Coming soon across the river, Villas Knoxville will be a student housing option offering unique experiences.
Completion is planned for summer 2026, allowing for move-in before the fall semester next year. Students are able to begin leasing now.
Kendalyn Kilby is the traveling leasing specialist and a part of the Villas Knoxville team.
“Our construction team is planning to be done in July 2026, we are approved right now in one of our buildings for a July 24th move in,” Kilby said. “Our standard move in date for both buildings is Aug 10 but if you did want to move in early to Rocky Shores, it’s no charge to move in early.”
The complex will have two buildings: Rocky Shores and Cityside. The development team, Villas Student Housing, has other projects in Texas, and this will be the first outside of Texas.
Villas Knoxville will be located on the south waterfront right off of East Blount Avenue. Right along the Tennessee River, residents will be across from Neyland Stadium and Food City Center.
“The city has approved a project to build a pedestrian bridge, so that should cut the campus walk down to eight minutes,” Kilby said. “The only thing is that the pedestrian bridge is not set to open until Jan 2027.”
This pedestrian bridge will connect the South Waterfront to the campus and will be near Villas. The City of Knoxville announced the project earlier this year.
Construction continues on The Villas at 1425 Rocky Shore Lane, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.
The apartment building itself will feature a variety of amenities, including lounge decks, a rooftop fitness center, saunas, a dog park and more. The biggest attraction announced is the rooftop sports, including rooftop pickleball, basketball and a putting green.
For the rooms themselves, students can choose from studio to five bedroom apartments, as well as two through five bedroom townhomes. These apartments offer varying options, such as spiral staircases within, glass front doors and views of Neyland or the river.
“Both the apartments and the townhomes are going to offer floor to ceiling windows in each bedroom and in the common areas,” Kilby said. “They’re also going to offer a TV in the living room (and) be fully furnished with an upgraded furniture package.”
These apartments have starting lease prices of $1,057, with the five-bed-five-baths being the lowest amount and studios being the most expensive.
“As leases are signed, those prices are subject to change,” Kilby said. “So this is what the prices are as of [now], but that could change.”
The leasing office, which is located on Cumberland Avenue by Cook Out and Victor’s Taco Shop, has been keeping in touch with future residents via email, text and phone updates. The staff keeps residents informed with timelines, specials, next steps and more.
“We’re also inviting them to hard hat tours just to see the progress of the building, and we’re also inviting them to come specifically to see the unit that they picked out,” Kilby said.
These hard hat tours are scheduled in advance and include a walkthrough of the building with the construction team. Other touring options are available as well, including virtual walkthroughs and a mock room model in the leasing office.
For students looking for off-campus student housing, the leasing office is offering free early move-in and waived application and administrative fees. Another option available is referral and group discounts.
“Our referral special is that if you sign a lease here, you can refer two friends and receive one month off your rent,” Kilby said. “So if you refer 24 friends, you’ll receive the year for free.”
The group savings discounts are available if groups come in and sign leases, regardless of whether they are living together or not. It goes from groups of five to 10 and so on.
“If you (five) sign together at the same time, you each get $25 off each month of rent,” Kilby said. “If there’s 10 of you, you get $50 off per month, and if there’s 20, you get $75 off per month.”
Students can apply online or stop by the leasing office to work through leasing applications. Villas Knoxville will be ready for housing students by the fall 2026 semester.
“We’re excited to be a part of this Knoxville UT community,” Kilby said. “Obviously we’re brand new, so we’re super excited to break into this community and we want to support students and organizations through housing partnerships and outreach.”
