Luxury High-Rise Caters to Collegians
By Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 19, 2008
This isn't your father's or mother's dorm.
From the rooftop pool deck of the Towers at University Town Center in Hyattsville, one can see the top of the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral to the west.
On that side of the deck, one can also gaze down at the Mall at Prince George's, which includes Target, Macy's and Ross. On the other side of the deck, which is atop the 16th floor of the complex, one can look down at a plaza with a large, open water fountain; outdoor tables; the Royale 14 movie theater complex; and several eateries, including Carolina Kitchen, Wild Onion (an organic restaurant) and a Three Brothers pizza place.
Stepping inside the complex feels a little like walking into a high-end hotel. A friendly security guard is stationed at a desk just inside the entrance. To the right is a large exercise room, featuring stationary bikes, treadmills, weight equipment, seven 42-inch flat-screen TVs and two tanning rooms.
The first floor also has a large game room, with three pool tables, table tennis, a foosball table and another game table. Six large flat-screen TVs are suspended throughout the room. There's a machine with DVDs for rent -- and two 96-inch projection screens that can be unfurled to show the DVDs.
Individual units are furnished with black leather couches in the living room, and each bedroom includes a double bed and a private bathroom. Each of the 910 apartments has a washer and dryer and is equipped with cable and high-speed Internet. Students pay rent per bedroom.
The apartment building, which comprises two joined towers, opened in August 2006. It was built specifically as market-rate student housing. Students from more than a dozen schools live at the complex, though more than 40 percent attend the University of Maryland's College Park campus, which is a 10-minute drive away.
The university runs a shuttle to and from the campus. In addition, the Prince George's Plaza Metro station, on the Green Line, is across the street.
"I'm extremely busy. I like the convenience of all the amenities and having a Metro station right here," said Andrea Peimer, 24, a graduate student at the University of Maryland who is studying school counseling.
"The movie theaters are amazing. They're brand-new, with chairs that go back, and they're never crowded," said Peimer, who shares a two-bedroom apartment on the 10th floor. "The rent is high, but it's worth it. I talk to people who live in D.C. who pay close to what I'm paying, but they don't get all the fancy stuff, like the nice gym and the tanning booth."
Islamiat Olaribigbe, 22, agreed. A medical student at Howard University, she shares a two-bedroom apartment with a Howard pre-law student.
"Compared to everything around the area, the complex is outstanding," Olaribigbe said. "It's very comfortable. If you are looking for a place where you can be comfortable studying and playing, this is it."
Peimer and Olaribigbe said they feel extremely safe in the complex. Both students were aware that a fatal shooting occurred in one of the towers in late February. The victim, a young man who was reportedly in the building to visit his girlfriend, was shot in the leg in a 10th-floor apartment. The bullet hit an artery, and the young man died. County police arrested another young man, who also was a visitor to the building.
Peimer and Olaribigbe praised the response of building management and Hyattsville and county police to the shooting. In the days after the shooting, management held a series of gatherings in which police officers, detectives and building managers met with students to provide whatever information they could, Peimer said.
The incident was isolated and involved people who knew each other and had an argument, building managers said.
Peimer and Olaribigbe said they consider security at the complex to be very good. "The security people pretty much know everyone who lives here, and guests have to sign in," Peimer said.
Tim Taylor, vice president of leasing at University Town Center, noted in a statement that security cameras videotaping comings and goings are installed throughout the two towers.
Tenants who have a parking space in the underground garage are particularly secure, building managers said. Access to the garage is tightly controlled, and once a tenant is in the garage, he or she can take an elevator directly into the apartment complex.
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