Knox Boxes
Known for their classic cube shapes, community-friendly yards and the infamous Knoxaplooza, the apartments located on Knox Road, better known as Knox Boxes, are scheduled to be sold and demolished by the Toll Brothers development company this fall.
Once the sale of the Knox Box property is finalized, Toll Brothers will inform Knox Box residents and leaseholders that their leases are terminated, said Todd Dumaresq, the company’s marketing manager. Once leases have been terminated, hundreds of residents living in the apartments will have 90 days to vacate the property and find new housing.
While all Knox Box leases state that in an event similar to the Toll Brothers acquisition, residents will be given 90 days to leave the property upon written notice from the landlord, and while news of the deal went public in January, the demolition announcement has still rattled residents — and potentially this university’s Department of Resident Life.
With 400-plus beds in the Knox Box property, a sizable population can be expected to be displaced in the upcoming school year. These residents, who are largely members of this university community, now have to scramble to find a roof that will remain over their heads well after syllabus week. However, with Prince George’s County’s bill proposing to curtail rental properties, the already large number of university students and the high demand for both on-campus and off-campus housing, finding a place to live last minute might prove challenging.
While the Knox Box situation seems like the time and place for Resident Life to step in and help displaced students find a new home away from home, the department is taking a passive stance. Tiffany Gaines, assistant director of housing partnerships, said in a statement to The Diamondback that the department’s ability to help is limited.
Because Resident Life is unable to offer on-campus housing to Knox Box tenants, Gaines stated that the Office of Off-Campus Housing will help the displaced residents by providing print and online databases listing alternative off-campus housing.
Given that the Knox Box property is private and unaffiliated with the university, providing displaced students with pamphlets advertising housing alternatives hardly seems the best way to go about finding hundreds of students a place to call home. This university has an obligation to ensure that its students have a place to live, instead of supplying a meager trail of brochures.
First, having potentially hundreds of homeless students would cause quite the public relations nightmare and most definitely tarnish the reputation of this university. Second, it is the duty of the university to provide a well-rounded academic experience for its students. And for hundreds of students left without a place to live, the Dean’s List seems almost out of the question.
With classes, internships, jobs and personal lives, these soon-to-be displaced Knox Box residents have enough to worry about without scrambling to find a place to live in between classes. Resident Life needs to act — and act fast — because sooner rather than later, there could be a band of displaced Knox Box residents pitching tents on McKeldin Mall and showering at the Eppley Recreation Center. A good education is not just the result of hard studying and academic performance; it also comes with having four walls, a roof and a bed.
