Private downtown complex offers private baths, by-the-bed leases
By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer
Starting Saturday, activity in downtown Akron will ratchet up a few notches.
That's move-in day at 22 Exchange, the new apartment complex for 141 college students — most attending the University of Akron — who have signed yearlong leases for two- , three- or four-bedroom units.
The first phase of the complex is full, and there is a waiting list, said project director Michael Weiss of developer Richland Communities in Middleburg Heights.
Weiss said he was not surprised at the response, given that the company's marketing studies showed the need for student housing.
UA regularly turns away students from its residence halls because it can't keep up with demand. Until this year, students who wanted to live off campus but near the university had relatively few choices. Many options were in modest, turn-of-the-20th-century rental homes in the University Park neighborhood south of campus.
That is changing this fall, with the Spicer Village town homes in University Park, and 22 Exchange becoming the first private, off-campus housing to open in decades.
Spicer Village opened in 2007 as owner-occupied housing but converted to rentals this year until the economy improves.
''We thought there was a need for it,'' Weiss said of 22 Exchange. ''We're excited to see that our idea is confirmed.''
In this by-the-bed complex, each roommate signs a lease for his or her portion of the rent. In a four-bedroom suite, that would be $599 per person per month.
If a roommate moves out, the rent for the remaining apartment mates stays the same.
Richland tries to find a compatible replacement, Weiss said.
22 Exchange also offers far more amenities than many of its competitors — everything from faux hardwood floors with the look of the real thing to granite countertops, en suite washers and dryers, leather couches and easy chairs, extra-long full beds and two-piece dressers that can fit under the bed.
Each student has a small bedroom and private bath.
It was those amenities that attracted Amy Colantoni, a 21-year-old graduate student in higher education at UA.
She said she was sold on the apartments the first time she saw them. They offered far more than she was used to.
Last year, she lived in an attic that didn't have air conditioning and shared a single bath with her three male roommates.
The house had a washer and dryer in the basement, but it was so ''creepy'' that she took her laundry home to Steubenville rather than venture down the steps.
''Having a dishwasher for the first time excites me more than anything I can say,'' she said.
22 Exchange sits on top of what Richland hopes will become a bustling commercial district for young adults.
Brubaker's Pub has moved into the building — or back in. It was a tenant in a building that was knocked down to make way for 22 Exchange.
Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches will open this month.
Weiss said the company is talking to a half-dozen other potential tenants.
This is the company's second by-the-bed complex. It opened the 630-student Campus Pointe near Kent State on Aug. 15 with similar amenities.
Starting in fall 2010, the company will open the second and last phase of 22 Exchange — 330 more beds, plus a fitness center, game room and tanning bed in a separate building. By then an interior courtyard between the two phases will be complete.
Students already are calling to lease apartments in the next phase, Weiss said.
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 orcbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com.
