= City Apartments for University of Rochester Begin Construction = [[Image(Riverview Apartments.jpg, thumbnail, right, 300, "An artists' rendering of the complex from the parking lot, facing the river. Click to expand.")]] The ["University of Rochester"] is collaborating with private developer Riverview Equity I, LLC who will build an apartment complex across the ["Genesee River"] from the River Campus where about 400 undergraduate students will live by fall 2008. A groundbreaking ceremony for Riverview Apartments, a five-building, 120-unit complex on South Plymouth Avenue near Barton Street, is scheduled for Wednesday, June 27, 2007. Ronald Paprocki, senior vice president for administration and finance and chief financial officer for the University, said the project in southwest Rochester will help connect the campus to its neighbors and encourage students to become more involved citizens. "Feedback from our Sector 4 neighbors, city leaders, and the University community has been overwhelmingly positive," Paprocki said. "Everyone is excited for this new opportunity to develop this area and enhance our relationship with the city." The project was initiated by developer John R. Yurtchuk, president of Matrix Development Corporation of Amherst, N.Y. "It has been a pleasure working with the members of the ["City Council"] and the various departments in City Hall to make this project a reality in a relatively short period of time," Yurtchuk said. "It's been rewarding to see both the city and the University working together with us as a private developer to support us in this new, off-campus project. "Building this collegiate village within an established community will help bring new economic vitality to the neighborhood along with meeting the growing housing needs for U of R students," said Yurtchuk. "We also appreciated the time spent with members of PLEX, Sector 4 and the 19th Ward residents, who gave us helpful input during the planning process," he added. The apartments, which will be less than a 10-minute walk across a pedestrian bridge to campus, will be available only to University students. Because the apartments are new, they will offer amenities not available in existing campus housing—for instance, air conditioning and separate living rooms and kitchens. In the summer months, some of the apartments may be used for conferences and other residential programs. There will be a combination of two- and four-bedroom units in the mix of three- and four-story buildings. Each building of the fully-furnished apartments will have laundry and vending facilities. The parking lot will accommodate about 300 cars. [http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=2938 University of Rochester Press Release] While Residential Life has not posted prices publicly as of May 2008, they have set up a [http://www.rochester.edu/reslife/upperclass/riverview dedicated web page] which may one day hold more useful information. Note that it is specifically listed in the Upperclassmen section, but not Graduate Student. [[Comments]] ------ ------ ''2007-10-28 20:47:12'' [[nbsp]] The actual buildings going up appear to have much less setback from Plymouth than the renderings suggest. --["EricLarsson"] ------ ''2008-01-27 20:53:43'' [[nbsp]] @Eric- Here is a more accurate site plan. I think the rendering above is of the buildings adjacent to the river, not adjacent to Plymouth Ave. http://www.rochester.edu/aboutus/connections/photos/Site_Plan.jpg --["MichaelFlatto"] ------ ''2008-02-12 17:44:21'' [[nbsp]] does anyone know how much the rents will be? --["CristinaPrado"] ------ ''2008-06-10 23:32:56'' [[nbsp]] Feelings about this development among ["19th Ward"] residents seem mixed (Yes, technically this is in ["PLEX"], not the 19th Ward, but it's close enough to count). Some people like the clean, new construction in a section of the city that was neglected for a very long time. Others, however, are disturbed by the large fronts with narrow openings. This latter group refers to the complex as "The Fort". --["Users/DaveMahon"] ------ ''2008-08-12 09:52:23'' [[nbsp]] The [http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=3224 ribbon cutting ceremony] was August 7 and featured ["Joel Seligman"] and ["Robert Duffy"]. The head of Residential Life was quoted in the press release as saying, "The complex filled to capacity and has generated a lengthy waiting list." --["Users/DaveMahon"]