Increases in University Housing capacities may be causing decreases in students living in University House private resident halls, such as University House Langdon, Towers and Statesider. According to Director of University Housing Paul Evans, with changes such as the construction of Smith Hall, UW-Madison was able to house over 400 more students than last year.
""We believe for the majority of students, we're their first choice where they'd like to live,"" he said. ""When we are able to accommodate them, I think that made a difference for how many people lived off campus.""
UW-Madison sophomore and returning Langdon resident Maia Jacobs said she ""definitely"" noticed a difference. According to Jacobs, the floor below her is only about half full and some of her friends switched from The Langdon into University Housing this year.
""In general, market trends do show that demand for off-campus housing has decreased slightly,"" said Kim Hardcastle, vice president of marketing for University Partners, the company that owns University House private residence halls.
According to Hardcastle, lower freshmen enrollment and the opening of new on-campus housing may be behind the decrease in demand for private housing.
Evans listed reasons students may prefer University Housing over off-campus residences: for its support programs, location and food services. Jacobs said her friends switched because of the suite style rooms available in Smith Hall.
Evans noted that though almost 40 percent of residents in University Housing are already from states other than Wisconsin, more were able to live in University Housing this year as opposed to private resident halls. According to Evans, there is a state statute that UW-Madison must provide housing for any Wisconsin students who are interested, giving them priority over other students.
""This year, because we are larger, virtually every student who wanted to live on campus we had space for,"" he said.
This increase in availability at University Housing may draw potential tenants away from private residence halls. Jacobs noticed that along with the decrease in tenants, University House Langdon has put forth an effort to attract new tenants and resign existing ones.
""They've had a lot of signs up, and last year there were a lot of perks for signing up again, like free cable and internet,"" she said.
""Like any student housing provider, we would like to see our communities 100 percent leased,"" Hardcastle said. ""However, we understand that is not always possible given the variety of market factors that influence leasing rates.""
