Minneapolis, MN · Prospect Park · Huron Blvd SE
Off-Campus Apartments Near the University of Minnesota
University Commons places you steps from the U of M East Bank campus, Stadium Village, and everything Minneapolis offers — with private bedrooms, individual leases, and a 24-hour study room built for how you actually live.
The Neighborhood
Prospect Park, right at campus’s edge
University Commons sits in Prospect Park, one of Minneapolis’s most established residential neighborhoods bordering the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus to the west. Huron Boulevard SE runs directly from I-94 into the Stadium Village commercial district, placing University Commons within a compact, walkable corridor connecting the residential neighborhood to the academic core of the East Bank. The surrounding streets mix apartment housing, local restaurants, coffee shops, and campus buildings in a way that makes the boundary between “campus” and “neighborhood” functionally invisible during the academic year.
Getting to the East Bank campus from University Commons is a straightforward walk down Huron Boulevard to Washington Avenue, a route that takes approximately seven minutes on foot. Cyclists can follow University Avenue SE directly to campus in under four minutes. For students who prefer transit, the METRO Green Line’s Stadium Village Station is a three-minute walk from the property and provides direct light rail service to East Bank campus stops, downtown Minneapolis, and downtown St. Paul without a single transfer. Most students who live at University Commons go an entire semester without needing a car, and the ones who do drive find I-94 accessible from Huron Boulevard in under two minutes.
Beyond campus, Minneapolis offers a city that works well for students: well-maintained parks along the Mississippi River, a transit system that covers both downtowns, and a concentrated restaurant and nightlife scene in Stadium Village that draws the entire university community. The Green Line places First Avenue, the Warehouse District, and the broader Minneapolis arts scene about fifteen minutes away without the hassle of parking. Upstream on East River Road, the Central Mississippi Riverfront trail system offers green space and running paths within walking distance of the property.
Program Access
Built for the demands of your program
The University of Minnesota Medical School is one of the most research-intensive medical schools in the Midwest, with students completing their preclinical years in the Health Sciences Tower before transitioning to clinical rotations at M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center and affiliated hospital sites on and adjacent to the East Bank campus. The demands of the medical school schedule — early clinical start times, extended study sessions, and irregular rotation hours — make housing proximity to the Health Sciences complex a practical priority, not just a convenience.
University Commons is an eight-minute walk from the Health Sciences Tower via Washington Avenue SE, a direct, well-lit route that eliminates any need to manage a parking permit during clinical rotations. The 24-hour study room with complimentary printing supports the study-heavy first and second-year curriculum, and the private bedroom and bathroom configuration means uninterrupted sleep and study time regardless of roommate schedules. The METRO Green Line at Stadium Village Station, three minutes from the property, provides a reliable late-night connection back from the hospital for students finishing evening rotations.
The University of Minnesota Law School, ranked among the top 25 law programs in the country, is located on the East Bank campus and enrolls JD, LLM, and dual-degree students in a building cluster centered on the law library, seminar rooms, and moot court facilities. Law students at Minnesota spend a large portion of their time in that building footprint — long library sessions, late-evening reading assignments, and clinic preparation are the norm. The walk from University Commons to the Law School building takes nine minutes along Washington Avenue SE, with no transfers and no parking to manage.
Students doing clinic work or externships at Hennepin County Government Center or legal aid offices in downtown Minneapolis can take the Green Line from Stadium Village Station, a three-minute walk, and reach downtown in about fifteen minutes without a car. For most of the academic year, the combination of a walkable campus route and direct transit to downtown makes University Commons a practical fit for the dual schedule that law clinics create.
The College of Science and Engineering spans departments from civil and electrical engineering to computer science, mechanical engineering, and materials science, with research labs and computing clusters concentrated in the engineering quad on the East Bank. Graduate researchers in CSE often keep irregular hours around lab experiments, project deadlines, and collaborative research sessions. For those students, a predictable seven-minute walk from University Commons to the engineering cluster removes one variable from an already complex schedule.
The METRO Green Line, three minutes from the property at Stadium Village Station, runs late into the evening and provides a direct, no-transfer connection back from campus after late-night lab sessions. High-speed internet access and the 24-hour study room at University Commons support the computing-intensive work that engineering programs require after hours, whether that is running simulations, completing design work, or collaborating remotely with research partners.
The Carlson School of Management sits on the West Bank campus, across the Mississippi River from the East Bank, and offers full-time MBA, STEM-designated management science, part-time, executive, and dual-degree programs. Carlson students balance on-campus coursework with recruiting events, corporate visits, and internships that frequently take place in downtown Minneapolis — a commute pattern that benefits from having reliable transit access in both directions from one location. From University Commons, the Green Line handles both legs of that commute: Stadium Village to West Bank Station in minutes, or Stadium Village to downtown Minneapolis in about fifteen.
