COLLEGE TOWN, FL (WTXL) — Hundreds of students are still without permanent housing after the Perla Apartments complex in College Town delayed a planned Aug. 21 move-in with just hours' notice.
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The delay came after a series of rapidly changing communications from the complex.
Celia Zagula, a parent who started a Facebook group to connect families experiencing the same delays, described how quickly the situation changed.
Zagula says on Aug. 19, Perla told residents that floors one and two would not be ready, but that students on floors three through seven could still move in as planned.
The following morning, the complex sent another email saying move-in was still on track. Then, just hours later, Perla told residents all seven floors would be delayed.
Students are now living in temporary hotel rooms while they wait for the complex to be ready.
Perla is providing displaced residents a $50 per day food credit, a $20 per day Uber Eats gift card, and up to $100 for storage. The complex is also providing a daily prorated rent credit to residents' accounts as of the lease start date of Aug. 21.
But with FSU's first home football game approaching this weekend, Katie McHugh says the uncertainty is making it difficult to plan.
"They said that they won't know until like Tuesday or Wednesday as to whether they're going to be done or not and if we're going to get hotel placements. But I don't know where the hotel placements are going to be because of it being game day this coming weekend, and like, Hotel Indigo said hotels are sold out. They were telling us that hotels around are sold out, so I don't know where we're going to go," McHugh said.
McHugh says the new move-in date is expected to be Friday, Aug. 28 — a week after the original date — but that her family is hesitant to make the six-hour trip from West Palm Beach back to Tallahassee until they know the date will hold.
"The first game day is coming up too, and, like, I just want to be settled in my own place," McHugh said.
Not all displaced students share the same level of frustration. Logan Przybylowicz said the temporary accommodations have provided some stability during the wait.
"Yeah, I guess it's a little disorienting, but, I mean, realistically there's not much you can do about it, and they were very accommodating at the end of the day. I can't just say, you know, it was horrible. They were very accommodating, actually, and understanding," Przybylowicz said.
ABC 27 reached out to the Cardinal Group, the company that manages the property, asking for answers about what is preventing move-in and whether Aug. 28 is still the expected move-in date.
The company said its public relations team would respond, but at this point, they have not sent that response.
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