After numerous delays and nearly a year after the original
expected date of completion, all seven buildings of Weyburn
Terrace, a graduate student housing complex in Westwood, were
finished in August in time for graduate students to move in.
Material and labor shortages, as well as other unspecified
reasons, delayed completion of the project, which cost more than
$100 million, caused the delay.
“This is a complex operation with lots of moving parts,
and it’s not uncommon for scheduling fluxes,” said UCLA
spokesman Phil Hampton.
“All major construction is completed. There are just some
final details such as signage, landscaping and painting and stucco
touch-up,” he said.
Of the seven buildings that make up Weyburn Terrace, Palm Court,
Magnolia Court, Jacaranda Court and Olive Court were all completed
between July and November of last year. The three remaining
buildings, Cypress Court, Aloe Court and Sycamore Court, were not
completed until this summer.
Hampton declined to comment on the reasons for the delays of the
last three buildings.
The final building to be finished was Sycamore Court, whose main
building and parking garage were ready July 29. Its townhouse units
were ready Aug. 5.
Currently, 90 percent of the rooms in Weyburn Terrace have been
leased out, and UCLA Housing expects to be at or near capacity by
fall quarter, Hampton said.
Of those graduate students who have already moved in, most
attend the law or medical school because their classes start the
earliest, Hampton said.
Over the past year, many Weyburn Terrace residents complained of
problems including bug infestations, flooding and loud noise from
all the construction.
But now that “all major construction is completed,”
fewer complaints are expected, Hampton said.
“We are not aware of any major problems (with the
buildings), although it’s important to remember that
it’s not uncommon for new residents to phone in
concerns,” Hampton said. “If and when Housing receives
those complaints, Housing and Capital Programs are prepared to work
with the contractors to address those issues.”
First-year law student Garrett Grolemund said that although
Weyburn Terrace is “very beautiful,” there are still a
lot of empty rooms and the housing complex always seems
“depopulated.”
Grolemund said he has also had some problems with his
apartment.
“I have never had a day when both the gas and hot water
worked,” he said.
But since Grolemund is from out of state and was guaranteed the
housing from the university, he said choosing to live in Weyburn
Terrace made it easier and more convenient than having to look for
an apartment.
“I like the apartments a lot,” said Andrea
Khosropour, a first-year medical student and resident of Cypress
Court.
Khosropour said there have been a lot of little problems since
she moved in, especially during her first week of residence.
She said that some of the problems included not being able to
use her key to get into all of the doors in the building. Her key
would only work in one of the doors. She also said that when alarms
were triggered they would sound for a long time before being shut
off.
Despite the problems she initially had, Khosropour said that she
likes living in Weyburn Terrace because of its convenient location
and the opportunity it provides to meet other graduate
students.
Khosropour also said that since she is not from California, it
would have been impossible for her to come early to look for
another apartment, so this was the easiest and best choice for
housing.
With all major construction work completed, final negotiations
with the contractors have begun, Hampton said.
“As with any contract, there quite often are final
negotiations to close out the contract. (Capital Programs) is still
negotiating payments for services rendered,” Hampton
said.
“As part of the final phase of the contract close out,
there are good faith discussions going on with the three
contractors including who is responsible for which expenses. This
is common with construction projects and Weyburn Terrace is no
different.”
Hampton said he would not speculate what the possible outcome
may be of the negotiations.
He also would not comment on whether or not the university would
seek legal action against the contractors for financial losses over
the past year due to unnecessary delays by the contractors.