While about 300 students moved into their units at Aspen Heights on July 31, almost 600 students were unable to do so.
Due to construction delays, almost 600 tenants’ units were unavailable said Stuart Watkins, Aspen Heights public relations director.
The majority of these tenants are being housed in hotels until their new move-in date of Aug. 17.
The incomplete units are all at various stages of completion, Watkins said.
Due to longer construction delays, some of the units will not be completed until September. The 80 tenants affected are being housed in off-site locations such as Brookside, The Cottages and the Grove.
Some parents and students had originally decided not to sign the Aspen Heights Addendum, which amended these 80 students’ contracts, stating that they would be housed in an off-site location. Watkins said he was unaware of anyone who was still holding off on signing the addendum now that the off-site locations are known.
Dawn Buechner, who originally would not sign the addendum, finally decided to sign it Wednesday.
“I would say that many parents were very unhappy about signing the addendum,” she wrote. “Aspen Heights insisted tenants sign it before they could get into their alternative housing, so we did finally, unwillingly, sign it. Time constraints really dictated and limited our options in this situation.”
Others still would not. As of Wednesday, Tim Weston and his daughter had not signed the addendum and found a different apartment complex for her and her roommate to move into.
“(The addendum) looks like it was hastily put together to simply give the company additional layers of defense not detailed in the original lease,” he wrote in an email.
Weston said he did not want to give Aspen Heights “the out” to add into the lease that it could house his daughter in off-site housing.
“The original lease did not provide for that,” he wrote.
Some parents had joined together and created a Facebook page titled “Aspen Heights Columbia Tenants’ Forum.” The forum was created so tenants could share their experiences and spread awareness about how “the Aspen Heights corporation has failed students and their parents by over-marketing and over-leasing their under-constructed development.”
Students affected by the housing delays are being compensated through gift cards, although they are still paying rent. Those who are staying in hotels are being given $400 gift cards, which tenants can apply toward their rent. Those who chose not to stay at a hotel are being given $600 gift cards, and those who are living in offsite locations are being given $800 gift cards.
Many parents were still upset with Aspen Heights’ lack of communication. Weston said he was disappointed that the company took so long to notify families about the housing situation – he and his daughter only found out three days before the move-in date.
“They knew long ago that they would not make the opening and neglected to communicate the situation with the future tenants so
something could be worked out with a reasonable amount advance notice,” he said. “Repeated attempts to reach representatives with decision-making authority went unanswered for days.”
Aspen Heights officials told Weston that the unit would not be available for 60 days, but it “could be longer.” Instead of waiting, Weston was able to find a different apartment for the two students and is looking to terminate the lease with Aspen Heights.
“At least our girls will be able to put this debacle behind them and focus on school rather than where they will be living from one month to the next,” he wrote.