AMES, Iowa—The Iowa Board of Regents has approved Iowa State University Department of Residence’s proposal to lease space in the Ames community to accommodate housing requests for fall 2013. Two apartment complexes will be occupied by Iowa State students and managed by Department of Residence staff.

“More and more students are choosing to return to our residence halls and apartments, showing us that they value living in a community that supports their success at Iowa State,” said Pete Englin, Department of Residence director.

ISU's Department of Residence will lease and manage the apartment building located at 119 Stanton Ave., as well as a complex of four buildings currently under construction in the Fountainview area of west Ames. The leased space will be available to Iowa State students who are 19 or older or who are in their second year at Iowa State. Traditional age, new direct-from-high school students will continue to be housed in residence halls on campus.

“It was important to us that we could lease facilities where we could build community, our residents could get to know each other and our staff could implement programming,” said Englin. “Students who live on campus have higher GPAs, are more likely to graduate, report being more involved and have access to leadership positions. And, all of our contracts are student friendly.”

Higher return rates to campus housing, along with strong enrollment, resulted in the Department of Residence using den spaces to house students in fall 2011 and fall 2012. Anticipating the need for additional on-campus housing, the Department of Residence began construction on the Frederiksen Court expansion project in November. The project consists of six buildings that will house a total of 720 students. Two of these buildings will open in fall 2013 and the remaining four buildings will open in spring 2014.

Students can learn more about living in these spaces by visiting www.housing.iastate.edu/places.