GW opened the new Columbia Plaza housing option to rising sophomores after it failed to draw enough rising juniors and seniors to fill 160 spaces after the upperclassman housing selection, said Robert Chernak, vice president for Student Academic and Support Services.
The Community Living and Learning Center plans to place 160 students in 80 Columbia Plaza rooms next year, after it added the option to last month’s housing lottery, Chernak said.
The University offered the option to students last year through the Columbia Plaza Housing Program, which gives priority to GW students seeking a room in the complex.
Director of Housing Services Andrew Sonn said Housing Services continues to fill open slots from a list of students interested in living in Columbia Plaza.
GW can currently house students in 10 percent of rooms in Columbia Plaza. The 80 units are efficiencies, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms, Chernak said. He said GW will continue to take rooms as residents contracted with Columbia Plaza leave. The University bought about 28 percent of the complex last year.
CLLC plans to place two students in most apartments, regardless of the size, Chernak said. He said 114 upperclassmen were committed to Columbia Plaza rooms last week.
All rooms in Columbia Plaza come unfurnished, with one phone line and no ethernet connection. Tenants pay extra for cable and additional phone lines. DSL Internet service from Verizon is also available in the complex.
Efficiencies in the building cost between $850 and $950 a month, one-bedroom units range from $1,550 to $1,650 a month and two-bedroom apartments cost between $2,100 and $2,500 a month. Utilities are included in the monthly rent.
The University bought a stake in Columbia Plaza to earn money and reduce GW’s student housing shortage, Chernak said.
CLLC has three move-in classifications to accommodate students – May, August and “flexible.” Students join the interest list for the Columbia Plaza housing program, then CLLC notifies them about openings when the move-in date they chose becomes available.
Using the apartment management’s predictions for summer vacancies, Housing Services told students on the Columbia Plaza list they would be placed in a room by the beginning of the school year, Chernak said.
The GW option differs from the traditional Columbia Plaza rental options because students renting through GW do not pay a security deposit that other residents pay. GW’s $300 non-refundable housing deposit covers the Columbia Plaza Housing Program fee.
Students may still elect to rent apartments through the Columbia Plaza rental office, but they are subject to the same requirements as other residents.
Students renting apartments through GW do not have to disclose assets to rent an apartment in the complex – a requirement for other tenants – because the University vouches for the students’ financial solvency, Chernak said.
Chernak said GW’s deal with Columbia Plaza extends student options beyond typical campus housing.
“It ends up being an independent transaction between the student and the landlord, and it’s the commencement of what I would term `independent living,'” he said.
The University agreed to enforce the Code of Student Conduct to student residents in the apartments when GW acquired its share of the apartment complex last February.
GW will not place community facilitators in the building, there will be no health and safety inspections and University Police Department officers will not patrol the area, Chernak said. Students with poor disciplinary records are disqualified from the Columbia Plaza option, he said.
Some students said they like having the apartment option because it eases the transition off campus.
“If I hadn’t gotten a room in Columbia Plaza, I would have just moved off campus anyway,” junior Alexis Wilson said. “But I figured with my good lottery number I would take my chances. I was tired of living the dorm life and wanted to have more freedom.”
Wilson said CLLC has not contacted her about an open room, after more than two weeks on the Columbia Plaza waiting list. Wilson said she feels CLLC officials seem inexperienced dealing with this new option.
The housing option also helps students looking for an apartment to eliminate the search, some students said.
“(Finding an apartment) should be a little easier because you don’t have to call three times a day to randomly find a place,” sophomore Meredith Miller said.
Students looking for an apartment without using the GW system have experienced problems because of Columbia Plaza’s new asset requirements. Sophomore Matt Norden said he could not get a Columbia Plaza apartment without joining the University’s program.
“I think it’s ridiculous if my parents are able to meet the financial obligations and I still can’t get a place in Columbia Plaza without committing fraud,” he said. “I’m a student and I don’t make $57,000 a year.”
Some students said they had reservations about the new housing process.
Sophomore Stacey Doniger said the program does not give students enough planning time because they have to wait to find out where they will live and when they can move in. She also said that during housing selection the housing staff was inconsistent and unclear in telling students how the new housing program works.
“They kept us in the dark,” she said.
