“We’re already at 92 percent occupancy,” said Henson. She added that 70 percent of the occupants are first-year students.

The complex, which can house 568 students, boasts an extensive list of amenities, including a choice of one-, two- or four-bedroom, air-conditioned apartments that include every standard modern appliance, a fitness center, a computer learning center/cyber lounge, a basketball court and a club house. Located on the east side of the IPFW campus, Waterfield Campus Student Housing is on Crescent Avenue, near the pedestrian bridge, directly across from the athletic fields.

Walter Branson, vice chancellor for financial affairs at IPFW, said the campus started to consider student housing issues in the early 1990s. “At first, discussions of student housing were anecdotal, but they gradually became more serious and frequent. We did our first feasibility study in 1997 and conducted additional surveys with student input. All of the results were positive. Because of our research, we were able to set our rent rates in a range competitive with that of the Fort Wayne housing market.”

For the past 10 months, Branson, Edna Neal, vice chancellor for student affairs, and Henson worked together to develop and implement an aggressive marketing campaign to promote student and community awareness of the new residential facility. “We had ads everywhere—radio, television, newspapers—and it really paid off,” said Henson.

The Waterfield Campus Student Housing facility is managed by American Campus Communities, Inc., an Austin, Texas, student housing development company with an extensive list of university clients across the United States. Walter Branson explained that the decision to contract out the management of the facility was based on concern for efficiency and resident satisfaction.

“Since this is a new venture for us, we wanted to have the expertise that ACC could provide. However, we told them that we wanted their involvement to be transparent to the students—we wanted it to be university housing, and I think we’ve succeeded,” said Branson.

http://www.ipfwstudenthousing.com