Change coming to Y. housing

PROVO — Brigham Young University is planning major housing changes that will change the future of key properties on and off campus, the Deseret Morning News has learned.

First, half of the families living in the Wyview Park married student housing complex on campus must leave by July 2006 to make way for single students. The remainder must leave by the following July.

The transition will allow BYU to vacate Deseret Towers as university planners continue to consider what to do with the on-campus landmark, which has become a dinosaur.

Second, BYU has reached a deal with a proposed off-campus housing complex to rent solely to BYU students. The 159 condominiums at the new Alpine Village are expected to be complete by fall 2007, developer Ray Walker said.

The village would be located where the old vacant Reams store — the domed Provo landmark — stands on the corner of Freedom Boulevard and Paul Ream Avenue.

"We've been involved in an extensive review of our housing as we create our master plan, and we're looking at the needs of our students," BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said. "We're seeing less of a demand for on-campus married housing, and we're seeing a real trend in students desiring apartment-style housing."

Jenkins characterized the move of single students from Deseret Towers to Wyview and the exclusive use of an on-campus, private apartment complex as pilot, or test, programs. Married students could someday return to Wyview.

That likely won't happen anytime soon, however. BYU officials have said that renovating Deseret Towers or razing it and building a new apartment-style complex could take a decade.

Wyview residents expressed frustration Thursday after a meeting with university officials.

"There are very few apartment complexes in this area for young families that are fenced in with lawn and play areas for children," said Bethany Baynes, who moved to Wyview in November with her husband Paul, a geography major, and the couple's year-old daughter, Abby.

They planned to stay for three more years. Instead, theirs is one of 192 complexes that must be vacated by July 1, 2006. Single students will move into those apartments a month later. The other 234 complexes will convert to singles housing in July 2007.