AMES, IA—Until last year, the Campustown neighborhood adjacent to Iowa State University had not seen new student housing since 2004. But in the past year, developers here have broken ground on a host of projects, making this school one of the most active in the Midwest when it comes to providing new amenity-rich student housing.
“ISU is very attractive for both students and parents as 95% of students have a job within six months of graduation,” Robert V. Gilbane, chairman and chief executive officer of Gilbane Development Co., tells GlobeSt.com. As a result, it has seen “eight consecutive years of record growth and enrollment.” In 2014, for example, the school had 34,732 students, up 4.5% from 2013.
Gilbane just launched a new six-story project called The Edge, which will add about 290 brand new beds in two, three and four-bedroom fully furnished apartment units. Along with 23Twenty Lincoln and University Towers, two other company-owned properties, Gilbane will offer it all under one brand known as BlockONE.
The company also plans to refurbish and update the interiors to add modern student-oriented amenities at University Towers, located on 111 Lynn Ave., which is adjacent to their current development at 23Twenty Lincoln. As reported in GlobeSt.com, Gilbane broke ground on the latter in early 2014, and plans to finish the 320-unit community this August.
Gilbane will construct The Edge over the existing University Towers parking lot at the rear. Upon completion of the renovations and construction of both existing and new buildings, these properties will have a total of about 470 beds with about 5,300 square feet of retail space along Chamberlain St.
Similar to 23Twenty Lincoln, Edge residents will have modern amenities such as a 24-hour fitness center with tanning room, social lounges, multiple study rooms, computer lounges with printing area, a coffee bar, club rooms with HDTVs and game tables and other features.
Other companies have moved in to satisfy the growing demand in Ames. The Opus Group, for example, is currently in the midst of building The Foundry, a six-story building which will have 53 units and 144 bedrooms.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
