EWU to discontinue married student housing

CHENEY – Eastern Washington University is terminating a time-honored tradition by ending its offering of married student housing at the end of the 2019-2020 term.

In an email, Housing and Residential Life senior director Josh Ashcroft said the university’s two complexes dedicated to married student housing, Townhouse Apartments and Anna Maria Apartments will begin renting by the bedroom instead of by the unit this fall. Current residents and families living in those apartments and renting by the unit will be able to continue to rent by the unit until they graduate or elect to move to another apartment complex.

According to EWU, 60 percent of the units are occupied by families and 40 percent by single students, graduate students and those over age 25.

Ashcroft said the reason for discontinuing offering married student housing is a new trend in market demand.

“We continue to get more and more requests from students inquiring about the opportunity to live in our apartment complexes,” Ashcroft said. “We have had strict eligibility requirements in the past. This change will allow us to expand opportunities for students and address market demand.”

There are 20 units — 12 one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom — at Anna Maria, located on Washington Street across from the university’s Children’s Center. Townhouse Apartments, located to the west of Anna Maria and north of the Red Barn has 75 apartments — two one-bedroom ADA units; two, two-bedroom ADA units, 50 two-bedroom units and 21 three-bedroom units.

Rents at Anna Maria run from $463 a month for shared occupancy to $605 per month for single or family occupancy of two-bedroom units. Townhouse rents range from 515 per month for one-bedroom ADA units to $760 per month for single or family occupancy of three-bedroom units.

To rent at these complexes, students must be at least 18, married couples with or without children with a marriage license, unmarried couples without children who provide a certificate of registered domestic partnership recognized by Washington State and unmarried couples with children or single parents with children who can provided requested documentation. Single graduate students and single students age 25 and older are also allowed to rent.

Some current family residents of the complexes were not pleased with the university’s decision. In an email, Rosa Wickham said she and several others were informed of the decision at an Oct. 16 meeting.

“This is my family’s second time attending Eastern Washington University and both of the decisions were made because we had a community of peers that were much like us,” Wickham wrote.

In a phone interview, Wickham said several of those in attendance at the meeting were single parents. Losing access to housing specifically for married students or single-parent students could create hardships, even with the university’s planned rent increases for its complexes next fall.

Ashcroft said the university Housing Department will assist any families in finding “low cost housing in the Cheney community.” He noted low-cost housing units in the city have increased over the past 5-10 years with the growth of new apartment complexes.

He added the university has regular rent increases, and those coming this fall actually will include the cost of the apartment’s utilities. The rents are responsible for covering facility repairs, staffing, operating expenses and future projects.

“We took the average utility rate by current users in our apartment units to determine that increase,” he said. “The apartment complexes and residence halls are considered auxiliary operations at the university. This is common at every institution. We operate like a business and receive zero state dollars.”

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.