But those dates have been pushed back more than once, first to July 1 and then to August 1. Now, it’s looking like the first units won’t be available until mid-to-late August at the earliest.
Developer Rick Foran, of the Foran Group, told Scene that he’s meeting with the project’s general contractor Tuesday and that he’ll have a more precise idea of the opening date after that meeting. He called the delays frustrating, and said that there have been yelling matches between parties as the project has stalled.
Foran said that though 54 of the 83 units are already leased out with down payments paid, they’ve lost at least two tenants because of the delays.
“We’ve had doctors who moved to Cleveland to begin their residencies on July 1,” Foran said. “And it’s not like they can just sleep on mom’s sofa until the apartment is ready because they’re not from here.”
The big hold-up turns out to be windows, which are being manufactured by Traco Windows and shipped from Pennsylvania. Extensive back-and-forths were required with the state of Ohio’s historical preservation office and the National Parks Service, according to Foran, before the windows could be built.
“We have had iterative discussions and revisions of extremely detailed shop drawings where the two preservation agencies poured over minute specifications and profiles,” Foran clarified via email. “This began in November, 2015, and we got a conditional release May 6, 2016 which is when we released the order into production.”
Once the windows are installed — the first batch will arrive Tuesday, July 19 — the units will have to dehumidify for five days, after which point the wood flooring can be laid. Twenty-two units on the complex’s western end (what Foran called Building C) will be available first. Then, 26 units in the building that fronts West 25th Street will come online. The remaining units likely won’t be available until November.
“As a developer, you never want this to happen,” said Foran. “In the meantime, all we can do is continue to apologize and work as fast as we can.”
One tenant who signed a lease agreement in February told Scene that she was informed last week that her move-in date would now be September 1. Free storage and hotel accommodations were to be arranged until the West 25th Street Loft units were available.
But the “hotel accommodations” turned out to the Chelsea Apartments in Tremont, a residential location that’s not often associated with the sort of urban living for which millennials have lately clamored. If tenants preferred not to live in the Chelsea in the interim, they were given the option of having their deposits returned.
“I’m sorry that [some tenants are unable] to move in when we thought but we are meeting at least twice a week trying to find ways to accelerate the schedule,” Foran said. “In the meantime, we thought it only right to give all those 54 tenants a worst case move in time so that they can decide which route to take.”
Given the demand for trendy apartments in Ohio City, a demand that has yielded a building boom around Detroit Avenue and W. 25th Street specifically, odds are most prospective tenants will endure the frustration of the delays.
This article appears in Jul 6-12, 2016.
Please define “the Chelsea Apartments in Tremont, a residential location that’s not often associated with the sort of urban living for which millennials have lately clamored.” Also, does doctors who “[can’t] just sleep on mom’s sofa until the apartment is ready because they’re not from here” directly imply “millennials” or did ya just throw that in for the hell of it?
Unfortunately this article suffers from a misleading headline and includes several inaccurate facts. The project has always had an October 1st delivery for all 83 units, not June 1st as reported. We have been attempting an early opening of a 22 unit phase this summer that has been subject to some delays related to the historic windows. While we are working closely with the contractor, there have never been shouting matches as reported. The fact remains even with the delay we have retained the vast majority of our tenants. New leasing at W25th St Lofts remains exceptionally strong in large part due to our great location, affordable rents, and very cool units. Come check us out at http://www.w25lofts.com.
-Allie Carr Property Manager
@elvii: Thanks for reading and responding. The line you mentioned could’ve used some clarification for sure. The Chelsea apartments are located on W. 14th St. down near the 490 bridge. It’s certainly in Tremont, but it’s located outside the nucleus of bars and restaurants on Professor Avenue that probably represents the neighborhood’s biggest “entertainment” draw. Additionally, it’s not a new building, and though I haven’t been inside, it was described to me (perhaps hyperbolically) as “dilapidated, outdated and unsafe.” The millennials clamoring for urban rentals tend to want newer, higher-end apartments with modern design elements and amenities. The Chelsea just doesn’t fit that bill. / The “doctors who can’t sleep on mom’s sofa” was a quote from Rick Foran in direct reference to doctors who’d signed leases but backed out due to the delays because their residencies were beginning at the Clinic or Metro. That certainly doesn’t *directly* imply millennials, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were. At any rate, the millennial reference was later in the story, and the doctors shouldn’t be interpreted as antecedents.
@W25Lofts: Thanks for reading, but I’d dispute that the headline is misleading. Only thing up for debate, I suppose, would be the interpretation of “some” (as in “Some Tenants..”). As for June 1 date, I was told by a lessee that she’d been told June 1 for move-in date and that the date was pushed back more than once. Presumably, others were told June 1 as well, or else why would doctors whose residencies began in July sign on in the first place? / “Shouting match” line was, once again, a direct quote from Foran, who I spoke with on the phone and by email. It didn’t sound like disputes were particularly contentious, more that emotions may have been boiling over because delays were frustrating. As reported, Foran was incredibly apologetic and said that things are moving along as expeditiously as possible.
Wow, this is a poorly written and researched ‘piece’. Beginning with the first sentence: “At least a fraction…” Lazy, vague language. And it continues from there. Fortunately, not for very long as it just skims the surface. Why not try and understand in greater detail the challenges a project like this might entail? By the writer’s own admission, the extent of the tenant research includes speaking with a whopping (1) person. Then in proper journalistic practice just assumes what the other tenants would say, rather than taking that extraordinary next step of speaking with a second tenanat. This ‘story’ could have been a tweet “25th Street Loft delayed because of old windows”. La-zy.