Though completion was originally expected by the beginning of the fall semester this year, some students at Centralia College finally have the option of cheaper living accommodations close to campus amid the housing crisis.
Centralia College staff, members of Collegiate Housing International (CHI), members of the Centralia College Foundation and The Chronicle got the opportunity to tour the new apartments on Tuesday during an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating completion of the units.
“This has been a long, arduous journey to get to this point,” CHI Centralia managing member Joel Crosby said.
While Crosby and his partners originally hoped to house students by September, construction faced delays, leading to a rush to find temporary housing at the start of this semester for almost 90 students who had already secured a spot at the apartments, which are located at 111 S. Ash St.
Despite the delay, the CHI apartments are now complete. Students were able to start moving in at the end of October.
In celebration, Crosby handed out awards during the open house to those who helped get the apartments open, including Centralia College President Bob Mohrbacher and Centralia College Foundation Executive Director Christine Fossett, among others.
“This project would not happen without Christine … She’s done a fabulous job. She went through all the ups and downs with this project,” Crosby said.
CHI owns and manages the apartments, which were built on land originally purchased by the Centralia College Foundation.
Every CHI apartment comes fully furnished, housing eight students each. Those students have a large common area combined with a full kitchen, two refrigerators and four rooms. Each room has two beds, two closets and one full bathroom.
Additionally, there are laundry rooms for students to utilize, and 10-gigabit-per-second internet comes with each room as well. In total, 110 students will be able to call the CHI apartments home, at least during the semester.
“When this is all said and done, I think this is probably the best residence hall in the state of Washington for community college students,” Crosby said.
Rent is $750 per month per student, with a $700 security deposit and a $200 application fee.
Student athletes and international students will be who the housing is primarily marketed to, but during the summer, when school isn’t in full session at the college, the apartments could still be occupied, according to Crosby, but not by college students.
“We are gonna try to get permission during the summer time to host baseball teams that are visiting here,” he said.
He added the U.S. Forest Service and other organizations have reached out to him about utilizing the CHI apartments during the summer for their internship programs.
For more information or to apply to live at the apartments, visit https://www.chicentralia.com/.
