Students who signed leases for Evolve apartments and CitySide apartments were unable to move in on their promised lease dates. It is uncertain when they will be able to.
According to an email sent from Evolve to residents Aug. 18 obtained by the IDS, the move-in date has been changed to Aug. 21 in order to ensure safety of residents. The original move-in date was Aug.17.
Evolve is giving displaced students two options for alternative housing and compensation until the new move-in date.
Students can either take advantage of the housing provided at SpringHill Suites and receive $60 a day or find their own housing and receive a daily rent credit and $120 a day. Additionally, if a student planned on parking with Evolve they are getting back one sum of $50.
Evolve Apartments could not be reached for comment.
The CitySide Apartments, which are owned by Cedarview Management, are also behind in finishing. This has resulted in about 70 IU students unable to move in on their scheduled date.
Suzanne O’Connell, vice president of Real Estate for Cedarview Management, said the North Tower is completed and students are moved in, but the South Tower is still incomplete.
The students with CitySide are currently placed at the Hyatt Place for free.
“The lease agreement does say that if we are delayed in occupancy that we would provide alternative accommodations, and so that is what the Hyatt is doing,” O’Connell said.
She said the students also get breakfast at the Hyatt and a $30 food voucher every day.
There is no set date yet on when the students at CitySide will be able to move in, but O’Connell said they will move in phases. Move-in will be near the end of August or early September. People living on the fourth floor, which is the top of the building, may have to wait until mid September.
“This week I should have a better idea because we did do a lot of work over the weekend,” she said. “We’ve been working multiple shifts seven days a week to get the building completed.”
The company had problems with utility companies not meeting deadlines to have work completed at the beginning of the project.
“We have built a brand new building every single year since 2004 and we have never had a delayed move in until this year,” she said.
She said Cedarview was told they would have the plans back to start the project by September or October of 2017, but they did not receive them until December. She mentioned Duke Energy specifically.
“Duke Energy has met with the developer to listen to his concerns,” said Lew Middleton, Duke Energy Communications Consultant. “We were able to work through his operational concerns regarding the apartments.”
Evolve residents were not notified of this delay at first, said Rene Rylander, a parent whose son, sophomore Ryan Ditmanson, signed a lease with Evolve.
For Rylander and her family the change in dates affected their travel plans.
“We were supposed to fly home to California today,” Rylander said. “We had to change our flight and get another day’s room so we could stay till tomorrow.”
She said her son got information that move-in would possibly be delayed Aug. 14.
Stacee Williams, director of Student Legal Services, said Student Legal Services specializes in helping students understand their rights in their leases.
“Students can look to see if their contract that they signed contains any provisions about what the respective parties rights are under that contract in the event that the property is not available for living,” she said. “I really hope that students are coming to see us for help with this.”
