While I am going to provide some highlights of the Elizabeth Condominium Association Town Hall meeting held April 10, 2019, I am not going to reference specific numbers discussed. You as an Elizabeth owner and an ECA Association member can obtain the documentation from the Management Office.
ECA Treasurer Lyle
Schwartz conducted the Town Hall and said our financial picture is trending
upward—we are aggressively paying down the loan we procured to pay for our
window and balcony door replacement as well as our façade restoration. We have
enough money to choose our next major project. While this year, the
recommendation is for a 2% increase in condo fee, he looks to the future when he
thinks it will be possible to reduce our condo fees.
Board Member Mak Dehejia
addressed condo fees and our decreasing property values. He said the problems as he sees them fall into two
categories: soft problems and hard problems. In the soft problem category,
he spoke of the spirit and atmosphere in the building which is toxic and the
fact that we have a bad reputation. He called for an improvement in
communications and other efforts to improve our reputation. He added that
at one time we were a luxury building, but now unfortunately we are no longer.
Then Mak spoke about how we are
always fighting fires (meaning we address problems late instead of pro-actively
doing needed maintenance). He said there should be enough money in the
budget for infrastructure and maintenance issues as they arise in order to
avoid firefighting.
Finally, he said that the
renovation of the hallways MUST be accelerated. He said it is no longer
acceptable for our General Manager to say that the hallways will have to wait
for the completion of the garage project.
Board Member Al
Muller said he recommends a 1% increase in condo fees. Chris Wemple and Mak Dehejia
both pointed out that since we cannot have a special assessment, we are left
with only two other ways to raise money for our needs: condo fees and
loans. Since we already have a loan, we need increases in condo fees to
prepare for our future needs/emergencies which almost certainly will arise
because the Elizabeth is an old building. Chris’ and Mak’s argument did not
persuade Al who continued to say he wanted a 1% increase.
Despite Director Mak Dehejia’s statement that it is no
longer acceptable to say that the hallway renovation will have to wait for
completion of the garage project, General Manager MaryAnn Hall recommended that we put off the hallway renovation
until the garage project is finished, but tackle instead renovation of the pool
area and the fitness center. These efforts would entail closing the pool for two weeks to give it a face lift (including the
replacement of the ceiling tiles) and closing the fitness center for two weeks
to do the same there (i.e., update equipment, paint, and repair the men’s
sauna). MaryAnn said she had put aside a significant amount of money in this
year’s budget to buy new pool and outdoor furniture. Her explanation was that it was too much disruption for
residents to have two major projects going on at the same time.
Additionally, our GM recommended
that we have a committee for the corridors. She said she had budgeted a small
portion ($500,000) for hall renovation this year (FY 2020), and the same amount in the following two
fiscal years ($500,000 each of those years) for a total of $1.5M. Lyle Schwartz
said we could allocate the amount currently set aside this year (FY 2020), but,
and instead of spreading the renovation over
two more fiscal years, simply allocate $1M in FY 2021.
NOTE: My understanding is that the
estimate from Hartman Design in 2016 was $2.8 million and that the amount could
be paid over a period of three years, phasing in the renovation over the same
three-year period. Of course it is hard
to say what the cost will be three years later in 2019. What we don’t want is a
sloppy job and poor-quality materials which will cause an immediate do-over
like we experienced with the renovation that preceded our current lobby done by
the Hartman Group. That do-over predated Legum & Norman cost us a lot of
unnecessary dollars and ill will.
Also it should be noted that since
2012, we have had two committees work hard on a new hallway design, resulting
in three (3) proposals for the hallways, with the final proposal successfully presented
at a March 2016 Town Hall Meeting. In addition, we have an important resource person living in
the building—someone who is an architect and designer with Marriott. He participated on both the Design Committees
that ultimately successfully presented a design to the community in 2016, a
design that was well-received by all in attendance, no small feat in a building
as diverse as ours.
Monique Fridell
talked about the need to improve our curb, speaking specifically about the
landscaping and suggesting we look into a new updated canopy.
Other topics that came up included:
—the need for hallway renovation was overwhelmingly on the
minds of many people attending the meeting.
—the unbudgeted large expense of painting the entire garage.
At this time only the patches worked on will be painted.
—the need for a
marketing campaign to correct the poor reputation of the Elizabeth and is also
tied in the communications/toxic environment problems we have in the Elizabeth.
---One person commented that we live in an ordinary building,
not a luxury high rise. This fact was disputed by several in attendance, one
original owner, and others who moved in later.
It was pointed out that the Elizbeth was originally sold as a luxury
building and enjoyed that status until recently, and throughout its life has been
marketed as a luxury building and is so marketed today. Even new owners attested to that fact. It was
also pointed out that that our neighboring condos also market themselves as
luxury buildings, and they are our competition for buyers and renters.
Additionally, it was pointed out that what makes The
Elizabeth a luxury building (despite decline of some of these items) is its
services: 24-hour concierge, indoor year-round swimming pool, fitness center,
large number of guest parking spaces and sufficient parking for all residents,
party room, year-round A/C, live-in engineers on 24-hour call, in-unit
washer-dryers, and high-end lobby with community spaces like library, piano,
large-screen TVs.
Overall, I would say this was a well-run Town Hall meeting
where important points were made. What the meeting suggests is that as long as
we elect good leadership to the Board who understand the importance of
maintaining the building in all aspects—financial, technical, operational, and
protecting our property values, —we who live here will have the quality of life
expected for this neighborhood of Friendship Heights.
