New apartments located off of Rosecrans Avenue will be available for students in fall 2012, according to Mike Crosby, manager of real estate assets in Biola’s financial department.

Biola will lease the 24 two-bedroom unit building for three years in order to have the option of purchasing it afterward, Crosby said.

“It enhances our ability to give students some additional housing options because we’re at the point where we have more students than we really can fill with all our housing options,” Crosby said.

Tenants in apartments evicted

Current residents were notified of eviction, after Biola acquired the building on Feb. 24-26, in order to free up space for students. After a letter was sent out to tenants to move out, tenants were offered assistance by Biola such as helping to find them a new apartment, Crosby said.

A couple of tenants have contacted Crosby asking for assistance. The tenants may be helped on an individual basis, Crosby said. By law, Biola had to give the tenants at least a 60-day notice, but instead gave them a 90-day notice.

New apartments part of housing selection process

The apartment will soon be in the hands of the housing department. Registration for students for the new apartments will be under the housing selection process this semester. It will be assigned housing, like the apartments Biola currently has, Crosby explained.

The building is expected to house about 96 students, and the apartments are to be a sister building to the Tropicana apartments. The new building will give students another chance to be able to make their apartment feel like their own home, Crosby said.

“I know a lot of students would like to have … a bedroom with a living room and their own kitchen … within reasonable walking distance of the campus,” Crosby said.

Plans to be finalized for spring semester

It is a possibility that the new apartments may only be available to juniors and seniors, as is currently the case for housing apartments, said Jenna Bartlo, media relations coordinator. She said that the plans for the new apartments should be finalized in time for housing selection this semester.