Month: March 2015
Final Project
Luxury Student Housing Response to Rising Enrollment at UO
Adjusting the blue hard hat on his head, Austin Snyder tentatively walks into the cool darkness of bare concrete and metal. Following a crowd of other students, he steps into a partially completed sleek, spacious living room of the apartment in which he would be living the following school year- Apartment 206 of the Hub on Campus. Snyder’s future roommate, Chandler Carroll, nudges him with an elbow, gleefully noting that their soon-to-be-home is located next to the fitness center, tanning room, and yoga room. “Dude, all the girls are gonna be on our floor.”
Their hard hat tour concludes on the roof of the 12 story-building, where the students are shown the 32-person hot tub, pool, and sand volleyball court.
While such amenities may seem out-of-place for a student housing complex, The Hub will become one of about six or seven “luxury” student apartments that have popped up in quick succession since 2011. 2125 Franklin and 1414 Kincaid are also undergoing construction for a grand opening in Fall 2015. These apartments are three of Eugene’s top ten most expensive construction permits this year. The recent luxury housing boom appears to be largely fueled by students like Snyder and Carroll who are coming from out of the state- including a large influx from China- who are seeking better housing that is an upgrade from the older standard boxy apartments common in south and west Eugene.
New apartments like The Hub are classified as “luxury student housing” due to their modern look and emphasis on catering towards students. This commonly includes amenities like fully furnished rooms, study spaces, fitness centers, pools, and lounge areas. The convenience of such amenities in one location is attractive to students like Carroll. “Free printing. That sold me, right there.” While grandiose resort-like amenities like the community and private hot tubs are unique to the Hub, modern features in design are common amongst the other luxury student apartments in Eugene. They advertise “urban loft style units” (13th and Olive) and “euro-style cabinetry” (Uncommon). And, of course, the title “luxury” comes with a more expensive price tag, with rooms starting at about $600-700 per room/person.
Snyder and Carroll are two of 4,893 Californians attending the U of O this year. According to the University of Oregon Office of Institutional Research, non-resident enrollment began increasing in 2007 when only 4,626 students were not from Oregon. While resident enrollment has maintained relatively stable at about 12,000 students every year, non-resident enrollment has increased every year since then. This year, a staggering 9,278 non-resident students are enrolled. Jonathon Jacobs, the Director of Enrollment Management Records at the UO, attributes this rise to the fact that state subsidies for in-state saw a decline during the recession and is even now low compared to other schools nationwide. “What that means is to fully fund our programs, it does help to have the out of state tuition to help support programs for all students,” he said. Non-resident students, whether international or domestic, pay about triple the tuition in-state students pay. He says that since 2007, the university has put more effort into outreach and recruitment, particularly in California and China. Gordon Anslow, a student housing developer of Anslow & Degenealut Inc, said in an interview with OregonLive that wealthier out-of-state students who can afford the tuition are driving the demand for nicer living spaces.
International student enrollment has also shot up 114 percent since 2009. And, of the almost 3,000 international students at UO this year, 63% of them are from China. Paolo Daniele, an international student advisor and exchange program coordinator at UO’s Office of International Affairs, cites several reasons for this.“First reason I can think of is just the economy is doing a lot better, especially a lot better than ours. So, it kinda encourages students, and encourages families to invest in their kids and send them abroad to study,” he said. “Also we have a strong businesses program and that attracts a lot of students from China who are interested in getting into that field.” According to the International Student and Scholar services 2013-14 report, 30 percent of international students are businesses majors at the University of Oregon.
Robert Hardin, Assistant Director of Admissions for International Recruitment, says that the University has had a higher profile in recent years, particularly with the success of Duck sports teams and affiliation with Nike. Caroll was watching a Ducks football game one day, and decided that he wanted to look into the University of Oregon. Snyder initially came to the University of Oregon because he was interested in sports business. “Since Nike University and all, it seemed like a good choice,” he says.
Hardin also says that Oregon is attractive to parents sending their children overseas because of it’s close proximity to China. The high number of students from California and China is reflected in the student housing market. Becky Bates, property manager at The Hub, says that many of their leases have been from student from California, while there have been very few from the local area. She also says that she sees many more international students than she is used to. “Right now we have about 30 to 40 percent international students,” she said. After recently hiring Kady Chen, a bilingual Chinese employee, she says she has seen an influx of international students. The Hub has also recently become an annual sponsor of Pretty in China Entertainment, a non-profit group created by a group of Chinese international students. In return for providing a discount, PiC promotes the Hub to it’s members. Even local real estate companies like Bell have hired on a Chinese employee to act as a liaison with the growing international student community. Other housing complexes such as Courtside and Skybox have an ongoing relationship with UO’s American Language Institute, the primary program for international students.
Chen says that the Chinese students that she works with are drawn to the better quality and newer buildings of luxury student housing complexes like The Hub, 13th and Olive, and Uncommon, to name a few. She says that nearly all Chinese students are funded by their parents. This statement is echoed by Tracy Chen, a senior majoring in journalism and a former member of PiC. “Personally, I would rather live in a nicer place than an old one, ” she said. “I know most of my friends feel the same way, and if we told our parents about a new place we want to live in that’s a lot nicer, they would say to live in that one.” She says that many Chinese students, including herself are used to a certain quality of living back home, and therefore seek out nicer housing. Tracy also says that the more aggressive advertising of luxury apartments is effective in getting attention from international students who are unfamiliar with Eugene. With flashy, well-designed websites and booths and flyers around campus, apartments like The Hub are the first apartments that many students become aware of.
At the hard hat tour of The Hub, Caroll, who enjoys cooking, nods with approval as Becky Bates gestures towards the black quartz countertops which will be furnished with stainless steel appliances. As an out-of-state student, a furnished apartment was a main factor in his choice of housing. Snyder, at 6’2, says that the nine-foot ceiling was a major draw. Located just minutes away from campus on East Broadway, The Hub will be the second tallest building in Eugene.
Core Campus, a student housing company based in Austin, Texas, has built Hub apartments in various states. Bates says that the company has a development team that scopes out new college towns three or four years before construction begins. “They look at things like enrollment trends, and what kind of housing is currently offered,” she said. “We felt that the student housing market was underserved here. It was a lot of smaller communities all over that were aging.”
The U of O’s rising enrollment of non-residents, who are prime customers for new student housing, was a goldmine for companies like Core Campus. However, since 2012, enrollment has been flat. Hardin says that the university is not looking to grow dramatically anytime soon. Policy changes reflect this statement. In 2012, the automatic admission policy in which student’s with a certain GPA were automatically admitted was completely dropped.
As a Eugene resident, Hardin worries that the student housing bubble may pop. The Oregon University System projects enrollment will grow by 28 students in the upcoming school year, yet The Hub, 2125 Patterson, and 1414 Kincaid will all open for Fall 2015 with a combined 1444 beds. As of the beginning of March, The Hub has filled 27 percent of their capacity. With the start of the spring housing season, they have seen a significant increase in the rate of leases. Whether or not all the new luxury student apartments will be filled by the start of next school year remains to be seen.