x
Breaking News
More () »

All floors at 'The Standard' apartments open to residents following months of delays

After months of setbacks and delays, The Standard at Knoxville received the city's final approval to open up all the apartment's floors to residents.

After months of setbacks and delays, The Standard at Knoxville received the city's final approval to open up all the apartment's floors to residents.

Landmark Properties, the company that owns the complex, said it received the final Certificate of Occupancy from the city and can now allow all of its residents to move in before the Spring Semester at UT begins. 

The delays and unfinished condition of the apartment left many of its residents upset, and now Landmark Properties is now facing a civil lawsuit.

Even after the Fall 2016 semester at the University of Tennessee came to a close, the apartment complex's 8th and top floor remained uninhabited after multiple delays from its original August 2016 projected finish date.

WBIR 10News obtained a lawsuit filed in Knox County General Sessions Court against the complex in November. The lawsuit claims the tenant was guaranteed a rent reduction but never received it. It also alleges poor work quality and a lack of promised amenities.

Other students we spoke with have similar complaints.

"I need to go have my back looked at, because I haven't been sleeping properly in a bed for the last six months," said junior Zain Valani, who signed a lease to live on the seventh floor of The Standard At Knoxville months ago.

Previous: Top floor at 'The Standard' waiting for final approval as city allows partial occupancy

The Standard has offered  a combination gifts and forms of compensation for displaced students, which included a weekly VISA gift card of $125 and a choice between a free hotel stay or monthly rental credits.

Many students chose to stay in hotels, but when the opening faced delays, Valani chose to stay with a friend in Fort Sanders and receive rental credits.

"I've been living off a couch for the last six months while The Standard has been telling me, 'Oh, your apartment will be done next week, your apartment will be done next week, your apartment will be done week,’" he said.

After the semester ended in mid-December, he learned his floor was finally ready for move-in, but said his unit does not include a balcony like promised.

The court date for the lawsuit is slated for Feb. 8.

Previous: First round of UT students move into 'The Standard' apartments

More: 'The Standard' project owners face delays at other schools

Students that leased apartments on the 7th floor were allowed to move-in back in December after the city signed off on a "partial final" approval for the building, but Landmark Properties had been waiting for the final Certificate of Occupancy to open the 8th floor.

Originally, Landmark Properties said they expected the city to sign off on the final inspection shortly after the 7th floor was approved, saying the floor was finished. It took inspectors longer than the company expected, though, and many residents expressed frustration over a lack of communication for when they would be allowed to move in.

Most of the lower floors of the apartment were eventually opened for move-in back in October. Students that signed leases before the delays were forced to stay in hotels until the construction of their floor was complete.

Landmark Properties told WBIR 10News back in September the delays were due to unanticipated construction issues and a tight labor market.

Before You Leave, Check This Out