By Emily Anne Espinosa | Staff Writer |
Approximately 450 students were supposed to move into The Glen, CSUSB’s new upscale student living community, on Sept. 19, but hours before the date came around, residents were informed that the move-in date would be pushed back to Sept. 23.
Shortly after, the move-in date was pushed back again to Oct. 3, more than a week after CSUSB’s Fall Quarter began.
“When the move-in date got changed, it pushed my life back,” said Brianna Ngo, a resident at The Glen. “I had all my stuff packed already, but I couldn’t move in for another week. So in a way, I had to unpack and pack again.”
James R. Watson, property owner of The Glen, real estate developer, as well as long time educational resource contributor to CSUSB, said the reason why the move-in date was delayed was because of construction problems that were out of their contractor’s control, which they only became aware of a few hours before the actual move-in dates.
The contractor of The Glen, Bowlus-Pacific Venture Corporation, was faced with issues regarding utilities such as gas, electricity and water.
“We didn’t have gas when we thought we were going to have it. We thought they were going to put it in at a certain time, but last minute the gas company delayed it. The electric we had in, but even that was an issue of getting Edison, and the water was also an issue. So even though we were working with them since last October, they all have a very long wait time,” said Watson.
In addition to utility issues, the main clubhouse of The Glen, which consists of the main office and amenities, had not received the Certificate of Occupancy, making The Glen unavailable to effectively provide services to their tenants.
As a new development project, the utility problems, lack of certifications and delayed move-in date has been a major setback for The Glen.
“To compensate for that, we sent out a letter to all the residents, stating how we really and deeply apologize, and regret what happened,” shared Watson.
Due to the delayed move-in, The Glen offered accommodations for their residents to compensate for the inconvenience.
Residents were waived a full month of rent, and if they had already paid for the month of September, the paid rent was credited to cover the next month. If residents did not have a place to stay, they were offered a free hotel room at either Motel 6 or Hills Garden Inn, $20 coupons (two $10 coupons per day stayed at a hotel) for a variety of places, and will reimburse residents for parking permits if they had to park on campus.
Now that residents are moved into their own townhouses, most residents are expressing satisfaction about The Glen.
“Living at The Glen is pretty good. It’s simple, it’s organized, it’s fully furnished, brand new, and it’s a good experience,” said Jonathan Abad, resident at The Glen. “If you want to grow, become more independent, and become an adult, living at The Glen would actually help…”
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