As we approach the end of our first month of school, we watch in awe as the construction on campus continues. While fortunately the parking garage is complete, the residence halls are in chaos as Rollins attempts to house all its students during construction, as they attempt to tackle a project bigger than they can handle. The promise of the upcoming luxury lakeside apartments allows students to overlook this year’s subpar living situation and remain optimistic despite room assignments of 5 people per 2 bedroom apartment. Unless you’re like me, and your entire Rollins experience has been clouded by construction at every turn, with the unfortunate result of not getting to experience the finished product.
As someone who lived in McKean freshman year and Sutton for two years, I see these renovations and can’t help but wonder what took them this long. McKean should have been torn down long before I moved in, and the same goes for Sutton- probably even sooner. From people getting staph infections, to having lead in our water, to having appliances that just simply don’t work, living on campus for three years was a challenge in itself.
Living four people to a 2 bedroom, while not ideal, was doable. I would have loved to have my own bedroom, bathroom, closet, etc., but it wasn’t so bad. I guess the question is, is living 4 students vs. 5 students worth a $1000 difference per semester? These numbers are especially nonsensical to me because instead of making it cheaper to live in the 5 person apartment due to non ideal conditions, the price has remained the same as a 4 person apartment. The breakdown of pricing for a Sutton apartment from the last week of August to first week of December is approximately $1575 a month. Although this price includes all water, trash, sewer, electricity, and wifi, that is still outrageous considering you’re sharing a bathroom.
This just makes me curious of how much Rollins would charge per person for the Lakeside Apartments. Due to the similarities between the renderings of Lakeside and the Paseo apartments off campus, I am curious to see if Rollins will charge Paseo prices. For a standard 2-bedroom/2-bath apartment in Paseo, rent starts at about $2200 a month, or $1100 per person. This just goes to show that Paseo is actually the same price as current Sutton prices. The only difference? In Paseo you don’t have to share a room. Hopefully Rollins will realize that this price increase is insane and is not feasible for college students. If you want to live in a place like Lakeside, just live in Paseo- the apartments they’re very clearly modeled after.