Every year University of Memphis students are faced with two chronic problems - housing and parking.
With the U of M campus already crowded, developers are seeing the possibilities for housing in the areas a block or two off the main campus, meaning students may soon have more off-campus choices.
The northeast corner of Central and Highland, now home to a church building, will become townhouses and condominiums. Areas on both sides of Poplar may also become new housing. And, dependent on city approval, the corner of Mynders Avenue and Highland will become another apartment building.
The Mynders and Highland project has been a controversial subject in the neighborhood, since the original plans called for a 12-story building that would tower over most buildings on the Highland Strip. The University District Neighborhood Corp., a neighborhood association, opposed the original plan, and Dallas-based developer Trammell Crow has agreed to overhaul the plans before going before city planners for approval.
"We have concerns about the design of the building, and we're working with Trammell Crow, and they seem willing to do that," said John Pellicciotti of UDNC. "We think 12 stories is a bit excessive right there on Highland Strip."
The project's approval hearing before the Memphis Land Use Control Board was to have been on April 13. It has been postponed until May.
Kemp Conrad, vice president of Trammell Crow, said the company wants to "be a good neighbor," and that they are addressing the neighborhood concerns by "bringing the building down quite a bit."
The smaller version of the building will not include all of the original 397 beds, Conrad said, but many of the $20 million project's details will stay the same. Trammell Crow's 20-year-old Higher Education division has developed housing for students both on and off campuses across the country, including projects for DePaul University (Chicago), Howard University (Washington, D.C.), Boston University and Cleveland State University.
Similar projects have included amenities such as pools, workout areas, 24-hour security, student-oriented businesses in the lobby, attached parking garages and wireless Internet access.
While students see more close-to-campus housing as a definite plus, the estimated $600 per bed price tag has some shocked in spite of the add-ons.
"With tuition rising and funding doing down, I don't think students can afford it," said Robin Deshazier, a senior finance major. "They couldn't come up with something scaled down and more affordable?"
French language graduate student Jan Starczewski agreed with that assessment. He and other graduate assistants get a stipend from The University each semester, but he said $600 a month would not leave enough for other expenses. He and five other international graduate students share a house, with each paying between $200-$250 per month.
"I think that's too expensive, unless you are able to divide it in three," he said. "$600 is a little expensive for my budget."
Conrad said the $600 figure is in line with other similar buildings in Memphis. One-bedroom apartments in Harbor Town, for instance, run between $580-640 per month.
"This will be a modern residential building," he said. "It will be on the higher end of the range, but it is in the market range on new products."
Although the original proposal was labeled "student housing for U of M," Conrad said the company expects young professionals, including professors, to be potential renters.
"It's not just for students," he said. "It's for the segment of the market that wants to pay a little more and live somewhere with all of the amenities."
Although The University would not take a position on individual projects, David Cox, executive assistant to President Shirley Raines, said The U of M is in favor of "affordable, quality housing for students."
Whether this project fits that description, Conrad said, "depends on how you define affordable."
"It will be a very nice, new, residential building with neat amenities," he said. "This area has been underdeveloped, and positive development and change will offer students new options."
The University of Memphis wants "to create a sense of place," Cox said, and is working with UNDC to develop a master plan of the entire University District.
"We want to create a sense of place so that people will want to come here and want to be around campus," Cox said. "A place where people want to come and have The University as the center for healthy activities that contribute to the education of students both on and off campus."
Senior journalism major Hannah Johnston said the building could be a success.
"It would have to be really lux, or they would have to come down in price," she said. "We do need some apartments that aren't shady."
