State College high-rise pipe burst led to long hotel stays, financial stress, residents say

When Brian Bloom was searching for a place to live in downtown State College for his junior year at Penn State, he focused on finding somewhere comfortable with enough space and amenities. He decided on The Maxxen, a downtown State College mixed-use high-rise that opened in 2020.

He lived at Penn State his freshman year but didn’t enjoy it, and ended up transferring home. This year was his first year back and he and his parents liked that The Maxxen offered a private room, one roommate and amenities like fitness center, outdoor deck, penthouse sky deck and golf simulator.

“It’s supposed to be one of the best apartments in the area. So, that’s where they put me, just so they knew I’d be fine coming back here and have a good time acclimating until I get my footing for next year,” Bloom said. He lives on the 12th floor in a penthouse-like apartment, and said he pays about $2,200 in monthly rent.

But in early February, when temperatures were extremely cold, a pipe burst on the 12th floor of The Maxxen, flooding apartments and hallways. Bloom and an unknown number of other residents were displaced from their luxury apartments and were given hotel arrangements, paid for by the apartment management.

Bloom’s hotel stay was short-lived, lasting only a few days before he and his roommate were allowed back in the apartment, though he said the conditions were subpar once repairs started weeks after the pipe burst. The CDT spoke with other residents and parents of residents of the building who were displaced for longer and said they lost money on meals and other costs not adequately covered by management.

At least one resident is still living in a hotel room, still paying rent for an apartment they’re unable to live in and given per diem payments in the form of gift cards. Some of those affected spoke with the CDT on the condition of anonymity, due to fear of retaliation from apartment management.

“My rent is extremely high. I’m not the type of person that has that money to just throw around. It’s really upsetting, annoying, frustrating, for all of this to be happening. There’s barely any communication,” said one resident who stayed in a hotel from Feb. 2-March 6.

Tom Wolf, regional manager of University Partners, which manages The Maxxen, said in a written statement they are trying to return residents to their apartments as quickly and safely as possible.

“The safety and well-being of our residents remain our top priority. We are working hard to finish the repairs and return the residents to The Maxxen as quickly and safely as possible while maintaining open, proactive, and consistent communication throughout the recovery process,” Wolf said.

Wolf did not address questions about how many apartments were impacted, what the extent of the damage is, how many residents were displaced or what the timeline is for their return to their apartments.

Living in an ‘active construction zone’

Brian Bloom said he was in class around noon on Feb. 2 when he received a call from his roommate and a message from property management about flooding in the apartment. When he returned home, the hallway had about an inch or two of water, and his apartment was also flooded in the kitchen through the living room, but stopped right before their bedrooms.

He and his roommate were given rooms at a hotel in downtown State College for two or three days, Bloom said. When they returned home, the damage seemed to be limited to the floors. Inspectors came and tested the humidity in the floors to see if there was still water trapped, and they set up dehumidifiers to dry out the apartment.

Bloom said there didn’t seem to be any issues with the apartment during this time, but some remediation efforts began after spring break, and he was basically left without a working kitchen for days. The kitchen cabinets and sink were removed and placed in the living room, and there was no working water in the kitchen. He asked for more information and when things would be back to normal, but said the timeline kept changing.

“It got to the point where our dirty dishes started piling up. I didn’t want to cook — I didn’t want to make dishes, so I’d be going out to, like, a Chipotle or a breakfast shop, and I’m someone who’s very health conscious. I’m big in the gym so it just messed up my stomach, and messed with my mental (health) doing that,” Bloom said. “On top of … us being left without a kitchen, it was during exam week too. I had exams at school. It just was very destructive.”

Bloom and the apartment management sent emails back and forth about the situation, but ultimately he was told they did not have a timeframe for when the kitchen would be back, and he questioned how the apartment was livable.

“We’re living pretty much in an active construction zone. We aren’t getting the necessities we paid for. And it was totally unfair. I was like, ‘I really do expect us to get some sort of payment for this and going through this because we’re paying for the electricity, ... we have to go out to eat for food. I’m a big cook, I would cook the food I buy, now I have to go out to Chipotle and buy $12 bowls, things such as that, it’s expensive. And that was unfair. And these aren’t livable conditions.’” Bloom said. “They said, ‘your apartment is livable.’”

Even after his apartment was mostly put back together, he was still without a kitchen floor. Photos show Ram Board — temporary floor protection — in the kitchen and some exposed concrete.

In a written statement, the State College borough said The Maxxen was code compliant.

“Section 101.6 of the Centre Region Rental Housing and Building Safety Code includes a provision for tenant rights. After conversations with informed parties, it is the Borough of State College’s understanding that The Maxxen has been compliant with code,” Elton Hayes, borough spokesperson, said. The Centre Region Code Administration did not respond to multiple inquiries.

The whole situation was stressful, Bloom said, and had a detrimental impact on him and his studies.