Students with internships at companies in the Minneapolis Warehouse District, North Loop, or broader metro area will find the Green Line from Stadium Village a more practical daily option than managing parking. University Commons provides the private, quiet living environment that demanding graduate business coursework requires, and the individual lease structure means flexibility regardless of how recruiting season or internship timing reshapes your schedule.
Graduate students in the College of Liberal Arts work across more than 25 departments on the East Bank campus and center most of their academic activity at Wilson Library, departmental offices, and teaching assistantship classrooms distributed across the Mall and adjacent buildings. Many CLA graduate students are supported through fellowships or TA positions, which makes the value-to-location ratio of housing a meaningful part of the decision. University Commons provides competitive pricing for the Prospect Park corridor combined with private bedrooms and individual leases that support the independent living environment graduate students working on dissertations and teaching appointments genuinely need.
The walk from University Commons to the main library and humanities buildings on the East Bank Mall takes about seven minutes along Washington Avenue SE. The Prospect Park and Stadium Village neighborhood surrounding the property offers the coffee shops, late-night eateries, and walkable amenities that fit the reading- and writing-intensive rhythms of humanities and social science graduate programs, without requiring a vehicle for daily errands or campus access.
Getting Around
No car needed — here’s why
Getting around Minneapolis as a UMN student is manageable without a car, and for most students living at University Commons, the combination of a seven-minute walk to campus and a three-minute walk to the METRO Green Line makes owning one more burden than benefit. Stadium Village Station puts the entire Green Line corridor within reach: East Bank, West Bank, Carlson School, downtown Minneapolis, downtown St. Paul, and MSP Airport are all single-ride destinations. Metro Transit Route 2 and the METRO E Line along University Avenue SE provide additional bus coverage across the neighborhood, with service running late into the night on most days of the week.
The Neighborhood
Stadium Village, Prospect Park, and everything beyond
Prospect Park puts University Commons at the edge of one of Minneapolis’s most active student commercial corridors. Stadium Village is a three-minute walk, East River Road trails are accessible from the property, and the Green Line connects the rest of the city in minutes. Below is a selection of what students in this neighborhood actually use.
- Stub & Herbs 3 min walk
- Kimchi Tofu House 5 min walk
- Mesa Pizza 8 min walk
- Market at Malcolm Yards 15 min walk
- Dunn Bros Coffee 8 min walk
- Spyhouse Coffee 10 min walk
- Sally’s Saloon 3 min walk
- Weisman Art Museum 10 min walk
- Northrop Auditorium 12 min walk
- Varsity Theater 15 min walk
- First Avenue 15 min Green Line
- Insight Brewing 20 min walk
- Luxton Park 5 min walk
- Tower Hill Park 12 min walk
- Central Mississippi Riverfront 12 min walk
- East River Road Trail 10 min walk
- Huntington Bank Stadium 5 min walk
- Fresh Thyme Market 15 min walk
- CVS Pharmacy 8 min walk
- Target (via Green Line) 15 min transit
- UMN Boynton Health 10 min walk
- Papa John’s Washington Ave 8 min walk
Common Questions
What students ask before they sign
Is University Commons walkable to the University of Minnesota?
Yes. University Commons is located at 609 SE Huron Boulevard, which sits at the southern boundary of the University of Minnesota East Bank campus in the Prospect Park neighborhood. The walk to the main campus entrance along Washington Avenue SE takes approximately seven minutes on a direct, flat sidewalk route via Huron Boulevard. That is comparable to or shorter than what students living in many on-campus residence halls navigate to reach academic buildings on the opposite end of the East Bank Mall.
The route runs along established Minneapolis sidewalks with consistent street lighting throughout, and the commercial activity along Stadium Village means pedestrian traffic on this corridor continues well into the evening during the academic year. Students in programs concentrated on the eastern side of East Bank — science, engineering, and health sciences — will find the walk particularly direct. Students heading to buildings on the Mall area near Northrop Auditorium should plan for approximately ten minutes on foot.
How far is University Commons from the Health Sciences Tower and Medical School?
The Health Sciences Tower and the University of Minnesota Medical School’s primary preclinical facilities are an eight-minute walk from University Commons via Washington Avenue SE. The route from the property heads north on Huron Boulevard and connects to Washington Avenue SE, passing through the Stadium Village commercial area before entering the Health Sciences area of the East Bank campus. The M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital for clinical rotations, is also reachable on this same corridor.
