Several new Baton Rouge developments are offering students more than just a place to live with their housing developments, and they’ve been successful so far.
With The Cottages recently opened, Aspen Heights opening next fall and The Woodlands coming in 2012, luxury student communities are offering high-quality amenities and a neighborhood atmosphere to their residents.
The appeal to students goes beyond just a nice place to live, according to Cottages property manager Josey Young.
“[Community] is something we’ve put a focus on from day one,” Young said.
The Cottages has resident events all year long similar to on-campus residence halls and gets student input on events and programs from a resident advisory committee, Young said.
Mike Swope, director of campus marketing for The Dovetail Companies, developer of The Woodlands, said his company went to Baton Rouge and did two days of focus group testing to find out what students wanted out of their living situation.
“Our goal is to offer the residents enough variety where they don’t even have to leave the site,” Swope said.
Both Swope and Young said they see their communities as a natural development of the student housing business, and companies now have to cater more to student needs.
“I think students are getting more demanding in what they want,” Swope said. “Kids don’t want to live in a 1,000-square-foot, four-bedroom, two-bathroom place anymore.”
Shakari Fraser, anthropology junior, lives in The Cottages and said she signed her lease before she ever saw her place.
“Living there, I have a lot of my own space,” Fraser said. “It’s comfortable. It feels like home.”
Duncan Raster, painting and drawing junior, said she enjoys living in her apartment on State Street and can’t afford to live in a luxury community like The Woodlands.
“I have plenty of money left over for groceries,” Raster said.
A neighborhood doesn’t have to be luxurious to have a community, according to Raster.
“I would say it’s a really great community over there,” Raster said. “I know all my neighbors.”
Raster also said living on State Street offers a convenience factor that can’t be matched by the new communities, which are several miles off-campus.
“I don’t have a car, so I bike to school every day,” Raster said.
 
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Contact Frederick Holl at [email protected]