The UA's new graduate student housing complex will open its doors to a select few undergraduates in the spring in an effort to fill 96 empty beds in the complex.
La Aldea, which opened in the fall, was designed to house exclusively graduate students, but because there are vacancies at the complex, some juniors and seniors will be allowed to move in for the spring semester only.
The $20 million apartment complex, located at North Euclid Avenue and East Fifth Street, just north of Coronado Residence Hall, offers 164, unfurnished, one, two and four bedroom units, for a total of 323 beds.
The complex had vacancies this semester because the building was not entirely ready to open by its August completion date, said Angie Pena, assistant manager at La Aldea.
The housing facility was built in three sections, and because the final section was not finished until September, graduate students who may have considered living there likely found other housing options that would be available for them in August, Pena said.
But Pena said she is confident that graduate students will occupy all units next year.
In the meantime, Jim Van Arsdel, director of Residence Life, has agreed to allow 10 to 15 juniors or seniors to move into the empty rooms at La Aldea only for the last five months of the school year.
The complex will not be open to any undergraduates next year, Van Arsdel said.
"It's meant to be solely for graduate housing," he said. "Our intent was to provide graduate housing and putting any undergraduates there is inconsistent with that desire."
Van Arsdel said he was reluctant to allow any undergraduate students to move into La Aldea, and he chose not to even make the offer to freshmen and sophomores.
"We didn't want to put younger students in with the graduate students because there is a significant difference between the two groups," he said. "But juniors and seniors are much more similar to a graduate student than a freshman."
Although only a small number of juniors and seniors will be allowed to live at La Aldea, Pena said it will be nice if even a small portion of the empty space can be utilized.
But she said she doesn't anticipate too many students will be looking for housing mid-semester and said she doubts many students will apply.
Erika Korowin, a Latin American Studies graduate student who lives at La Aldea, said she's glad there's a place devoted to graduate student living.
She says she sometimes hears noise coming from her undergraduate neighbors at Coronado Residence Hall, which makes her appreciate the quieter atmosphere at La Aldea.
"I think it's a good idea to have a place just for graduate students," she said. "And you can't beat how close it is to campus."
La Aldea is the first privately owned housing facility to be built on university property.
It was designed, in part, to replace Christopher City, a housing complex for graduate students and families near East Fort Lowell Road and North Columbus Boulevard, which the university closed in 2000 due to a mold infestation.