The Nest to open for students in August 2019

UPDATE at 9:37 a.m.

The Nest at 1324, an 18-story apartment building on Broad Street near Master, is set to open this August, a representative from the project said.

The high rise apartment building will offer 192 housing units to more than 500 students, with studio apartments and two and three-bedroom options. Bock Development Group is building the project, which started in 2017.

The Nest is not Bock Development Group’s first student-targeted housing project, said Tom Bock, the president and founder of the company. Bock manages Temple Nest apartments around Main Campus. These row-house style apartments are located on both the west and east sides of campus, with a large number running along Carlisle Street between Jefferson and Oxford.

Bock said the motivation to construct The Nest is partly from his experience managing those properties.

“I’ve been developing for the last nine years,” Bock said. “[The Nest] would really be for incoming freshmen and sophomores that want the security provided in a building like this.”

The new development will have a similar style used in his other properties with high, quartz countertops, pendant lighting and modern appliances. Philadelphia-based architectural company Cecil Baker + Partners designed the building.

The building will not have any parking, a representative wrote in an email to The Temple News.

What differentiates The Nest from his previous properties is “additional safety,” Bock said. The building will have 24/7 security and innovative fingerprint access, in addition to using key fobs.

The fingerprint access is an amenity only offered by The Nest and is not available at other nearby student housing options, like The View at Montgomery on Montgomery Avenue near 12th Street or its under-construction neighbor The View II, said Leigh Minnier, vice president of Gregory FCA, the company part of the project’s public relations efforts.

The Nest will have fireplaces in lounge spaces throughout the building and outdoor spaces around the entrance of the building that Bock said will serve as “a place for students to hang out.” The building will also have a 24-hour fitness center.

The ground floor, which will be accessible to non-residents, will have 1,500 square feet of retail space, Bock said. The retailers have yet to be announced.

“We are trying to find something that is the latest and coolest concept and put it down in the retail space,” Bock said, adding that it should serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The Nest’s leasing rates start at $750 per month on a 12-month lease, or $9,000 a year at a minimum.

For comparison, Morgan Hall North, a 24-story on-campus residence hall on Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, costs a minimum of $11,434 for the academic year.

Bock said he plans to approach University Housing and Residential Life about the possibility of leasing space in The Nest to Temple for additional housing, like UHRL already done with other off-campus properties, like The Edge on 15th Street near Cecil B. Moore Avenue.

Kevin Williams, director of University Housing and Residential Life, could not be reached for comment.

Minnier said much like residence halls, The Nest will utilize roommate matching services, which will encourage new students to live there instead of other off-campus options selected by groups of friends.

“If you’re a person that wants to move in and you are looking for roommates, The Nest will help position you with a roommate,” Minnier said. “It actually will work like a typical dorm, even though it is off campus.”

Bock added that monthly events will be held to help build a sense of community among residents.

Josh Safran, a freshman media studies and production major and resident of Morgan Hall South, said he was interested as soon as he heard about the apartments.

“It sounds like the residence hall of the future,” Safran said. “I was planning to stay on campus as a student, but The Nest is certainly an enticing alternative.”

Leasing for apartments started in August, Minnier said. An on-site office will open in October. The leasing will take place on a first come, first served basis, as the maximum capacity of the building is 528 students.

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include the most recent information about parking at The Nest at 1324. The name of The Nest at 1324 was also clarified to include its full property name.