An apartment building across Campus Drive from Lot 1 would be a dream for students tired of making the trek down Route 1 to the campus.
But while the building may be a reality, the shorter commute won’t be.
Despite a housing crunch that has caused students to scatter throughout College Park, two new apartment complexes, Domain at College Park and the Mosaic at Turtle Creek, are being designed for non-students with university affiliations – faculty, staff and alumni – despite being built on Mowatt Lane or adjacent to university property. In addition, housing in the university’s East Campus development isn’t intended for undergraduates.
There are thousands of student beds coming to College Park along Route 1 in the next few years, but their locations to the north of the campus would make them less convenient for students and add to congestion.
But administrators and city council members both see a need for non-student housing.
“There are many housing needs in this area. Student housing is not the only one,” said Ann Wylie, the university’s interim vice president for administrative affairs. She said one of the university’s greatest flaws is that there are few places for faculty and staff to live nearby, forcing them to live elsewhere and commute, clogging area roads and university parking lots.
College Park District 4 Councilwoman Mary Cook agreed.
“If [the housing] saves someone coming from Rockville driving over, that’s OK,” she said. “It’s not just students that want to be near the campus.”
“I can understand the students’ point of view, though, that maybe there should be student housing,” Cook added. “[But] I think we have so much student housing coming online that these are OK.”
The other projects include the Varsity at College Park, which will bring 914 beds to a site adjacent to the University View; Starview Plaza, which will bring 662 beds to a location farther down Route 1; and the expansion of the University View.
But despite their locations, Wylie said the properties south of the campus aren’t inherently more convenient for students. The Route 1 properties are closer to the mathematics, science and engineering buildings than those on Mowatt Lane, she said.
The university is working on a land swap with developers of the Mosaic at Turtle Creek to exchange the university land behind Maryland Hillel for two parcels the developer owns at the corner of Paint Branch Drive and University Boulevard, Wylie said.
Those parcels, which Wylie said are often mistaken for university property, would help make a buffer around the campus, she said. She said the two properties are of equal value, but she would not say how much they are worth.
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