After winning an appeals case with the Ohio Board of Building Standards, Park Place Real Estate hopes to finish construction and move students in to The Lofts at Bella Place within weeks.
The Lofts at Bella Place may be one step closer to opening thanks to the state building standards board's approval of an appeal.
According to Tom Kacachos, professional engineer for Park Place Real Estate, students should look forward to moving in during the week of Nov. 17, assuming the building passes all final inspections.
After construction delays postponed move-in at the beginning of fall semester, Park Place Real Estate predicted a move-in date of Sept. 29.
However, further construction delays and failed inspections moved the date back and kept students who signed to live in the apartments in temporary housing.
About a month ago, city inspectors found that the stairs outside the Church Street entrance were not in compliance with Ohio building codes for outdoor stairs.
Alan Kyger, Oxford's economic development director, said Oxford inspectors visit building sites during construction to ensure the building meets state building code requirements.
"It came to a building inspector's attention that the stairs did not meet Ohio code," Kyger said. "At that point, the city can't really condone the building, since we're dealing with a code that's not ours but the state's."
Kyger said the problem was brought to the builder's attention, and because the concrete stairs would prove difficult to replace, the builder appealed to the Ohio Board of Building Standards in Columbus.
A compromise was reached Oct. 27, with both the Bella Place owner and a chief city official present. Kyger said the city took no direct position on the appeal, but was supportive of the compromise reached.
Kacachos said the stairs have been close to finished for nearly two months, however the appeal pushed their schedule back even further.
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"We were not able to finish some of our exterior work until we knew the result of the appeal," Kacachos said via e-mail. "That exterior work is now progressing very well."
Kyger said the building code violation was not the sole cause for the continued construction delays on Bella Place.
"In a big project like this, where there were several adjustments to the plan and multiple things happened, it may be suggested that this action that the state had to take caused the delay for
opening, but I think if you were to walk by there today, and look in the building, you can make the determination about whether the stairs were the reason this didn't open," he said. "There are multiple reasons that the building has been delayed."
Kacachos said many of the construction delays were due to the apartments' uniquity.
"The apartments are arguably the best in Oxford," Kacachos said. "No other building in Oxford has this level of architectural design. The building has a lot of non-standard design components which adds to its character, but also added to the construction time."
Kyger said the city maintains a good relationship with the builders of the Lofts at Bella Place.
"The owner is remodeling other properties uptown," he said. "We're pleased that the owner is sinking millions into making these buildings look better."
Park Place recently finished a remodel of Olivia Villas apartments.
However, the extremely delayed completion date is still an issue for displaced residents like one student and her roommates.
"We're living across from Arby's," the Miami University senior said. "We signed the lease for Bella Place due to its great location. Instead, we're really far away from campus, and the amenities really don't compare to the ones we signed for."
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