April 23 , 2010
By MELANIE LAGESCHULTE
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Plans to renovate and expand the apartment complex on Des Moines Area Community College’s Ankeny campus aim to provide students with living experiences similar to those found at four-year schools, officials said.
The privately owned Campus View Apartments changed hands last year. The new owners broke ground April 15 for the project, which will add a lifestyle center, computer labs and study areas to the dorm-style complex.
The apartments will have two to four bedrooms with common living areas. Students can have their own bedroom or share. Officials said the project will be complete in time for the start of the 2010-11 year.
The units will be furnished and include amenities such as granite countertops and maple cabinets. A resident assistant program will provide support for students.
The changes will allow Campus View to provide “everything you could ask for in a college life,” said Brad Houser of Houser Homes, one of the partners in the project.
Laura Stein is property manager for Campus View Student Housing LLC, the company that purchased the complex. She said the current site houses about 140 students, and the $6.5 million project will increase that number to 231.
Once renovations are complete, monthly rent will be $385 per person for a shared bedroom and $605 for a private bedroom. Students will pay $25 per month for utilities, and there will be an optional $25 per month charge for Internet service. Leases will be for 12 months. Deposits equal to one month of rent will be required.
DMACC President Rob Denson said enrollment continues to increase. Options for student housing is the No. 1 question asked by parents, he said.
“I can tell you, we’re going to be very proud of the new addition” and the upgrades to the current site, Denson said.
Tony Baxter of Baxter Construction Co. is also a partner in the project. He said developers met with DMACC officials nearly a year ago to discuss plans for a new apartment complex on nearby land located in the Prairie Trail development.
Those talks expanded to include the Campus View complex, as well, Baxter said, and the company decided to purchase that current site.
“Everybody saw the need” to update Campus View and provide more student housing, Baxter said.
Work on the other housing project, called The Pointe, is expected to begin either in the fall or next spring. That site is generally northwest of Campus View.
Plans call for The Pointe to be constructed in two phases, with a total of up to 500 more beds for DMACC students and possibly other renters.
That $25 million project will offer additional amenities than those that are planned for the upgrades at Campus View, organizers said.
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