July 22, 2013

By Jill Deutsch

At the beginning of July, Aspen Heights notified 80 students that their housing units would not be complete by their scheduled move-in date.

The students can move into a different unit or agree to be housed in an offsite location until the units are completed, said Stuart Watkins, Aspen Heights public relations director.

Watkins said it is unknown when the units will be completed, but it estimated between one and two months.

Aspen Heights, a new luxury housing complex based in Austin, Tex., broke ground in Columbia, Mo. in July 2012. All of the 972 units were scheduled for completion before the July 31 move-in date.

“There was not one reason why 80 units are not complete,” Watkins said. “It was a combination of factors.”

80 of the total 904 students who signed leases will be affected by the delay.

Aspen Heights sent each student an “Aspen Heights Columbia Delayed Occupancy Addendum,” detailing their options.

The first option was that a student could move into a different, completed unit, although it would not be the same floor plan the student chose.

For Chris Buechner, this option was not offered because he signed his lease in mid-June of 2013 – later than most.

The second option was to move into an offsite housing location. Watkins said the location of this housing is still being solidified and residents will be notified when they are determined.

Aspen Heights will pay for the offsite locations while students continue to pay rent.

Students who choose the second option would also be given $800 to use at their discretion. To secure the money and offsite location, students had to sign the addendum by July 11.

Lisa King’s 21-year-old son was notified about the housing incompletion on July 9 via email. Afterward, King said she has been calling and emailing people at the local and corporate levels of Aspen Heights.

King said she and her son have not received the information necessary to make an informed decision.

“This is not what we signed up for,” she said. “They won’t even tell us how far along his unit is.”

King said she refuses to sign the addendum until she is notified of where her son will be housed and for how long.

“I will not sign this (addendum) without knowing where (my son) is going,” she said. “They could put him in a Holiday Inn on the south side of town. They also have to give people a time frame because they have to move out (of their previous apartment) or put their stuff in storage.”

Buechner too would not sign the addendum.

“It is written to protect the interests of Aspen Heights, and not our son,” Dawn Buechner, Chris Buechner’s mother, said. “We found it to be confusing and actually an insult.”

For the Buechners, finding alternative housing is not the solution they want.

As the lease states, the “Landlord, at its sole option and expense, may provide alternative housing to Tenant if the Dwelling is not timely delivered.”

“We do not want our son to be forced to live somewhere, for even one day, that is not of his choosing,” Dawn Buechner wrote in an email. “It is just not right.”

The Buechners have been trying to get out of the lease, but Aspen Heights officials would not let them.

“It is in the lease agreement that if a unit is not available at move in, it is the landlord’s responsibility to find them alternative housing,” Watkins said. “We want to uphold that responsibility.”

The construction delays are not delaying Aspen Heights from signing leases. Watkins said the luxury housing complex is still leasing beds for the fall semester.

“Those signing now won’t be able to move in July 31,” Watkins said.