The Westmoreland Apartments, located more than 2 miles west of campus, could be sold, forcing residents to move by June 30. Katie Gleason | Photographer Westmoreland: Residents express concern Continued from page 1A Spencer View Apartments or into East Campus graduate housing. There may not be enough space for all residents who wish to move into University Housing complexes after the sale, Eyster said. “There may be some students that are currently living in West moreland that would like to contin ue to live in University Housing that may not be able to, but there is other housing available in the com munity,” Eyster said. Before selling the property, the Uni versity must first get permission from the Oregon State Board of Higher Edu cation, which will hear the proposal at its early November meeting. The properties were valued at $15-$ 18 million earlier this year, but that was a conservative appraisal, Eyster said. Money from the sale will go toward improving housing close to campus, although some funds could first go to other purposes, Vice President for Fi nance and Administration Frances Dyke said. “You may see us purchasing anoth er piece of property and guaranteeing an equivalent amount when housing is ready to use the funds for develop ment,” Dyke said. The money wouldn’t completely fund a new residence hall, but it could held fund the construction or renova tion of one, Eyster said. “I don’t need enough money to to tally pay for residence halls,” Eyster said. “I just need some help.” The average cost of a new 480-bed residence hall is $34-$36 million, not including land and infrastructure ex tension costs, according to a University press release. Dyke and Eyster also discussed us ing the money for property in the east campus neighborhood. The University wants to have mon ey to buy land if the opportunity arises, Dyke said. “There are opportunities down there with various partials of land that could provide sites for housing or for academic or research programs or something else affiliated with the University,” Dyke said. Eyster wrote a letter dated Oct. 19 to Westmoreland residents informing them of the decision. But residents contacted by the Emerald Thursday evening were all unaware the University is seeking to sell the properties. Some were concerned. Cheelo Namalala, a 24-year-old international student from Zambia, said she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to find housing as affordable as the Westmoreland Apartments. Oth er University-owned apartments and Eugene apartments are more expensive, she said, and she’s nerv ous she won’t be able to find anoth er racially diverse environment where residents are tolerant. According to a University press re lease, 25 international students hold leases at Westmoreland. The sociology student plans to get her undergraduate degree after sum mer term but may need to search for Eugene housing if she decides to at tend graduate school here. “What would I do if there was no Westmoreland?” she said. “I just hope that I’ll be able to find something that’ll work for me, somewhere I’ll be comfortable.” Tina Jensen Augustine lives at the Westmoreland Apartments with her husband, an architecture graduate student. Augustine said they chose to live there because it is cheap and convenient. “It’s the most affordable we can find,” she said. Derrick Mathias, a graduate teach ing fellow in the ecology and evolu tionary program, said though he’ll be graduating at the end of the school year, he feels bad the apartments will be sold because they are the most af fordable ones for students. “It’s not going to affect me, but I still think it’s a shame,” Mathias said. Approximately 39 children enrolled at a Westmoreland childcare center will also have to relocate for next year. Dennis Reynolds, EMU child care coordinator, told parents in an e mail Thursday that the move will impact the Child Care and Develop ment Centers’ “ability to provide continuing services for families cur rently enrolled at Westmoreland and for some at the Moss Street Childrens (sic) Center who may compete with displaced Westmore land families for a reduced number of total CCDC child care slots.” University Housing has tried reno vating the units to make them more attractive to families, but Eyster spec ulated that families are choosing to pay more for larger apartments with different amenities. Westmoreland apartments range in size from 375 to 500 square feet. Approximately $190,000 was spent on renovations for 37 apartments, 30 of which are currendy occupied. The Westmoreland property was purchased in the 1960s using bonds, Eyster said, which were repaid with revenue from rent collections. University Housing financed the purchase of the property now occu pied by the Riverfront Research Park for the purpose of building residence halls. When the park was built on the land in the 1980s, a plan to reimburse housing approximately $220,000 in 2003 was drafted. But in 2003, Melinda Grier, gener al counsel to the University, con cluded that money from a financial ly independent department like housing can be used by the Univer sity for purposes not related to the department. Housing was given $34,746. Though it is not known what ex actly will be done with the West moreland sale’s proceeds, Dyke said there “will be a public acknowledg ment of the commitment to hous ing” at the time of the sale that will guarantee it money. 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