UNL grad students say family housing closures put many in limbo

All three of UNL's housing units designated for students with families will close in June. Many students worry they won't be able to afford rent at other apartment complexes.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Alex LaMotte is a mother of two girls, Charlotte, 6, and Penelope, 3. Her husband Brad is a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The LaMotte family moved to Lincoln so Brad could get his master’s degree at UNL.

“He’s the first one to graduate college in his family,” LaMotte said.

On Friday, the LaMottes received an email from UNL University Housing saying that all three of the family-designated campus housing buildings (Colonial Terrace, U Street Apartments, and Vine Street Apartments) were either being sold or repurposed. The properties will close by June 30.

The news is particularly frustrating to the LaMottes because they were put on a waiting list before finally getting the apartment. LaMotte says family housing has been a “safe haven” for young families.

“We’re scared,” LaMotte said. “We just moved here from Texas. My little girl just enrolled in school. She’s just now making friends. She has friends in this apartment complex. She feels safe here.”

According to the letter, tenants will have the ability to terminate their lease without penalty at any time in order to find a new apartment.

Students are guaranteed their housing through the spring semester.

The issue for students is that the UNL family housing units are much more affordable to students than other apartment complexes in the city. LaMotte estimates that her family’s monthly rent is in the range of $650 to $700 a month.

There is no alternative family campus housing on campus.

“We don’t have grandparents or godparents or cousins or anyone close to us,” LaMotte said. “And that’s the same for a lot of the people in this apartment complex. A lot of the people have families in different countries.”

Mohamed Aly and Mohammed Sbai are international students who also depend on the affordability of UNL’s family housing.

Aly, 23, is a computer science master’s student from Egypt. Sbai, 24, is a third-year mechanical engineering major from Morocco.

Aly says he was shown a Colonial Terrace apartment three months ago, and signed a lease two months ago. He is getting married in May and was planning on bringing his wife over to the United States to live with him.

With today’s news, he says he’s unsure where he will be able to find an affordable apartment.

“We came here with goals and with dreams to achieve and pursue,” Aly said. “As a master’s student, the amount of money that we get compensated with is little to nothing compared to regular jobs.”

“It just feels like UNL is giving up on us,” Sbai said.

Aly says the change is very scary to international students, many of whom bring their families from other countries.

“All of them are in shock, because they don’t know what to do,” Aly said. “They don’t know with the little money that they get, where, how are they going to find something that is as affordable. [Affordable housing] is one of the things that students come to UNL for.”

Channel 8 reached out to the university for comment.

In a statement, Charlie Francis, the director of university housing said:

“Since the time that the three residential complexes were built, the Lincoln rental market has expanded significantly – particularly in the past five years. While we remain committed to providing meaningful learning experiences in our residential communities, we are confident that there are a number of residential communities able to accommodate our students with families.”

Aly says he hopes that the university reconsiders their June deadline to move out and gives students the calendar year to figure things out.

Leases in the UNL family housing units are year-to-year. LaMotte says her husband has more than a year left in his master’s program, so the family plans to stay in Lincoln.

She says that she is considering working with DoorDash to help bring in extra income, but doesn’t know how the family will be able to afford childcare for Penelope.

“These are the families that are hurting, who are going to school to be better individuals so that they can contribute to society,” LaMotte said. It’s just, they’re knocking the wind out of us.”

Between the three family housing buildings, there are 111 total units.

A university spokesperson tells Channel 8 that the apartments are more than 50 years old and that many systems (water, plumbing, etc.) are reaching the end of their useful life.

The university is hosting a Q&A session on Monday, February 14, at noon via Zoom – for people in family housing with questions or concerns.