Rutgers Livingston New Housing: Welcoming Students to a Home Away From Home

Students at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (Rutgers) in Piscataway, N.J., now have a new housing development to call home. The Livingston New Housing (Livingston) project began in October 2010 and recently completed just in time for fall semester 2012. Epic Management (Epic), also based in Piscataway, N.J., headed up the site as the construction manager for the Livingston project.

The 650,000-square foot Livingston apartment buildings offer students the ability to live the college lifestyle with all the amenities of suburban downtown living in a vibrant, upscale facility. The site houses 1,500 Rutgers students in three different buildings.

Easy Living

Livingston housing offers students an exciting environment with the security and camaraderie of a small, close-knit community. The $140 million buildings feature two-, three- or four-bedroom apartments. Each apartment includes a stainless steel kitchen with a dishwasher, an eat-in counter with stools, individually controlled air conditioning and heating, engineered wood flooring, large living room windows and high-speed wireless connectivity. Most two-bedroom units have two bathrooms, while all three- and four-bedroom apartments feature two spacious bathrooms.

Convenience is key. One building on the site has a full first-story retail plaza. Students can grab a bite to eat at the diner, work out between classes, go to a movie at the theater, or stop for a latte at the coffee house.

Each of the three buildings has its own fitness center, a multipurpose recreation area, a game room and a large screen TV lounge, as well as laundry facilities and trash disposal on every floor. There is also a teaching kitchen, computer room and a 24-hour study room available to the campus. The outdoor area between buildings showcases a beautiful courtyard with seating area and a fountain – a perfect place to read or study on a warm spring day. Whatever students need is within reach.

Safety is also an important factor. Both Epic and Rutgers wanted students to feel at home and secure in the new apartments. Residence life staff provides support and programming in all buildings and courtyards, as each building has entry door security cameras and card access, too.

Students can sign a nine- or 12-month lease, with rents ranging from $9,000 for a one-bedroom to $11,500 for a three- to four-bedroom unit. The apartments are an easy walk from the Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC). In addition, the apartments are only minutes from the newly expanded Campus Center, new state-of-the-art dining hall and full-scale, active recreation center, combining campus life with independence.

Building Smart and Sustainable

Epic completed a 32-acre solar canopy energy system in summer 2012, which will generate approximately $1.2 million in electricity and energy savings. All three buildings roofs were constructed using recyclable materials, which is all part of an effort to expand campus while remaining environmentally conscious.

Mark Skevington, project executive for Epic, explains any project of this size presents challenges. “We were working on a very active, heavy foot traffic campus,” explains Skevington. “It was important to keep pedestrian passes open so students could get to and from class, the gym and dining halls.” Meeting schedule was also a critical factor. Epic was on a specific timeline, as the students needed to be in their housing to kick off the fall semester.

Epic, which stands for excellence, precision, integrity and commitment, worked with Rutgers to bring Livingston to life. The company has been building communities since 1971, which is over 40 years of industry leading experience in commercial, institutional and public markets.

What sets Epic apart from others in its industry is the ability to provide an array of related construction services from management to self-performed trades work and product fabrication. The business continues to practice a hands-on, “roll up its sleeves” motto. This attitude helped bring a concept to reality at Rutgers. The university’s Livingston New Housing will serve as a place where students can grow, learn and feel at home throughout their college experience.