Syracuse University alumni, close-friends and now business partners Michael Edelman and Jared Hutter have lived within walking distance of each other since 2006.

At SU, the duo roomed together in a four-bedroom apartment on  Madison. When they graduated, they moved to New York City and have always lived within a five block radius of each other.

Now the alumni have returned to Syracuse, as co-principals of a new luxury apartment complex, named #BLVD404.
“It almost sounds like we are in a relationship together, but that’s what a good business partner is,” said Edelman, a 2005 SU alumnus. “It’s a marriage, truly it is.”

The apartment building, located at 404 University Ave., near the corner of Genesee Street, is currently under construction and has begun leasing for fall 2016. #BLVD404 will house up to 163 students in 54 apartments and boasts a short walk to the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, Marshall Street and SU’s main campus. The name, #BLVD404, represents what the team wants to be known for: being modern, fresh and new, Edelman said. The project is a joint venture between three SU alumni: Hutter, Edelman and Brian Rosen.

Hutter, a 2006 SU alumnus, said he has always been interested in student housing. When he
began his startup, BLVD Equities, he wanted to venture into the world of luxury apartments for students. He saw an opportunity to capitalize on the market in Syracuse, and when the University Avenue piece of land came up for sale, he approached Edelman and Rosen to join him on the venture. Edelman and Hutter remained close-friends after graduation — they were in each other’s weddings, their wives are close and they talk almost every week.

“We were always looking to do something together professionally, but we didn’t always know what that was,” Hutter said, “When I made the decision to break off on my own and found this property, I came to him and asked him if he wanted to do this thing with me.”

 

The former roommates wanted to add someone with more experience to the mix, and reached out to Rosen, whose younger brother lived with them on Madison. He was a natural fit, and together they began to develop plans for a building they wished they could have lived in.

Rosen, who graduated in 2001 and is the owner of Rosen Property Group, said when Hutter approached he was very excited to join the team. He checked out the location and thought there was both a need and a desire for this type of high-end student housing.

“Being an alumnus I thought it would be awesome to go back to my own back yard, and pull this off on the business side of things.” Rosen said. “I just thought personally that the opportunity was very right.”

The $18 million project will feature a wide range of amenities including individual bedrooms, fully-furnished living spaces with high-end furniture, conference rooms for group projects, a state-of-the-art gym, a convenience store and solid-stone countertops.

“For Michael, Brian and myself, we all say this is far and away the most fun we have ever had professionally; it’s phenomenal,” Hutter said. “We love what we are doing. We are basically creating a building that we would have wanted to live in back then.”

#BLVD404 joins University Village and Park Point as luxury apartment options for SU students. Rosen said they are still pinpointing prices, but that beds will be $950 per month per bed, slightly lower than the current competition’s prices.

Rosen said the team feels that because of their direct ties to SU and their overall vision, they will fulfill the needs of SU students better than their current competition.

At the end of the day, they are business men looking to turn a profit, but they are ecstatic that their first big project is in Syracuse, where they have the opportunity to give back to the school and local community, Rosen said.

Hutter added that when beginning construction, the team hired what they viewed as the best construction company in the area, Hueber-Breuer and a “fantastic civil engineer.” He wanted the complex to have “a local flare.”

In addition to hiring local workers, Hutter’s company, BLVD Equities, is offering internships to SU students through the Whitman School of Management.

“I am going to incorporate some student into our project so they can come to some of the development meetings, understand the development process, and ultimately be a part of the management of the building, so they can understand how to run a building moving forward,” Hutter said.

Construction for the site is set to be complete in June, with residents moving in around Aug. 15. Leasing information is available online and at their recently opened leasing center on the first floor of Marshall Square Mall.

“It’s a really terrific story,” Rosen said. “Three alumni coming back building an $18 million project, giving local folks jobs and opportunities and putting money back into the city.”

Published on September 7, 2015 at 9:37 pm

Contact Jacob: jagedets@syr.edu