SRU housing options may be near capacity
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — The Heights is the newest student housing complex, adding 100 townhouses to a rapidly growing market.
This latest project will bring the number of student housing units built in the past five years to about 1,000.
At the same time, enrollment at Slippery Rock University has grown gradually each year to about 8,100 students. While university officials have said it is difficult to estimate how many students live off campus, they caution that the market may be full at this point.
Just last year, The Ivy opened on Kiester Road, adding 600 apartments for SRU students. In the past three years, almost 300 more apartments were added in the township and the borough of Slippery Rock.
The Heights, on Grove City Road, will open in August. Each of the 100 apartments will have four bedrooms and three floors.
Only a few of the 1,800-square-foot townhouses haven't been rented yet, said Kara D'Antonio of The Apartment Store, which owns the complex.
"Across the board, I think we're more homey than other apartments," she said of the townhouse units.
The complex also includes tanning beds, a game room, exercise facility, outdoor patio and volleyball court. Each townhouse includes a bathroom-and-a-half and a washer and dryer. The units cost $1,700 per month or $425 per person per month.
Efforts to get students interested in the complex have been "grass roots," said D'Antonio, with some advertising but mostly word-of-mouth.
At The Ivy, amenities include a gym and tanning beds. Two and four bedroom apartments are available with private bathrooms and washer and dryers in each apartment. Rent per person ranges from $510 to $550 per month.
Other recently-built apartment complexes in the borough and township include:
n Stonecrest on Cornish Drive with 68 apartments. Complex owners plan to double the size of this plan in the next two years.
n South Rock on Kiester Road with 140 apartments.
n Campus Side on Kiester Road with 84 apartments.
Other apartments in Slippery Rock include Slippery Rock Apartments, including Pine Glenn, Colonies, Bernard, Martha Rose and Thunderbird, with a total of about 200 apartments; Monteleone Apartments with more than 30 houses and apartments for rent; and Cooper Street Apartments with about 44 apartments.
Stoneworth Apartments in Worth Township also has 120 single-bed apartments.
In 2005, Slippery Rock University began to offer rooms in a new $110 million housing plan. The plan, which eventually will replace 2,200 beds on campus, still has one or two halls under construction.
Paula Olivero, assistant vice president for student development, said there are more options for students than ever before. The latest off-campus housing fair featured plenty of options and a range of price scales as well, she said.
About 2,800 students will be staying on campus each semester, between the dorms and on campus apartments. And while an apartment count is available for these larger complexes, it's difficult to estimate how many students need housing because some stay in rental houses or smaller apartments.
Those considering to add more apartments should be careful, Olivero said.
"I would caution anyone to do due diligence,"she said. "I think we have enough beds for our students and maybe more than we need."
What is needed in the area is housing for staff and faculty members.
Lee Ligo, owner of Campus Side apartments, has contended for at least three years that there are too many apartments in the Slippery Rock area. He's urged officials to make stricter ordinances controlling the developments and even sued owners of The Ivy apartments.
Ligo, who has been a landlord since 1962, said he understands that officials can't "zone out the competition," but that's not what he's worried about. He's concerned about too many empty apartments causing blight in the community.
