for the residences. The new generators would power lighting in the stairways and hallways of the apartments in case of emergencies, as they presently do in the University Residence Halls.
Security at the apartment entrances is also being increased. Recently, new key systems were added in Flickinger Court and Creekside Village. The new upgrade would prevent students from using blank keys from locksmiths to gain unauthorized access to apartments.
"This will give us some ability to control who gets a key and to keep better accountability," Tiberi said.
The goal behind these changes and improvements is to maintain a high standard of living for the students. According to Tiberi, when apartments are well maintained and in good shape, students can focus on academics and not the condition of their rooms.
"The goal is to keep them looking as new as possible," Tiberi said.
These improvements come at the lowest rent raise ever for the apartments. Costs will be increased two percent - on average, the raise usually lingers around five percent Hadley Village saw no increase at all. By keeping the price increase low, the University Apartments hope to remain competitive with the housing available off campus.
"There is the reality of an off-campus population and market that is continuing to grow," Tiberi said.
With new locations such as the University Villas at Chestnut Ridge opening up, there are over 500 new beds open to compete against.
"Students can go wherever they want. We know we need to remain competitive," Tiberi said.
