Two new Emporia apartment complexes are nearly finished, and they’re filling up fast.
New residents will start moving this week into the Granada Plaza & Lofts at 726 Commercial St. Even though crews are still working to put the final touches on the building, Cory Haag said the complex is already full.
“It’s already been all leased out,” Haag said. “It’s been really good.”
In addition to the loft apartments, the building includes retail space on the ground floor. So far, two businesses have claimed spots there — the recently opened Bravo Salon and the soon-to-be-opened Jimmy John’s sandwich shop.
It’s a similar story for The Villas at 1839 Merchant St., the site of the old University Inn. Tenants there started moving in on Saturday, and crews are putting the finishing touches on the structure in time for classes to resume at Emporia State University.
The 47 four-bedroom units and three two-bedroom units at the Villas haven’t filled up yet, but manager Carlie Conner says she expects the complex to be full by the time school starts.
“We’re not completely 100 percent full but we expect to be,” Conner said. “We have maybe three empty apartments.”
The two projects came onto the city’s radar a little under a year ago, when Haag purchased the land on Commercial Street and Oxbow Development purchased the land on Merchant Street. Two familiar Emporia sights had to make way for the new apartments to be built. The rail car at Eighth Avenue and Commercial Street — former home to a number of restaurants over the years — had to be sold and moved off the lot, and the University Inn, much to the delight of many residents, was torn down early this year.
Despite the two projects’ similarities in time frame and opening date, the Villas and the Granada Plaza and Lofts are different in the makeup of their residents. The Villas is geared toward ESU students and offers amenities sought after by the college crowd, including a pool, hot tub, fitness center, tanning beds, enhanced security and a commons area where tenants can congregate. After school starts, a pool party will be held, at which new tenants can get to know each other.
“The Friday after school starts we’ll have a party where we’ll hire a DJ and grill out,” Conner said. “We’ll have big drawings where (tenants) can win six months free rent or a TV or a mountain bike, a Wii, stuff like that.”
The Granada Lofts cater to a wider variety of clientele, and are aimed at bringing more people to the downtown area, primarily the area that will one day make up Emporia’s arts district, including the Granada Theatre and, next door to the theater, the site of the future arts center.
“We’ve got all age groups, anywhere from 20 to 70-year-olds,” Haag said of the variety of tenants at the lofts. “It’s pretty much for every age group or even couples, and so it’s really conducive to just about anyone. It’s not just one age group.”
In addition to the amenities offered at the lofts, Haag said the downtown area lends a quaint ambiance for tenants.
“It’s neat to look out on the balconies, and in the evenings it’s really peaceful,” he said. “It’s a nice intersection there. The traffic in the evenings and the bells on the church across the street, it’s a neat place.
“I hope more people will do that, try to bring more people downtown,” Haag said.
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emporialifer (anonymous) says...
The Granada Plaza and Lofts is a wonderful addition to downtown. I was able to tour the plaza and lofts and the Haag's really did a fine job! It wouldn't have been difficult to create something more appealing than an old rail car, but they went above and beyond with their building. The tenants should be very happy.
Have not seen the Villas except from the outside, but it certainly is a nice replacement than the old, abandoned hotel.
August 5, 2009 at 4:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )