Florida A&M University unveils naming of recently acquired apartment complexes

Florida A&M University’s recently purchased apartment complexes near campus — which were previously known as Lighthouse at Brooklyn Yard and Citivue at Railroad — are now officially known as Rattler Pointe.

The renaming was announced during a press conference on Eugenia Street Wednesday morning, where FAMU President Larry Robinson and his team were accompanied by officials from both the U.S. Department of Education and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, which supports HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) across the nation.

“One of our biggest challenges has been to provide housing for students who want to attend this institution, and high-quality housing at that,” Robinson said, “and that’s what we have to share with students coming in the fall of 2023.”

While the Lighthouse at Brooklyn Yard apartments — which are located on Eugenia Street, Conklin Street and Rattler View Court and consist of 118 beds — will specifically be named Rattler Pointe West, the complexes at the Citivue location with 116 beds has been given the name Rattler Pointe East.

Related news: ‘One important piece of the puzzle’: FAMU acquires apartments to add 118 beds for students

More: FAMU footprint expands again amid student housing crunch with acquisition of apartments

University Housing at FAMU held a naming contest to choose the apartment complexes’ new titles, where a campus-wide competition took place for students, faculty and staff to submit their ideas.

FAMU junior Ashona Graves won with her entry of the Rattler Pointe recommendation.

“Honestly, I was very surprised to have my name chosen,” Graves told the Tallahassee Democrat. “It’s so cool that I get to say I named housing on my campus years from now. I get to have a legacy on campus and that’s truly amazing.”

With the new additions to FAMU’s student housing, the apartment-style living spaces will be available to upper-level and returning FAMU students in an area adjacent to the university while still being considered on-campus options.

In addition, the announcement comes just a week after FAMU revealed its grand student housing project of adding 2,000 new beds to campus through the construction of three new residence halls over the next three years — a 500-bed residence hall and a 700-bed residence hall slated to be complete by fall 2025 as well as an 800-bed mixed-use apartment complex that is expected to be available to students by 2026.

Previous coverage: FAMU trustees to consider construction plan for 2,000 new beds on campus

The presence of officials from the U.S. DOE and Thurgood Marshall College Fund gave Robinson and his team the opportunity to share how Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) were invested for the acquisition of the two recently purchased properties.

“From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to today, the fund made our lives possible during this era,” Robinson said during the conference.

The university initially received $195 million in HEERF money from the U.S. DOE, and some of it was used to purchase the two properties that were recently acquired, according to FAMU's Title 3 Programs Executive Director Erick Akins.

While the Rattler Pointe West property was bought for $12.65 million, the Rattler Pointe East apartments were purchased for $13 million.

“We’re just so honored and so proud that FAMU was strategic with this intent to make the HEERF funding a sustainability capacity building investment,” said Karen Epps, director of the Higher Education Emergency Response.

David Sheppard, a chief business and legal officer at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, expressed how the recent acquisitions and the celebratory naming presentation Wednesday are the “fruits of our labor.”

“It is key for Florida A&M University and other HBCUs to have an impact on their student population,” Sheppard said. “Announcements like the one today are a culmination of months and years' worth of effort to provide dollars that make these infrastructure goals possible.”

Contact Tarah Jean at [email protected] or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU holds name unveiling of recently acquired apartment complexes