The final evaluation from the Economics Research Associates, the company hired by the University to evaluate the stretch of land including Nicholson Apartments, Alex Box Stadium and parking lot D, reported the “base-line scenario” would include developing residential and retail facilities. The report suggested building 35,000 square feet of retail development and about 630 graduate and family apartment units. Chancellor Michael Martin created the Nicholson Gateway Project Committee, made up of 11 University administrators and one student, to use the ERA report to develop a plan for revitalizing the area. Other possibilities mentioned in the report included office buildings and a hotel. Staci Pepitone, assistant vice chancellor of Finance and Administrative Services, said nothing has been decided, but maintaining the amount of parking spots in the area and improving family and graduate housing were “givens.”Jason Soileau, assistant director of Facility Development and a member of the committee, said the first committee meeting, held Friday, was “just an introduction.””We’re really just in the information gathering stage,” Soileau said. “We need to look at other developments in the area so we don’t overlap with any other projects, and we need to find the way to best benefit the students. That’s our task — to find out what the students want.”Pepitone said a timeline for the renovation has not been set, and the method for gathering student input has not been determined. “That will be one of the first tasks for the committee to get a basic timeline,” Pepitone said. “There is a sense of urgency to get something done, but we need to work efficiently.”Pepitone said the University is focused on increasing the quality of graduate and family housing.”There are a lot of areas where we have a competitive edge, and we maximize on that,” Pepitone said. “But this is not one of them. If we had better graduate and family housing, I would guess recruiting would be easier.”Kalyana Kavuri, industrial engineering graduate student and Nicholson Apartments resident, said the quality of the graduate housing was not a major factor in his decision to come to the University. “I considered the rent and the availability of housing,” Kavuri said. “But we don’t need all the luxuries. We are here to go to school.”Rajiv Soundarajan, electrical engineering doctoral student and Nicholson Apartments resident, said he’d like to see some improvements made to the complex.”The cleaning and maintenance outside the apartments are not up to standard,” Soundarajan said. “And there are pest problems in some of the apartments. Pest control needs to come more frequently.”Sunjung Park, plant pathology doctoral student and Nicholson Apartments resident, said a roach infestation plagues her apartment.”There are many bugs,” Park said. “The interior of the apartments is really bad; the kitchens are very small. Maintenance responds quickly to any complaints, but they can’t fix the apartments because they’re just old.”Soundarajan said the security around the complex increased directly after last December’s on-campus double homicide, but that security has since appeared to taper off. “Right after the incident, we had police cars monitoring at all hours of the night,” Soundarjan said. “But now we don’t see the cop cars as frequently, and the cameras aren’t positioned right. My car was broken into last week, and the cameras didn’t catch it. We need better security.”But Soundarajan said Nicholson Apartments were still a better option than off-campus housing.”For the rent that we pay, the apartments aren’t that bad,” Soundarajan said. “If they took those extra steps, it would make a huge impact.”—-Contact Katie Kennedy at [email protected]