New Housing project welcomes members of the FIU community

Written by Andrea Perdomo/Contributing Staff Writer

Student and faculty will soon have the opportunity to live in affordable and modern housing directly off campus.

University Bridge Residences will be a 20-story, 492 unit apartment building that will solely house FIU students and faculty. It will be located  across the street from the Modesto Maidique campus at 740 S.W. 109th Ave.

The condominium will be built by Global City Development, a Miami-Based company that combined forces with firms from Washington D.C. and Toronto to create the project.  

Global City co-founder Brian Pearl said that one of the things the company is focusing on is developing educational opportunities in Miami through housing.  “We are looking to provide things that people can afford,” Pearl said. “We’re looking to basically match the rents that are being charged on campus and at other off campus facilities and to provide a product that has more amenities and more privacy and higher end finishes than you can get in the other off campus properties.”

FIU is not involved with the actual development of the residences, but Pearl said the firm “met very early on with Doctor [Mark B.] Rosenberg and other leaders of the school and they’ve been extraordinarily cooperative in trying to guide us as to what would be the best sorts of facilities for FIU students.”

While the university expands at a rapid rate, only 8 percent of FIU’s 56,000 student population live in university owned or affiliated buildings, according to Miami Herald, with over 700 students waiting for availability in the MMC dorms.

University Bridge Residences’ apartments will come completely furnished, with private bathrooms and will have amenities like a state-of-the art pool and modern appliances that include a washer and dryer for each unit, according to Pearl.

Relieving students from the burden of having to purchase furniture is appealing to students like senior journalism major Alexandra Rodriguez.

“That is perfect for us broke college students. Not having to worry about buying furniture is a big financial relief.,” she said. “[It] leaves us with more money for books…or Starbucks.”

Living at the University Bridge Residences would be the “best of both worlds,” according to Ingrid padron, a senior communications major.

“It’s housing, but not literally on campus,” Padron said. “It gives the safety of being at school with more freedom.”

The condos will be available for purchase to the general public, with the understanding that the tenants need to be affiliated with FIU. The apartments’ purchase prices will range from $190,000-$700,000. There will be various styles of condos available, including studio and multi-room apartments and three and four bedroom townhouses.

University Bridges Residences is expected to be completed by 2020.

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