In a Cobb County Board of Commissioners zoning meeting Tuesday, Feb. 18, District 3 Commissioner JoAnn Birrell expressed support for new off-campus student housing for Kennesaw State students.
The proposed new housing would be located on the southeast corner of Townpark Drive and George Busbee Parkway, according to the minutes of the board meeting.
Birrell believes that new off-campus housing can help offset crime that currently exists at student housing complexes such as U Club on Frey.
“All crimes concern me,” Birell said. “The most violent crimes such as murder, rapes, drugs and theft concern [the county] the most.
The company requesting permits to build the proposed housing is Landmark Properties, Inc., a company that has built three off-campus student housing complexes in Athens for University of Georgia students and one complex in Atlanta for local college students, according to its website. An additional housing complex in Atlanta is currently under construction and is scheduled to open this year.
In order for new student housing to be built, Landmark will have to comply with a new housing code enacted by Cobb County in 2019.
This code — also known as the Purpose Built Student Housing code — defines any purpose-built student housing as a “multi-family residential development marketed to affiliates of an academic or professional college or university, or other recognized institution of higher learning.”
During the consent agenda portion of the meeting, the BOC approved Landmark’s request to re-zone a Special Land Use Permit for the purpose of building PBSH-compliant housing. The housing will sit on four lots of land and the architecture of the buildings will have to be approved by Birrell before construction.
Of Landmark’s five student housing complexes in Georgia, four were built in the past six years and all have over 600 beds each. The apartment sizes range from lofts to six-bedroom setups. Landmark has built student housing facilities in a total of 27 states, according to its website.
The area of land where the Landmark project would be built is an empty area near existing KSU student housing, including the TownPark Crossing Apartments and the Clarinbridge Apartments.
