Towson University’s president said recently that to make up for a shortage places for students to live, the Marriott Hotel that it owns adjacent to campus will be converted to student housing.
“This will provide hundreds more much-needed and in-demand apartment-style beds to campus faster and for significantly less than we could ever build them,” Kim Schatzel said in her “spring address” to campus. “This efficiency and effectiveness effort will allow us to better leverage this campus asset and its prime location, thus connecting us to the core of downtown Towson.”
She said Towson has a shortage of about 2,500 beds; the Marriott is estimated to provide 300 to 400 beds, a university spokesman said.
“Towson University has shifted toward a more residential campus in recent years. About 87 percent of full-time freshmen live on campus, and demand for housing has surpassed capacity. Record enrollment growth is expected again this fall, which will increase demand for more student housing. Current housing options for juniors, seniors, transfer and international students are particularly limited,” the school said in a release.