Can I stay, or would I go? The upperclassman housing dilemma

By Gil Bothwell

Chapman sophomore Landon Davies is comfortably living in the Davis Apartments this year.

Next year? Who knows. He could very well end up on his own.

“I have no idea where I am going to live next year, ” said Davies, an integrated educational studies major.

Davies is not alone.

Landon Davies looks on at the Henley Resident Hall. As Chapman continues to grow, the need to house the influx of new students leaves question marks for upperclassmen and transfers in need of school housing.

While all underclassmen students are guaranteed housing through the university, juniors, seniors, and trasnfers are at the mercy of a lottery to determine if there will be space to house them on-campus.

Of the 7,869 undergraduates at Chapman, 3,660 students live on campus, with juniors and seniors only making up 458 of these residents, according to statistics from Dean of Students Jerry Price. Price admits that both upperclassmen and transfer students are underserved in this area.

The good news: some help is on the way. The bad news: it’s still far off.

More specifically: Fall Semester of 2024.

A Chapman purchase last November may ease some of the worries of students looking for a place to live. However, for current sophomores like Davies, that won’t happen until the start of their senior year.

A new $160 million apartment complex located in Anaheim is opening up for students in the fall 2024 semester. It plans to make a home for about 800-850 students and help the school reach its desired 50% housing goal for all undergraduates.

The former Anavia Apartments will become “Chapman Court” and serve as up-scale apartments, primarily focused towards upperclassmen and transfer students.

Located at 2045 S. State College Blvd., the new building is just under three miles from campus down Walnut Avenue (becomes Orangewood Avenue on Main Street) and about two blocks from Chapman Grand.

Chapman’s new Director of Residence Life and First Year Experience, Juan Tinoco, spoke about the building and its features.

Juan Tinoco, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life and First Year Experience. Tinoco is new to the Chapman staff, joining in January of 2023.

“[The rooms] are gorgeous… they were planned and built as luxury condos,” said Tinoco. “We are currently working on getting feedback and buy-in from our current students to make it a space that is welcoming to them,” he shared.

The new complex would have 250 units, with a typical layout of two bedrooms and two bathrooms per unit, which would be shared among four students, and a number of amenities including a full kitchen, in-suite washer and dryer, walk-in closets, and an on-site fitness center and pool.

The Chapman shuttles are also currently in the planning stages to have a route that would include the new building, ensuring that students without a vehicle have access to, and from, campus.

According to Tinoco, no rental cost for students has been decided by the university, although financial details are in the works.

Over the past few years, Chapman has not only experienced a growth in admitted students, but also an increase in undergraduates seeking on-campus housing.

Many students have shown interest in continuing to stay on-campus even after their first two mandatory years are finished.

According to a university press release last November, the number of upperclassmen that desire housing has increased by about 175% between 2017 and 2019.

Finding off-campus housing can also be a struggle for students, especially in the current condition of real estate in Orange. Orange County vacancy rates are at about 2.5% as of August, much lower than the 4-5% yearly average over the past decade, according to a CoStar forecast. The lack of available housing options has even led some students to live in unsafe housing situations.

Chapman senior Sofia Savage, currently on the pre-law track, lives near campus in a three-bedroom home. She has a list of safety hazards at her residence including live wires, a water heater on the ground, popcorn ceiling, and no smoke alarms, along with others.

AJ Torres, a senior business major, is also currently living in a home not meeting safety regulations as his bedroom does not have a window.

“It was hard for us to find anything. Everything was getting rented so fast so we were willing to take whatever we could get,” said Torres.

Chapman professor and real estate broker, Stephanie Muchard, is familiar with students living in unsafe off-campus housing.

“The violations are by the thousands,” Muchard said.

In her professional experience she has witnessed many landlords cutting corners to save money, and says college towns like Orange are some of the worst.

Other students have had a positive experience living off-campus, like Wolfgang Sakamaki. As a senior business major, Sakamaki has enjoyed living off-campus with his cross country teammates, but knows others are often less fortunate.

“I love living [with my team]. The past two years have been great,” said Sakamaki. “We got lucky with our place for sure, this is not the norm,” he said.

The university is well aware of the pitfalls, and wants to ensure that students are given as many options as possible. Preferably on campus.

Even though the new apartment complex has many desirable components, sophomore business major Ohm Patel isn’t fully sold.

His problem: location. It’s too far from campus.

“I would consider living [there] but it wouldn’t be my first choice because of the commute,” said Patel.

For those willing to take the school shuttle or aren’t bothered by the three mile drive, Chapman Court could be the answer for student housing needs in the coming years, but what should they do until then?

Studies show that students that live on campus have better retention rates. We want to make sure that everyone that wants to live here can live here,” said Tinoko.