A week before Move-in Day, students were shown floor plans of how their apartments would look before signing the lease. Many were excited about the spacious rooms, over-sized windows, balconies and other amenities “The Mills” would offer. However, some students had mixed reviews about the apartments they moved into.
The new apartment complex located on 51 Ralston Street in Keene offers more options for off-campus housing while remaining within reasonable distance from campus.
Katelyn Newcomb, KSC senior, said, “I [don’t] think it looks like the photos online and I was expecting the rooms to be a little bit bigger, but overall I’m fine with it. They’re nice enough for me.”
Other students were disappointed with the size of the rooms in their new apartments. Shannon Nee,
Colton McKracken / Equinox Staff
KSC senior, said, “The rooms were a lot smaller. I know that when (my roommate) Allison and I went to get information for the first time and met with someone from here, they said that the rooms were supposed to be bigger than her’s was on Davis street and they were not.”
In addition to the conditions of the apartments, some students have also experienced a lack of communication with The Mills. Paige Conroy, KSC senior, had a number of complaints about her experience.
“The front door was dented before we had even been in here. The baseboard in the kitchen wasn’t glued down, it was just laying there. The toilet was gross, so we contacted maintenance and they came and wrote on a slip that we needed to clean our toilet, even though it was nothing we had done. It was like that when we moved in, so that was irritating,” Conroy said.
Conroy continued, “The walls are really thin and you can hear everything. If someone is playing music, you can hear that even if it’s six apartments down. The rooms are pretty small. Over the summer, when I tried to call for issues with the building, no one would return my call. I had to call four times to get an answer.”
Conroy said she has also experienced issues with parking.
“They let people park wherever and now people are parking in other people’s spots. It’s just a mess with parking,” Conroy said.
Other students experienced problems with appliances in the apartments.
“The fridge wobbles a ton, so they stuck some cardboard under it to keep it from wobbling. A couple days ago, I tried to run the dishwasher for the first time, and nothing happened and it makes this weird cranking sound and nothing has happened. So I put in a maintenance request online for both the dishwasher and the fridge. They haven’t even acknowledged my maintenance requests,” Nee said.
Bobbi Hinsman, KSC junior, commented on how tenants have been treating the building since moving in.
“I think that people could have treated it a little better. The first weekend we were here there were beer cans and beer bottles all over the inside and the outside and in the elevators and stuff. It was definitely dirty but not because of the people that made The Mills, but like us who moved in. If we’re going to pay this money, then we need to keep it clean,” Hinsman said.
Tenants of the building also had to pay a full month’s rent, even though they were unable to move in until August 16.
“I know that they did make us pay a full month’s rent for only living here for about two weeks. I didn’t think that was really fair. I know that didn’t work for a lot of people,” Hinsman said.
Some students were understanding about the unfinished facilities, such as the on-site gym or laundry room.
Nick Swain, KSC senior, said, “I’m a carpenter, I’ve been doing it for four years and I’ve built
Colton McKracken / Equinox Staff
places just like that and even when it’s finished, even when it’s polished, even when it’s not rushed, there’s always problems that you run into afterwards. There’s stuff like this where the amenities and the gym aren’t open right away, I understand that. The gym has nothing to do with them. They order the equipment and the equipment is just taking awhile to come in. There’s little things, you know what I mean? It’s nothing big.”
Austin Oberst, Property and Leasing manager at The Mills, commented on the state of the rooms and other facilities.
“It’s almost like releasing a software where, you release the build of the software and then afterwards, once people get it into their hands, they have time to live in it and give their preferences. Then, we adjust their living experience to their preference. It’s a process that we’re collaborating with the students to make the optimal experience,” Oberst said.
The Mills will be hosting an “Open House” in the next few weeks between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. for anyone interested in leasing an apartment for next year.
Jacob can be reached at jknehr@kscequinox.com.
