Student Housing Deploys Cottage Concept for Off-Campus Project

PULLMAN, WA—With the constraints of COVID giving way to socially distant design features, the student housing industry has followed suit with a cottage concept design. Construction is now underway on the student housing complex, Aspen Heights Pullman, which features 752 beds in cottage-style duplex homes.

Located at 3125 NW Cottonwood Ln., the complex is situated on a 23.5-acre site with a surface parking lot one mile from Washington State University. The community will provide residents with a community building, hot tub, fitness center and on-site shuttle to the campus.

The property will include a mix of two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom units, with private bathrooms in each bedroom, walk-in closets in select units, a half bathroom in the living area, full kitchen with island in select units, and full sized washer and dryers.

“We were one of the first developers to execute the ‘cottage concept’ for student housing, which offers more space and amenities in an off-campus setting so students can have a place to focus on their studies, take online classes and connect with their peers,”  said Greg Henry, founder and CEO of Aspen Heights Partners. “We’re thrilled to expand our portfolio of cottage-style homes and we’ll continue to seek out development opportunities in markets with demand for high-quality housing.”

Washington State University is ranked as one of the top colleges in the country. It is home to more than 18,000 undergrads and 2,600 graduate/professional students. The university has sizable expansion plans for its Pullman campus to further extend its academic and research offerings including a 65,000-square-foot addition to the Allen Center, which will be used to study animal disease detection and food-borne illness.

“Given the growing enrollment of the university, Pullman was in need of new housing options for students who were looking to live off-campus,” said Todd Gaines, division president at Aspen Heights Partners. “We’re happy to give students the opportunity to live, work and build a network in their own community while attending the nearby university.”

Aspen Heights Pullman is expected to be completed in Fall 2021 but many of its features incorporate what may well be the new normal in the post-COVID world.

“At Aspen Heights Pullman, the cottage-style concept of the homes we’re developing offers more space for students along with separate bathrooms and is very conducive to the new environment,” Demi Sterling-Kinney, Aspen Heights’ vice president of operations, tells GlobeSt.com. “Amenities that allow for social distancing including pools, outdoor games and fitness areas, outdoor sports courts, firepits, and heated patios continue to be in high demand at all of our student housing properties. We also build our communities with self-serving parcel lockers so residents aren’t restricted to picking up packages during office hours.”