The Beverly apartments, an Indiana University-related housing project, is close to opening.
The IU Board of Trustees approved the project in 2023, with construction having started in 2024. The apartments are built at the former site of the Poplars Building on Seventh Street. The project is privately financed by Buckingham Companies, developer and management firm for the apartments, on IU-owned real estate.
With six stories, there are 420 beds rented by the bedroom, ranging from about $1,200 to about $2,400 a month.
The apartments are close to Kirkwood Avenue and IU’s campus. Students will start moving in before classes start in August.
“The Bloomington area in general continues to see a need for additional housing due to the university and also just due to growing regional demands,” Property Manager Juliana Richards said.
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While the Beverly website states the property was designed with IU’s graduate students in mind, Richards said the scope was broader than that.
“Due to fair housing reasons, we don't really target a specific age or kind of group of people,” she said. “This project, in general, was built to meet the IU community's needs, whoever that may be. So, whether it be graduate students, undergrad, faculty, staff.”
Richards also couldn’t directly address the question of whether the apartments are meant to be affordable, even though that was originally identified as a goal.
“Affordability in Bloomington, in general, is a very multifaceted issue,” Richards said. “Our building is built into institutional grade. We have beautiful brick, local limestone, and so we are kind of priced in line with the cost of those items. I think with how limited our availability is as well, I think the market has responded really well to our pricing.”
Amenities include a 24-hour exercise room, two courtyards, free Wi-Fi and two study rooms on each of the six floors. The apartments also come fully furnished. They are named after the late mother, Beverly, of development company CEO Bradley Chambers.
Buckingham is not sharing project funding structure or financial details publicly. When the project was first approved in 2023, it was set to cost $81 million.
