Students who paid to live at the Hub L.A. Figueroa apartments were forced to move into another transitional living space over the weekend.
Tenants were promised an August move-in, but because of multiple construction delays, the Hub still isn’t ready.
Many of these students were placed at the J.W. Marriott and Moxy hotels for the time being, courtesy of Hub management who picked up the cost.
Over the weekend, students were notified that the hotels could no longer accommodate them and they needed to move to The Lorenzo, another off-campus apartment near USC.
Sia Hildebrand, a sophomore studying business administration, says the move-out notice came way too fast and at the worst possible time.
Sia: With midterms going on, I had a midterm today, so I didn’t really want to think about moving out. It would’ve been nice if they gave us a little more notice – like two weeks maybe – instead of three days.
After living there for two months, the students were notified late Thursday night that they must move out of their hotel rooms by Monday. This disruption came during Trojan Family Weekend, when many students’ families come to campus to celebrate.
Sia: I wanted to have fun this weekend with my parents and enjoy that. Instead it became chaotic.
Students that were supposed to live in the Hub were given two options at the start of the semester. They could either receive $100 a day and move into one of the hotels downtown, or they could receive $200 a day and find their own housing.
Either way, they are still required to pay rent for the Hub, even though it isn’t completely built yet.
The latest communication from the Hub leasing office stated the building should be ready for move-in by November 4, but some aren’t confident that’s true.
Marshall junior Kayla Rocha says she thinks the delays might even push into early next year.
Kayla: It was supposed to be early September. It was supposed to be August but then it was supposed to be early September, so I don’t even know. It’s just annoying.
Others are trying to stay positive, like Julian Daller, a sophomore studying real estate development, who also had to move out of the J.W. Mariott over the weekend.
Julian: It’s definitely more challenging than I hoped it would be. Personally, I’m not really stressed out by it, but I know some people are. I really just think it depends on how you react to these kinds of things.
Students that were forced to relocate were given an additional $210 credit to assist with the move or they could break their lease with the Hub. Annenberg Media reached out to the Hub for comment but did not receive a response.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Angelina Hicks.