HYDE PARK — Three former University of Chicago dormitories are now back on the market as furnished rental apartments marketed towards students.
The university closed Broadview, Blackstone and Maclean halls in June with students moving to the new Campus North Residence Hall in the fall, and the new owner 3L Real Estate has now reopened the buildings as mostly studio apartments.
The largest of the former dorms is Broadview Hall, a 7-story building at 5540 S. Hyde Park Blvd. with 187 units. The floor plans remain largely similar to when the building was a dorm with the vast majority of the apartments being set up as 275-square-foot studios renting for $699 a month. Several larger 900-square-foot three bedroom apartments, a holdover from the university’s resident master tradition, are renting for $2,279 a month.
The university has a long tradition of housing faculty members and their families in the residence halls to act as mentors to incoming first-year students, a practice that continues at its new dorms and has provided 3L Real Estate with several spacious apartments amongst a portfolio of mostly studios, one-bedroom apartments and single sleeping rooms.
The three buildings continue to be marketed heavily towards U. of C. students, boasting fully-furnished apartments in all three buildings.
Michael Kavka, chief marketing officer for 3L Real Estate, said the kitchen in Broadview has been redone with new sinks and appliances and said all three buildings have been painted, gotten new carpeting installed and had the hardware upgraded for better internet service.
The changes may make the buildings alluring for university students, who are only required to to live in university housing during their first year of undergraduate studies.
The former Maclean Hall, a 104-unit building at 5445 S. Ingleside Ave., appears to have kept the most of its set-up from its time as dorms.
The building is a mix of private sleeping rooms for $642 a month and one-bedroom apartments that rely on a shared kitchen and bathrooms, with larger four-bedroom apartments renting for $3,184 a month.
The former Blackstone Hall, a 81-unit building at 5748 S. Blackstone Ave., will also be mostly studio and one-bedroom apartments starting at $600 a month.
So far the buildings’ rents remain competitive with the university’s housing rates for its new dorms, which is $9,084 for three quarters, or $1,009 a month for a nine months of housing. All students, regardless of the residence hall they live in, are charged the same rate for housing, according to the university’s College Housing and Residential Services.
It’s unclear what updates the buildings have gotten since 3L Real Estate announced it had purchased the buildings in mid-July.
Cook County property records were not yet available to determine the final purchase price for the three buildings.
Blackstone Hall, 5748 S. Blackstone Ave., was sold and its Blackstone house community retired over the summer.
Broadview Hall, 5540 S. Hyde Park Blvd., was sold and its Wick, Talbot and Palmer house communities retired over the summer.
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