Croquet, Anyone? College Park Complex Built Around Leisure.

Camden College Park is trying to be a fun place to live.

Open since September but still under construction, the mid-rise at Route 1 and the Beltway boasts iPod docking stations that allow residents to play music in the resident lounge areas and the fitness center. The lounge has flat-screen televisions, a Nintendo Wii game system and a billiards table. The state-of-the-art fitness center includes a climbing wall and a virtual-reality exercise bicycle.

There are televisions on most of the cardiovascular equipment in the gym, as well as throughout other common areas, including in the business center/lounge. There is WiFi throughout the common areas, too. When the second clubhouse is built, it will house a poker room.

A putting green and a boccie ball and croquet court join the more-typical outdoor features of picnic areas, gas grills and an outdoor pool.

"We really take it a step further," said Marcus Evans, regional marketing director for Camden Property Trust, the national apartment company that owns and manages the luxury complex.

The 508-unit complex is scheduled to be completed this fall. It consists of 19 three- and four-story red-brick buildings clustered around two covered parking garages.

The secure garages were a big draw for Joe Horton, 23, a locksmith.

"I don't have to worry about somebody breaking into my car or my work van," he said. "It's nice because I'm on call, so when somebody calls and says they lost their keys, if it's snowing out, I don't have to spend 30 minutes outside scraping the car off."

The location was also a benefit, Horton said, because his job depends on travel around the area. "It's right at Route 1 and the Beltway, so I can get places quickly. If I lived further down Route 1, it might take me an extra 15 minutes."

The complex is adjacent to Ikea and shares its entrance with the Swedish furniture store.

"We go to Ikea very often, and we saw the building, and I was like, 'I want to live here,' " said Sylvia Naylor, 30, who moved into a one-bedroom-plus-den with her husband, Chris, at the end of September.

"It's a great location," said Naylor, a doctoral student at the University of Maryland, which is a five-minute drive away.

The gym, the Internet cafe, the swimming pool, a big balcony, in-unit washers and dryers, and the newness of the building are all pluses, Naylor said.

"Everything is fresh and new. Everything is so tasteful, and so nice with class and style. I would say it's a higher standard," she said.

Although the buildings are still under construction, residents said the staff has tried to ensure as few disruptions as possible. "This is the nicest place in College Park, definitely," Naylor said.

Apartments have buttercream-color walls, nine-foot ceilings, walk-in closets, crown molding, ceiling fans, track lighting, washers and dryers, garden-style tubs, and ceramic tile in the bathrooms.

There are 65 apartment layouts. Some have built-in bookshelves and computer desks, double vanities, fireplaces and wood-laminate floors.

There are elevators in the parking garages even though residents can park on the same floor as their apartment. And though there is a trash room on each floor, there is also trash pickup from outside each unit.

Other conveniences include a car-wash station; proximity to the University of Maryland shuttle bus and Metrobus; and an adjacent new shopping center that includes a Potbelly sandwich shop, a Starbucks, a FedEx Kinko's and a Mexican restaurant. This summer, the complex will begin its own shuttle service to the Greenbelt Metro during rush hours.

The complex's newness, plus convenience to Metro, attracted Jonathan Hairston and his fiancee, Khaleena Anderson.

"This was pretty much the best of the best, understanding that it was new, never lived in before," said Hairston, 23. "When I came into the vacant apartment, I was like, 'I'm home.' It was different. It wasn't your traditional white walls in a box. There was more flexibility to it."

Hairston uses the gym quite a bit and said he has a good time climbing the wall and riding the virtual-reality exercise bike.

"I had never seen the Internet bike before," he said. "I know a lot of people who get a real kick out of the Wii. That was something different."