The Edition on Rosemary delays move-in until Oct. 1, students move to hotels

Future residents of The Edition on Rosemary received an email on July 19 informing them their projected move-in date will be delayed to Oct. 1.

The news was sent after a degraded water main underneath Rosemary Street was discovered the week before. 

Adam Byrley is the chief operating officer for The Preiss Company, which owns and manages The Edition. He said the original plan was to tap the existing water main in four locations to provide service to the property. It later became evident that the tapping sleeves originally approved by the Orange Water and Sewer Authority were incompatible, due to the degraded condition of the pipe.

After several meetings to review alternative methods for tapping the existing water line, the general contractor, utility subcontractor and OWASA determined that the main water line would need to be replaced, Byrley said in an email statement. 

He added that, before construction began in 2021, the site was surveyed to examine buried utilities, identify potential conflicts and mitigate risks. 

Though this process included a search of all available site utility records along with advanced survey techniques, Byrley said it did not provide information regarding the condition or composition of the subsurface materials.

The new apartment complex is a short distance from UNC's campus and would be filled primarily by UNC students. The delayed move-in has raised concerns with residents, as the fall semester began on Aug. 21.

Sophomore Alexis Cromwell said that, while the delay was unexpected, she had doubts that the building would be done on time.

“It was definitely a surprise, but not as much as I thought it would be because I knew signing the lease that they were still building, and then before I left UNC after freshman year, I went by the structure and I saw that it was kind of halfway there,” Cromwell said. 

She signed her lease in October of 2022 and said she had originally planned to move into The Edition around Aug. 15. Now, she is temporarily living in the Aloft Chapel Hill on South Hamilton Road, more than a mile east of campus.

Byrley said residents were given three options for housing in the meantime, including staying at one of three hotels — AC Hotel on West Rosemary Street, Aloft and the Residence Inn on Erwin Road. He said the other options were to find alternative housing during the delay or to terminate the lease, with no penalty.

Transportation is a challenge due to the location of her hotel, Cromwell said. Aloft is an estimated 30-minute walk from campus, making it difficult to commute by foot.

While she said The Edition has provided parking spots in a lot on Rosemary Street, there are not enough spaces for all the students to use. 

Sophomore Logan Bunce is also staying at Aloft and shares a similar concern about the distance of the hotel. The Aloft is a longer walk to campus than The Edition on Rosemary, which will make the class schedule Bunce created in the spring less manageable, he said.

“With the busing adding time into my schedule I didn't realize I would have to add, my schedule outside of classes also is messed up,” Bunce said. 

He said that time originally set aside for activities like working out and homework will now be allotted to using transit.

Senior ChaVon Shade was supposed to live in The Edition but is currently being housed at the Residence Inn. She said she will have her car on campus this year and that she will have a parking spot in the Rosemary Street lot.

Shade said The Edition has been very helpful during this time with its customer service and has provided residents with various resources, like hotel rooms and a $50 per day stipend. Bryley said the money is meant to fund food, laundry, transportation and other expenses during the construction delay period.

Shade said she has seen videos online of other people experiencing a similar issue with student housing, which has helped her to feel less alone.

One-fifth of U.S. college students have faced housing insecurity, according to a 2022 report by Student Beans. These individuals are more likely to face anxiety, depression, poor health and a lower average GPA compared to their secure counterparts, according to the American Journal of Health Promotion.  

Despite the delay, Shade said she is still trying to make the most out of the situation going into her senior year. 

“I’m overall just excited to see a really nice, brand new fresh place that’s gonna be in Chapel Hill,” she said. 

Byrley said construction continues to press forward, as work on the water main and the completion of finishes on interior units remains ongoing.

He added that The Edition does not anticipate any additional issues that would lead to more delays, and the schedule remains on track for an Oct. 1 move-in.

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