Lakeside Graduate Housing project to open on June 1 after delays

While the Lakeside Graduate Housing project is scheduled to open on June 1 after a year-long delay, some graduate students say that lack of communication, financial burden and less-than-optimal living conditions in temporary housing for the affected students have been problematic.

The Lakeside complex was originallyslated to open in July 2014, but was delayed to September, then to December and finally to June 2015.

Students who originally planned to live at Lakeside in the 2014-15 academic year were instead offered temporary housing at Butler Apartments, which were slated to be demolished during summer 2014, and at Stanworth Apartments.

The delays were rooted in the complexity of the contractual relationships among the parties working to build the project, according to an October 2014 article in The Daily Princetonian.

Christine Philippe-Blumauer GS, chair of the Butler Committee and a Butler Apartments resident, said that although the complex has many advantages, such as cheap rent, good location for some purposes and a family-friendly atmosphere, the insulation and furniture are in suboptimal conditions.

“[The] Butler [Apartments complex] was always supposed to be temporary housing,” Philippe-Blumauer said. The complex was built shortly after World War II and was intended to last for only around a decade, according to an article published in June 2014 in the ‘Prince.’

The complex’s age and temporary nature make the living conditions there subpar, she said, adding that the complex is currently overcrowded due to the delay in the Lakeside project, and that the delay might have also led to less favorable living conditions than usual.

The University, however, has generally been efficient in dealing with maintenance issues, considering that Building Services has to deal with many different buildings on campus, she said.

Kyle Felker GS, another Butler Apartments resident, said that he has certainly heard cases in which maintenance has been slow, although that is hard to quantify. He added that he has experienced problem with insulation multiple times.

“It’s not really the fault of maintenance at this point, because it’s just impossible to heat,” Felker said. “Even if you set your heat to 75 degrees, the temperature in the bedrooms, without any state heaters, will get down to mid-50s.”

There is a tangible cost to the heating problems, he explained.

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“The burden of heating the apartments is all on graduate students, and it’s not insignificant,” he said. “Especially given the temperatures last week, it can be hundreds of dollars.”

Another concern is the lack of transparency and communication in Lakeside project, Felker explained.

The initial delay was announced past the deadline for housing applications, he said, which made many affected students miss the deadline to apply for other housing options. Announcements for subsequent delays were also made on short notice and often without sufficient explanation, which caused frustration among students, he added.

After many concerned graduate students submitted a petition calling for greater transparency in September 2014, the University started to have a monthly information session on the progress of Lakeside housing, he noted, adding the compensation the University has offered has not been sufficient.

After the initial delay, the University offered two months of free rent for affected students to compensate for the inconvenience.

“To many people, it sounded reasonable given that it was only supposed to be a three-month delay,” Felker said, “but then when [the University] announced two subsequent delays, there was no increase in compensation.”

Moreover, he said, students who are offered temporary housing in Stanworth had to pay higher rent than their original Lakeside rent, which created an additional financial burden for them.

The living condition of Butler Apartments has been a concern for students and faculty in the past.

In December 2013, then-Dean of the Graduate School William Russel wrote an op-ed in the ‘Prince’ that said “the general deteriorating condition ... became clear years ago.” The cost of frequent structural repairs was high, and the complex wasn’t necessarily entirely safe, he wrote.

University spokesperson Martin Mbugua said that students who have experienced a significant financial hardship due to the delayed opening at Lakeside will be eligible to apply for hardship assistance.

Graduate students who were previously assigned to Lakeside for the current academic year will be offered a renewal contract for the assignment, Mbugua explained, and students will be able to move in starting June 1.

“In recognition of the extraordinary circumstances around the Lakeside delay, any student who has initially assigned to Lakeside for this academic year will receive housing payment forgiveness of two months,” he said.

Philippe-Blumauer also noted that affected graduate students in their third year — students who do not usually have priorities in graduate housing — were also offered Lakeside contract again as compensation.