First Place: The Retreat

When it comes to leasing and renting properties, student renters often have a variety of diverse needs, whether that be overall space, amenities, or proximity to important locations such as a college campus.

The Retreat at Corvallis on 700 Chickadee St. offers many amenities at a variety of pricing options and has been recognized as Beaver Nation’s best living accommodations for the last four years.

Tenants at the Retreat lease by the bedroom, with prices ranging between $760-1,290 per person per installment, depending on the floor plan. The community offers units ranging from one to five bedrooms.

“We have a lot of different buildings, but they’re all close together so you get to know everybody that lives in the area,” said Community Ambassador Ciara Kelly. “It’s like a small little neighborhood. I also think people really enjoy our amenities like our pool, gym—everything like that.”

In addition to the pool and gym, the Retreat offers a wide variety of unique amenities, including a clubhouse with study rooms, pool and air hockey tables, an indoor golf simulator and a racquetball court.

With such amenities and shared living quarters, resident Liam Osborne said he believes living at the Retreat makes it very easy to form friendships and create quite the social life.

“I have a great relationship with all my roommates,” Osborne said. “We do dinners together. We’re all kind of just becoming friends.”

But for individuals who seek alone time, Osborne said the living set up at the Retreat also allows for personal privacy. Though each unit has a shared living and kitchen area, each bedroom has its own full bathroom.

“You have the ability to be as social or unsocial as you want,” Osborne said. ‘If you just want to stay in your room, you can sustain yourself there indefinitely until you need food.”

Dallas Ransom, a student in the College of Business, is one of Osborne’s roommates. Ransom said that when he initially move into the community, he worried that other tenants would be loud, causing him to lose sleep. Instead, he found the community to be a quiet and relaxed one.

“The reason why I came here is because I didn’t have roommates who I could live with, so I could not afford a house,” Ransom said. “I had to bite the bullet with the cost, but I met roommates so that’s decent. I could see this being the best place in Corvo.”

Stories like Ransom’s are exactly the kind Kelly likes to hear. She also expressed gratitude towards everyone who voted the community as the best housing option in Beaver Nation for the fourth consecutive year.

“As someone who works here and lives here, it makes me feel very happy and very proud,” Kelly said. “I feel like everyone here just wants this place to be a wonderful community to live in. If people are voting that way, I hope that means they feel that way too.”

Second Place: The Domain

Though The Domain at Corvallis is not the closest housing to campus, it was still voted as the second best housing option by the Corvallis community.

The new complex, which opened in the fall of 2019 and is located northwest of campus off Circle Boulevard, features a variety of amenities that may appeal to students with an active lifestyle.

“We do have the largest pool in Corvallis,” said Leasing Specialist Ivy White. “It’s heated to 82 degrees all year round and it’s open all year round. That is a huge plus.”

In addition to the pool, The Domain features many other outdoor amenities such as a sand volleyball court, a dog park, fire pits, hammocks and a community garden.

The complex also features many indoor amenities that include private study rooms, a social lounge, and an extensive two story gym area that is popular among residents.

“A lot of our rental properties will have a gym area with a couple of cardio machines and weight lifting machines, maybe,” White said. “We have a whole weight lifting room and we have an entire cardio room, and we have a HIT [high intensity training] room that has punching bags and battle ropes—all kinds of stuff like that.”

Though anyone can lease at the Domain, White said the majority of the residents are OSU students. Units have between two and four bedrooms, which are leased individually, with tenants sharing a kitchen and living area.

“We definitely think that we offer a really good housing option here with our amenities and the community we’ve built too,” White said. “We work to make everyone feel like they’re included in all of our resident activities and that everyone feels at home here.”

The Domain is located at 4240 NW Dunway Dr in Corvallis. Bedrooms range from $595 to $915 per month.

Third Place: Pinion Property Management

Pinion Property Management owns and manages a variety of different properties in the Corvallis area, and also was rated among the top three housing options by the Corvallis community.

“We have anything from a five bedroom, five bath to a studio apartment,” said owner Paul Pinion. “We kind of have a little of everything. 50-unit apartment complexes, single-family homes, duplexes, fourplexes, you name it. That’s part of our success.”

Pinion said that roughly 75% of his company’s tenants are students, and with offices on Monroe Avenue, he understands that having a location near campus is helpful for students.

“We’re easily accessible for students,” Pinion said. “I know that helps. I enjoy the interaction with the students. It’s been nothing but good for me.”

Pinion estimates that the company manages over 750 units. Properties near OSU that Pinion manages include Tyler Avenue Townhomes, and Taylor Townhouses, which is on the corner of Harrison Boulevard and 23rd Street.

Pinion said that the five employees working at the front desks of the offices are an immense help with managing the properties and making sure everything runs smoothly from day to day.

Pinion Property Management’s offices are located at 1605 NW Monroe Ave. in Corvallis and is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.