Howard University partners with four off-campus housing options. Out of the four partners, Mazza GrandMarc is a popular option that serves many students in the DMV area. However, some residents say that while this housing is home to many Howard students, it has its issues.
Located in College Park, Maryland, Mazza is a 40-minute drive from The Yard. Some Mazza residents have experienced a history of response time delays from maintenance, difficulties with contacting management and concerns about shuttle services.
On Jan. 9, 2026, students began their return to the D.C. area after winter break. While many successfully returned to their dorms and apartments, some Howard students living in Mazza GrandMarc experienced challenges.
After returning on Jan. 10 around 5 p.m., Lauryn Simmons, a junior journalism major and dance theatre arts minor from Detroit, Michigan, used her electric key to unlock the front door of the apartment with no issues. However, upon reaching her personal suite, Simmons realized the door handle was locked.
Electric keys are distributed to residents to access living spaces and suites. The keys are to be inserted into the top lock and turned; after this, the light at the top will flash green if it is unlocked, or red if it is locked.
Residents can unlock the top lock with an electric key, while the bottom lock can only be secured from inside the room. In Simmons’ case, the bottom lock had been engaged.
“There were a lot of emotions going on in that moment, because this [had] never happened before,” Simmons said.
Before leaving for the winter break, Mazza residents were alerted that maintenance and management would be entering units to conduct quarterly inspections. On Dec. 15, a statement was sent to residents saying maintenance and management were going to enter common areas and bedspaces to inspect the water heaters, air filters and unit conditions from Dec. 15 to Dec.19.
While the alert noted that all bedspaces would be locked after inspection, residents did not know they would be unable to enter their rooms.
Simmons said when she realized she was locked out, she immediately contacted the emergency maintenance number that was provided by Mazza. The call was transferred to maintenance, and Simmons was informed that they would not be able to assist her until the next day. This is because the on-call maintenance lives in Richmond, Virginia — a two-hour drive from the apartment complex.
“I slept on the couch that night,” Simmons said.
On Nov. 12, 2025, Mazza switched its management from Campus Apartments Management Company to CLS Living, which manages various student housing buildings. Some residents are concerned that living conditions have not improved compared to previous management.
After Anya Valle, a junior business management major from Queens, New York, returned to her suite after Thanksgiving break, she was unable to access her room because of an issue similar to Simmons; the door was locked from the inside. Valle said that she spoke to maintenance, and they informed her that someone would be on the way.
Again, with maintenance located in Richmond, Virginia, they were unable to come out and assist Valle. After 24-hours, no one showed, and Valle had to stay with a friend.
“They finally opened it that Saturday. So, on Thursday and Friday, I had to sleep somewhere else,” Valle said.
Before leaving for the break, Valle, like Simmons, was informed that maintenance would be doing work in her room, but she did not expect the unit’s handle to be locked.
While she was not locked out of her room after returning from the winter break, Valle came back with a small screwdriver just in case this situation happened again. Using the tool, Valle helped Simmons unlock the handle to her suite, not maintenance.
“The only reason I regained access [to my room] was because my suitemate saw me, lounging on the couch,” Simmons said.
In a written statement to The Hilltop, Quintin Veasley, the director of Residence Life in University Housing (ResLife), said that ResLife will be working with Mazza to review the incident regarding residents who experienced difficulties accessing their rooms upon returning from winter break.
“Howard University’s Office of Residence Life is actively working with Mazza property management to review the incident, strengthen coordination, clarify roles, access and emergency protocols and establish improved procedures to better support students’ needs moving forward,” Veasley said.
For some residents like Simmons and Valle, issues with management and maintenance are not new. Other issues mentioned by students include slow maintenance response and the leasing office being closed before normal closing hours.
Multiple residents who talked to The Hilltop wished to remain anonymous, citing fears of potential conflict due to being an international student and consequences with Mazza management.
One resident said she was unable to access the online payment portal used for rent payments on Dec. 1, 2025. When the resident tried contacting the leasing office, she was informed that someone should be in the office to assist her around 10 a.m., but later learned that the leasing office postponed its hours to the afternoon.
Although residents are given a five-day grace period for payments, the student was concerned that if assistance was not received in time, then a late fee could be charged to her account. The resident said that Mazza initially sent out an email saying that usernames and passwords would remain the same for the payment portal–but the resident, along with other residents, eventually figured out that to regain access to the portal, they would have to reset their passwords.
Another Mazza resident told The Hilltop that maintenance and management are typically not responsive. When this resident experienced their suite’s washer and dryer area door falling on them, they did not contact maintenance due to a lack of response in the past. This resident has also experienced issues with the payment portal.
“We have a lot of problems with our bills being paid. So every time we have rent due, they’ll be out of office. And, they’ll have problems with the portal because they change the portal as well,” they shared with The Hilltop.
As Howard currently leases with Mazza, Simmons said that before the management change, Howard’s residential assistants were typically in the leasing office, but now she hardly sees them. Multiple resident assistants declined to speak with The Hilltop because they are employed through Howard University.
Other residents describe a rebranding of Mazza as new management has entered the residential building. Leah Osei, a junior biology major at Howard and current resident at Mazza, said that after returning from the winter break, she noticed a shift.
“They are remodeling and rebranding Mazza. They’re like ‘oh we’re going to update all of the dorms, we’re going to have a new clubhouse, gym, everything,’ but they also are branding it as only UMD (University of Maryland) students,” said Osei.
Mia Keitt, a junior political science major at Howard from Suwannee, Georgia, said she enjoys living in Mazza but has noticed the shift in branding as well.
“[Outside the building,] there are signs only mentioning UMD now [as of Feb. 7]. …Before it said UMD, Howard and Bowie. It seems like they’re just trying to keep it within the UMD campus life,” Keitt said.
Residents were recently informed that beginning in fall 2026, shuttle service to Howard’s campus will be discontinued. Residents believe that this recent change to the shuttle services is due to Howard possibly ending its partnership with Mazza.
Howard University’s Office of University Communications (OUC) did not respond to confirm or deny this in time for publication.
Before Mazza changed its management team, residents had issues with the provided shuttle services. Last semester, Howard briefly discontinued weekday shuttle services to Mazza. Private buses were contracted by the building to aid this shuttle service shutdown.
Prior to the management change, Keitt helped lead a group of 10 students to speak with the Office of Auxiliary Enterprises. When Howard discontinued the weekday shuttle services in the fall, it happened during the first week of school. Keitt recalls that the services were cancelled midday and residents were not informed of the cancellation beforehand.
“It was a group of maybe 10 of us one day–[we] went down to the auxiliary services and demanded that they help us understand why they did this and also to restore service. I think organizing actually worked,” she said.
Keitt said that about two to three weeks later, the shuttle services were reinstalled.
After multiple attempts, Mazza’s current management team, CLS Living, did not respond to the request to comment.
Copy edited by Kennedi Bryant
Update
Jessica Nix, the chief marketing officer of CLS Living, stated that Mazza GrandMarc was recently sold and is now under new ownership and management in a statement to The Hilltop on March 9. Nix said CLS Living is unclear on the future of their lease partnership with Howard. The property is currently promoting an “all students welcome” campaign – and will continue leasing to Howard students that can commute themselves as shuttle services will only continue if provided by the university.
Editor’s Note: CLS Living did not respond to several requests for comment in time for the story’s original publication. This story was updated on March 26, 2026 to include their comment.