Stipulations outweighed by apartment perks

With more than 5,500 students encompassing the campus as GCSU, the need for more student housing is evident.

This fall, two new apartment communities- The Grove and Magnolia Park, will open for students and will create more student living than before. This has left many students wondering what the exact differences are between Magnolia Park and The Grove.

The Grove is located within walking distance from campus and offers two bedroom, two bath and three bedroom, three bath apartments. The apartments will all be fully furnished with living room area furniture and furnished bedrooms for an additional cost. The Grove will also provide students with free access to two tanning beds, a resort style pool, an internet community lounge with an X-box game room, a half court basketball court, sand volleyball, a coffee bar and a 24-hour workout facility.

The Grove lease also states that pets are allowed if a fee is paid.

Junior Brianna Hope will be living in The Grove complex this upcoming fall, and said she is excited about all of the amenities The Grove has to offer.

“I think it’s great that you can have pets at The Grove. That’s what makes them so different from most of the other apartment complexes,” Hope said. “It makes me want to go out and buy a new puppy.”

There will be a $300 security deposit fee for anyone with a pet, which is refundable on the move-out date. There is also a $20 non-refundable monthly fee for having a pet on the premises.

For liability and fire safety reasons, the lease specifically states that no dart boards, firearms, live-cut Christmas trees, incense or candles are allowed in the apartments. However, management at The Grove stated that they would not be checking apartments for these items. The lease is stated this way in case of a real fire or in case darts damage surrounding walls. This ensures that tenants are responsible for damages to the apartment.

Sophomore Business Management major Nick Mann will also be a resident at The Grove this fall.

“I’m not worried about the lease and how you can’t have candles. This clause is in every lease for fire reasons,” Mann said. “Unless I burn down the building, I really don’t think I’ll get in trouble-or that I’ll be fined if I get caught with a few candles in my apartment.”

Alcohol is allowed in the apartments at The Grove as long as drinking occurs within apartments instead of in public. The decision to allow alcohol at the pool will be placed at the discretion of management, who said that this decision will be made at a later time.

Magnolia Park, which will open this fall for occupancy, will be a competitor for The Grove. Located across Roberson Mill from Bobcat Village, Magnolia Park will provide students with a shuttle to campus.

Melissa Olsen, leasing manager at Magnolia Park, said she is excited about this new apartment community and what it has to offer students.

“College Park has been in student housing for over 20 years and we have over 76 properties in the US,” Olsen said.

Magnolia Park offers students two bedroom/two bath, three bedroom/three bath, and four bedroom/four bath apartments-all of which are completely furnished. No sharing of bedrooms is allowed. Guests visiting residents will be asked to check in when they arrive and park their vehicles because Magnolia Park is a gated community.

Five tanning beds are offered to tenants free of charge, along with a game room with pool tables, a hot tub, a multi-media center, an X-Box room, a 24-hour state of the art fitness center, and a pool which is supposed to be bigger than other pools at nearby apartment complexes.

Magnolia Park’s lease states that no more than 10 people should be permitted in a unit at a time and that candles, halogens, band equipment and vocal lessons are not allowed. Pets are also not allowed on the premises, and management said that quarterly inspections and routine room checks will be performed.

A police officer will also live at the apartments at Magnolia Park.

“(We will have a police officer for) protecting the residence and to maintain our apartments- outside of that you know your basic rules and regulations,” Olsen said.

The rule on alcohol at Magnolia Park is the same as the rules and regulations of the city. If you are 21 years of age, you are permitted to drink; underage drinking will not be tolerated.

The Grove and Magnolia Park definitely have some competition between one another, as they both offer so many amenities. Every two weeks The Grove does a drawing for those who have signed leases for a free iPod Nano, and right now the next 100 people to sign a lease at Magnolia Park will receive a free iPod Nano.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 24 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry