Apartments Around Oxford: Are There Too Many?

Traditional residence halls on campus, Martin and Stockard

Increasing enrollment at the University of Mississippi has helped to create a strong and growing economy in Oxford, with apartment complexes being a large part of this progress. However, with new apartment developments opening almost every year, the question arises: Has there been too much development in this area already and are there now too many apartments for students?

The total enrollment for all students on the Oxford campus this year was 20,455. Including residence halls, apartments, and fraternities and sororities, there is space for 7,500 students to live on campus, a little more than one-third of those enrolled.

We surveyed 14 apartment complexes in town to research what the current occupancy is of existing communities. Of the apartments surveyed, 10 are student housing style apartments, meaning they are leased by the bed space, and four are multi-family apartments, meaning they are leased by the apartment. Collectively, just the apartment complexes in this survey can house more than 7,000 additional students, another one-third of the student population.

Construction of Uncommon Oxford

Of the 14 apartment complexes surveyed, only four reported that they are at 100 percent occupancy, and five reported that they are at 82 percent occupancy or less, with the lowest reporting number at 49.3 percent occupancy.

“I think there are too many apartments,” said Alison Jimenez, an August 2016 graduate and third year Oxford apartment resident. “The ones we do have are too expensive, and we don’t need anymore because the ones we have aren’t full.”

These numbers do not include the students who live in houses, condos, other apartment buildings that did not report in this survey, or those students that commute from out of town.

Based on the number of apartments with available rooms, there seems to be a decline in the need for apartments in Oxford, yet there are two more complexes approved by the City of Oxford that will be open for future school years: Uncommon Oxford and The Helix. Ben Requet, city planner of Oxford, said that there are still more companies who have submitted proposals to build apartment developments, but those have not been granted permits yet.

Newest apartment open in Oxford, The Domain

Amy Goodin is a writer for HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at argoodin12@gmail.com.

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