HOUSTON — Hundreds of students are scrambling to find a temporary place to stay after a second delay for move-in at one apartment building near the University of Houston.
On Thursday, nearly two weeks into classes at UH, construction continued at Haven at Elgin, a brand-new off-campus complex that’s not affiliated with the university.
Move-in was originally supposed to be August 19, then Thursday, before being pushed back to September 7.
Parents and students reached out to KHOU 11 frustrated by the situation and because they were emailed only one or two days out each time they would need to go somewhere else.
“It’s stressful, honestly,” said Afoma Ani, a junior at UH and future resident of the complex.
Ani is now staying with family in Richmond.
“I have it easy just because I’m still in Houston,” said Ani. “Even though I’m like 50 minutes out, I can still drive to campus. I have friends from Dallas, San Antonio, Galveston, who can’t even be on campus because of this. So, I just feel for them.”
Angelina Gordon’s daughter, UH sophomore Dominique Jordan, stayed at a hotel on campus, which quickly became expensive, then with a friend.
Now she’s with her mom in Galveston.
“It has totally stressed her out,” said Gordon. “She’s not feeling well.”
They’re trying to figure out where Jordan will stay next week and say she can’t get out of the lease.
“It has been totally unprofessional, unorganized,” said Gordon. “We try and ask questions that are reasonable, that are fair questions, and we just don’t seem to get a reasonable answer.”
A manager on site told KHOU 11 they’re “working tirelessly” to do right by the residents but referred all other comments to Greystar’s media line.
A spokesperson for Greystar clarified that the company is the property manager of Haven at Elgin, not its owner or developer, but reached out to ownership for a response.
Late Thursday afternoon, KHOU 11 received this statement from Haven at Elgin:
"Haven at Elgin continues to work collaboratively with the city on remaining open items needed for occupancy approval. The remaining final approvals will require inspections into next week.
"We have notified our residents about these recent developments, increased their compensation and apologized for the additional inconvenience. The unit furniture is in the process of being installed, and the remaining final inspections for occupancy have been scheduled."
A resident shared an email sent Wednesday by management saying they’ve begun furniture installation and are scheduling several final inspections over the next week.
On top of the previously offered day-to-day rent abatement and two-month-rent credit or $500 a week offer, the email also offered additional compensation of either a week’s rental credit or an additional $500 weekly stipend.
“For me, I guess it’s okay,” said Ani, later adding, “It depends on the situation. Some people’s situation, it might be enough. Some, it might not.”
“That’s nothing,” said Gordon, of the additional credit. “I think to make this right, there needs to be more compensation. There needs to be something where if you want to get out of your lease, forget about at this point what’s in writing or what did we sign for. Do the right thing.”
Late Thursday afternoon, KHOU 11 saw staff from the Houston Fire Marshal’s office speaking with workers on site and entering the building.
A spokesperson with Houston Public Works told KHOU 11 they will check with Houston Permitting to confirm the dates for inspections.