Trinity University announced Wednesday that it has purchased the luxury 141-unit City Vista Apartment complex located at 655 E. Hildebrand Ave., across from the university. The property, which will be used for upperclassmen and possibly graduate student housing, includes a 340-space parking garage.
“The property has exciting potential as student residential housing. It provides new living opportunities for upper class students seeking greater independence and privacy, while maintaining the benefits of our residential campus experience,” Trinity President Danny Anderson said.
Apartment-style living and increased parking are both major pieces of Trinity’s master plan. Original plans included new construction for both. The purchase of City Vista jump starts movement on the strategic development plan, Trinity spokeswoman Sharon Jones Schweitzer said.
Trinity students are required to live on campus for their first three years. Currently 1,800 of the university’s 2,400 students live on campus. The estimated on-campus “living allowance” per academic year is $12,754 and includes a mandatory meal plan, according to Trinity’s website. University officials have not yet decided how the apartment-style housing will compare in cost to the dormitory housing on campus.
The university does not currently have plans to modify the apartments, which were built in 2015 by the Koontz Corporation. Many upperclassmen with off-campus living privileges already live at City Vista.
Trinity purchased the property at fair market value, Schweitzer said. The parcel of land was once part of the campus, but was severed by the rerouting of Hildebrand Avenue in the mid-20th century. The new road created the triangle shaped lot where City Vista is located. The university then deeded the triangle-shaped parcel to SAISD to use as part of a shared parking agreement with Trinity. When SAISD sold the parcel to The Koontz Corporation the deed restriction gave Trinity the right of first offer when the property went up for sale again.
“Opportunity knocked and Trinity answered, bringing full circle the ownership of the ‘triangle property,’” Anderson said.
Trinity will maintain current leases until they expire, but plans to move students in for the start of the 2017-18 school year. Officials plans to work with current tenants to ensure that they maintain the quality of living they have enjoyed thus far throughout the life of their current lease. The university will cooperate with existing management company Greystone.
The development includes 141 units, divided into nine one-bedroom, 10 two-bedroom, and one three-bedroom layouts. Current rates run from $1,290 for the smallest floor plan to $3,075 for the largest, according to City Vista’s website. The property advertises a rooftop terrace, various entertainment facilities, a coffee bar, a fitness facility, and a “resort-style pool with expansive sundeck.”
