By Jim Bloch
If you spent one or more of your college years in a 12-by-12-foot cubicle with a roommate, the idea of doing it alternatively in a swanky hotel approaches nirvana.
But that’s one of the options now open to students at St. Clair County Community College who choose to live on or near campus.
“SC4 is pleased to announce a new lease agreement with City Flats Hotel to provide additional student housing for the upcoming academic year,” said Sarah Rutallie, the college’s chief of staff and senior vice-president, in a press release Aug. 19. “This arrangement will offer students a unique residential experience in the heart of downtown Port Huron, just a five-minute walk from campus.”
With demand for on-campus housing increasing, the college’s board of trustees authorized the college to lease rooms from the hotel.
“The space will be used exclusively for student housing, creating a vibrant and supportive living environment while maintaining the operations of existing tenants, including the popular CityVu Bistro,” Rutallie said.
On Aug. 24, the rooms available at City Flats ranged from $115-$143 per night for double occupancy. The photos on the hotel’s website depicted rooms that bore little relationship to the spartan shoeboxes familiar to students of yore, especially the rooms facing the Black River.
A room in City Flats Hotel.
On the college’s website, the City Flats Hotel rooms are listed as Water Street Housing. Rates per semester are $6,100 for a single and $3,800 for a double, making the hotel more expensive than Bard Street or Huron Street housing. A single in Bard Street Housing is $5,870; a double is $3,655. A single studio in Huron Street Housing is $5,250; a double is $3,480. The college mandates that students rent their rooms for the whole academic year, doubling those costs.
College housing residents each receive a parking pass.
“SC4’s dedicated housing team—Cori, Jermain, Dion, and Joe—will oversee operations at the new location, as well as existing housing facilities,” said Rutallie. “They will be
supported by a team of student Resident Assistants committed to building a welcoming, safe, and inclusive community.”
The building still bears the name of its original occupant, Michigan National Bank, etched into its gray slab exterior on three sides. The hotel has done next to nothing to dress up the outside of the old bank as a hotel.
“We’re thrilled to offer this expanded housing option,” said SC4 President Kirk Kramer, in a statement. “This agreement not only helps us immediately meet growing student housing needs but also strengthens our presence in downtown Port Huron, fostering deeper connections between our students and the local community.”
Regardless of their ages, students are prohibited from smoking or drinking “in their rooms, inside the housing complex, or on housing and campus property,” according SC4 regulations.
“The college anticipates that daily student use of the space will bring more energy to the downtown area, benefiting both students and local businesses,” said Rutallie.
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
