On Campus Housing Communities?

Stay After School…at Home

What a concept! The online news section of the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota just announced another Collegeville Community will break ground on the college campus in the spring of 2007.

Collegeville Communities®

The aforementioned with be the third such community. Currently, there are two Collegeville Communities, one in Northfield and one in Winona, MN.

One man’s dream, Collegeville Development Group, LLC was founded in 2000 by entrepreneur Jon Petters with the first of the Collegeville Communities, University Village of Winona breaking ground in 2002. What’s different about this community is that it provides exclusive access to activities and classes at St. Mary’s University.

This isn’t simply a “side benefit” of home ownership at the University Village of Winona. This is about a lifestyle; a lifestyle that provides lifetime learning opportunities with cultural, educational, physical and in this case, spiritual surroundings and amenities.

An Active Retirement

The houses are in the $150,000 to $300,000 range at University Village and they’re virtually maintenance free. But more than anything, it’s the community that is laying the groundwork for a more active retirement for many. In fact, it won’t be long until the “baby boomer” generation will face retirement yet today retirement sometimes means the beginning of a second career.

Eventually, the idea is to have Collegeville Communities all across the United States which will be partnered with colleges and universities all over. The response has been phenomenal, not just from homebuyers but from colleges and universities.

The minimum age requirement for most homes will be 55 but there will be a limited amount available to those at least 40. In any event, Collegeville Communities gets a thumbs up for placing education and the culture it affords at the front of the line. The colleges and universities benefit, the homeowners benefit and look at the influence these parents and grandparents will have on the younger generation. The kind of influence that says, “College is important. It’s so important I think I’ll stay awhile.”

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