Promenade to address resident complaints

After two weeks of complaints from tenants and unfinished construction, owners of the $54 million Village Promenade said they’re making progress addressing the problems.

Residents reported finding mold, dust, dirt and faulty appliances, among other issues after the apartment complex opened.

“We have a construction crew on-site. I talked to them today and asked how many work orders they had, and they said three,” said Larry Gough, real estate developer at Investment Property Advisors and building owner for the Village Promenade. “The first day we opened our doors we had 70.”

The developers expected most of the problems, which are not uncommon for new buildings, Gough said. 

The complex opened Aug. 16  after 10 months of construction. The units and parking enclosure were completed, but still had an inoperable garage elevator and outages of internet, cable and air conditioning. 

Still missing are all amenities — the pool, hot tub and fitness center — which are expected to be completed between mid-September and October, Gough said. Businesses are expected to move into the commercial space throughout the year.

While construction is still going, the city of Muncie granted temporary occupancy to the Promenade. This means the building is safe for renters, but will require a follow-up inspection once it’s finished.

Gough said the majority of work orders and concerns raised by residents were nothing big.

Still, one resident said her issues were of particular concern, citing paint splatters on the carpeting and urine in a shower.

“We have continuously been having problems the entire time we have been living there,” said Allison Wilson, a sophomore digital sport production major. “Upon move-in, they had informed us that they had not even cleaned our unit.”

When she first walked into her apartment, Wilson said her unit was “sloppily done.”

“The carpet doesn’t fit the corners, the paint was splattered everywhere. Our dishwasher wasn’t hooked up,” she said.

Other issues she found included no wi-fi, little to no air conditioning, cracks in shower tiles, buckling in wood flooring, outlets without coverings, a washer not hooked up properly and dust on every piece of furniture.

Wilson was unable to provide the Daily News with any photos of the paint on her carpet, urine in the shower or other serious damages.

Gough said they re-cleaned her apartment and took other measures to rectify the situation.

Wilson was also worried about her safety.

“I stayed in a hotel the other night for security purposes. With the construction workers in the hallways all the time, and we had been told they may or may not have master keys, we had construction workers knocking on our door at 11:30 at night,” she said.

Wilson and her roommate were unable to identify the workers. She said they were unaccompanied by any management. They called their parents, who put them up in a hotel for a night.

Gough said the workers were there repairing air conditioning units that had be knocked out by the storm from last week. The Promenade had been struck by lightning. Gough said maintenance was working that night until 1 a.m. 

The apartment complex has offered to take $150 off Wilson's next month’s rent. They both pay $800 per month, $140 more a year than other residents of the same floor plan that signed in the summer.

Other students also reported issues to the Daily News, but preferred to stay anonymous.

“Most of the tenants are thankful when we respond so promptly, but there is always a handful that are tough to please,” Gough said.

While Wilson’s case was the most severe of those reported to the Daily News, some residents have had little to no issues at all.

Visible Damage

Drew Adamson, a junior digital sport production major, said he had a positive experience moving in.

His only concern prior to move-in was when he visited the Promenade a week before, his unit had not been finished. After moving in, his wi-fi was fixed right away.

“They were working on it room to room, making sure everything was working and slowly expanding it out to the rest of the complex,” Adamson said.

Even the on-going construction has not bothered him much.

“From my standpoint, the amenities' not being done is not as much of big deal,” he said. “But, I don’t think they gave themselves enough time to build everything the way they wanted to.”

Wendy Wilson, a property manager for Blackwell Rentals in Bloomington and Allison’s mother, noticed other residents dealing with the similar issues as her daughter. She had to intervene and help one resident who was crying outside her apartment.

“I stopped and talked to a girl’s mother on the phone because she was crying in the hallways,” Wendy said. “I spoke to her mother and said, ‘Look she is not making this up, it’s a little difficult right now. We’re experiencing the same thing. If I can help in anyway I will, but just know she isn’t overreacting.’”

Overall, the move-in experience could have been handled differently, Wendy and Allison said.

“You could tell by the staff’s faces that they knew it was going to be a rough day,” Wendy said. “If it were me as a property manager, I almost would have been out there apologizing ahead of time, ‘Hey guys I just want to let you know, we are getting you in, we know school starts Monday.’ Nothing like that was said.”

Gough said he knows the process was difficult, appreciates his residents cooperation and admitted some of the units were not cleaned perfectly.

“It was very difficult and we apologize to our tenants because we want them to be happy,” he said. “Our focus has totally been on taking care of their issues and making sure they had everything they wanted. We’ve messed up and we corrected it.”

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