9:41 PM | Felix, Figueroa St., Jefferson Blvd, student housing, University Gateway, Urban Partners, USC
University Gateway, the housing behemoth being built by Urban Partners, LLC in conjunction with USC, has begun leasing its units, about a year ahead of expected move-in. The 8-story complex will boast 421 apartment units accommodating 1,650 beds at a university in desperate need of local housing. The project, which sits on the corner of Jefferson Blvd and Figueroa St, replaced an open-air auto lot that was owned by Felix Chevrolet and Cadillac. The famed neon 'Felix the Cat' remains intact (thank God) across the street.
With construction completion scheduled for June of next year, the owners spared no time in starting to make lease options available fully one year before the 2010/2011 school year. The company has set up a leasing office in the University Village shopping center and claims it has seen lots of early interest. A large challenge will be to get the word out and convince students that they should choose the Gateway over other alternatives (especially considering the alleged cramped conditions and 7 ft ceilings). The university has come under enormous pressure to add beds both on- and off-campus to accommodate an increasingly residential student population. While USC will not manage the property, it will maintain pricing agreements with the owner and has exclusivity to ground level retail, which will include a university bookstore and gym.
With area housing largely derelict and in short supply, students who are not invited back to live in campus housing after their first year are forced to pay exorbitant prices for substandard conditions. The quandary peaked last year when USC was given ownership of the now-dissolved slumlord housing provider Conquest. In the legal battle, Conquest sued the Gateway project for failing to provide sufficient parking on- and off-site, but was counter-sued for monopolistic business practices.
Interestingly this summer, there appeared to be a housing surplus around campus, as mom-and-pop housing providers struggled desperately to fill units. This may be in part due to the university's recent completion of a large dormitory on campus, which has allowed USC to guarantee housing to all freshman and sophomore undergraduates. According to the Daily Trojan, some students have expressed trepidations about signing a lease without being able to see the finished project. Upperclassmen will remember all too well the housing purgatory of 2006, when residents who were promised a spot in the sold-out Tuscany were forced to hole up in a hotel downtown for weeks before moving in.
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