Apartment rents will increase once again for the 2014-15 academic year in response to a multitude of factors.
Stacie Dooley, associate dean for University Apartments and off-campus student services, said she could not yet announce the official rent rates for university housing next year, but she confirmed rent would increase.
“Landlords typically raise rents anywhere from 1-3 percent each year depending on costs,” Dooley said in an email. “Rent increases can be caused by a number of factors, but usually are due to an increase in taxes, utility or insurance costs.”
The spike in rent will occur in most off-campus apartments, including Renee Row, which is a consistently popular building. A standard, three-bedroom apartment, with one of the bedrooms lofted, will cost $1,895 per month next academic year, which is a $75 increase from this year. Some students, though, still spent the night before lease signing day camping outside the building in tents to assure a spot, a Renee Row office manager said.
Along with rent, amenities and location play a large role in students’ apartment choices, which some students said adds stress to the situation.
“Overall the most stressful part of finding an apartment is deciding exactly what you want,” said Evan Graczyk, a junior in the College of Business Administration, who signed a lease for Renee Row next year. “The best thing to do, though, is not set your mind on only one place because places fall through.”
Graczyk said he dealt with a difficult change of plans, but was fortunate to find an apartment at the last minute.
“In our situation, we found a place and it happened to be over-filled and were told we couldn’t live there,” Graczyk said. “However, we reached out to other places and they were happy to fill them.”
Dooley said the demand for university apartments is consistently strong, including buildings such as Campustown West, East and the Gilman building. Marquette is hosting the annual university apartment presentations and tours Saturday as part of Family Weekend.
“Our demand has been fairly consistent for the past four years and we typically have a waiting list of students after our sign-up process is complete,” Dooley said. “It remains to be seen how the new development at 14th and Wells will affect our numbers.”
That new development, Ivy on Fourteenth, is still on schedule for its opening next fall, and according to Julie Ledger, the vice president and general manager of the Opus Group in Milwaukee, student interest is strong.
“The students have been fantastic,” Ledger said. “They have found ways to get to us and we’ve had great interest and there’s already a bunch of leases that are signed.”
Ledger said Opus is working on a building that will serve as a leasing office and a small model unit to give students a chance to see what the rooms in the new complex will look like. The model will be located on the southeast corner of 17th Street and Wells Street.
Rates for Ivy on Fourteenth range from $525 to $1,499 per month with water, cable and internet provided. Although leases for the building only became available a few days ago, 15 percent of the rooms are already leased.
University apartment selection starts next month, with deposit collection starting Oct. 21.
