CLAIRE C. LAURENCE/Arizona Daily Wildcat Political science junior Ashley Petty, left, and history graduate student Tom Donlan take advantage of La Aldea's fitness center yesterday. Now owned by the UA, the complex offers students additional facilities, including study and recreation rooms.

Residents living in the La Aldea apartment complex can expect to see changes in the upcoming months, such as community assistants, after Residence Life gained ownership of the complex last week.

La Aldea, located on North Euclid Avenue, is a $21 million apartment-style complex that can house up to 325 students in single, double and quadruple rooms.

The building, which opened in fall 2003, was leased to Ambling Companies for entrepreneurial and financial reasons.

However, after complaints from student residents and problems with the private ownership, UA Residence Life bought La Aldea at the end of last semester and acquired the property Jan. 5, said Jim Van Arsdel, director of Residence Life.

Van Arsdel said although changes for this semester will be minimal, university officials are working out details for next year such as rental rates, more community assistants and increased security.

Van Arsdel described a community assistant as a cross between a resident assistant and a desk assistant.

"They spend some amount of their time distributing mail and helping out with some of the programs there," Van Arsdel said. "But (unlike RAs) community assistants won't do rounds or be on duty."

Three community assistants were recently hired for La Aldea, a new position only open to graduate students, and Residence Life is accepting applications for more, Van Arsdel said.

Sergio Olmedo, Spanish senior and resident of La Aldea, said he does not mind the presence of the community assistants because they do not act like RAs who take on restricting duties such as enforcing quiet hours.

"As long as they only do programs, it's OK," Olmedo said.

In addition to community assistants, another change La Aldea residents will experience this semester is their rent paying process. Residents can now pay their rent through their bursar's account instead of writing checks to the former management company, which makes the process more convenient, Van Arsdel said.

Another change is a larger maintenance staff responsible for cleaning and responding to resident concerns, he added.

However, some residents and prospective residents feel the complex also needs a change in rent prices.

Amanda Brobbel, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council, said she hopes for an adjustment to the rent to better reflect the market.

"We were pretty clear with (Van Arsdel) that the rates are too high for the market in the area," Brobbel said.

Van Arsdel said changes to the rent are still under consideration, but since the UA only acquired the building last week, no definite plans have been made.

Before La Aldea, the former apartment complex Christopher City served as the UA's graduate students housing, but Van Arsdel said unlike La Aldea, the main mission of Christopher City was to provide housing for students with children at the lowest possible price.

"We provided housing that was only marginal in it's quality," Van Arsdel said. "(At La Aldea) we feel it is in everyone's best interest to provide housing that is quality at a reasonable price - we don't want to sacrifice quality for cost."

Ellen Moss, a journalism junior and resident of La Aldea, said lower rent would be more suitable as well as a reduced cost for a parking space. Residents are guaranteed a parking spot in the Tyndall Avenue Parking Garage but are required to pay for the regular $450 parking fee, Moss said.

Another continuing issue at La Aldea is the presence of undergraduates. Although La Aldea was built with the intention of serving as graduate student housing, Ambling Companies was unable to fill La Aldea with graduate students due to poor marketing, said Brobbel. As a result, 44 undergraduates live at La Aldea to fill the vacancies.

Brobbel, who has led the effort with GPSC to acquire adequate graduate student housing at the UA, said making La Aldea exclusively for graduate students remains a priority for GPSC.

"At the same time, people in GPSC are pretty realistic about how long it might take to market to graduate students and fill the building with graduates," Brobbel said.

However, Brobbel said if undergraduates interested in graduate school live in La Aldea, it could be a positive experience for them as there would be more opportunities for mentoring.

As La Aldea grows in popularity, Van Arsdel said he expects more graduate students to live there, and the undergraduate numbers will eventually decline. However, for this semester and next fall, Van Arsdel said La Aldea is currently accepting graduate students as well as juniors and seniors.