Apartment availability in Calcasieu Parish post-hurricane

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Following the hurricanes, apartment units available for lease are sparse.

With the widespread storm damage, previous homeowners are now turning to apartment complexes to put a roof over their heads.

“It’s been pretty stressful,” says Graham Russell, who was living out of a hotel for several months.

The Calcasieu Parish Housing Authority says residents will be struggling to get back into the city of Lake Charles well into 2021.

“We’re all working very hard to try to get our residents back here to Lake Charles,” says Tarek Polite of the Calcasieu Parish Housing Authority. He says, “unfortunately, it’s a process, it’s not going to happen overnight.”

Advenir managers say even with 100% exterior damage and 75% interior damage to their units, they’ve been leasing since the storms swept through. Many Advenir residents, who just secured apartments, were on a list of nearly 65 applicants waiting for their spot to open up.

Other apartment complexes like Evergreen River Oaks are leasing out at the moment, to people who put their name on a waiting list.

For other complexes like Muller’s Lofts and Erdace, it could take a couple of months before renters can secure their spots.

With supply being this low and demand being very high, the Housing Authority says it’s caused an uptick in prices.

“Obviously that’s going to cause prices to increase,” says Polite. “So it’s probably not uncommon right now for units to be renting for much higher than what they were a year ago, or 6 months ago.”

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