Radisson houses students until December

Students who signed up to live in the new student dorm at 933 W. Broad St., which was destroyed by a large-scale fire in March, will have to live in the Radisson Hotel until December when the building is complete.

The apartment complex burned down because of wood materials it was structured with, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch article that stated the building did not meet Richmond’s building code.

Under the contract VCU has with Broad Street RAMZ LLC, which VCU is leasing the apartment from, the company is responsible for housing the students who were supposed to move into the building in August, said Jane Grassadonia, director of residence education.

She also said the building will be finished Dec. 1.

And Donna Thornburg, director of staff operations for facilities management, said students will move into the apartments late December. They will sign a 12-month lease.

Grassadonia said the Radisson put in additional Internet connections and wireless services for the 172 students to use. The hotel also set up a study room that will be open at all times and the rooms are equipped with mini-refrigerators. But students will need to have their own towels, blankets and bedspreads.

“They really like working with us and they really wanted our business, so they worked really hard to do what they could to make it more livable,” Grassadonia said about the Radisson hotel employees.

Grassadonia said the hotel’s restaurant will accept Rambucks, which is connected to student ID cards.

Students in the Radisson for the fall semester will pay a reduced rate, which is the amount students living in West Grace Street Student Housing pay: $6,420 per year or $2,502 per semester.

Officials believe the March fire that destroyed the original building began when a cigarette was tossed into a dumpster and lit a fire that moved up a chute to the building under construction. In no time the building went up in flames.

Claude Cooper, Richmond’s building commissioner told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the outside walls of the building’s upper stories were made of wood before the fire. Cooper said the building code specified the walls should have been made of concrete, masonry or with steel framing.

VCU is leasing the building, which will likely be named the Ramz Apartments, for five years from RAMZ. The contractor for the new apartments is KBS, Inc., which is a local firm associated with Kenbridge Builders. Kenbridge Builders constructed the Shafer Court Dining Center.

The four-story structure will have 84 two-bedroom units with four single-bedroom studio units. And it will have two community assistants, which are called resident assistants in dorms, and one resident director, who will live in the studio units.

The new apartment complex will have retail vendors on the first level of the building, but no retailers are currently leasing the space.

There will be a small lounge on each floor. The complex will also feature a kitchen with an oven, stove and refrigerator.

Students will have the option of parking in some of the lots on West Grace Street around the campus.