Planning for lot underway
Student reactions to development plans mixed
By Meghan Youker
Staff Reporter

Engineering work for the proposed apartment and retail complex near Perrotti’s Pizza is underway.

Phoenix Property Co. is working to be sure the planned building’s infrastructure will match the city’s ongoing work along Berry Street, said Don Mills, vice chancellor for student affairs. As the city redevelops the street, it has also been modifying access to plumbing and other utilities, he said.

“It is important that any changes in the city’s plans to accommodate the development be made now,” Mills said.

After the engineering work is completed, developers will turn to design concerns, Mills said.

Developers from Phoenix Property Co. will meet with students to see what type of apartments they want in mid- to late November, Mills said. So far, student reaction to the proposal has been mixed.

Freshman Robert Rice said the proposed apartments would be a place he would like to live.

“It would be like living on campus but not living on campus,” said Rice, a business major. “Location is huge.”

Junior Cameron Self said the proposed location is ideal for students.

“They would be far enough away from main campus to be separate but still close enough for the conveniences of on-campus living,” said Self, an electrical engineering major.

Although the apartments sound exciting, Self said he thinks the apartments will more than likely be too expensive and exclusive for many students.

Jason Runnels, executive vice president of Phoenix Property Co., said in an Oct. 17 Skiff article that rent could range from about $500 a month to $800 a month, per person.

Other students worry about increased parking difficulties. Richard Bryan, associate director of operations of the physical plant, said the planned development area now provides 307 parking spaces for commuters. In an Oct. 17 Skiff article, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Carol Campbell said the proposed development would include about 600 parking spaces.

Self, a commuter student, said he wants to know where he will park when construction begins.

Senior education major Vanessa Castagnet said the development will probably not help the parking situation because the new spaces will be taken up by the people who live there.

“I’m sure the building will help the situation a small fraction,” Castagnet said. “But I don’t think it will solve an even larger problem.”