The Daily Illini Online
published Friday, September 14, 2001

Healey Street tenants to lose hotel space

Elizabeth Zeman
In-depth editor

Some tenants of Campus Property Management's unfinished Healey Street building might be moving out of their hotels this weekend, but they still won't be moving into their apartments.

Since the CPM building at 408 E. Healey St., Champaign, was not finished by its Aug. 22 lease date, CPM has been paying for tenants to stay in Champaign-Urbana hotels until the building is completed. Earlier this week, however, CPM informed tenants they would need to move out of their hotels this weekend because all rooms were booked for Dads Day Weekend. But following the football game's postponement, several CPM tenants might not have to leave their hotels because of cancelations.

Leah Jay, CPM representative, said all tenants living at Chancellor Hotel in Champaign will now be able to stay this weekend. Urbana's Hampton Inn has also had several cancelations. She said CPM has tried to compensate its tenants the best it can.

"It's not that we're trying to inconvenience the students," she said. "We really have made every effort. I even offered some of the girls my home, and I meant it."

Andrea Lawler, senior in LAS and tenant of the unfinished building, has been staying at Hampton Inn since the semester began. She said CPM informed her and her roommates Tuesday that they had to move out of the hotel for the weekend. CPM told her it will provide housing in either Rantoul or Danville. If tenants choose to find their own housing, CPM will pay each room $100 a day to be split between roommates.

"I was planning on going home this weekend, but it sucks because I don't have anywhere to put my stuff," she said. She added that CPM representatives "weren't being very upfront with us."

Lawler said CPM called one of her roommates, who stays in a different hotel room, on Thursday to say she could stay in the hotel for the weekend because of a cancelation.

Esther Patt, coordinator for the University's Tenant Union, said students and parents have been calling to complain because CPM isn't following the conditions on the building's lease. An addendum to the lease promises that CPM will provide tenants housing at CPM apartments or hotels in Champaign or Urbana until the building is finished.

"Folks were reasonably expecting that until their apartments were finished, they would have continuous occupancy in their housing until the day they could move into the apartment," Patt said. "This is yet another reason why it's risky to sign a lease for a building that's not built at the time the lease is signed."

Mike Edwards, senior in engineering and tenant staying at Hampton Inn, said he and his roommate are choosing to take the monetary compensation and find their own places to stay this weekend.

He said moving out of the hotel for the weekend doesn't bother him.

"It's not really a big deal," he said. "We had all our stuff in storage anyway."

At the end of August, Jay told The Daily Illini that all but eight of the building's 64 apartments might be ready by the first week of September. She estimated that the final apartments

would be completed this week, but they weren't.

"It's unfortunate," Jay said. "This is just one of the hazards of new construction."

Both Edwards and Lawler said they don't know when to expect their apartments will be done. Lawler said she and her roommates have been calling CPM daily to ask about the building's progress.

Jay couldn't say when the building will be finished and granted occupancy by the city, but she said workers have been putting in long hours and working overtime to finish.

"We're very, very close," she said. "We're trying as desperately as we can to get this done."

Lawler said she's frustrated with the situation.

"We shouldn't have to worry about moving our stuff and moving into an apartment," she said. "This is not what should be on our minds right now."

Printer-friendly version