Issue date: 5/28/09 Section: News

The Campus View Suites, located on Fourth Street next to Marty's, will be finished by Fall 2009. (Joe McCue/The Daily Eastern News)

The Campus View Suites apartments, located on Fourth Street next to Marty's, were built so that they would blend in well with the surrounding environment and to give the residents a homier feeling.

To enter the apartments, students must first go through the wrought iron gate that will be surrounding the residence. Then the keyless security entry system allows residents to get into the building and take the stairs up or down to the floor of their apartment, where they will then use their keys to get past the deadbolt and lock and enter their homes.

Each apartment comes fully furnished and includes four carpeted bedrooms, a washer and dryer, microwave and a 48-inch flat panel television.

The bedrooms, each of which comes with a full-sized bed, dressers and desk are the only carpeted rooms within the suites. They also include two full baths, each with a walk-in shower.

The apartments are almost completely rented out for the upcoming fall semester, having just one opening left.

Each building has four floors-three above ground and one apartment within the basement.

The rent for the lower-level apartments is $395 per month, the middle-level apartments' rent is $480 per month, and top-level apartments are rented for $495 per month. All utilities are included in the rent except for the costs of water and electricity.

Residents will also be close enough to the university to have access to the wireless Internet service that is provided.

"We're actually ahead of schedule," said Dave Kinnaird, the managing partner of the company putting up the apartments.

Kinnaird said the location of the apartments seems to have been another factor for some students choosing to live in the Campus View Suites.

"It's a good location to get to campus," said Brittni Hall, a sophomore history education major, who will be one of the tenants in the fall.

Kinnaird believes that several other features were attractive to students, like the fact that each apartment has it's own washer and dryer, making the process of doing laundry easier for the students.

"I like that we get our own laundry area in our apartment and that it comes completely furnished," Hall said.

Hall also liked the amount of space that is provided in the apartment.

Each apartment has four bedrooms, one for each resident, and the bedrooms are about 14 feet by 14 feet, bigger than doubles in Andrews, Lawson, Carman, Taylor and Thomas in terms of area in each room.

Each bedroom also comes with its own set of keys, one for entry into the apartment and another for entry into the residents' bedrooms.

"I think it's really big," Hall said. "It's a lot bigger than some of the apartments that I've seen."

Students living in the Campus View Suites will also reap the benefits of having reserved parking for each resident.

With just one opening left for the 2009-10 academic year, the Campus View Suites are now leasing for 2010-11.

Spenser Nobles can be reached at 581-7943 or at swnobles@eiu.edu