309 Green residents prepare for move-in, reflect on temporary housing
Construction continues at 309 Green St. while students who signed leases for fall semester are without apartments. Erica Magda
September 4, 2008
Spending her nights roaming from room to room and sleeping on the couch of her sorority house was not exactly the way Mallory Mangano, junior in ACES, imagined her first couple weeks of junior year would be like.
Paul Costello, senior in Business, did not think he would be commuting 10 minutes to campus each day.
Yet these two students, each having signed a different lease at two different apartment complexes, are facing one very real predicament. With all the noise being spread about Roland Realty’s apartment complex located at 309 E. Green St., it’s easy to forget that other buildings are also taking form at a slower pace than previously promised.
Last fall, Costello signed a lease for an apartment being built at 54 E. Chalmers St., also by Roland Realty. While students like Mangano were taken aback by the delay, Costello was aware of the reality of a postponed move-in date.
“I read the lease so I knew what I was getting myself into. I figured I’d be fine though. It really helps having a girlfriend and a frat on campus to stay at,” Costello said.
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Though both Costello and Mangano are receiving double their daily rent in compensation, $17 out of Costello’s $20 per day reimbursement goes toward his temporary housing, covering rent and utilities.
“The way I see it, I’m living in this place for free,” Costello said.
Costello is now living at the Lincoln View Apartments, located at 1321 N. Lincoln Ave. The biggest problem Costello faces with the temporary housing comes at night.
He has a car, so he is able to commute to his classes, but he does not want the responsibility of driving out to the bars.
Costello has been spending most of his nights on campus, whereas his roommates and others in his situation have been taking cabs home.
Mangano’s biggest issue with temporary housing also came at night, but her problem was safety.ÿ
It was enough to make her move out to Lincoln View, both apartment complexes’ temporary housing unit, last week. She said she didn’t feel comfortable after she heard that there had been muggings and a hold up in the area.
“Even 309 said the situation backfired and they moved everyone that needed a place into the Hawthorne Suites,” Mangano said.
Both students were made aware of their housing – or lack of housing – situation this summer via e-mail. They also both said that the realtors have been doing an excellent job of keeping their future residents updated.
“We are constantly getting e-mails about updates on the building. I feel really informed about the whole thing,” Mangano said.
Last week Mangano was finally able to see what had previously been just a picture.
She received a tour around the building and saw a model of her apartment.
“It was absolutely worth the wait. It is definitely not a college apartment,” Mangano said.
Mangano and her roommate have been told that 309 Green residents, with the exception of the 15th and 16th floors and suite residents, will be moving in on Friday.
That date, however, is only a target date for the complex that Costello will be moving into. He expects to be moving in on Sept. 12.
When asked about the construction, which will be surrounding them in upcoming months, Mangano and her roommate Nicole Scime, junior in Media, said that it was not an imperative issue for them.
“I’m just happy to have a home,” Scime said.
Roland Realty declined to comment until after this weekend.