On The Spot Blog

I happened to catch one of the maintenance staff members over the weekend, and was talking to him about the redevelopment.

According to him, it looks like the wrecking ball will hit the three buildings I identified previously around the first of May.

Don’t worry though, there’s plenty of other "prep" work going on in other parts of the complex.  I’ll have an update on that soon.

Editor’s Note: This is the final of three parts outlining the beginning of the redevelopment of the Archstone Memorial Heights Apartment Complex, the first two parts can be found here and here.

It all started simple enough, a rent increase.  After living in the complex 2 1/2 years (and reportedly longer for others) Archstone increased rents across the board in December, 2006. Not a typical rent increase, rents shot up 25%.

With the onslaught that followed, many tenants moved on as their leases expired, leaving huge vacancys.  Archstone was able to fill most of those units in the months after.  I renegotiated, and got a more reasonable increase, staying for "one more year".

In December 2007, I was greeted with another across the board 20% increase.  Again tenants moved out in droves.  I had hoped to be ready to move on, but other constraints made me stay for yet another year.  I again renegotiated the lease, reducing the increase slightly.

The complex is not the best I’ve seen, but it’s not the worst.  With single pane windows and poor insulation, noise is always a problem (Particularly if you’re on the "street" side of the complex).  The units, by comparison with other complexes in the area, are what you could consider "basic", and small by comparison as well.

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Editor's Note: This is the second of three parts outlining the beginning of the redevelopment of the Archstone Memorial Heights Apartment Complex, the first part is posted here, and the final part will be posted in the near future.

At the May 30, 2007 city council meeting, a request to abandon three fire hydrant easements was on the city council agenda:

RECOMMENDATION from Director Department of Public Works & Engineering,
reviewed and approved by the Joint Referral Committee, on request from
Ronnie D. Harris of Brown & Gay Engineers, Inc., on behalf of ASN Multifamily
Limited Partnership [SCA-North Carolina (1) LLC, a Delaware limited partnership
{Archstone-Smith Operating Trust, a Maryland real estate investment trust,
(Peter Grimm, Vice President), sole member}, General Partner], for
abandonment and sale of three fire hydrant easements and a 10-foot-wide
water line easement in exchange for the conveyance to the City of a fire
hydrant easement, all located within Memorial Heights, Section One Replat,
out of the John Austin Survey, A-1, Parcels SY7-082A through D and
KY7-248 - APPRAISERS - DISTRICT H - GARCIA

A look at the agenda backup quickly shows the areas of the property in question.  This motion was quickly rubber stamped through the council.

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Editor's Note:  This is the first of three parts outlining the beginning of the redevelopment of the Archstone Memorial Heights Apartment Complex, the remaining two parts will be posted in the coming days, time permitting.

As reported recently on Off the Kuff and SwampLot Archstone Memorial Heights is on the verge of a complete redevelopment of it's complex at Heights and Washington Boulevards.  I have personal insight into the situation, as I have lived in the complex for the last four years.

One of the first signs of emminent changes coming was when the trash compactor failed in July 2007, and it wasn't repaired for weeks leaving piles of trash spilling out into common areas, leaving a stench for residents to smell anywhere in the area.

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Ok, so it's time for me to try this again.  We'll get this down pat sometime…

I've got a couple of topics on the radar, more to come soon.