New Park Place Housing Near Campus Already Disappoints, Spurring Student Action
Catherine Schofield reports on how ASUN is leading the charge in getting accountability from private housing operators.
A Delayed Move In
The Associated Students of the University of Nevada, Reno have created a Special Committee on Housing with the goal of holding privatized student housing in Reno accountable for their promises to residents.
Emma Bergren, 19, is an ASUN Senator for the School of Public Health and also sits on the Special Committee. She said that this committee was spurred by recent events involving Park Place Reno.
When residents signed their lease for Park Place they were told that the building would be ready for move-in this past August. However, everyone was moved into the Circus Circus Sky Tower in downtown, similar to how students were moved there after the Argenta dorm explosion in 2019. Students were kept in the Sky Tower until mid-November when everyone was moved into the finished Park Place building.
“Housing and food should not be a student’s worry,” Bergren said. “Your grades, your school, keeping up with your family, your mental health should be your worry. Living underneath a roof should not be your worry, and I feel like for the past couple years, it has been.”
Looking at past examples
Bergren used the example of students living in the Whitney Peak Hotel last school year. UNR’s Residential Life, Housing and Food Services rented out a student apartment building, Canyon Flats, for students to live in for the 2020–21 school year. However, when the apartments weren’t ready, students stayed in the Whitney Peak Hotel for the entire Fall 2020 semester instead of the few weeks they were originally told.
“When it came to Canyon Flats, they were able to give some food bucks and some kind of food compensation for students who were living in Whitney Peak. Which was of course not ideal, but the fact that they were still able to find something is better than nothing,” Bergren said.
Bergren said that to her knowledge Park Place wasn’t communicating with its residents, saying that many students don’t know who their property manager or landlord is, and that the leasing office wasn’t responding to any communication. Members of the Special Committee reached out to Park Place on Nov. 8 with a two-week memo. At the time of this interview, Park Place had not responded.
Meanwhile Park Place was regularly posting on their social media channels throughout this whole process. Moving updates, extra amenities like grab-and-go breakfast, and resident features were showcased.
The Special Committee on Housing is planning on working with Washoe County legal services to gain a greater understanding of lease laws and to help hold workshops and informational sessions for students to attend.
The committee also plans on distributing a survey to students to get feedback on individual experiences from Park Place residents so they may better determine how to go forward.
“I run on getting student output and I run on serving students in the most basic way possible, such as housing and food,” Bergren said. “Those are the types of things that directly affect students, mental health, and physical health, and how they perform in school.”
Students that are interested in learning more or wanting to share their experiences are encouraged to email ASUN, message the ASUN Instagram account, or attend ASUN public meetings Mondays at 10 a.m.
