Blog Assignment #7

Finding space for eighteen thousand students to live is no easy task for a University in a relatively small town. There is only a small amount of living space on Campus at Cal Poly, and the majority of students have to find somewhere to live off campus. Jim Keefe is one of the people responsible for making sure that these students get quality, affordable housing that is close to campus. He is the owner of the Murray Station apartments that run parallel to California Boulevard, and resides on the other side of the train tracks.
Jim has led a very successful life in the Real Estate industry, and owns many properties throughout California. His success is defined by his great work ethic. He was able to pay his way through Harvard Business School on his own. “I wanted to get through college without the help of loans, so I worked many full time jobs,” Jim said about his financial situation. Another way Jim made money was by buying cars that weren’t worth much in Massachusetts, and selling them for a lot of money in California, his home state. He would make over one thousand dollars on every car sold, which was a very hefty profit margin when he was attending school. These types of business strategies helped him make a name for himself in the real estate world. His son, Cameron, who is currently studying International Business at the University of San Francisco, clearly caught on to Jim’s Businessman mentality. He regularly makes trips to Hong Kong to buy high end basketball shoes, and then sell them in America for huge profits.
Jim revealed that there is a lot of stress involved when it comes to running an apartment complex smoothly. He has to deal with a lot of kids, many of whom he believes aren’t ready to live on their own. “Some of these students don’t even know how to do their own laundry.” Murray Station used to only house Cal Poly students, but within the last few years they have been leasing units to Cuesta Community College Students as well; a decision that Jim is still shaky on. “Many of the Cuesta students are there to party, and have no respect for their neighbors who are studying,” Jim said about the behavior of Murray’s residents. At Murray Station, security officers patrol the premises, and ironically act as a “independent living program,” according to Jim. He believes that residents are forced to learn how to live responsibly on their own, because they can lose their leases if they receive too many citations from the security guards.
Overall, Jim truly enjoys owning and helping manage Murray Station. He recently moved from the Bay Area to a nice estate in Ragged Point so that he could live closer to Murray Station and other properties he owns. He also truly loves living along the central coast, in a beautiful location. Jim Keefe works hard to make Murray Station a safe and enjoyable place to live, and his efforts are rewarded every year when hundreds of eager students enjoy their stay.