Grass growing in front yards. Cars parked behind houses instead of on lawns. Empty beer cans? Only a few.
A walk down College Avenue one recent afternoon revealed a changed landscape. On this street and two others close to Winthrop University, past sources of tension are no longer causing as much trouble.
Walk2Campus Properties has been buying up student rental houses around campus and winning praise from historically hard-to-please neighbors.
Many are glad the landlord is making renovations, spiffing up yards and asking student renters to comply with stricter rules, such as parking in assigned spots and cleaning up beer cans every morning by 10.
“You can almost spot their properties without having a sign there,” said Les Dickert, a 17-year resident of Eden Terrace. “We wish they would just buy up everything.”
Model: Renovate, raise rents
The man behind Walk2Campus spends much of his time in an office on Oakland Avenue, searching homes on York County's online mapping system and planning his next purchases.
Brad Hastings arrived two years ago and started buying houses along three different blocks: Ebenezer Avenue behind Oakland Avenue Presbyterian Church, Ebenezer Avenue Extension across campus from Cherry Road and College Avenue near the Withers building.
The company now owns 33 properties and hopes to double its tenant base over the next two to three years. The properties are 94 percent occupied, with all but one or two bedrooms rented to Winthrop students, Hastings said.
“It's a long-term business,” he said. “By no means is anybody getting rich overnight. We think over time, by creating our brand, we'll be successful.”
Hastings, 31, runs a similar Walk2Campus agency in Farmville, Va., near the campus of Longwood University. He chose Rock Hill for his second location, citing the affordable price of homes around campus and Winthrop's plans to add enrollment.
Five years ago, Hastings and his business partner, Matt King, recruited investors to put up seed money for a company built around student rental housing. The pair has between 20 and 30 investors along the East Coast.
The concept: Buy homes in easy walking distance from campus, fix them up and convince students — and their parents — that higher rents are worth it.
“We're more expensive than most people, but we think we back it up with our location and service,” he said.
Walk2Campus has earned the support of leaders at Winthrop University, who say neighborhoods surrounding campus can be either a selling point or deterrent for prospective students.
President Anthony DiGiorgio made that argument in urging city officials to partner on a “college town action plan” outlining ways to enliven the college area. The two sides will split the cost of hiring a consultant, estimated at $114,000.
“Walk2Campus is a great example of the kind of quality-oriented business and new investment that a college-town environment can attract to Rock Hill,” DiGiorgio wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.
Easy walk to class
Mike Brooks could have saved money by choosing another house. Some buddies each pay around $250 a month for a rental on Sumter Avenue.
But Brooks opted to move into a newly painted red house on Ebenezer Avenue Extension, just behind Groucho's Deli. The house was recently bought by Walk2Campus. Brooks pays $405 a month for a 9-by-12-foot bedroom in a house with three other guys.
“It takes me two seconds to get to class,” said Brooks, a junior business major from Atlanta. “The fact it's not a rundown house, it's kind of worth it to me. We looked at other houses (and) the inside was really bad.”
Some students voice concern about what will happen if Walk2Campus keeps buying houses and charging rents that not everyone can afford.
“It's either Walk2Campus or apartments that you have to drive to,” said junior Jay Hill, a music major from Greenville.
Hastings plans to take a pause after another round of purchases. After his company makes renovations, the tax assessor shows up and assigns higher tax values to the houses, leaving the owner with heftier tax bills, sometimes as much as 30 percent higher.
“We're not going to just play a game of Monopoly and grab as much property as we can,” he said.
A select market
When Hastings makes a purchase, a team of handymen sweep in and slap on a new paint job, replace the electrical wiring and install new kitchen appliances, among other changes.
For every $3 spent on a house, Hastings says $1 goes toward renovations. Home prices have ranged between $100,000 and $200,000.
Tenants must agree to certain rules spelled out in their leases. Among the highlights: No parking on the lawn, and no beer cans left lying around.
Shortly after 10 every morning, a staffer does spot checks. Repeated violations can be added to monthly rents at a cost of $30 per trash bag.
The rules are proving popular with older neighbors such as Charles Wright. For 40 years, Wright has lived in a one-story white house on Ebenezer Avenue Extension. Rentals down the street were getting shabbier with each passing school year, Wright said.
“Let's just say, it's an improvement from what was there,” he said.
Matt Garfield 803-329-4063
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