Look how nice!

The place that actually lets you feel like you’re an adult with your own studio apartment, where you can imagine having cute smokes on the fire escape and getting in arguments with your landlord: Watt! 

Location: 549 W. 113th St.

  • Nearby Dorms: McBain, the brownstones
  • Stores and restaurants: Symposium, Amigos, Tom’s, Community, and Bernheim & Schwartz

Cost: The cost has been standardized to $9,292

Amenities:

  • Bathrooms: It’s apartment style, so each dorm is equipped with their own personal bathroom
  • AC/Heating: No AC available, but the large windows bring in a nice breeze, and the heating is nice and cozy
  • Kitchen/Lounge: Each apartment has their own fully functional kitchen, making any Columbia student able to feel like their living in their own off-campus studio (what’s not to love). Sadly the downside to feeling like you live off-campus is that you have to clean it yourself. Also no common lounge, just a long dark hallway with doors to each studio.
  • Laundry: Available on each floor, no need to use the rickety elevator to cart around your delicates.
  • Fire escapes: You can actually travel from room to room through the fire escapes (though we don’t endorse it, it is possible)
  • Bike Storage: None
  • Gym: None, but McBain is right across the street if you’re desperate.
  • Intra-transportation: One sketchy elevator, but the building is only six stories high so stair are always an option. The only flaw is that there’s no access to the basement by stairs so the elevator is a must in that case.
  • Hardwood/Carpeting: Hardwood in every studio

Room Variety:

  • 11 studio singles that are all well-sized
  • 35 studio doubles, ranging from 200-276 square feet, and one room on the first floor somehow being 517 square feet
  • 12 apartments with 1 bedroom for two, usually roommates will convert the living area into a second ‘room,’ allowing for it to be a two bedroom apartment, but one roommate will have to compromise privacy
  • 11 apartments with 2 bedrooms for two, with the personal rooms being around 100 square feet

Numbers:

  • One Bedroom Apartments: 20/503, meaning these go incredibly fast, almost always to seniors
  • Two Bedroom Apartments: 30/1507, these go fast too, mostly to seniors and maybe a junior pair
  • Studio Singles: 30/96, going quickly to seniors, so you better have a great lottery number if you want to live in these rooms
  • Studio Doubles: 10/495, these typically go to juniors and lucky sophomores

Blog Recommendations: This is a great housing choice, being really close to campus but allowing students to feel like they’ve started renting their own apartment (with all the quirks that come with one). This is one of the better options for housing, so it goes fast. Be aware of the noise pollution and the tendency of residents not knowing their neighbors due to no common space.

Resident Opinions: 

  • “A lot of privacy and windows for ventilation (plus a fire escape!)”
  • “Having your own kitchen and bathroom is incredible. Having laundry on your floor is great.”
  • “The apartment style makes it feel more like a home. A lot of space in the two bedroom layouts, especially the F line.”
  • “Location is nice, but 113th St. can get loud at night, especially when it’s all warm.”
  • “Fire alarms are on the sensitive side. The apartments aren’t without quirks (like any good apartment).