Gated student-housing development under way near CCU

Construction started this week on a new student housing community, giving students at Coastal Carolina University and Horry Georgetown Technical College another housing option for the next school year.

Coastal Estates, a gated 672-room development on U.S. 501, is the third student housing development under construction in the area.

Coastal Estates will have at least 132 1,475-square-foot, four-bedroom apartments, which are expected to be completed by August.

The apartments will be fully furnished and each bedroom will be leased individually, with all utilities included for about $600 a month.

McKenzie Jordan, president of Chancel HRT, which is the general contractor on the project, said the owner/developer of Coastal Estates doesn’t want his name divulged.

Even with two other projects under way, the developer believes there are enough students to fill the rooms, Jordan said.

Two other student housing complexes are also in the works, he said.

Monarch 544, a 128-unit, 440-bed apartment complex off S.C. 544 and The Cove, a 396-bedroom project also off S.C. 544 – are also slated to be open for the beginning of the 2012 school year in late summer.

Staci Bowie, Coastal’s vice president for finance and administration, said that the growth of the student body creates enough demand for all three student-focused housing developments.

“The demand is there, especially for housing complexes that are closer to campus because in the past students had to move farther away from campus for their junior and senior years,” according to Bowie.

Between 2000 and 2010, Coastal Carolina University’s enrollment grew 87 percent, which increased the demand for campus housing, Bowie said.

Coastal requires all freshmen and sophomore students to live on campus, which with the increased enrollment, has left little space for upperclassmen in campus housing, she said.

Enrollment is still growing, increasing 2 percent to 3 percent every year, which will lead to larger junior and senior classes, Bowie said.

Coastal Estates has a focus on security – it will be fenced-in with hundreds of surveillance cameras, 24-hour security and panic buttons in each bedroom and den that will notify police, Jordan said.

Students told the developer that they wanted security features after hearing about problems at other complexes, he said.

Bowie said the heightened security measures would appeal to parents.

Construction got under way a few months later than the developer had wanted because of some delays in getting financing, Jordan said.

Coastal Estates is expected to have a 20,000-square-foot amenity center with swimming pool, indoor basketball court and track, fitness center, game room, study rooms and an Internet cafe.

“This [community] gets more of that college atmosphere close to the university,” Jordan said.

“It’s fulfilling a need the university can’t fill right now because of the growth they have been blessed with,” Jordan said.

After the apartments are finished, there are plans to build about 22,000 square feet of commercial space at the front of the development, he said.

The developer is talking to several businesses including a sports bar, a pizza and sandwich restaurant and a convenience store, according to Jordan.