“Being a dual major in accounting and finance ... I need to spend all the time I can studying. I need to really plan out meals,” Bloom said. “I like to meal prep so the day before, I’ll cook and then I’ll do the dishes, and everything will be clean. Like, I need a nice, safe environment for my mind to function. And I didn’t have that.

“I mean, I had the dehumidifier going 24/7 — once you hear a sound, you fixate on that sound and it takes away from your studies. It just wasn’t the right environment to be successful in school at all.”

‘A complete disappointment’

Parents of a student who lives at The Maxxen said their son has been living in different hotel rooms since the pipe burst in early February. Despite not being able to live in the apartment for more than two months, they’ve still had to pay the $1,700 monthly rent. They’ve been told their son has a hotel reservation until May 8.

They’re not sure what will happen after that.

At first, his hotel stay was extended every three days and he typically did not receive a notification about the next stay until late the evening before they had to move to a different hotel.

“If you have to check out at 11 o’clock but you have a class, what are you going to do? Where are you going to put your stuff?” the mother said. He has since been staying in the same hotel and has that reservation until mid-May.

The parents said on Jan. 11 a pipe burst on the 12th floor and water was coming into their son’s apartment a couple floors below. At that time, it was just his bedroom that was flooded and maintenance used a wet/dry vac and put a fan in to dry it for over a week, and periodically came in to check on it.

Then the “big one” happened on Feb. 2, said the parents, who requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation.

Their son called them at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 2 and said his apartment was flooded, and didn’t know what to do. He skipped classes that day and waited to hear from the apartment management on next steps, which didn’t come until about 9 p.m., when they were told they’d be going to a hotel.

The hotel rooms, unlike their apartments, did not have laundry facilities, which added another inconvenience and unexpected cost. They also didn’t have a kitchen or a microwave, and another displaced resident said they were even without a fridge in their hotel room.

“It’s been very stressful for all of us, especially my son. I mean, having to deal with this and not know when you’re going to be moving and where you’re going to be moving, and dealing with going to school and everything else,” the mother of the student who’s still living at hotels said.

Wolf, the regional manager of the company that manages The Maxxen, said they quickly found accommodations for the affected residents after the flooding occurred, acknowledging challenges in doing so.

“Although it was difficult to obtain comparable housing for multiple residents on such short notice, we were able to find safe, suitable accommodations for everyone affected,” Wolf said.

But between paying for laundry, eating out and other unexpected costs, residents said it started to add up. The Maxxen provided a $75 per diem payment to the displaced residents — in the form of a gift card.

The parents of the student who’s still in a hotel said he’d been living in a hotel room for at least four weeks before getting any reimbursement. He received an email saying he was given a small allotment of money and could pick from 3,000 gift cards to various restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses to redeem it. The parents said they were told they could deposit the money into a bank account, but when they asked the apartment management about that option, they were told it would take too long to set up the deposits and they went the gift card route.

Wolf said the per diem compensation, as well as rent and utility payments owed, are consistent with the residents’ lease terms.

“Gift cards were issued as the most efficient and timely way to distribute approved funds to a large number of residents,” Wolf said.

But those who spoke with the CDT said the gift cards were limited, as they couldn’t be put toward every expense accumulated while they were living out of the apartment.

The parents live two hours away from Penn State and made the trip several times to help, including during the week to take things from their son’s apartment to avoid any possible damage to his belongings.

“We thought that he was going to get into something, you know, nice apartment, lots of amenities. And we said, ‘well, it’s going to be a little more, but maybe it’ll add to the experience of being there.’ It didn’t happen. It’s been a complete disappointment,” the father said.

‘Upsetting, annoying, frustrating’

A senior Penn State student living at The Maxxen said she had to stay in a hotel from Feb. 2 until March 6, and did not have a fridge, microwave or laundry facilities.

The resident also requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation.

There was a lack of communication from The Maxxen, she said, and it was difficult to get a prompt response from them most of the time. She pays around $1,700 a month and requested discounted rent, since she was not actively living in the apartment for a month, and was unable to use any of the amenities.

Her per diem was not given immediately, either, and she said she had to spend her own money on food every day.

Eventually she sent another email stating she would be withholding her March rent and would put it into an escrow account until she’s paid the per diem via her bank account. A manager at The Maxxen told her an escrow account was the correct way to go, other people have also threatened not to pay rent, and not to be worried about getting evicted because it’s an unusual situation, the resident said.

But after she received the charge for the March rent and did not pay it, she was hit with late fees.

After returning to the apartment, the resident said she was happy to be back, but she’s still reeling from a stressful situation.

“Not knowing where I’m going to be living the next day or the next week, how long this is going to be happening — this is my senior year, by the way,” she said. “So it’s like, I’m in these classes and trying to get my work done, and focus on trying to get good grades. And that’s hard because all of the stress — financial stress, just stress overall about my living situation. And so, yeah, that was a lot.”

Wolf said residents can contact the on-site management team at manager@themaxxen.com or 814-246-2027 with questions.

“...We understand the impact this has had on our residents and remain focused on supporting them every step of the way as rebuilding efforts continue,” Wolf said.