LANCASTER, PA-The Philadelphia-based Campus Apartments Inc. has broken ground for College Row, a 200,000-sf residential/retail complex at Franklin & Marshall College. The estimated construction cost is $30 million.

The three-building complex is on a five-acre parcel along Harrisburg Pike, adjacent F & M's Alumni Sports & Fitness Center. The college owns the land. Daniel Bernstein, SVP and COO of Campus Apartments, tells GlobeSt.com that his company obtained a 60-year ground lease on the parcel "at a rent rate that is based on the financial performance." Although this is not a joint venture, he says, "the college will participate in the upside of the deal."

The developer has contracted the Conshohocken-based Metro Commercial Real Estate to handle the retail leasing. Lease negotiations are currently under way with several potential tenants, including a specialty grocer, restaurant and local and national retailers, according to Bernstein, who would only say, "the rent rates are commensurate with the Lancaster market. The retail component will draw from a larger base than just the student body; it provides a center of commerce to northwest Lancaster, which is undergoing significant revitalization and has a good deal of affluence."

Campus Row includes a six-story building, a five-store building and a stand-alone grocery unit of about 17,000 sf, "all designed to fit the area's existing architecture," Bernstein says. The taller buildings will contain 117 residential units aggregating 150,000 sf and capable of accommodating approximately 400 college juniors and seniors. This will allow Franklin & Marshall to provide housing for its entire student body for the first time.

The Lancaster City Council approved the complex in 2005. It is expected to reach completion in fall 2007. College Apartments, which owns or manages more than 220 properties across the Eastern Seaboard and Midwest, will manage College Row.