Over six months ago, when we last checked in on the former site of the Wanamaker School at 11th & Cecil B. Moore, groundbreaking had recently taken place for a large new student housing development. We were in the vicinity the other day, and were kind of floored with the progress that’s taken place in the time since. A couple of weeks ago, according to a press release, the fourteen story building was topped off, signaling an important milestone in the construction process.

The old school, now demolished

View from 12th and Montgomery today

In case you don’t remember, this project, from Bright Hope Baptist Church and the Goldenberg Group, will consist of 238 apartments with room for 832 students. The building will also feature 11K sqft of retail space, a student lounge, a computer lab, a gym, 80 (surface) parking spaces and 150 bike parking spaces. The building, which is on the north side of the parcel and doesn’t preclude the construction of additional phases to the south, should be ready for students in time for next school year. Interestingly, this is one of the few large projects we’ve seen where the reality really seems to match the renderings.

Project rendering

Looking up

View on Montgomery

From 11th and Montgomery

This project is just one more addition to the student housing boom surrounding Temple. If you read this blog with any regularity, you’ve surely noticed an onslaught of new developments large and small in this neighborhood, ranging from one-off homes to huge projects like Diamond Green and the South Gateway. Hopefully, with all the student housing coming online in this area, demand will be able to keep pace. Of course, if it doesn’t and rental prices start to come down, we don’t imagine the students will do much complaining. Hey, more beer money, right?