New student housing in '06

By Laban Pelz
The Collegian

Fresno State students will have a new option in housing beginning next school year.

Located on Barstow Avenue just east of Freeway 41, the Jefferson Commons are set to open in August 2006. Leasing for the 476-bed complex begins in November, said Stacey Lecocke, regional property manager for JPI Development, the real estate firm building the residence. The firm also owns a student residence at Chico State.

More than 300 of the beds in Jefferson Commons will be in four-bedroom apartments. There will be 20 three-bedroom units, 42 two-bedroom units and 20 of the apartments will be singles.

Leases will be for 12 months and will be done by the bed, Lecocke said.

She said she doesn’t know yet what the rent will be, and wouldn’t compare the price to any other student residence in Fresno.

“We don’t feel there’s anything like ours in the market,” Lecocke said.

She said Jefferson Commons will offer a fitness center, computer lab, swimming pool and wireless, high-speed Internet in every bedroom.

The arrival of Jefferson Commons may take pressure off some existing student residences and business away from others.

Fresno State spokeswoman Shirley Armbruster said demand for the campus dormitories was high again this year and said some students on the waiting list had to live at University Inn.

Cesar Rivera, community assistant at another student residence, University Village, said demand remains high there.

“Especially for incoming students,” he said. “We usually take students turned away from the dorms.”

He said there are currently six on the waiting list.

Rivera said students like the amenities, such as fully furnished rooms, that University Village does and Jefferson Commons will offer.

Rivera said demand for residence in University Village was higher when it first opened and he expects the same for Jefferson Commons, “because it’s new.

“Student demand for University Village will drop,” Rivera said. “It’s definitely not a plus for us.”