Fraternity Court Gets New Neighbors

It's all that is Fraternity Court with none of the rushing.

In a twist on off-campus housing, the new private owner of the former Pi Lambda Phi house in Fraternity Court will open its doors to students -- Greek or not -- as another apartment-style option.

The lofted beds and community bathrooms have been replaced with spacious suites and more privacy in ongoing renovations. Starting in February, owner Guy Solie will begin offering yearlong leases that run from May to May for $500 a month per bedroom, plus electricity.

But students can begin renting rooms for this semester at a prorated cost as soon as next week. Two students already have taken out a lease on the spacious top-floor suite Solie calls "the penthouse."

The house is divided into six suites, each with two or three bedrooms, a living room area, a full kitchen and one to three bathrooms. The suites will have hardwood floors, and heating and air-conditioning units are being installed Friday.

Other amenities include a washer and dryer, cable television and Time Warner's Road Runner high-speed Internet services.

Each house on Fraternity Court is allotted 11 parking spots, and Solie expects to use those and the driveway to ensure a space for each tenant in the 13-bedroom house.

A sprinkler system and security alarm will be installed in each suite, and one of the suites is wheelchair-equipped.

Although he originally expected his tenants to be displaced fraternity brothers, Solie said he will not discriminate as to who rents his rooms. "We'll probably find people who don't want to live in a frat house but want to live with their frat brothers," he said. "But I'm happy to have it coed. Whoever wants to live there works for me."

The house, once owned by Phi Kappa Sigma, was rented by Pi Lambda Phi for three years after the former's UNC chapter closed, said Jay Anhorn, director of Greek affairs. In 2001, Pi Lambda Phi gave up the lease and the house went on the market.

UNC used to own all the land in Fraternity Court but sold everything except the parking lot to the fraternities. The University decided repurchasing the house would be too large a strain on its budget, and Solie bought the house in the spring.

Renovations on the house began in midsummer, said maintenance supervisor Roger Green, who moved from West Virginia with members of his family to form the house maintenance team.

On Wednesday, sawdust, tools and ladders still littered the floors, but Green expects to finish renovations by next Friday, only slightly behind schedule.

Green said construction was set back for a couple of weeks in December when the ice storm prevented inspectors from coming out to the site and approving a move to the project's next step.

Today, workers will replace the windows that were vandalized in December when someone broke into the house.

Solie also rents housing in Raleigh and Durham. He said the houses he has set up suite-style in Durham have been so popular among students that he gets calls requesting a lease up to three years in advance. "The old concept when I was in college with the long hallways and the gang showers is just outmoded."

Solie said his priority in designing the suites was to ensure that his tenants would have enough space to be comfortable. Proof of this commitment is the suite with three bathrooms for two bedrooms.

"I originally had a third bedroom in there, but the living room just looked so small," he said. "Our system is to make it quality, not quantity. I'm just thrilled with how it has turned out."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.