Students swarm upscale Sweethome

Saturday was move-in day for the over 820 residents who dropped their bags in the new apartment complex on Sweet Home Road.

Located across from Sweet Home High School, the opening of The University Village at Sweethome has been long anticipated by students who last semester registered and paid to live at the complex, which includes a pool, tanning beds, and a number of other upscale amenities like a full-scale workout center.

Nearly all of the new residents are UB students, and many said they are impressed with their new pads.

"I am really excited about the Sweethome apartments," said Suzanne Feinstein, a junior communication and theater major. "The facilities are beautiful and the rooms seem very cozy."

Feinstein, who is from Syosset, N.Y., is one of many Sweethome residents from Long Island, but students checking in are just as diverse as UB's student body, with locals and exchange students sharing shuffleboard tables and hot tubs.

Incoming freshmen and super-seniors alike moved in last weekend, although according to Sweethome officials, the majority of new residents are sophomores and juniors.

"We don't have as many freshmen because it was harder to market to them in our first year," said Kim, a senior community assistant who declined to give her last name.

She estimated there weren't more than 20 freshmen moving in.

Kim and other CA's said the new Sweethome complex is a cross between student housing and standard apartments. While residents will enjoy student programs and the other comforts of dorms, being a local student isn't a requirement for residency.

A quad at Sweethome costs $527 plus electric for the month, and many new residents said they expect to get their money's worth.

"It's awesome," said Mike Guinan, a sophomore physical therapy major from Victor, N.Y. "The apartment sizes are great."

Guinan's appreciation isn't unfounded. The average quad with four bedrooms and four bathrooms in the complex boasts a little over 1,200 square feet. By comparison, the on-campus apartments at Hadley Village's 4-bed-2-bath combination covers 925 square feet.

Like UB's on-campus apartments, Sweethome suites come fully furnished with couches, loveseats, beds, desks, chairs and dressers. Despite its merits, however, some students had mixed feelings about the complex.

"I was expecting something a little bigger. They spent a lot of money on the community centers, but I wish they'd put more into the bedrooms," said Ray Arjomand, a junior English and history major.

Other community features most prominent during advertising include a gym, large-screen televisions, outdoor pool and game tables, but the bedrooms were generally overlooked. Students like Arjomand felt surprised by how "dorm-like" the apartments and hallways are.

A familiar feature for previous dorm-or-apartment residents is the presence of CA's. The community assistants hold regular duty in the community centers to answer questions and safeguard against crises. While they don't have a residence life pro-staff to answer to, they are trained for what to do in an emergency.

The CA's get a free room for the extent of their 12-month leases, but work at least 20 hours a week. There are no "incident reports," so they can't write up a rule-breaker. There are no official quiet hours, and according to University Police, they will not be familiarized with the area because Sweethome is a private enterprise.

While University Police won't patrol the apartment complex, residents will be charged for offenses such as littering. They will also be charged a fee if they get locked out of their units, another detail with which some residents are not pleased.

"If you get locked out, it's $20 to get let back in. That's a little strict," said Meg, a new resident.

Many residents also expressed dissatisfaction with parking availability, which was tighter than usual during the move-in weekend.

"When we originally signed our lease, they told us there would be plenty of parking spots for us and one guest. It doesn't seem like they pulled through with what they promised us," said Tina Diman, a senior business major.

So is a suite at the new University Village at Sweethome worth the money? With a shuttle system to campus beginning at 7:30 a.m. and running every 12 minutes until 10 p.m., many students are hoping they won't even need their own vehicle. The rent for the 12-month leases run from $527 per month for a quad to $726 per month for a single, and the residents get features like tanning beds that dorm residents can only utilize if they're an invited guest.

"My initial reaction when I first walked in was that my room was much smaller than I thought it would be. What I envisioned is not what they showcased," Diman said. "The community centers are really modern and impressive, though. In general I'm pleased with where I'm living, but it's definitely not what they played it up to be."