For Christy Erickson of Plymouth, Minn., and her three roommates, it's the windows more than anything else.
"This is awesome, to look out at everything," she said as light glistened through windows that reached nearly 20 feet to a ceiling in the loft apartment.
To make campus life more attractive to juniors and seniors, Creighton University has opened new residence halls that are appealing inside and out.
The Davis Square town homes were unveiled Thursday in a public tour directed by the Rev. John Schlegel, president of Creighton. Students moved in more than a month ago.
The apartment-style living, with courtyards and an all-night dining hall, are the first built exclusively for upperclassmen. Residents were selected in a lottery that left half the applicants in off-campus housing.
The contemporary Victorian building uses stone, bay windows and steep roof lines.
Schlegel said the design is an attempt to influence the architecture of future development between the Creighton campus and the Qwest Center.
The 79 units, a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, house 261 students. Eleven units are for students with disabilities.
Each bedroom has 14 electrical outlets, two Internet lines and cable TV hookups. The entire complex has wireless Internet capability.
Schlegel said the new living quarters would bring upperclassmen back on campus as role models and leaders.
Creighton planned to honor the Davis and Lauritzen families at a Thursday ceremony. The families have long been associated with First National Bank, which contributed $3.5 million toward the $14 million housing project.
Bank Chairman Bruce Lauritzen, a Davis descendant, serves on Creighton's board.
