X marks the spot

By Anita Miller
News Editor

San Marcos June 25, 2008 11:37 am

— The scene is reminiscent of neighborhoods in the wake of a hurricane.
Some doors at the 80-unit Hidden Village Apartments just off Aquarena Springs Drive are marked with big Xs and the building shows other signs of disrepair.
But outside some doors, bicycles, barbecue grills and other trappings of life are still apparent.
Just not for long.
The old complex, purchased by Texas State University last month, is destined to be torn down to make way for a parking lot, and those that still live there are scrambling to find somewhere else to live.
But they won’t, as warned in letters from the university sent out shortly after the sale, have to be out by July 1, said TxState’s Vice President for Finance and Support Services Planning Nancy Nussbaum.
Those letters “did sound harsh,” Nussbaum said last week, “but we thought we were sending (the letters) out with good information.”
However, that wasn’t the case. Nussbaum said Capstone Management, which had been managing the property for the former owner, Cal Pacific of San Diego, misrepresented the status of some of the tenants.
Nussbaum said the management company indicated that more than half the tenants were not under lease, but renting on a month-to-month basis, and that many others were in default of rent payments.
Instead, she said, at least one tenant has a lease extending to October and at least one of the households said to be behind in rent produced receipts to the contrary.
She also said she is doing all she can to work with residents on a case by case basis, has continued maintenance contracts and will likely waive June and possibly July rents, something she says will give the tenants a better opportunity to find new housing.
“We know how expensive it is to relocate,” Nussbaum said. “And most people realize that if they don’t do something now, by the time the fall semester starts it will be even more difficult to find something.”
The university is also writing reference letters for some tenants and for others, refunding security and pet deposits.
Nussbaum said the complex had a number of on-site managers in the recent past and the one there now is temporary. “The apartments are in extremely bad condition,” she said, including “major cracks” in the buildings. “Since we’ve taken over we’ve continued to provide maintenance,” like replacing window AC units and dishwashers and taking steps to remediate a flea infestation. Laundry and grounds maintenance contracts have also continued; though, for liability reasons, the pool has been drained and will not be refilled.
“We want to work with everybody on a case by case basis because everybody’s situation is different,” Nussbaum said, explaining that the complex houses students, graduate students, one disabled vet, couples and families, including a couple of households where no one speaks English.
“I’ve personally made phone calls for them, called complexes all around town about their rates, created fliers of apartment locator companies that provide a free service. We’re doing different things for different people based on their particular needs.”
Some tenants moved out last weekend, she said, and others are planning to move in July.
But, the timeline for converting the property for parking is still up in the air. “We’re shooting for Sept. 1 (to have all tenants out), but it will really depend.”

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