University Hill Apartments buying additional off-campus housing
More off-campus housing will be available to students in the fall after a local company buys properties near Syracuse University.
Jatin Saluja, owner of University Hill Apartments, said the company has been buying about one property per month. There will be four or five new rentals available for students for the 2011-12 academic year on the website once renovations are finished, he said. University Hill Apartments is running at full capacity, Saluja said.
Saluja recently purchased a tax-delinquent property from the city of Syracuse. The property, located on South Beech Street, was approved for purchase for a total of $15,375, according to the Syracuse Common Council agenda from Jan. 24. The approval included a house and the vacant lot next door for $4,325.
Saluja said he is constantly looking for new inventory, especially property in need of repair, and the property on South Beech Street was a good fit.
Saluja said he has not been contacted by SU officials for any type of lease agreement that will allow students to rent his apartments as on-campus housing, which is how the landlords of Park Point Syracuse and University Village Apartments will lease their apartments next fall. But he would be open to the idea, he said.
‘As long as the terms and conditions remain favorable to us, we would be very open to it,’ Saluja said. ‘Everyone in our housing is SU students as it is.’
The site on South Beech Street, Saluja said, is a one-family home and will become a five-bedroom rental for Syracuse University students. The property will go up for rent on the University Hill Apartments website in September after the renovations are complete.
‘We do a full gut job on houses. Everything is done cosmetically,’ Saluja said. ‘The kitchens and bathrooms are replaced, the wood flooring will be repolished.’
University Hill Apartments has been serving the SU area since 2005, according to its website. All the apartments include stainless steel appliances, wood flooring, new windows, private locks and keys for each bedroom, and on-site laundry, according to the website.
Lance Denno, councilor-at-large, said the city of Syracuse does not seize abandoned tax-delinquent properties until a potential buyer shows interest in the property. Once a buyer shows interest, he said, the city will contact the delinquent owner, who is often not living in the property and will seize the house.
‘It’s not that we were singling University Hill out to buy this property,’ Denno said. ‘They own a lot of other properties in the area and came forward with an offer.’
The city makes sure the interested buyer does not have any tax-delinquent properties or outstanding violations before allowing the purchase to go through.
The property owners owed $11,000 in taxes. Denno said the city does not make any gain from selling the property. There are appraisal fees, legal fees and back taxes that must be paid off. If the city does make a profit, the money goes straight into a fund for the city, Denno said.
‘The ultimate benefit is the development of the property,’ Denno said. ‘Financially, having residents is good for the city.’
Published on February 2, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Contact Meghin: medelane@syr.edu | @meghinwithani
