By Ethan Foster
STARKVILLE, Miss. (Take 30 News) ---- Students and residents at College View apartments in Starkville are wondering why there are such large, empty retail spaces on the ground floors and why they've been empty for a full year. This is all in response to what they were told when they signed their leases: that the first floors of both buildings would offer unique retail and restaurant experiences for those in the area.
The apartments held a ribbon cutting in January of 2019 and the current residents have been living there since the fall 2019 semester. The plan, according to College View, is to have restaurants and other retailers fill the empty spaces on the ground floors of both its current apartment buildings. As of now though, the retail spaces remain completely empty. Dirt floors host things like safety cones, cigarette butts, and all sorts of construction materials strewn about.
For anyone curious in seeing the area for themselves, the doors are all unlocked. Montel Smith is a Senior MSU student living at College View who has personally seen the spaces.
“It’s crazy because you-the first day I saw it and I kinda wondered what it was actually gonna be. And I’ve kinda tried to ask around about it, haven’t heard anything,” Smith said.
Like most other residents at College View, Smith moved in to the apartments in August of 2019. According to him, things on the first floor have remained untouched.
“I’ve been down there a few times and it-it hasn’t changed much since the first day I got here,” Smith noted.
While Smith did mention that College View seemingly has been silent on the issue, Take 30 News received official statements from both Mississippi State and GreyStar, the university’s development partner at College View.
MSU blamed unexpected rainfall as one of the main reasons why the project was delayed, saying:
“Mississippi State University is excited about the College View project, including the retail. While having all the space fully leased would have been great, it honestly was not an expectation of the university nor GrayStar, the development partner.Clearly, inordinate rainfall slowed the project. Starkville received roughly two feet more in rainfall than in any equivalent period in recent memory. All resources were focused on getting the property ready for that initial August 2019 housing deadline so that students would not be displaced to hotels and other temporary arrangements on campus while the construction was completed. Construction of our project began after some other developments started in town that did not make that deadline, so those ramifications were a real issue elsewhere. Nevertheless, there are currently retail spaces under lease, with final discussions, planning, budgets, etc. currently being determined. Due to the nature of retail lease negotiations, we are currently not at liberty to talk about what is “in the hopper” until it is a done deal and the retail the tenant is ready to announce an arrival or relocation. The University is also stringently vetting each potential tenant for suitability to be located under apartments 100% occupied by our students which is not the quickest way to do things, but we feel is owed to the students, parents, and university community. MSU, along with our development partners, are working as fast as we can to fill up the 1st floor spaces of the complex with an appropriate mix of retail that will create an environment totally unique to this area. Buildout of spaces will begin in very short order, but full occupancy of the first floor will take place over a period many months, which is just part of adding retail to any project.”
One of said development partners, Greystar to be specific, also gave a statement and named two businesses that would be coming to College View first.
“The University Testing Center and Stagger Inn have both signed leases and are in the process of finalizing their build-outs. We are in various stages of negotiation with other restaurants and retailers about the remainder of the available space. It is not unusual for it to take time for retail spaces to completely fill up. We will announce future retail tenants when the time is appropriate.”
Note that this story was reported on before the COVID-19 outbreak and therefore, the statements given were made before any school cancellations and business shutdowns.
For more information, questions can be emailed to MSU’s Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter at ssalter@opa.msstate.edu.