Allen & O'Hara Education Services LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Memphis-based Allen & O'Hara Inc., is developing the University Village student apartments. The California State University system hired the firm to develop and manage the project as a prototype for other CSU locations.

University Village is the first of several phases of housing to be built on the Cal State San Marcos campus, in the North San Diego County community of San Marcos. It will accommodate 476 students, primarily freshmen. The two- and four-bedroom project includes a large community building with recreational and educational amenities.

Hutton Development Co. of Costa Mesa is serving as a development consultant. All operating profits from the facility, which is being financed through the sale of tax-exempt bonds, will be paid to the CSU Foundation as land rent, according to Allen & O'Hara.

Groundbreaking is expected in early March of next year and students will move in at the beginning of the fall semester of 2003.

"We are excited about the development of our first on-campus housing for students," says Cal State San Marcos President Alexander Gonzalez. "We're also pleased to be the site for the CSU system's first privatized student housing, and we are confident that our new apartment community will serve as a model for other universities in California and elsewhere.''

"It's always fun to be a pioneer," adds Paul O. Bower, president and CEO of Allen & O'Hara. "We pioneered the development of private student housing nearly 40 years ago."