The plans to build new college housing on Union Street have some landlords concerned for their livelihood and the town’s economic health.

The 11 buildings, which will hold about 130 students, are the first step in the College’s plans to bring 300 students back on campus, according to Vice President of College Relations Al Moran. Moran hopes to know where the rest of the housing will be sited by May, following discussions with students and the town.

Landlord Don Soltis fears it will be harder to fill his properties and believes that bringing students back on campus will have a negative effect on the town’s economy.

“There are a lot of houses for sale just on Union Street,” Soltis said. “Those houses would have been snapped right up before, but it’s becoming really hard to rent near the College. If people don’t live in these houses and maintain them, there could be a big drop in land values.”

Landlord Duane Baker says College housing depletes the town’s tax base.

“With the tax exemptions, the College doesn’t pay the property tax that landlords do,” Baker said. “Oberlin has pretty high taxes based on the value of homes. If all of a sudden you can’t even give these homes away then people will want lower taxes.”

Baker also claimed that Oberlin is denying students a learning experience by making them live in college housing.

“You can learn a lot from living on your own and not having someone look after you,” Baker said. “Students have used me as a reference when renting in places like New York or Baltimore. Some landlords won’t rent to people under 25 without references. Will the College write a reference?”

Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith expressed quite a different opinion though.

“Some students will continue to live in housing owned by the landlords,” he said, “but the intention is to have more students live together to enable them to learn from one another.”

Moran acknowledged that there appeared to be friction between the town and College over the Union Street housing and the scrapped site near Johnson house, but said the process would actually improve relations.

“We are starting ongoing meetings between the College, the school district, and city council to discuss issues of common concern, from housing to our mutual budgetary challenges,” Moran said.

Starting with the next phase of housing, the College will also hold two meetings to get feedback from city residents.

Moran stressed that the College was not the sole source of housing problems, nor could it provide a solution by itself.

“Economic development is one of the key issues here,” Moran said. “If you can bring in businesses and employees, then they’ll need places to live. We can’t solve this problem alone, but we can address it together.”

Moran disputed Baker’s claim regarding property taxes, and said the issue was larger than Baker made it seem.

“The College pays about $200,000 in property taxes right now,” Moran said. “People forget that without the college putting $2 million into the hospital we probably wouldn’t have it.”

He cited other contributions to the town as well, such as support for the Splash Zone recreation center, and support for the downtown renovation project. He also claimed the new housing could create new maintenance jobs.

Moran said the new housing was important to maintain the College’s community.

“We are a residential community,” said Moran. “But the College hasn’t built a new dorm since 1968 and its increased enrollment by 500 since then, so students have had no place to go but off campus.”

Moran said the housing was also important to keep Oberlin competitive.

“Our peer institutions have built apartment style buildings on campus,” he added. “You can have a world class faculty and campus, but what does that matter if you have to put your students in a box?”

Fifth-year Theresa Drake moved out of the “the box” last year only to move into what she now refers to as “Feek House.”

“A pipe broke and no one knew about it,” said Drake. “My housemate came home and the entire kitchen was covered in a lake of sewage water.”

Drake said that the landlord responded within about 24 hours. It took longer to fix smaller problems though.

“Halfway through the year the door stopped latching because all the wood had rotted out. We had to complain a lot before it got fixed.”

Drake said that her new house and landlord are much better and more responsive this year.

While College apartments cost $4,900, about $1,500 more than the average 10-month off campus lease, Senior Andrew Falk says he loves his village housing.

“Its super as can be,” he said. “Gorgeous screen porch, internet access, wall-to-wall carpeting, and free heating.”

Falk’s pipes actually broke as well though.

“My roommate turned off the heat so the pipes froze and cracked,” Falk said.

Connie Grube, also a landlord, agreed that the college’s actions could hurt landlords and the town, but didn’t anticipate her own business would be affected.

“I rent high-end property only to students, and charge higher rents,” Grube said. “I cover the utilities, have good furnaces, good windows, and provide all the amenities.” All of Grube’s leases for next year were signed by November.