A R125m new apartment-style student residence in Arcadia aims to address a shortage of student accommodation in the area providing accommodation for over 500 students in January 2016.
R125m new apartment-style student residence in Arcadia Street
Pretoria students are looking forward to a R125m new apartment-style student residence in Arcadia Street, offering accommodation to over 500 students, opening in January 2016. Naledi Ledwaba, 23 years old student from Arcadia, says with a shortage of student accommodation in the area, she loves the concept of a high-end student residence in Arcadia, less than one kilometre from the University of Pretoria, to accommodate advanced needs of students.
“On-campus residences don’t have capacity for high volumes of students being admitted at universities and communes are increasingly becoming an unattractive option for most students. Students are excited to have an improved version of on-campus residences that are less restrictive but still have a conducive environment for studying,” she says.
Arcadia
Ledwaba says Arcadia is a great neighbourhood for Eastwood Village as it is close to the University of Pretoria, is peaceful and homely with great shopping centres nearby. She says the new security-focussed residence is going to be a better version of Urban Nest, a student residence also in Arcadia, currently a hit among students and their parents.
Safety and well-being
Tumelo Rasebopye, 25 years old student from Sunnyside, says because Eastwood Village residence caters solely for students, it facilitates an environment for students to pursue their studies successfully. He says they won’t need to worry about their safety walking home late from the library at night as there will be in-house study rooms available at the residence.
Student amenities at new residence
“Students can look forward to the gym facility, canteen with convenient payment methods such as using a student card to reserve meals and uncapped Wi-Fi. This type of modern student accommodation forces developments and service providers around the residence to improve their standards and facilities rejuvenating the area,” says Rasebopye.
Eastwood Village
Craig McMurray, CEO: Respublica, developer of Eastwood Village, says the group aims to alleviate a shortage of suitable accommodation around Pretoria and has designed Eastwood Village to nurture a vibrant student community. He says the residence is their fifth purpose-built apartment-style student residence and offers 78 apartments, a canteen, recreation rooms, a gym, a computer laboratory and study rooms.
“Eastwood Village includes all modern amenities students need including access to Wi-Fi and an integrated residence life programme to help them ease into their new life away from home. He says the residence has a range of upmarket accommodation options to meet the needs of diverse personal preferences and budgets and booking facilities are currently open to students seeking new accommodation for next year,” says McMurray.
Words: Lisa Dewberry
