Oklahoma City apartment complex lost $200,000, laid off employees due to the government shutdown

A northwest Oklahoma City apartment complex that offered free rent to furloughed Federal Aviation Administration students during the partial government shutdown says it lost $200,000 in profits and was forced to lay off at least 20 employees as a result.

“It's been extremely difficult,” said Kristy Koon, general manager at Isola Bella Apartments. “We've had to do that and cut hours because at the end of the day, we have bills also. That was a very, very hard decision.”

When parts of the federal government shut down Dec. 22, the FAA Academy in southwest Oklahoma City was among the casualties. Students from around the country, training to be air traffic controllers, were furloughed and told to go home without pay.

Isola Bella, which caters to FAA Academy students, offered to let them live rent-free during the shutdown. Koon assumed at the time, as many in Washington did, that the shutdown would not last long. Instead, it stretched on for more than a month.

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