When the white-tablecloth restaurants and luxury apartments finally do go up on East Campus, if you’re an undergraduate student, you may not be welcome.
At least, that’s the message city council members sent at their meeting Tuesday, when several expressed concern that the large, unfurnished apartments planned for the development would attract undergraduates. The project’s developer, Foulger-Pratt Argo, has promised the apartments would be targeted at graduate students and professors, part of a town center catering to the entire university. Unconvinced councilmembers asked for more reassurances.
It’s ridiculous to think these luxury apartments sound like student havens – students only go for high-end homes when they’ve exhausted other options. But to set an age minimum on any of the apartments would be foolish. The apartments aren’t meant for undergraduates, and we don’t think they should be. The development plans to attract older and more affluent residents, which we think will provide the city with much-needed balance. But to chalk off sections of East Campus as off limits to anyone sets up an us-versus-them mentality contrary to the development’s inclusive vision.
Ultimately, the city council needs to remember that East Campus will be a college town. We understand that one of its primary goals will be to draw alumni and outsiders into College Park, to give them a view of the city that isn’t a drag of strip malls and bars. But students’ role in East Campus can’t be taken for granted.
Students will surely contribute revenue that will support stores and restaurants. Most importantly, in a project where character remains a major question, a strong undergraduate presence in the development will ensure that it becomes a part of the university. If the development offers nothing but $60 concerts at the Birchmere and $40-a-person fine dining, the atmosphere in the development will almost certainly fall flat. Luckily, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Plans for eclectic retail, a movie theater and a grocery store are just what undergraduates need, and developer Bryant Foulger’s resistance to the city’s demands is certainly encouraging.
