2008 Woodie Awards
Wet weather pushes OC back one year
Sarah Cash
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: News
The OC student community on South Ward and Grant streets will not house students until August 2009 due to delays in construction.
The development had already accepted applications to lease bungalows starting this August, but persistently wet weather forced alterations in the construction schedule.
Keith Long, regional director of operations for United Campus Housing, which represents the OC, said developers wanted to focus on quality over speed.
"We've had a lot of rain in a month, and we just got to the point where we weren't where we needed to be. We just had to pull the trigger.
"We were pushing very hard, doing everything we could to overcome the obstacles to open this August, but it just got to this point that it wouldn't be the quality we would want to represent to the community," Long added.
The decision to push back the opening to next year was made Tuesday, and those who had filled out an application were told this week they needed to find alternate housing.
Long said seven students had signed leases, while five others had filled out applications and had yet to make final decisions.
Eric Grein, junior law enforcement and justice administration major, had signed a lease. He said a manager called him Thursday to let him know of the change, and now he faces the challenge of finding last-minute housing for next year.
"They told us the whole time they were going to be up for sure, no problem. I was even telling all of my friends to go out there," he said. "It puts a lot of us in a bind because now it's the middle of April."
The students who had signed leases or filled out applications were refunded their full deposits and application fees and also received gift certificates to make up for the inconvenience, Long said.
Rob Dulski, former acting manager of the OC and senior LEJA major, said he thought timing - the OC set up shop this past January - was the reason only a few students had signed leases for August.
"They didn't open up the market at the right time … four or five months earlier, during first semester, would have been better," Dulski said. "It's a shame; they have great ideas and plans."
"Macomb students are very savvy students; by the time we came in, most students had made decisions," Long said. "Students at Western sign up really early."
Long reinforced that all investors for the project are still secure even though all part-time student employees were let go this week. Pre-leasing for next August's opening will begin this summer, and until then, Long said employees would not be needed because there is limited work to do.
For Long, Mother Nature's interference can still be viewed as positive.
"We have plenty of time where we can work at a steady pace and build a quality community where no corners will be cut," he said. "That's the good thing now - we know that we have ample time to build a first-class community for students at Western."
The development had already accepted applications to lease bungalows starting this August, but persistently wet weather forced alterations in the construction schedule.
Keith Long, regional director of operations for United Campus Housing, which represents the OC, said developers wanted to focus on quality over speed.
"We've had a lot of rain in a month, and we just got to the point where we weren't where we needed to be. We just had to pull the trigger.
"We were pushing very hard, doing everything we could to overcome the obstacles to open this August, but it just got to this point that it wouldn't be the quality we would want to represent to the community," Long added.
The decision to push back the opening to next year was made Tuesday, and those who had filled out an application were told this week they needed to find alternate housing.
Long said seven students had signed leases, while five others had filled out applications and had yet to make final decisions.
Eric Grein, junior law enforcement and justice administration major, had signed a lease. He said a manager called him Thursday to let him know of the change, and now he faces the challenge of finding last-minute housing for next year.
"They told us the whole time they were going to be up for sure, no problem. I was even telling all of my friends to go out there," he said. "It puts a lot of us in a bind because now it's the middle of April."
The students who had signed leases or filled out applications were refunded their full deposits and application fees and also received gift certificates to make up for the inconvenience, Long said.
Rob Dulski, former acting manager of the OC and senior LEJA major, said he thought timing - the OC set up shop this past January - was the reason only a few students had signed leases for August.
"They didn't open up the market at the right time … four or five months earlier, during first semester, would have been better," Dulski said. "It's a shame; they have great ideas and plans."
"Macomb students are very savvy students; by the time we came in, most students had made decisions," Long said. "Students at Western sign up really early."
Long reinforced that all investors for the project are still secure even though all part-time student employees were let go this week. Pre-leasing for next August's opening will begin this summer, and until then, Long said employees would not be needed because there is limited work to do.
For Long, Mother Nature's interference can still be viewed as positive.
"We have plenty of time where we can work at a steady pace and build a quality community where no corners will be cut," he said. "That's the good thing now - we know that we have ample time to build a first-class community for students at Western."
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valerie
posted 4/13/08 @ 4:04 PM CST
come on guys. spell check. weaTHer.
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