University of Michigan students arrive to The One housing center to discover townhomes not ready

Students scramble to find somewhere to stay

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Dozens of University of Michigan students were told they can’t move in yet when they arrived at The One student housing center on Tuesday (Aug. 24).

An international student told Local 4 he was able to extend his stay at a nearby Airbnb until The One could get him into a hotel, but a room isn’t available until the end of the month.

Other students can’t find hotel rooms or even transportation to campus.

“As a parent, I can fully understand how frustrating this situation must be and we have done our best to communicate early and often and I’m sure for a lot of folks they feel that level of communication is insufficient,” CEO Trinitas Loren King said.

A student told Local 4 the answers from The One are sometimes confusing. The One said they told people in July that there would be delays but the student said the first message they received from The One was on Aug. 19.

The One said it has offered everyone impacted hotels, shuttles and stipends. But hotel bookings for football games and a lack of rental housing in Ann Arbor means everyone can’t be accommodated.

“Labor shortages, material supply chain logistics have made it impossible to recover the schedule, which is why we’re where we are at today,” King said.

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About the Authors:

Priya joined WDIV-Local 4 in 2013 as a reporter and fill-in anchor. Education: B.A. in Communications/Post Grad in Advanced Journalism

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.