Robert Luessen

On the east side of campus, between Park Point and Colony Manor, a new graduate student-focused development is taking shape. Targeted for completion in the fall of 2010, construction at 220 John Street will yield 13 apartment buildings (each three stories tall) and a recreational center.

The development, named The Province, is being built by subsidiaries of Edwards Companies, an Ohio-based housing and construction group that has recently opened similar properties near three other schools.

Those complexes, also branded The Province and managed by Edwards Student Housing Management Company, have almost identical features and branding. One is located near Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio; a second near University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky; and a third near University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. All three opened this fall. Listed monthly prices for those locations range from $540 per person for a four bedroom apartment in Dayton to at least $875 for a large one bedroom in Louisville.

The company says it is consciously targeting RIT’s roughly 2,700 graduate students. 144 of the 336 apartments will have a single bedroom and two of the buildings will contain only one-bedroom apartments. Brad Brown, president of Edwards Student Housing, says that single bedrooms appeal to graduate students who want privacy and relative peace.

The Province’s location is particularly notable given its proximity to Park Point — another privately-owned housing complex bordering on John Street that began operation in the fall of 2008. Unlike Park Point, The Province is not being built on land originally owned by the university, but instead on land purchased from private owners.

Robert Luessen

Jim Frey, a vice president of land acquisition for Edwards Companies, says he arrived to assess the campus in the same week of May 2007 that Wilmorite Inc. began building Park Point. “We, at first, thought we were too late,” says Frey, but he and others in the company reached the conclusion that Park Point’s nearby shopping and wider focus complemented rather than scuttled their plans.

Randy Vercauteren, director of Parking and Transportation Services, says The Province will be treated the same as Park Point, Colony Manor, and Perkins Green apartments for transportation. Residents will have access to a dedicated shuttle with regular stops and will be excluded from parking in academic lots during the day.

The center of the development will host a 1,800 square foot recreation center. That space will contain rooms dedicated to home theater and gaming systems. A fitness center and outdoor pool will also be available for residents.

Security will be aided by two to three off-duty police officers who will stay on the premises and panic buttons will be located in rooms. Brown, the Edwards Student Housing president, says the company can partner with campus security departments like Public Safety to respond to panic alarms but will use local law enforcement if that isn’t possible. Chris Denninger, director of Public Safety, called such an arrangement unlikely given that the development is located on property not owned by the university.

Although unable to discuss specific pricing, Frey promises that it would be “competitive with Park Point and the university [apartments].” Other The Province-branded properties may be a general indicator, but Brown cautions that final prices are subject to local conditions and have not yet been set.

For more information about the sister developments visit http://livetheprovince.com/ Representatives will be present in the SAU and a trailer will visit campus this fall.