Three days before moving in, Daniel Koppel found out he couldn’t live in his new apartment for two weeks.
Koppel, a 21-year-old UF biochemistry senior, was set to drive five hours from the Fort Lauderdale area to Gainesville to move into his two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit. He was among the first-ever residents at Liv+ Gainesville, a new student apartment complex at 1900 SW 13th St.
The management told 500 residents, who are paying from $566 to $1,349 per month, that the Aug. 22 move-in date shifted to Sept. 6 because of a faulty part in the building’s main fire panel.
Koppel had to reschedule his in-person physical chemistry lab class because he won’t be in Gainesville until September now.
“It’s just kind of a weird situation,” Koppel said. “Hopefully, it's only the first week, so it's not too big of a deal.”
The panel needs to be reconstructed so the city can approve the building for occupants, said Jennifer Cassidy, Campus Advantage executive vice president and chief operating officer. The majority of construction, with the exception of maintenance, should be completed when students move in on Sept. 6.
“We definitely felt bad for the inconvenience that this has caused,” Cassidy said.
Residents who needed to be in town before classes begin Aug. 31 were provided temporary accommodations elsewhere and a $250 gift card of residents’ choice through the Modern Message company, Cassidy said.
Those who leased a one bedroom or studio apartment were offered access to a private hotel room at either the AC Hotel Gainesville Downtown, Aloft Gainesville University Area or Hotel Eleo, Cassidy said.
Residents in need of kitchens or pet accommodations temporarily were sent to The Retreat at Gainesville, Varsity House Gainesville and 2nd Avenue Centre apartment complexes near the UF campus. Residents can also stay at Campus View Place at 1240 SW 9th Road, also managed by Campus Advantage and Stark Enterprises, Cassidy added.
Those who rented an apartment with roommates were either sent to a shared hotel room or one of the complexes.
Student residents can also choose to move in after construction with their rent waived for the first month, Cassidy added.
Koppel and his roommate, 21-year-old UF English senior Dante Watson, both chose the option to stay home inFort Lauderdaleuntil construction is complete.
Watson said he hasn’t had any other issues with the complex’s management when he signed his lease, but said he expected the complex to be ready by the original move-in date.
While he said the delay is frustrating, Watson said he understands the complex’s postponed opening came at a difficult time with the COVID-19 pandemic. Though this delay wasn’t directly related to the pandemic, housing concerns have affected students around Gainesville, primarily in on-campus housing.
Residents also can’t move in unless the city approves the building’s fire panel during a fire safety inspection, a necessary part of the process required for a certificate of occupancy.
“But it sucks though because classes are going to have started before I move in, so it’s just gonna be harder to keep up with everything,” Watson said.
Contact Asta Hemenway at ahemenway@alligator.org. Follow Asta on Twitter @astahemenway.
Liv+ Gainesville, a new apartment complex located on SW 13th Street, had its move in delayed which affected hundreds of incoming residents.
Asta Hemenway is a third-year senior majoring in Journalism. Born in Tallahassee, she grew up Senegalese American. When she’s not writing or doing school, she loves watching Netflix and Tiktok in her spare time.
