After nearly three months of delays, two interim housing relocations and a contractor death on-site, incoming residents of the Hub Figueroa were finally able to move in Thursday.
Beginning at 10 a.m. and concluding at 4 p.m., residents moved in in shifts and were assisted by Campus Storage movers hired by the Hub. Residents checked in in the lobby, and were offered an array of refreshments and Hub merchandise.
Upon seeing their apartments for the first time, some were dissatisfied. The rooftop pool is still under construction, and there are reports of some apartments having unfinished ceilings and missing faucet heads.
“With our amenities, they said we would get a memory foam mattress, which we didn’t get. They made a lot of false promises,” said Ava Browne, a sophomore majoring in cinema and media studies. “They lied to us and then gave us refreshments on move-in day. They gave us Hub cake pops and were like ‘Everything’s good!’”
The Hub assured that the complex would be ready by the start of the school year in August, but just a week before the scheduled move-in date, an email was sent out an notifying residents of a one to four-week delay. Over the past three months, the Hub continued to delay the move-in date with vague emails with various excuses as to why the complex wasn’t ready yet.
“I feel like the Hub views us for business, rather than as people,” said sophomore theatre major Tori Feinstein. “They know how to make you feel considered, which is why I think they’ve gotten people to stay, but I really feel that we weren’t considered as people, but for profit. With them continuing to extend the date, rather than just being upfront, they were just doing that to make good business.”
Some were simply relieved that they’d finally reached a housing solution for the school year. When the move-in was first delayed in September, residents were provided with two options: $100 a day and temporary housing at the J.W. Marriott, or $200 a day to find temporary housing at the students’ discretion. Additionally, tenants were given the option to break their leases, but only during a three-day period, not providing a real opportunity to look for alternative housing.
In October, those who chose to live in hotels were relocated to the Lorenzo due to overbooking. For these students, the Hub move-in is their third, and hopefully final, move-in of the semester.
“I’d just say the stress of the multiple moves and the constant delays was pretty rough on all of us,” said senior biomedical engineering major Aaron Benedek. “But I think that the Hub team handled it as well as they could have, and I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m happy with the final result.”