Pine Haven apartments closing at USM

Pine Haven apartments — home to graduate and family housing on the University of Southern Mississippi campus — will close at the end of the year.

Scott Blackwell, director of Residence Life at Southern Miss, said due to a decrease in demand for graduate student/family housing, a decision was made about a year ago to stop accepting new tenants for the nine-building complex.

"While they have served the university very well, the reality is that the complex has outlived its life expectancy," said Blackwell, who added the units were built between 1959-63 at a cost of $900,000.

He said it would cost more than $20 million to rebuild the original 300-unit complex, and university officials believe there are local apartments for graduate students and those with families.

The units, which are constructed of concrete and brick, do not have sprinkler systems and have been difficult to retrofit for students with mobility issues, Blackwell said.

"The units are safe to live in, but students with wheelchair needs have a difficult time in Pine Haven," he said. "This factor is among a growing list of facility issues that have resulted in the decision to close Pine Haven."

About 40 tenants still live in the complex but must be out by Dec. 31.

Single-parent Erin Porche, who has lived in Pine Haven since 2012, said her two-bedroom, one-bath apartment fits her needs perfectly.

"We moved here because it was so appropriate for parents," said Porche, 23, who has a son, Eliott, 4. "It makes it easy being a single parent with day care nearby."

Porche said she is looking for another apartment but said it will be difficult to find something as affordable as Pine Haven.

Fall and spring semester rental rates are $2,485 for a three-bedroom unit, $2,332 for two-bedroom units and $2,200 for one-bedroom units. The rates included basic cable and Internet, and all utilities except telephone service.

Blackwell said Pine Haven tenants were notified last summer of the closure and housing rates were not increased for the 2013-14 academic year.

"If any tenants wished to get out of their contract, they could be released without financial penalty — in the past, we asked for two months' notice," Blackwell said. "We just wanted to make it as convenient as possible for apartment dwellers to look for off-campus accommodations."

Porche said she wished there was some way to keep Pine Haven open.

"It's a shame they aren't relocating us, either our families have to help us out or we have to pull it together on our own."

Porche said she would like to remain in Hattiesburg but the only one-bedroom apartment she has found rents for $475 per month and does not include utilities.

"These units are very affordable for low-income families, parents and grad students," she said. "I'm still hoping to find something comparable, but I know it will be difficult."

In 2005 and 2006 when Pine Haven had 19 buildings, half were demolished to make way for The Village, a 10-building sorority housing community.

Blackwell said in the three years he has been at Southern Miss, demand for graduate student housing has been decreasing.

"In 2011, only half of Pine Haven apartments were occupied and currently only 40 doctorate/graduate students with families live in the complex now," he said, adding when the decision was made to close the complex, only 130 units were occupied.

Blackwell said there are no plans at present to replace the apartment complex.