Campus Crest’s founders outline intentions for area

Over the past several weeks, erroneous information has been provided to news outlets, including this one, about Campus Crest Communities relating to our plans to develop a student housing project on the corner of Centre Avenue and Rolland Moore Drive. As the co-founders of Campus Crest, it is critical that we provide an accurate representation of our company, its history and our plans to be a positive and contributing member of this community.

Campus Crest has been at the forefront of the emerging student housing industry since 2004, developing private housing complexes that fit within the community, meet the needs of the local college or university and provide a far superior living experience to students. We currently operate 27 apartment complexes under the Grove brand name in 26 different communities. This year, we will house more than 15,000 students across the country.

We are a publicly-traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange with a strong balance sheet and the resources to fully implement our development plans.

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Our complexes provide each student with a unique and high-quality residence, including a private bedroom and bathroom, common living, kitchen and eating areas, and amenities such as swimming pools, game rooms and fitness centers. More importantly, our facilities create a sense of community by involving the students in the oversight and care of the complexes and through community-oriented events such as bike drives and delivering Thanksgiving dinners to the poor.

Suggestions that our facilities are substandard or that students do not have good experiences are simply not true and stand at odds with the facts. With more than 35,000 former residents, we recognize that not every single one had the perfect living experience. But we operate in a very competitive market where students have lots of options and they continue to choose our facilities and to renew their leases for subsequent years. In fact, our occupancy rate is at an all-time high of close to 90 percent.

Neighborhood residents have referenced employment litigation in which our company is involved in an effort to tarnish our image. Regretfully, today all companies are vulnerable to litigation but we fully reject the claims that have been made and are actively working through the legal process and fully expect a successful outcome. We employ more than 500 very satisfied people across the country and we are proud to have been a net job-creator over the past few years.

We understand that those who live in the immediate vicinity of our complexes have specific personal interests. We always try to address potential concerns through our design and planning process and through community outreach and dialogue. But we also understand we need to address the needs of the entire community and it is unfortunate when personal attacks replace constructive dialogue.

We are proud of our track record and we are proud to have the opportunity to work with the Fort Collins community on this very important project. We look forward to continue working with and listening to all members of the community to ensure we have the best development possible.

Ted Rollins and Mike Hartnett are CEO and Chief Investment Officer, respectively, of Campus Crest Communities, based in North Carolina.