Hub LA Figueroa is an upscale apartment complex located near Fraternity Row catering to USC students- or at least it will be once it opens. The complex broke ground more than two years ago and was expected to be completed this summer, according to construction company Milender White.
But at the beginning of August, Hub sent an email letting future tenants know their apartments would not be ready for move-in on Aug. 14 as previously planned. Instead, students were told they should expect to get their keys in one to four weeks. Since their apartments were not going to be ready on time, students were given a number of options.
“We could either receive $100 a day and they would find us housing, which was at the J.W. Marriott downtown, or they would give us $200 a day and we could find our own housing,” said sophomore Charlie Adams.
Adams opted for the second option, paying for a room at the USC Hotel. Despite being close to campus, Adams said living in the hotel has its drawbacks. His room does not have a kitchen, and the hotel does not have any laundry machines, forcing Adams to eat out for every meal and haul his laundry to and from his friends’ apartments.
Junior Anish Kilaru chose the first option – receiving $100 a day and living at a hotel provided by Hub – while continuing to pay his monthly rent.
“You have to pay your rent to get the stipend which is ridiculous,” he said. “I somewhat understand having to pay the first rent in August to start getting stipends, but having to pay September rent too is kind of ridiculous because we’re just paying rent for something that we’re just not getting at all.”
In one of its weekly email updates to tenants, Hub said it would allow residents to break their lease in early September. However, Hub only gave tenants a three-day window to take the offer and find alternative housing options.
“I honestly think it was an attempt by them to be able to have a legal defense where they can say ‘Hey, we gave them an option to break the lease,’” junior Luke Morreale said. “But when you actually think about it, they weren’t actually really giving people a fair option.”
Junior Luis Cacayoren, who took Hub’s third option of receiving a prorated rent and finding his own housing, considered breaking the lease but in the end stayed with the apartment complex.
“I kind of looked into it, but most of the places that were open are a few miles away,” he said. “We’re kind of trapped in the lease right now.”
Cacayoren said they were told on Wednesday to expect an update on Friday regarding when tenants can move in.
“Hoping we can move in as soon as we can,” Kilaru said. “Even if they just put me in an empty room, I will furnish it myself. I will build my bed. I just want a place to stay.”