For students on early clinical rotation schedules, the proximity of University Commons eliminates the need to manage a campus parking permit or navigate hospital parking availability at the start of a shift. The METRO Green Line at Stadium Village Station, three minutes from the property, provides a transit option for early mornings or late nights when walking is less preferable. The 24-hour study room at University Commons supports the intensive study demands of the first two years of medical school, and the private bedroom and bathroom configuration ensures uninterrupted rest and study time during demanding clinical blocks.
What bus or train goes to the University of Minnesota from this area?
The primary transit option from University Commons to campus is the METRO Green Line light rail, accessed at Stadium Village Station, which is a three-minute walk from the property. The Green Line runs directly through the University of Minnesota’s East Bank and West Bank campuses, with stops at Stadium Village, East Bank Station, and West Bank Station, making it possible to reach any of the three campus light rail stops in five minutes or less of total transit time. The Green Line operates from approximately 4:30 AM to midnight on weekdays and has extended service on weekends.
Metro Transit Route 2 and the METRO E Line also serve University Avenue SE, which runs through the Stadium Village corridor and provides additional access to campus and downtown Minneapolis. University of Minnesota students with a current U Card may be eligible for discounted transit access through the University’s U-Pass program, which can substantially reduce the daily cost of Green Line and bus use. For students traveling to the St. Paul campus or MSP Airport, the Green Line from Stadium Village connects to both without a transfer.
Can I live at University Commons without a car as a UMN student?
Yes, and for most students the car-free option is the more practical one. The combination of a seven-minute walk to campus, a three-minute walk to the Green Line, and nearby grocery and pharmacy access along the Washington Avenue SE corridor makes daily life manageable without a vehicle for the vast majority of the academic year. Campus parking at the University of Minnesota runs over $400 per semester in most ramps, and parking availability near Huron Boulevard during peak hours is limited — the cost and convenience case for not having a car is straightforward.
For grocery shopping, Fresh Thyme Market is a fifteen-minute walk and a Target is accessible by Green Line in about fifteen minutes. A Nice Ride bike share station in the Stadium Village area provides cycling access without storing a personal bike. For students with clinical placements or internships at sites off the main campus, the Green Line connects to Metro Transit’s broader network at downtown Minneapolis, and infrequent off-route trips are manageable by rideshare without the overhead of vehicle ownership. Students who do have a car can use the garages available at University Commons and access I-94 in two minutes via Huron Boulevard.
What is off-campus student housing near the University of Minnesota actually like?
The off-campus housing market near the University of Minnesota spans a wide range of property types: converted single-family rentals in Prospect Park and Marcy-Holmes, large apartment complexes along University Avenue SE and Washington Avenue SE, and purpose-built student communities in the Stadium Village and Prospect Park corridors. Quality and lease structure vary considerably. Many students end up in properties with shared bedrooms or joint per-unit leases, which can create complications for roommate situations, subletting, and lease renewals.
University Commons differs from much of the surrounding market in a few specific ways: individual leases rather than joint leases, private bedrooms and bathrooms in every apartment, full-size in-unit washers and dryers, and a 24-hour study room with complimentary printing that is designed for actual use. The community amenities include a hot tub, 24-hour game room with pool table, grilling area with firepit, fitness center with free weights, and garages. The property is pet friendly and has a courtesy patrol officer on site. Floor plans in 1, 2, and 4-bedroom configurations are available to review online.
What is it like to walk to campus from University Commons at night?
The walking route from University Commons to campus along Huron Boulevard and Washington Avenue SE is a well-used pedestrian corridor throughout the evening hours. The Stadium Village commercial district generates consistent foot traffic on this route into the late evening during the academic year, and the street lighting infrastructure along Huron Boulevard and Washington Avenue SE is maintained city infrastructure with regular upkeep. The University of Minnesota also maintains campus security that extends to the Stadium Village perimeter area.
For late-night returns from campus or the library, the METRO Green Line runs from Stadium Village Station until midnight daily, providing a transit option when walking is less preferable due to weather or the hour. The University’s Safe Walk program and Night Owl service provide additional support for late-night campus departures. University Commons has a courtesy patrol officer on site, which provides an added layer of on-property presence for residents returning late. Students arriving back from clinical rotations, late-night lab work, or evening study sessions at Wilson Library regularly use both the walking route and the Green Line without difficulty.
Ready to live close to campus?
See available 1, 2 & 4-bedroom apartments with private bedrooms, individual leases, and a 24-hour study room — all within walking distance of the University of Minnesota.
Apply Now View Floor Plans609 SE Huron Blvd · Minneapolis, MN 55414 · M–F 10AM–6PM · Sat 10AM–5PM · Sun Closed