The halls of College Park Towers are dimly lit, painted a green that has faded to a brown hue, carpeted with a retro dark-green pattern and always shaking from the music.
In a parking lot that leads right to Route 1, and more conveniently, the Cornerstone Bar, the car windows are full of University of Maryland, sorority and fraternity decals.
Built in 1961 as apartments for families and professors, the two-building College Park Towers are now a 204-unit condominium filled with college students.
The buildings, Hartwick and Knox, are located right next to South Campus Commons. Hartwick and Knox are considered off-campus housing.
The site manager, Kenneth M. Gibbs, has been working with College Park Towers for 12 years. He is in charge of the common areas and works with the tenants and apartment owners.
“I’ve had my ups and downs. I’ve worked with graduate students before and now I work mostly with undergraduate students, and it’s very different. For a lot of the undergrads this is the first time they’re on their own and this is a whole new experience for them,” said Gibbs.
With his office located on the first floor of Hartwick, Gibbs is easy to reach. Even though each owner is responsible for any repair or service needed within the apartments, Gibbs offers maintenance that is later billed to either the tenants or the owner.
“I think Mr. Gibbs is great. They have a great communication system down there and always contact me whether by phone or by email,” said unit owner Mark J. Weissman.
Weissman invested in two Hartwick apartments in 2006. According to Weissman he used to get 20 to 30 calls a month from prospective renters, but now he only gets around 10.
“The University of Maryland has handled the off-campus living a little better than they did five to six years ago, but it’s creating a lot of competition for us. There’s The View, The Varsity and they’re supposedly building something on top of the bookstore too,” said Weissman.
Junior finance major Eric Ciancaglini is a tenant in one of Weissman’s apartments. He moved into Hartwick this September and had previously lived in both The Varsity and The View.
“The only reason I live in Hartwick now is because I just got into the business school and I can walk there from here. If it wasn’t for the location I probably would have stayed in The Varsity,” said Ciancaglini.
According to Ciancaglini, the other apartment buildings are much nicer and the staff is friendlier too. “Whenever we have problems they’re quick to fix it here, but in The View and The Varsity I rarely had problems that needed to be fixed,” he said.
College Park Towers are planning for various improvements to continue competing with the newer apartment complexes in the area. Renovations for the fronts and sides of both buildings are going to be made as well as the installation of electric keys, according to Gibbs.