FAU cuts the ribbon to open phase one of Innovation Village Apartments
BOCA RATON – Construction may be lagging around the nation, but not on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
Groundbreakings were held barely a year ago for the Innovation Village and the new 30,000 seat stadium.
The stadium is scheduled to open with the first home football game of the season on Oct. 15. The tall residential buildings around the new arena are part of the Innovation Village, which was completed just in time for students arriving for the new academic year to move in.
FAU’s department of housing and residential life, part of the Division of Student Affairs, recently hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for phase one of the Innovation Village Apartments, These units were marketed exclusively to FAU’s upper division undergraduate and graduate students for occupancy at the start of the fall semester.
“The completion of Innovation Village Apartments brings us closer to transforming the Boca Raton campus into a traditional university campus,” said Dr. Charles Brown, senior vice president of student affairs. “This will create a new excitement and enthusiasm for our student, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the university. The new housing facilities, football stadium, recreation and fitness center and alumni center will become a new living-learning and social center for the FAU family.”
Phase one of the Innovation Village Apartments included the construction of two apartment buildings, totaling 489,000 square feet and providing 1,216 beds for upper-division and graduate students. Phase one’s accelerated construction began in March 2010, with the first students moving in late in July 2011.
The complex consists of seven- and eight-story buildings, and features a mix of two- and four-bedroom, two-bathroom, fully-furnished apartments. The apartments include kitchens with Energy Star appliances, Comcast TV and access to high-speed Internet. Some apartments also include laundry appliances.
The apartment complex features a lush courtyard and green spaces, an outdoor pool, sand volleyball court, barbecue grills and outdoor seating. Other amenities within the complex include a fitness center, convenience store, computer lab, smart technology conference rooms and multipurpose meeting areas.
The Innovation Village Apartments are on track to qualify for silver level certification in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system of the U.S. Green Building Council.
The Innovation Village Apartments were developed by a joint venture of Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions and Capstone Development Corporation. They were designed by PGAL (Pierce Goodwin Alexander & Linville) Architects and constructed by Balfour Beatty Construction. Balfour Beatty Capital invested $3.4 million in tax-exempt bonds that finance the project.
A joint venture of Capstone On-Campus Management and Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, led by Capstone On-Campus Management, will oversee with FAU the Innovation Village Apartments, as well as the existing student housing facilities on FAU’s Boca Raton campus. FAU is taking primary responsibility for leasing, marketing, student programming and residential life, while the joint venture companies are primarily responsible for budgeting and physical operations.
The Innovation Village Apartments serve as the second phase of FAU’s Innovation Village project. Already a part of Innovation Village are the Marleen and Harold Forkas Alumni Center, the student recreation/fitness center and the stadium.
