New residence hall ‘Chapman Court’ now available for students next school year amid other off-campus complexes

Chapman Court began providing tours in early March to students interested in living at the property next school year, where they were able to get the inside scoop on the rooms and amenities, as well as the lack of parking spaces available at the new residence hall. Photo courtesy of Chapman University Housing

As the time approaches for Chapman undergraduates to pick where they want to live next school year, there will be one more residence hall available out of the ones already being offered to students. That complex is known as Chapman Court.

Previously known as Anavia Apartments, Chapman Court was purchased by Chapman University in November 2022 in order to create more housing opportunities for undergraduate students following the overcrowding of residence halls.

A sneak peek into Chapman Court’s rooms and amenities 

The new apartment complex, which is located at 2045 S. State College Boulevard, will be able to accommodate around 800 students. Tours of the property took place from Feb. 26 to March 29, In which students were able to see four different room layouts, as well as the residence hall’s new clubhouse, fitness center and pool area.

“Chapman Court was acquired this year to provide an additional off-campus option for our continuing students,” said Maiya White, Chapman Court’s area coordinator. “We are so excited to add more than 800 spots to our current continuing student options.”

The new residence hall offers rooms for groups of two to five students, and each room includes a full kitchen with a gas stove, refrigerator, dishwasher and an in-unit washer and dryer. Other amenities featured at Chapman Court can be found here.

“(Chapman Court) also has a clubhouse that students and student organizations can reserve,” White told The Panther. “There is also a large two-story fitness center, as well as an outdoor recreation and fireplace area with TVs and barbecues.” 

According to the Chapman Housing website, Chapman Court will cost $14,578 per year for a shared bedroom and $16,644 per year for a single bedroom.

A potential solution to the university’s overcrowding issue

Along with the rooms and amenities, Chapman Court’s main purpose is to help fix the university’s overcrowding issue, which began in the fall of 2022.

About two years ago, Chapman brought in their largest freshman class yet and quickly noticed that there was not enough space in the dormitories on campus to accommodate them all. Many freshman students were even housed in off-campus facilities such as Chapman Grand and Panther Village, which are normally supposed to only house second-year students and above.

“Chapman Court will be really helpful to provide more students with housing, especially so that upperclassmen can also get housing at one of the residence halls rather than having to find a house or apartment somewhere else in Orange,” said sophomore business administration major Devon Tjong. “I have struggled with trying to find a house or apartment off-campus that fits in my budget, so I am personally really excited about the new hall.”

However, another issue has since then stemmed from information that students received while on their tours of the new residence hall.

The parking situation at Chapman Court

According to Tjong, he learned on his tour that while there are parking spaces available at Chapman Court, there aren’t enough to accommodate all students who will be living at the apartment complex.

“(Chapman Court) can accommodate 800 students, yet there are only a little over 600 parking spots available in the parking structure,” said Tjong. “This could be difficult for some students because it’s not like Chapman Court is right next to the university. It’s at least a 15-minute drive, and the shuttles aren’t always on time.”

According to White, each room will be assigned one less parking space than the occupancy for the unit. Therefore, two parking spaces will be given to a room with three students, three parking spaces will be given to a four-person room and five-person rooms will receive four parking passes.

For those who don’t receive parking passes, they will not be able to park in Chapman Court’s parking structure. Instead, overflow parking will be directed to Chapman’s other residence hall, Panther Village, which is about a 22-minute walking distance from Chapman Court, according to Google Maps.

Tjong, along with other students, believes that having overflow parking at Panther Village could pose heightened safety risks for students, especially those who may have to walk back to Chapman Court late at night.

“Personally, I wouldn’t want to finish up a long day of classes, have to park at Panther Village and then walk another 20 minutes or so just to make it back to my room,” Tjong said. “It’s also just scary having to walk anywhere late at night because you never know what could happen. Someone could just grab you or follow you home.”

White told The Panther that while she is not sure of the exact number of parking spaces available at Chapman Court, she believes that it is over 600.

She also touched upon how students can utilize Chapman resources in order to get back to the new complex without having to worry about any safety hazards, such as walking home late at night. 

“Students are able to take the shuttle from Panther Village back to Chapman Court,” White said. “At night after shuttle service is complete, students are not expected to walk to their cars, and we encourage them to utilize SafeRide through Public Safety.”

Operation SafeRide is a service provided to help escort students, faculty, staff and visitors around Chapman and the surrounding area during late-night hours. The service is offered free of charge and will help deliver an individual to either their vehicle, a residence hall or a different location within SafeRide’s boundaries, which are listed on its website.

Along with having SafeRide as a resource for students use, White also mentioned the university’s shuttle service, which transports students to and from campus and the various residence halls. 

With the introduction of the new apartment complex, Chapman’s shuttle service is also set to expand to meet the growing demand of students who will need to use the shuttle. According to White, more shuttles and routes will be added to the current shuttle service, beginning in Fall 2024.

“I will be living at Chapman Court next school year ,and the shuttle is something that I will need to use a lot since I don’t currently have a car,” said Diego Fondevilla, a sophomore data science major. “I’m hoping that the university adds in a lot more shuttles (for Chapman Court) so that students won’t have to stress about getting to classes or meetings on time.”

The new three-year housing requirement for students starting in Fall 2024

The implementation of a three-year housing requirement for students beginning at Chapman for the Fall 2024 academic year was also announced on Chapman’s website. The new policy will require students to live on campus for their first three years unless an individual is living with their family within a 30-mile radius of campus. 

The implementation of the new housing requirement will help to ensure that the student body is utilizing the housing options provided by the university and it also honors an agreement that Chapman has with the City of Orange. The agreement states that 50% of undergraduate students must take part in on-campus housing, and it was created in order to help reduce parking and traffic issues for the Orange community.

“Chapman Court will help to give students more access to housing options, especially for those new students coming in who will need to follow the three-year housing requirement,” Fondevilla told The Panther. “It also gives returning students more housing options too, other than having to live at Panther Village, the K or Chapman Grand, which have gotten really crowded.”

Applying to live at Chapman Court

Students had the opportunity to apply to live at residence halls, including Chapman Court, during the Panther Housing Selection process, which took place from April 2 to April 10.

“I’m really excited about moving into Chapman Court because of the new amenities that I’ve never had in an apartment at Chapman before, including the oven and the water dispenser,” said Tjong, who will be moving into the new building in August. “I think it’s going to be a great experience overall, and it’s cool to be a part of the first class who gets access to the new apartment.”