Student Housing

When the Maryland Institute College of Art set out to build its first student housing complex in historic Bolton Hill, administrators wanted to provide all the creature comforts residents have come to expect from on-campus housing: kitchens, private bathrooms, a choice of floor plans.But recognizing the special needs and discriminating tastes of the prospective tenants -- all fine arts majors -- college officials asked their architects to provide even more: a place with a character all its own."

Like many college students, James Genus rented an apartment in Bolton Hill in past years to be near his classes at Maryland Institute, College of Art.But this year, the 22-year-old senior bypassed the apartment hunt and moved to student housing owned and operated by the college.He is one of the first residents of The Commons, a four-story, $12 million complex the college built to provide more supervised housing for undergraduates.Although the 166-year-old institute operated a "freshman row" in town houses along Mount Royal Avenue and reserved a block of apartments in the nearby Sutton Place tower, The Commons is the first student housing it ever built from scratch.

BOSTON -- No more shadowy halls with door after anonymous door. No more sardine-can rooms with extension cords draping from every outlet. No more paper-thin walls and tacky lounge furniture.Dormitories of today are having to respond to students' wishes as the college applicant pool shrinks and universities across the United States use every card in their decks to attract top students to their schools."Student housing is more amenable today than in the past, which was more prison-like than residential," says Greg Strickler, director of design and construction at MPC and Associates Inc., in Washington, a development consultation firm for universities across the country.

The Maryland Institute College of Art's long-delayed plan for a student housing complex in Bolton Hill is expected to finally move forward next week when Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. brings to market a $12 million bond issue to fund the project.The institute's plans were derailed in August when Moody's Investor Service downgraded the debt of MNC Financial just days before its subsidiary, Maryland National Bank, was to have signed a final construction loan agreement with the school. The lowered rating left MNC unable to sell commercial paper to back up the loan and forced Maryland Institute to delay construction until it could secure new financing.