After her fifth apartment tour of the week, Macy Herman sat in her dorm room feeling defeated. As the 2024 spring semester dwindled, she still had no place to live in August.
Student housing is limited near the Florida Gulf Coast University campus. Only three designated student housing complexes are in the area, creating an expensive apartment market for college students. With limited on-campus housing, many students struggle to find affordable living options during the school year.
“I genuinely dread the second semester of school, because I know that means it is time to figure out where I am going to live next year,” Herman, a sophomore at FGCU, said. “Housing prices are insane, and for a college student it is almost undoable.”
There are currently 4,784 beds among the three residential villages at FGCU. Students can begin signing up for off-campus housing in September, yet FGCU does not begin assigning housing until Feb. 3.
With the university surpassing 16,000 students, 35% of the student body lives in off-campus housing complexes or at home.
“On-campus housing is a hard 'no' for me. When my roommates and I tried to get into North Lake last year, we were in the hundreds on the waiting list,” Herman said. “We ended up not getting housing. By the time we realized that, we were late to the game for the off-campus options.”
Dr. Natalie Reckard, director of the University Housing for Resident Life at FGCU, said more on-campus housing options may be in the future. FGCU is currently working with a consultating group to decide whether more housing is needed.
“We hope that by the end of spring [2025], we should receive a final recommendation from the company on if there is an appetite to build,” Reckard said. “We are not trying to make profits, it is not like that. We are trying to be whole so that housing does not go into the red.”
Despite the limited options with FGCU housing, it is the cheapest option for students, starting at $680 a month.
According to Zillow, the average rent in Estero is $4,045—$2,045 higher than the national average.
Klaudia Szarwacki, an out-of-state sophomore at FGCU, had to take the cheapest off-campus housing option after not getting into an on-campus village for the 2024-2025 school year.
“The only other option I had was Coastal Village,” Szarwarki said. “I currently pay $800 a month plus utilities, which are an extra $80 usually.”
Szarwacki looked into other student living options but could not justify nor afford the hefty price tag that came with them.
University Village, which opened in 2018, has the highest pricing. For a four-person unit, which is the more cost-effective option compared with the two-person unit, students pay $1,159 a month. On top of the rent fee, there is a $50-a-month flat rate for utilities and an additional $40 a month for parking. Together, University Village is bringing in just shy of $5,000 per unit.
University Village said its location close to campus and its amenities make it worth the rent.
It is the closest off-campus housing option, as its neighbors are South Village, FGCU’s underclassman housing, and the University Recreation and Wellness Center. As for the amenities, University Village offers a resort-style pool, beach volleyball courts, a 24-hour fitness center and a study room.
“Living at University Village would be nice,” Szarwacki said. “But in all honesty, I cannot afford it on my own. My parents help me with my rent, but even with their help, I can’t justify spending that much money. I would have to get another job just to scrape by.”
The next cheapest option for off-campus student living is The Reef. This complex is farther off campus, just under three miles away. The cheapest option is a four-person apartment which is $990 per month, plus utilities. The Reef is bringing in almost $4,000 per unit.
It was acquired by Coastal Ridge Real Estate of Ohio in 2016 for $78 million. When asked about how their prices were determined, the front desk worker at the apartment complex said she was not allowed to answer any more questions and that there was no spokesperson.
Along with University Village, The Reef offers amenities such as a resort-style pool, tanning beds, a Starbucks coffee machine and various outdoor games.
Herman contemplated The Reef while searching for housing, but questioned whether the price tag matched the quality of service.
“I really considered The Reef when I was looking for an apartment,” Herman said. “I was hesitant because my friends who lived there recently said they had problems with trash pickup and maintenance. I looked past that until I saw photos of the garbage pile up on social media.” Like Szarwacki, Herman also chose to live in Coastal Village for the 2024-2025 school year.
Coastal Village is the cheapest option for off-campus housing, ranging from $830 to $870 per person plus utilities. This off-campus housing is the oldest complex out of the three. It opened in 2004.
Coastal Village offers amenities such as a pool and fitness center as the other complexes do.
“So far, it has not been that bad,” Herman said. “We do have a lot of problems with the apartment, but maintenance has been great and understanding.”
Other students have not felt the same way. Coastal Village has 3.1 stars on Google, with comments that there is mold in the units and management has been difficult to work with.
Coastal Village just sold for $72.35 million, more than double the price for a sale 10 years ago.
Barron Collier Properties is one of three companies that will form the new ownership. A top executive at Barron Collier Properties said that the new owners are aware of concerns at Coastal Village, and that they will invest in fixing up the buildings and providing better landscaping.
“At this point, I am just happy to have somewhere to live for the school year, even if it is still over my budget,” Herman said. “I just really hope that in the coming years, there are more options available for students and finding housing doesn’t have to be such a draining experience.”
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