More than 18 months after the last student moved out, Weerona College is once again opening its doors to the next generation of students.
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The student accommodation was put on the market by the University of Wollongong at the height of the pandemic in August 2021, as the university attempted to stave off a financial crisis brought on by COVID lockdowns and amid uncertainty as to when students would return.
In the year and a half since, and with students returning in droves from 2022, the lack of the 204-bed college, along with other accommodation sold off and high demand for private rentals, has led to an acute shortage of affordable accommodation for students.
Long-time student residence manager at Weerona College and now consultant to the new owners Leanne Robinson said she was sad to see the college sold in late 2020.
"I'm very excited that the new owners are able to open the doors and welcome students back in, I think it's going to be a great thing for the area here and for the local area," she said.
The college was bought by Wollongong property development business Realta, owned by the Lucchitti family, for $22 million.
Ms Robinson said that the new owners had renovated parts of the college in response to changing preferences from students, including adding more shared kitchen facilities as the accommodation would no longer be fully catered. The college's long-term future would be dependent upon the pattern of demand for student accommodation, Ms Robinson said.
"[It] will depend on a number of things, one of those things will be whether or not the university continues with face to face teaching in the long term, but there will always be students looking for student accommodation," she said.
A single room at Weerona College comes in at $230 a week, cheaper than when it was last rented out by the university at $288 a week, albeit without 19 meals a week.
"We recognise that in the current rental climate, where students are finding it very difficult to secure private rented accommodation, the price point needs to be at a place where students are able to easily afford it," Ms Robinson said.
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