Penn buys off-campus apartment building

After years of interest in The Axis, a dorm-style apartment building at 20 S. 36th St., Penn has negotiated a deal.

The purchase of The Axis — a 136-room, 215-bed facility — in December was announced at a Trustees meeting Thursday.

Currently occupied by Penn and Drexel students, the purchase was made in partnership with the Altman Management Company, Executive Director of Real Estate Edwin Datz said.

The University plans to renovate the building and lower prices to make it more affordable to students, Datz added.

The Axis features single and double rooms, none of which have a personal kitchen. However, there is a dining hall in the basement in addition to a fitness center, home theater, tanning beds and a game room.

The University plans to immediately repair the roof and upgrade elevators. In addition, it plans to add kitchenettes to approximately 25 percent of the units, Datz said.

“This product creates a new classification in our holdings,” Datz said. “The combination of dorm-style housing and potential short-term stay option with significant amenities is unique to the current portfolio of off-campus product.”

Penn began negotiating the purchase of the property in 2005, according to Datz. He added that in 2007, the property was redeveloped by property company Trammell Crow into a “market-rate dormitory product,” which was unsuccessfully marketed for sale and taken over by a lender.

After waiting since then to acquire the property, Penn was “able to negotiate a very favorable price,” Vice President for Facilities and Real Estate Services Anne Papageorge said.

“There has been an expressed need for housing for international students and graduate students on campus,” Papageorge added. The Axis will provide “an option that Penn owns, that’s near campus” for those students.

In addition, The Axis will “serve a short-term hospital need” for patients receiving treatment in nearby medical centers, Papageorge said.

The apartments will also be a cheaper option for students who cannot afford other off-campus housing, Penn President Amy Gutmann said.

Due to a housing shortage at Drexel University, about 96 of the beds are currently occupied by Drexel students, Datz said.

“We want to see that our need [for housing] is met first” before the lease with Drexel is renewed, Papageorge said.

Penn may also change the name of the building in the future, she added.

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