Pimp My College - Swanky Student Apartments are Renting Like Mad in Midtown (Atlanta: 2015)

[glovenyc]

... I friggin wish I had it this good in college

Georgia Tech students have been snatching up rooms in new off-campus high-rise projects in Midtown faster than yellow jackets to sugar water. Square on Fifth (SQ5) has announced on Facebook that the 230-unit project is down to just 10 beds left in the entire building, which will be opening in time for classes this fall. The 25-story tower has one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom suites and lords over Spring Street at Abercrombie Place, just north of Tech Square.

Swanky Student Apartments are Renting Like Mad in Midtown - Pimp My College - Curbed Atlanta

[Tarzanman]

Sign of the times. I haven't looked at any numbers, but I would guess that the average household income of Tech students is rising year after year.

That, and the only other convenient options for housing near campus are Home Park (lots of old, pest-infested houses) and Centennial Place.

[afdinatl]

Those smart students deserve to live good

[ATLTJL]

Looks like tuition at GA Tech isn't high enough.

I think many of the students who attend come from other countries, and they are the elite and money is no problem.

But I'm sure there are also others struggling to make ends meet.

What I don't know is what happened to kids like me. My parents probably could have afforded to pay rent for me to live in a place like that in college...but never in their wildest dreams would they have bankrolled it. I lived in the crummy old 1950s dorms like everybody else and dilapidated apartments geared to students that had dirt cheap rents and no amenities.

Oh well, sign of the times.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by Tarzanman

Sign of the times. I haven't looked at any numbers, but I would guess that the average household income of Tech students is rising year after year.

Most likely their parents are footing the bill for these apartments.

[Tarzanman]

Originally Posted by Gulch

Most likely their parents are footing the bill for these apartments.

Yes. That is what I mean by household income.

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Looks like tuition at GA Tech isn't high enough.

Don't say that. The last thing I would want for my alma mater is for it to turn into some kind of elitist enclave for rich kids (like BU). Raising tution is just going to make it harder for the poorer students to raise their station. Keep tuition reasonable, say I.

I think many of the students who attend come from other countries, and they are the elite and money is no problem.

But I'm sure there are also others struggling to make ends meet.

What I don't know is what happened to kids like me. My parents probably could have afforded to pay rent for me to live in a place like that in college...but never in their wildest dreams would they have bankrolled it. I lived in the crummy old 1950s dorms like everybody else and dilapidated apartments geared to students that had dirt cheap rents and no amenities.

Oh well, sign of the times.

Different strokes for different folks. If you are sending your kid into a different hemisphere for schooling, then it makes sense that a parent would want them to live as comfortably as possible since they are separating themselves from family, friends, and their country & culture. At the same time, I can understand a parent not wanting their kid to live in a glorified roach motel, which many of the Home Park houses are. Off campus housing options for Tech for a student without a car are limited since it is bordered by downtown and midtown.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by glovenyc

... I friggin wish I had it this good in college

Georgia Tech students have been snatching up rooms in new off-campus high-rise projects in Midtown faster than yellow jackets to sugar water. Square on Fifth (SQ5) has announced on Facebook that the 230-unit project is down to just 10 beds left in the entire building, which will be opening in time for classes this fall. The 25-story tower has one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom suites and lords over Spring Street at Abercrombie Place, just north of Tech Square.

Yet all you read about is how students are burdened by crushing debt.

[red92s]

Calm down folks. Before we condemn these kids as being entitled snobs and the offspring of foreign oligarchs and oil barons, lets look at the numbers.

Here are GT's current on-campus housing costs. For the furnished, "apartment style" dorms, rates start north of $4,000 per semester. The spring 2015 semester runs from early January to late June, or a little bit under 4 months. So effectively, you are looking at paying ~$1,100 a month in rent.

Those buildings were primarily constructed as part of the Olympic Village, so they are roughly 20 years old, and make up a large percentage of on-campus housing available to upperclassmen. If you are a management major who mostly takes classes at Technology Square, that's a 30 minute walk to class, or a very-crowded 15 minute shuttle ride. Want to park your car on campus? That'll be another $400 per semester to park in a deck about 10-15 minutes walk from your dorm.

Rates for a furnished room in a shared apartment at places like Square on 5th start under $900/mo and go up to about $1200/mo. Brand new construction, with a rooftop pool, fitness center, collaboration/study rooms, pets allowed, bike storage, tight security, garaged parking available (extra fee), coffee shop on the ground floor, and a 5 minute walk to classes in Technology Square.

So, for similar money, you can either live in GT's apartment style housing, or essentially the "penthouse" of these new developments. Which one would you pick? The fact that places like Square on 5th are being built has less to do with college kids being spoiled or entitled, and more to do with how prohibitively expensive and in short supply current on-campus housing options are.

There are certainly cheaper ways to live while attending GT than either scenario above. But, if being very close to campus is a priority, then these new options are cheaper or at least competitive with what GT is already charging, and offer WAY more in return.

[ATLTJL]

It's easy to forget that GA Tech is not in a college town and doesn't offer a slew of cheap, but safe, living arrangements like most large public universities do.

[Tryska]

Originally Posted by red92s

Calm down folks. Before we condemn these kids as being entitled snobs and the offspring of foreign oligarchs and oil barons, lets look at the numbers.

Here are GT's current on-campus housing costs. For the furnished, "apartment style" dorms, rates start north of $4,000 per semester. The spring 2015 semester runs from early January to late June, or a little bit under 4 months. So effectively, you are looking at paying ~$1,100 a month in rent.

Those buildings were primarily constructed as part of the Olympic Village, so they are roughly 20 years old, and make up a large percentage of on-campus housing available to upperclassmen. If you are a management major who mostly takes classes at Technology Square, that's a 30 minute walk to class, or a very-crowded 15 minute shuttle ride. Want to park your car on campus? That'll be another $400 per semester to park in a deck about 10-15 minutes walk from your dorm.

Rates for a furnished room in a shared apartment at places like Square on 5th start under $900/mo and go up to about $1200/mo. Brand new construction, with a rooftop pool, fitness center, collaboration/study rooms, pets allowed, bike storage, tight security, garaged parking available (extra fee), coffee shop on the ground floor, and a 5 minute walk to classes in Technology Square.

So, for similar money, you can either live in GT's apartment style housing, or essentially the "penthouse" of these new developments. Which one would you pick? The fact that places like Square on 5th are being built has less to do with college kids being spoiled or entitled, and more to do with how prohibitively expensive and in short supply current on-campus housing options are.

There are certainly cheaper ways to live while attending GT than either scenario above. But, if being very close to campus is a priority, then these new options are cheaper or at least competitive with what GT is already charging, and offer WAY more in return.

yay logic!