BOONE, N.C.,None — The Watauga County Planning Board unanimously approved plans Monday for what could become the largest student housing community in Watauga County.
The 859-bed community, called The Cottages of Boone, plans to offer three-, four- and five-bedroom cottages, as well as one-, three- or four-bedroom lodge apartments, a fitness center and pool.
The entrance to the community will be located near the Tomato Shack on Poplar Grove Road south in Boone.
"It will operate like a student housing community — we will rent this by the bedroom — but it will look more like an upscale, single-family housing community," said Amanda Wallis of Capstone Collegiate Communities, the developer.
The company hopes to rent the rooms at a starting cost of $500 to $600 per bedroom, but those numbers are not yet finalized, Wallis said.
The proposal is to build the entire community in one year, said Joe Furman, county planning and inspections director.
The community will include private wells and sewer system, Wallis said. It also is slated to include a water detention system to help handle the greater runoff caused by impervious surfaces, civil engineer Mark Brooks said.
It also is slated to include 916 parking spaces, or more than one per bedroom, Wallis said.
Bus services will be provided, but it's not yet clear whether that will be AppalCART or another provider, she said.
The N.C. Department of Transportation conducted a traffic study for the property but determined that it did not want or require an additional traffic signal at Poplar Grove Road South, land planner Bob Grasso said Monday.
Furman said Tuesday he believed some sort of additional traffic measure needed to be put in place and that he planned to pursue the issue further.
The developers submitted an erosion control plan Friday, and if it's approved, the county can issue a grading permit, and work may begin on the site soon.
Construction can begin after the water and sewer systems are approved and a permanent driveway connection is issued, Furman said.
Although the property is outside Boone town limits, Capstone representatives acknowledged Monday that they would have to have get approval from the town for certain driveway and noise control matters.
Capstone Collegiate Communities has constructed similar communities on or near the campuses of many schools, including Auburn, Clemson, University of Florida and Michigan State University.
In North Carolina, the company manages apartment complexes near Duke University and N.C. State.
If completed as planned, The Cottages of Boone will contain more bedrooms than some of Boone's largest existing student housing complexes.
By comparison, the University Highlands community across N.C. 105 from the proposed project contains 768 beds, manager Ron Branch said, adding that he believes it is currently the largest student housing community in Boone.
Wallis said the company was drawn to Boone because staff believed the market here needed better quality student housing.
"I think it's going to be a great thing for Watauga County and Boone just because of the standards that we're setting with the design," Grasso said.
"It's setting a new bar for student housing in Boone."