Skyview Apartments, 31 S. Court Street, is owned by Ohio University and Housing and Residence Life manages the apartments.
When some Ohio University students move off-campus, the Department of Housing and Residence Life may still have a hand in their living arrangements.
Skyview Apartments, 31. S Court Street fall under a five-year lease agreement held by the university.
Housing and Residence Life has continued to manage the apartments since August 2012, Jneanne Hacker, Director of Business Operations and Conference Services, said in an email.
With a rent falling at about $3,150 a semester — which includes gas, electric and access to the university internet, according to OU’s website — the apartments not only provide students with a convenient place to live uptown, but another source of revenue for OU.
“Currently, the revenue generated from the apartments is deposited into a university rotary account that is managed by OU Real Estate,” Hacker said. “Housing and Residence Life receives a minimal administrative fee to cover operational expenses associated with managing all aspects of the apartments.”
Rent from the apartments goes toward OU’s lease of the building, maintenance repairs and payments to Housing and Residence Life for administering the leases.
The owner of the building entered into an agreement with OU Real Estate to lease the building in order “to provide swing space for the Lindley project, the Scripps project, the McCracken project, the Seigfred project as the faculty offices and classrooms needed to be replaced during the construction of those facilities,” Hacker said.
“I think it’s fantastic (that OU owns Skyview),” Justin Rembielak, a Skyview Resident and a senior studying criminal justice, said. “How it works with the university is that if you can’t make payments or anything you forward it onto your financial aid.”
Many offices and classrooms were temporarily relocated to the ground and first floors of the building throughout the renovations, Hacker asid.
“Upon taking possession of the building, Housing and Residence Life was asked to manage the 10 apartments located on the second floor on behalf of Ohio University Real Estate,” Hacker said.
She added Housing and Residence considers the Skyview apartments traditional, off-campus housing. There is no Residential Assistant in Skyview apartments, but there is a building manager.
“We do provide a student building manager who lives on site and is on-call for to process work orders for maintenance issues, perform annual apartment inspections, provides assistance for lock outs and assists with showing the apartments to prospective tenants,” Hacker said.
“All of the apartments are fully furnished and maintenance concerns are addressed by Ohio University Facilities Management employees,” Hacker said.
The apartments come fully furnished upon move in.
“This furniture is awesome, better than any dorm,” Rembielak said.
For some students, that is a real selling point. Landon Magers, a senior studying occupational health sciences, enjoyed the convenience.
“(Skyview apartments) is a lot nicer than what I had (last year),” Magers said, noting that the location is nice.
She said tenants living in Skyview are encouraged to process their own work orders, but the student building manager can help.
OU is responsible for maintaining the inside of the 31 S. Court Street, but the owner is responsible for maintaining the structural integrity of exterior of the building.
“I’m just really happy, happy with the experience, happy with University housing,” Rembielak said.
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