Muleskinner

Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Chris Eversole: for the Muleskinner Collegiate Station apartment complex, which is on Main Street, will be completed in August. It will have 120 units and a pool. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Chris Eversole: for the Muleskinner The Collegiate Station apartment complex will offer two- and four-bedroom apartments off of Main Street in August. [Click to enlarge]

Leasing is about to begin for an innovative new student housing complex that will be ready for move-in this August. A 120-unit luxury apartment complex is nearing completion on Main Street, behind the UCM baseball fields, that will combine on- and off-campus residence life.

The apartment complex is called Collegiate Station at Warrensburg, and will offer amenities not currently found in the community, including a 4,350 square foot clubhouse and an outdoor resort-style pool.

Collegiate Station at Warrensburg is owned by Collegiate Development Services (CDS), a specialty student housing real estate firm based in Irving, Texas, and will be managed by an affiliate of CDS, Collegiate Management Group (CMG).

CDS's promotional material calls the development "university-themed luxury apartments." Project startup coordinator Alberto Salas said the apartments will "provide the overall college experience," by joining aspects of dorm life with the freedom of off-campus living.

A property manager experienced in public housing management will oversee the apartments, as well as an assistant property manager with a residential life background, who will manage Collegiate Station's community atmosphere.

"Collegiate Station will incorporate residential life programming of all kinds- educational, social, recreational and cultural," Salas said.

The apartments will also utilize community advisors (C.A.'s) like the ones in university residence halls. "They will be similar to dorm C.A.s, but not like police officers," Salas joked. "They are there for customer service."

The development will also integrate university and community events into its programming. Collegiate Station will sponsor student organizations, starting with UCM athletics this semester.

In fact, CMG will begin marketing the apartments at the basketball game Feb. 23, and the baseball game April 25. Students who stop by their booth will receive a T-shirt and a leasing packet with an application and other information about Collegiate Station. Leasing agent Emily Nicosia said CMG hopes to pre-lease all the units.

The complex will have its grand opening in April, when interested students may look at a model unit and tour the clubhouse, but residents will not move in until August, Nicosia said.

Collegiate Station is situated on eight acres of land off Main Street., behind the university baseball fields, less than one-quarter mile from campus. The development will consist of five apartment buildings, plus the clubhouse.

The apartments will offer both two-bedroom/one-bathroom and four-bedroom/two-bathroom formats, holding 360 beds total. The units come fully furnished, with a full-sized bed, dresser, computer desk, and upholstered chair in each bedroom. A couch, chair, coffee table, end table, and television stand will be in every living room. A separate vanity area with its own sink will be outside each bathroom, so that each resident may have a sink to use when the bathroom is occupied.

Kitchen appliances will include a refrigerator with an icemaker, electric stove, dishwasher, microwave, and garbage disposal. Every unit will have a washer and dryer. Four-bedroom apartments will also come equipped with a dining room table and chairs, and two-bedroom apartments will have a kitchen bar with barstools for seating. There will be ceiling fans in all bedrooms and living areas.

The apartments will have cable access in the bedrooms and living rooms, and high speed Internet will be available in the bedrooms. Phone service is also included in the units.

The clubhouse will include a large lounge area, a fitness center, a computer lab, a game room with a billiard table, and a theatre room with a 60-inch. plasma flat-screen television. The apartment's office will be in the clubhouse, as well.

The pool area will have a heated spa and a large fireplace with two cast-iron barbecue grills.

Additional amenities are an on-site courtesy officer, 24-hour emergency maintenance, individually locking bedroom doors, intrusion alarms in each unit and private parking.

Rent at Collegiate Station will run at $465 per person for the two-bedroom apartments and $429 per person for the four-bedroom apartments. Residents will have individual leases and individually-billed electricity. CMG will implement its roommate matching service, if residents do not request specific roommates.

CDS has built similar apartment complexes in five other locations, including one near the University of Missouri in Rolla. Salas said that while investigating location market possibilities, the company's research team saw potential for its student housing package in Warrensburg.

The apartments' leasing office is at 123 N. Holden St., but will transfer to the complex's clubhouse once it is completed, probably by the grand opening in April. More information about Collegiate Station can be found at http://collegiatestation.com, or by calling (660) 747-9010.

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