Everywhere you look, high-rise luxury student apartment buildings seem to be sprouting up in downtown State College, soaring up to the sky, changing the feel of the old college town.
The one-word names of these goliath buildings seem to encompass what they are all about. From The Metropolitan, The Rise, HERE and The Standard, these towering buildings are shaping this town and changing the college experience along the way.
College Life Reimagined
Right down the hall from Mason Pearce and Jesse Vargo’s third-floor apartment in the 12-story The Metropolitan are a fitness center, a large community lounge area, complete with a billiards table and a grill, and a resort-style pool with two hot tubs.
The lavish pool overlooks the edge of the building with views of the town below. Two tanning beds add to the luxury of the shared community space that is balanced by private study rooms and a computer lab that boasts both Macs and PCs.
“It is a nice mix of luxury and a focus on school all in one,” says Holly Wilson, who is the leasing and marketing assistant for Metropolitan, which is located on the corner of West College Avenue and South Atherton Street.
On a hot summer day in the middle of July, the pool is being used by a couple of groups of young people from the apartment. Come the fall semester, the party will be hopping in the pool area after students fill in, but it is kind of hit or miss.
“Sometimes you come out here and there are a lot of people, other times you would expect it to be busy and it is not. It is kind of random,” says Vargo, who adds that his friends love to come up and use the pool from time to time. It is one of the perks of living in a luxury location: Your friends are always down to come visit. They are often left impressed and maybe a little jealous.
“Every time I do have a friend come up, they say, ‘This place is so nice; this is so big.’ I love hearing that. When you go to their places it is always kind of run down and kind of dirty, while this place is clean and nice and big,” says Vargo.
“A lot of residents like that our building is more upscale and luxury, so they like to show it off and have parties on weekends,” says Wilson. But, she says, they also like that the study areas foster a learning environment as well.
Open every day until 10 p.m., the pool can be affected by the weather, but with hot tubs, even a cool night or a rainstorm can’t dampen the fun.
“Some residents wait for rainstorms, so they can go sit in the hot tubs. I don’t understand it, but it is cool,” says Wilson. The pool stays open from March to November, giving students who only stick around for the fall and spring semesters plenty of opportunities to take a dip.
The lounge area is connected to the pool by sliding garage-style doors. The space is sometimes used as study area by residents, but in the evenings, night and weekends things usually get a little livelier.
“Around lunch time I would say the booths and the bar is almost 100 percent studying. And then more in the evening and weekends, people will be down here to chill and to sit and drink,” says Wilson.
The fitness center is spacious and well-equipped, and Vargo says it especially came in handy last year.
“I definitely like it a lot, especially during the school year when COVID was in full effect, and the main gym on campus was closed, so I was able to come here whenever I wanted.”
Vargo apologizes for the messy state of the apartment but given that groups of college men live there together, it seems pretty well kept. Vargo, Pearce and their roommates each have a private room in their apartment, but many others floor plans have residents living two beds to a room.
In the show apartment, a dog dish lets potential leasers know that pets are permitted in the complex, although certain breeds and species are not allowed. The large open feel of the apartments, along with all the amenities, add up to a new kind of college living for Vargo.
“It is kind of a different experience because I would say that most college students have the experience of living in a kind of crappy apartment trying to save as much money as they can while they are at school, and I think that I am just lucky to be living in this luxury space that is super nice. It is something that a lot of people don’t think of when they think of college,” says Vargo.
Even with all the amenities, Vargo and Pearce say one of the best aspects of living in The Metropolitan is that old real estate motto: location, location, location.
“The location is kind of underrated. Campus is literally right there, downtown is right there, and everything is within walking distance, which I like,” says Vargo. On the ground retail floor of the building, Japanese restaurant Tadashi’s second location always seems to be busy, although both Vargo and Pearce have never eaten there. They are not a fan of Japanese-style food, but they say many people who live in the building go there frequently.
“There is a bunch of food real close. You can just walk down and campus is right there,” says Pearce. The building also has seen Orange Theory Fitness move into a retail location on the ground floor and local technology company KCF take over a large office space on the second floor, showing that the mixed-use idea for these high-rises can work.
Back up in the apartments, another bonus for people moving to the area from afar is that they are fully furnished, including washers and dryers.
Like many college students, Vargo and Pearce both have part-time jobs to help make ends meet. They both work as community ambassadors at The Metropolitan. The job has its perks, an extremely short commute being one of them, as they are stationed just three floors down from their apartment at the front desk.
Perhaps even more beneficial is the 30-percent discount on rent they receive as a perk. That comes in handy with rates ranging from $900 to $1,800 per person.
“There are not many apartment complexes that are charging $900 for a bedroom that also has tanning beds, and access to a hot tub and pool, and all the other amenities that we offer,” says Wilson. Students who live at the facility include international students and those from all around the country and state.
“It is a good mix from of all over the place. It is kind of cool to see how they all come together,” says Wilson.
Growing Up
Before the Metropolitan opened in 2017, the 12-story Fraser Centre went up in 2016, marking the start of the buildup of downtown. The Fraser Centre doesn’t boast luxury student living but instead contains a hotel and luxury condominium units above its lower-level retail space.
After the Metropolitan hit the market, offering luxury apartments for students and young professionals, it seems like new luxury student apartment high-rises have been popping up every year downtown, and they just keep getting more and more lavish and expensive.
“The Metropolitan set the new standard for the price range for apartments in the State College area. So, we came in and established ourselves, and that is why prices have continued to rise. … They are meeting our quality,” says Wilson.
In 2018, the 12-story mixed-use The Rise at 532 E. College Ave., and the seven-story The Edge at 254 E. Beaver, opened with more luxury amenities for student renters. The Rise boasts that it offers “double majoring in luxury and style,” and its perks include a fitness center with a yoga room, hot tub, club/game room, and more.
In 2020, HERE State College began leasing its luxury apartments at 131 Hiester St. last fall while the ground floors were still under construction. The luxury at HERE includes a spa with a hot tub, steam room, sauna and tanning beds, an indoor gaming lawn with TVs and a pool table, and penthouse sky lounge.
The same year, the seven-story Pugh Centre opened at 150 E. Beaver Ave., offering fully furnished apartments. Driving down Beaver Avenue, you can see people working out in the windows of the building’s large fitness center.
After more than two years of construction The Standard is welcoming students this fall, directly across from The Metropolitan on the corner of West College Avenue and Atherton Street. The posh amenities here include a resort-style pool and hot tubs, golf simulator, courtyard, game room, and more.
And the trend doesn’t stop there. The demolition of four buildings along College Avenue, Hetzel Street and Calder Way is scheduled to take place from Sept. 30 to mid-December, paving the way for another 12-story, mixed-use apartment building.
For those who are wondering if there is enough need to fill all these space, every time Wilson was contacted for this story, she was busy on the phone with a potential new resident. Four weeks away from move-in day, The Metropolitan was 92-percent full and getting fuller by the day, with students looking to live the new college high life.
This story appears in the August 2021 issue of Town&Gown.
