On a Wednesday evening, the Hillside Drive Apartments in Granville were quiet, except for the echo of a nearby high school baseball game.
Birds sang. A lone jogger made his way down the empty road.
Less than a dozen of the 29 recently finished homes are occupied.
When Denison University asked Granville Village Council for permission to build this development three years ago, university leaders said it would be exclusively for incoming faculty and staff who couldn’t afford to or weren’t ready to buy a house in the village.
David English, vice president of finance and management at Denison, said the idea is to keep faculty close, so they’re more likely to attend after-hours events and stay connected to students.
“Frankly, after a year of tenants and then having the tenants for next year sign up, we realize we'll still have some vacancies," English said.
That isn’t a surprise. With its hiring rate and some people choosing to live in different communities for various reasons, the university estimated that it would take about four years to fill the apartments. Nevertheless, English headed back to village council to ask members to adjust an annexation agreement to allow anyone to rent at Hillside Drive.
“We’re realizing there's just not much other quality rental housing in Granville. It seems like a nice thing to do," English said, noting that some village residents have expressed interest in the picturesque apartments.
The Hillside Drive Apartments
The little houses are nestled together, with some facing a grassy courtyard. Some are brick and two stories; some are short and dark grey with big windows; others have white siding.
The apartments start at $1,300 a month for 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom units, and go up to nearly $2,500 a month for the largest two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath apartments.
The non-smoking, pet-friendly apartments come with free parking and appliances.
English said the housing is priced for Denison to break even on construction costs and maintenance over the apartments’ expected 30-year lifespan. Leaving some sitting vacant does cost the university some money. He admitted that filling those units would bring "some marginal revenue" to the university.
"I want to make sure that we're clear. Our long-term intent hasn't changed. Denison built these units for Denison employees, and that remains their purpose," English told village councilmembers at their meeting in early May.
He added that people aren’t supposed to stay in those apartments forever. Denison may even cap the amount of time a person can rent, likely to four years.
“Our idea is that we want people not to live in our rental units for 20 years. We're hoping to come in, get acclimated to the community and eventually buy a house.”
"Quality housing is not readily available or affordable in the community."- David English, vice president of finance and management at Denison University
"Seriously unaffordable" housing
That bridge of affordable housing could make a difference, as home prices in Licking County continue to climb relative to incomes as the population grows.
The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission reports that Licking County’s housing was “affordable” up until 2018. The county's housing ticked into “seriously unaffordable” territory around 2023.
The village of Granville had apartments before Hillside Drive, but vacancies are few and far between.
Real estate website Zillow lists the average price of a home in Granville at $513,000 as of May 2026, and notes that prices have climbed about 2.4% over the past year.
"Quality housing is not readily available or affordable in the community," English said.
Changing expectations
Still, some Granville residents felt that Denison was breaking a promise by asking to expand the rental pool for Hillside Drive. The exclusivity of the apartments was a major selling point when council approved the original agreement with the university years ago.
"No other commercial developer would walk in here 10 months after construction finishes and ask to change the rules," said Granville resident John Gordon.
"I mean a year is not feasible. How many people could they have hired?" Allison Bergstrom, another Granville resident, asked. "How many people could have all of a sudden needed housing that they could fill that many apartments in one year?”
Gordon and Bergstrom also told village council that they worry about traffic on the notoriously congested section of New Burg Road where vehicles enter and exit the Hillside Drive development. Traffic already backs up around the nearby Granville High School and Granville Middle School during school drop-off and pickup times.
Village leaders said that a traffic study found that the Hillside Drive Apartments, even when fully built out and at full capacity, would increase traffic in the area by less than 2%.
Plus, paths connect Hillside Drive to the university, allowing faculty and staff to walk to work if they choose.
Some citizens came to Denison’s defense.
Susan Leithauser, a university employee and alum, told council members that her friend is moving to Newark because they can’t find a good rental in the village.
"When they heard that they don't have access to the Denison properties, they were disappointed," Leithauser said.
John Callahan said he and his wife had lived in Granville before they moved to Gahanna.
“Granville could benefit tremendously by having properties like this available, because the rental market here is just tough," Callahan said. "Make room for retirees somewhere here who want to hunker down here, but don't want to have the chores of home maintenance.”
"No other commercial developer would walk in here 10 months after construction finishes and ask to change the rules."- John Gordon of Granville
Reaching a compromise
Denison proposed prioritizing other groups for its rentals: starting with people connected to the university, like parents or visiting lecturers, then other education employees – including K-to-12 teachers – then government employees. If all that failed, anyone else would be allowed to apply to fill vacant apartments.
Granville’s seven village council members spent about two hours discussing the agreement’s wording and exactly which — if any — of those groups should be allowed to rent from Denison. After the procedurally complicated, head-spinning debate, they settled on a compromise.
Denison can open the apartments to people connected to the university and other educators, but no one else.
The new agreement also states that as long as the school rents to people who are not employees, it cannot build the additional 41 apartments originally planned for Hillside Drive.
English said he’s grateful for the extra flexibility.
“That compromise to me is actually sort of the balancing point of any civil discourse where you're weighing multiple things," English said. "And so, it took a couple hours, but I think it's actually a really healthy process.”
