Sac State student guide to off-campus housing
What students need to know about available housing options
Second-year business major Fabian Vigil stands by The Lark on Monday, Sept. 29, 2022. Sacramento offers multiple off-campus housing options for Sac State students including (pictured L-R) The Mezzo Apartments, The Crossings and The Wexler. (Graphic created on Canva by Kamelia Varasteh)
October 19, 2022
It’s the on-going question many Sac State students seem to struggle in answering. Where will I live this semester? Between rent, amenities and distance from campus, it can be difficult to narrow all the student living options down to just one place.
There is a wide range of off-campus housing options for Sac State students. This guide will compare nine of the most popular housing options close to campus, including Academy65, The Crossings, College Town Apartments, Element Student Living, The Lark, The Mezzo Apartments, Twelve55 Living, University River Village, and The Wexler.
To second-year business major Fabian Vigil, the most important factor in deciding on an apartment was whether a guarantor was required to finalize the lease.
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Eric Ortiz, a third-year health science major, said the most important factor to him was to have his own space.
“The last place I stayed didn’t have walls, so I like the privacy,” he said.
Read on to learn more about and compare the wide range of off-campus housing options for Sac State students.
Scroll to the bottom of this article for an “In Summary.”
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Academy65
Rent: $670-$1,685 (per month)
Academy65, located just half a mile off campus, is the closest off-campus housing option to Sac State. This high rise apartment building with a view of downtown Sacramento offers floor plans from one bedroom up to four bedrooms for residents. Its amenities include study lounges, a 24-hour fitness center, a game room, secure bike storage, fire pits, grills, a coffee bar and an in-unit washer and dryer.
Unlike its competitors, Academy65 does not have a pool. However, they provide residents with a large hot tub.
Some of the best offerings of Academy65 seem to be its amenities deck and complimentary Wi-Fi access, according to fourth-year film major Keysho Griffin Baxter.
However, Griffin Baxter said that living at Academy65 has caused her a huge amount of stress.
“They are more strict on their rules than it would be living on campus or living at home with my parents,” Baxter said. “They have quarterly inspections where they look for perfection in their cleanliness or else they will ding you for ‘breaking the lease agreement.’”
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The Crossings
Rent: $845-$1,730 (per month)
Located on Ramona Avenue, The Crossings is just one mile off campus. Amenities include a resort-style pool, grills, fire pits, a basketball court, game room, indoor bike racks and study lounges. The Crossings is also pet friendly! It has a total of seven floor plans, ranging from one to four beds.
It also has limited parking spaces compared to other complexes, with a reserved parking space costing $120 per month on top of rent. Residents who do not reserve parking must park on the street outside the building.
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College Town Apartments
Rent: $655-$985 (per month) (price not listed on website, call for inquiries)
College Town Apartments are located right next to Sac State on College Town Drive. It is perhaps the cheapest option, with prices currently not reaching above $985. However, the apartments do not come furnished, so any new residents must take care of finding their own furniture. Floor plan options are currently not visible on this apartment’s website; anyone interested in living here is advised to call for inquiries.
College Town Apartments do not have many amenities, but they do have basketball courts and playgrounds on-site.
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Element Student Living
Rent: $854-$1,475 (per month)
Element is located on 4th Avenue, one mile off campus. If you love to shop this could be the apartment for you, as it is located directly across from Target. Its amenities include a resort-style pool, fitness center, study lounge, coffee bar, business center, package lockers, volleyball and basketball courts, bike lockers, fire pits, grills and ping pong tables.
“I really like that they have a lot to do at the complex,” said third-year child development major, Jessica Del Real. “It’s never super crowded, and when people are there everyone’s super friendly.”
Fourth-year political science major, Carina Giardina, said she was looking into applying to live at Element Student Living, but was deterred from the property after hearing about the traffic situation.
“I heard […] getting in and out [of the driveway] sucks because it competes with the Target driveway and causes a lot of accidents,” she said.
Element Student Living has bedroom options ranging from one to four beds, with a total of six different floor plans.
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The Lark
Rent: $719-$1,199 (per month)
Just over a mile from campus, The Lark is a gated community which includes free parking, a resort-style pool, outdoor TV lounge, fitness center, study lounge, coffee bar, business center, volleyball and basketball courts and grills. It is also pet-friendly! Ranging from two to four bedrooms, The Lark has six different floor plans to choose from.
The Lark may sound familiar to Sac State students—they have their own shuttle that transports students from the complex to campus daily!
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The Mezzo Apartments
Rent: $1,677-$2,480 (per month)
The Mezzo Apartments, about half a mile from campus, are the most expensive off-campus housing option. However, residents can enjoy amenities including a pool and spa, a parcel room and a private patio or balcony. The Mezzo Apartments also share a parking lot with some local restaurants, including Bento Box, Burger Patch, Dos Coyotes and The Sandwich Spot. The Mezzo Apartments have a total of five different floor plans, ranging from one to three beds.
The Mezzo Apartments were previously known as Upper Eastside Lofts; however, the complex is no longer affiliated with Sac State.
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Twelve55 Living
Rent: $950-$1,500 (per month)
Another one of the more expensive housing options, Twelve55 Living is a gated community. Amenities include fire pits, grills, a recreation room, study lounge, fitness center and landscaped grounds. Twelve55 Living has three floor plans available, with options for one or two bedrooms.
Cierra Fischer, an alumna of Sac State who used to live in Twelve55, said she enjoyed Twelve55’s proximity to campus—after all, the apartments are just about a mile from the university.
“I really enjoyed walking or taking a short bus ride across the Guy West Bridge on to campus and not having to pay for parking,” she said. “It was generally a quiet area, not a ton of traffic, lots of trees, and the presence of the river made it pretty idyllic most of the time.”
The only downside Fischer said she saw with Twelve55 was the parking situation. She claimed that the parking for residents only was not enforced and that the number of spaces were limited due to people parking over the lines.
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University River Village
Rent: $925-$2,395 (per month)
University River Village is located just next to College Town Apartments. While it is a gated community, once inside residents will see carefully-planned landscaping between an array of outdoor lounges and a large number of beautiful trees planted on-site. University River Village has options to either rent out a private bedroom or rent for the entire unit, with options ranging from one to three bedrooms.
On top of that, the apartment also has a fitness center, pool, fire pits, basketball and volleyball courts, ping pong tables, foosball, computer rooms, a business center and a secure package-handling system.
However, second-year marketing major Antoinette Ortiz said that she did not like her experience in living at University River Village.
“My packages were always getting stolen, my car got broken into three times, […] the front office never answered the phone, and there was no guest parking,” she said.
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The Wexler
Rent: $699-$1,100 (per month) (price not listed on website, call for inquiries)
Having opened in Fall 2022, The Wexler is the newest addition to off-campus student housing. Unlike any of the above student housing options, The Wexler provides residents with ample parking; they have a level-parking structure! The Wexler has fourteen different floor plans ranging from one bedroom all the way to six.
Other amenities at The Wexler include a resort-style pool, fitness center, study rooms and a coffee bar. The Wexler is also pet friendly!
In Summary
See the charts below for an easy comparison of rent, amenities and location.
Conclusion
Aside from deciding which amenities are most important in choosing an apartment, many students recommend people in search of an apartment be careful in choosing roommates as well.
“When it comes to a roommate situation, I prefer to have my own personal space,” said Kyle Lansang, a fourth-year criminal justice major.
That being said, all of the off-campus housing options offer multiple bedroom options, providing more space to residents depending on their budget.
