College students — nearly 35,000 of them— are back in town.
“We’re filling up,’’ said Brad Statler, of Creekwalk Commons, 324 W. Water St.
The former E.M. O’Donnell Building has 75 apartments. All but four suites and seven two-bedroom apartments are rented.
Designed for students from area colleges, tenants include two Syracuse University professors and young professionals who work downtown. Most of the students “are predominantly grad students,” at Syracuse University, Statler said, but tenants also include students at St. Joseph’s College of Nursing, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Le Moyne College and Onondaga Community College.
Photo by Gloria Wright | Syracuse New Times
Creekwalk Commons, owned by by EMO Properties LLC, had been vacant for three years until construction began in the fall. The building has exposed ductwork for “that industrial feel, that loft feel,” said Statler.
“It’s not campus, but it has an urban feel,” he said.
Creekwalk Commons is across Erie Boulevard West from National Grid, giving some apartments a view of the Art Deco building.
“I think it will be a nice surprise for some of the students when they see the building lit up for Christmas,” Statler said.
The building takes its name from Onondaga Creekwalk, the pedestrian path that follows Onondaga Creek from Armory Square to Onondaga Lake.
The apartments are furnished with leather couches and chairs, flat-screen televisions, queen-size beds and desks. Kitchens have stainless steels appliances and a granite breakfast bar with stools. Stackable storage units under the beds can be used to form dressers or night tables. Ceiling heights range from 13 to 18 feet, “which give the feeling of hugeness,” Statler said. The building also has laundry rooms on each floor, bike storage, work-out room, game room, theater and study and work rooms.
Photo by Gloria Wright | Syracuse New Times
The first-floor workshop was designed with art and design students in mind, Statler said. The building is 500 feet from the Nancy Cantor Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St., home to SU’s Design Department of the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Apartments at Creekwalk Commons are rented by the bed, Statler said.
Photo by Gloria Wright | Syracuse New Times
Each tenant in a two-bedroom apartment would pay $985 a month, which includes heat, central air conditioning, standard cable television and high-speed Internet.
Studio apartments are 500 square feet, while a two-bedroom apartment is 900 square feet.
Two-bedroom suites have a third room that can be used as an office or as a third bedroom. The third room shares an outside wall with an adjacent building, so it does not have a window.
“We’ll take out the queen bed and put in bunk beds if students want to share,” Statler said.
Prices range from $1,000 for a studio to $1,200 per bed in the suites, he said.
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