Aggie Factory will not be completed before school year

LOGAN – Aggie Factory was supposed to be open in time for the new school semester at the end of August, but the management of the new student housing apartment complex recently said it will not be completed in time. The property, built by Nelson Brothers Property Management, has already leased about 50 percent of the 450 available spaces.

According to the complex’s <a href=”http://www.university-factory.com/” target=”_blank”>website</a>, Aggie Factory will include a two-story gym, a double-decker hot tub, study areas, sand volleyball courts, a yoga room, a bowling alley and a six-story parking garage. These features are the main reasons many Utah State University students, including sophomore Celeste Maloney, decided to sign up to live in the new complex. Maloney said she received a voice mail on her cell phone informing her it would not be completed in time.

“I called them back,” she said. “She basically said that she was really sorry, but that the construction workers underestimated the amount of time it would take to finish it and they haven’t been sticking to their schedule what they were going to do and so it’s going to be pushed back. We can’t live there anymore.”

A subcontractor, who wished to remain anonymous because he was still involved in the project, said the reason construction stopped is because the project’s funding ran out.

“They can’t pay their bills,” he said. “They can’t pay their contractors.”

He also said that the complex is a very long way from being completed and that the parking structure, which hasn’t even started yet, will need to be completed before the city can issue a certificate of occupancy.

Nelson Brothers owner Patrick Nelson said that construction has ceased because the main partner in securing the loan for the complex passed away in November, but that construction should resume around the beginning of July and be completed sometime near mid-October. He said that the management will do everything they possibly can to personally customize a place to take care of the students.

“We’ve dealt with this issue before,” he said. “And what we will do, what we have already done is reach out to other locations, apartment complexes, even local hotels if we have to, to take care of our tenants until the Factory gets finished.”

Nelson said that many of the students will be moved to Aggie Factory’s sister property Aggie Flats until construction is completed. He said Aggie Flats will be able to house all but about 30 to 40 of the students who signed leases for Aggie Factory.

“I think with only 30 or 40 students, we’ll be able to get most of them taken care of,” he said. “And they’ll have the option. We’ll give the option to either to be able to get out of the lease then they can go find their own housing or to look for a short-term lease that we help accommodate them with. Then they can move into the Factory either late October, November or next semester.”

Maloney said that she is going to live in Aggie Flats until Aggie Factory is completed. She said Aggie Factory gave her the option to be able to pay less because of it.

“Whatever I pay for living in Aggie Flats during the fall, when I move back to the Factory, I will still be paying the price for Aggie Flats,” she said.

Maloney said she was mad about the situation at first, but looks forward to moving into Aggie Factory in the spring. She said she is happy with what the management has done but wishes it they advertised it differently.

“I think they did fine,” she said. “I just really wish they wouldn’t have promoted so much beforehand the fact that they were going to be ready in time. Like, come on, two weeks ago they had a dance for it.”

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!