Orange Coast College begins school year online, but some students are stuck in campus housing contracts
After years of planning the Harbour, a 323-unit housing development on the Orange Coast College campus that can accommodate 814 tenants, is in the final stages of construction and anticipated to be move-in ready for tenants by late September.
But since the new school year resumed Monday in an online-only format, after Coast Community College District officials decided in May to postpone in-person instruction amid a continuing coronavirus pandemic, just one question remains:
Who’s going to move in now?
Construction of the Harbour costs around $100 million, officials said, and is being funded through $123.4-million tax-exempt college housing revenue bonds sought by OCC in a public-private partnership with National Campus and Community Development Corp.
The bonds will be paid off, in part, by rental income received, and the property managed by Chicago-based the Scion Group, LLC.
OCC second-year student Jonathan Kuse said he signed up to lease part of a two-bedroom unit intended to be occupied by four students each paying a monthly rent of about $995. That was in February, before the coronavirus closed campuses and crippled college plans nationwide.
Now, living with T-cell lymphoma, for which he’s undergone chemotherapy, the immunocompromised 19-year-old has decided to live at home with his parents in St. Louis through fall semester distance learning rather than moving to be near the Costa Mesa campus.
“I’d sort of wanted my own space and access to all these things,” he said of the desire to live on campus. “[But] there are many aspects now where I don’t feel comfortable being with complete strangers.”
Kuse got an email in early June informing him he had the option to cancel the lease within a 30-day window or to extend the contract start date to the 2021-22 school year.
Not knowing whether or when Orange Coast College might resume in-person classes, he responded and was told his lease was legally binding and could not be broken but that he could scale back to a six-month lease starting spring semester for an additional $200 per month.
Kuse shared his predicament on a popular OCC student app, where he looked for someone to take over his share of the apartment. He even offered to surrender the $500 down payment he’d paid under the original agreement.
His offer was one of many posted by OCC students looking to exit their agreements in the wake of coronavirus shutdowns.
“I just wish they’d be able to make some sort of consideration with me and my health concerns or with students in general in these ever-changing times,” Kuse said. “I know I’m not the only student in this situation.”
Publicly available lease reports show 508 contracts had been signed by June 5, roughly reflecting 62% occupancy.
By the Aug. 3 reporting period, however, the number of leases had dropped to 404, including 50 new contracts signed in July. A total of 154 of the 508 lessees appeared to have backed out of their agreements by the end of July.
No report is listed for July, which would have reflected a 30-day cancellation window and indicated whether new leases were being solicited or signed even as students were canceling.
Jay Pearlman, senior vice president for the Scion Group, declined to share the current number of leases Monday but said in an email while tenants had the option to leave or renegotiate, many elected to stay.
Orange County is expected to come off the state monitoring list for COVID-19 on Sunday.
“Most residents elected to keep their contracts in place and to live at the Harbour as soon as it opens,” Pearlman said. “As a result, the majority of apartments at the Harbour’s will be occupied this fall, but we still have available space and expect to be able to accommodate move-ins at least until January.”
The complex is anticipated to open Sept. 25, according to Pearlman. Among those who chose to cancel is OCC second-year student Jude Esqueda, who originally agreed to rent part of a two-bedroom unit but decided not to move to campus during a pandemic.
“I was planning on moving into the new housing center. Now, I don’t think it’s safe,” he said of his decision to take OCC classes online from his parents’ home in Riverside County.
Esqueda became acquainted with the Harbour and its leasing options in summer 2019, when he worked as a community adviser for the Scion Group, reaching out to students and prospective tenants to fill the housing complex.
The 21-year-old said given how hard sales team members worked to get students to sign contracts, he’s not surprised some tenants are having a hard time finding a way out.
“Our only focus was getting the highest number of leases,” recalled Esqueda, who voluntarily left the position in January.
The 21-year-old Esqueda described the 30-day cancellation period as somewhat of an exodus but acknowledged many more may be stuck with a lease contract that, for now, is of little use.
“Before June there was just a flood of students begging other students to take over their leases,” Esqueda said. “A large factor was students couldn’t afford it. Also, there’s no point — if classes are online, it’s not worth it.”
Citing a busy Monday with classes back in session, Orange Coast officials said they were unable to speak for an interview by deadline. However, President Angelica Suarez assured in a statement students’ needs were being considered.
“The college is looking forward to having students move into housing in September,” Suarez said. “Safety is our top priority, and we will continue to accommodate our students in any way we can.”
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