Developments in housing

City council approves plans for new student apartment complex

Nick Landon
@realnicklandon

Last tuesday night, Mayor Thrower and the Milledgeville City Council approved a student housing project that’ll bring a 64-acre, 500-room apartment complex to a currently empty lot on 700 Nelson Road.

The complex is to be situated behind Georgia Military College’s athletic facilities, and will feature riverside access to the Oconee via the Oconee River Greenway. This complex also puts a large body of students in the south side of Milledgeville, an impoverished side of town desperate for renewal.

“Anytime you can put students in an area that isn’t as well off, you’re adding to the economy” City Councilmen Walter Reynolds said.

There are a fair number of businesses within walking distance of the property and a great deal of opportunities for new businesses to swoop in and reap the benefits of this new college student corale.

“Anyone who is a smart business owner is going to look to a whole new audience, a whole new group of students that they can appeal to on the south side,” Reynolds said.

There are plans for a multi-use athletic field, a massive clubhouse and activities center, an office area with computers and printers and a pool. The buildings in the complex will span a range of sizes and arrangements from one-person cottages, to six-person town homes.

Reynolds said rates are projected to be between $500-$850, depending on the unit. If this sounds too steep, fret not, this might spell price cuts for many of the other apartment complexes in the area.

“New development will cause older developments to sort of step up their game,” Reynolds said.

To put into perspective how massive this complex is, and the sort of dent it could make in other housing complexes, GCSU housing holds 2,200 students. This complex holds a little under a quarter of that.