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Appalachian House makes unforeseen close |
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Thursday, 03 April 2008 |
 | Lovins
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by JAMISON DORAN
News Editor
The Appalachian House in Washington, D.C. was closed March 18.
“The decision to sell the property was made by the Board of Trustees of the Endowment Fund at [Appalachian State University],” said Greg Lovins, interim vice chancellor for business affairs. “The endowment fund is what was used to purchase the property in 2003, so the board is the one to make the decision to sell.”
 The Appalachian House in Washington, D.C. was closed March 18. Special to The Appalachian
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Individuals
with pre-existing reservations have been notified that their
reservation has been cancelled and refunds are being processed,
according to the Appalachian House’s Web site.
In May 2007, a Washington, D.C. zoning official visited the house and said the university was in violation of zoning requirements, Lovins said. Since that initial visit university officials have been talking to D.C. zoning officials to try to be able to keep the house open.
“The house was purchased in an area of mainly apartments and single family residents,” Lovins said.
“We were using the [Appalachian House] as kind of a European hostel for guests and zoning officials
determined it could not be used for that purpose.”
Lovins said the university hasn’t determined the next plan of action and whether or not that will include
purchasing another property in the D.C. area.
A property would need to be close to a Metro station, in correct zoning and in an area that would be
safe for students, Lovins said. “Safety is the number one concern, and that would be the most
important part in determining a new location, if it comes to that.”
Right now the university will be hiring an appraiser to appraise the property and then the next step will
be interviewing realtors and putting the house up for sale.
Lovins said luckily there weren’t many groups who had planned to use the Appalachian House this
spring and letting those groups who use it in the summer know now it should hopefully give them
enough time to make other arrangements.
“We really regret that it came down to this,” Lovins said. “We wish we could’ve kept it open and we
made every effort to do so, but it just couldn’t happen.”
Anyone who has any questions about the situation is encouraged to contact the Office of Business
Affairs.
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