I'm not the only one...

...who gets fed up with 305 Dutton Street and College Street, LLC. Check out the minutes from recent City of Lowell Historical Board meetings: http://www.historiclowell.net/.

These people have tried to get around their unprofessionalism by offering excuses upon excuses but the Lowell Historical Board has called them on it and I am going to do the same here for as long as it continues. Management has blamed the board in some cases for slowdowns in getting things done, but the minutes of the board meetings really expose who is incompetent. I have no problem calling College Street incompetent because it seems that they have continuous turnover and seem to only hire incompetent workers. In one meeting, the College Street representative blames delays on the fact they terminated one of the people involved with the projects. That particular occasion left only the Jackson Street project manager to speak to both the Jackson Street project and 305 Dutton. It appears that College Street is more interested in the Jackson Street project than in completing the 305 Dutton project. This just goes to show how little they care about current residents.

...and then the floods came

As the days of constant rain are finally coming to an end, it would be impossible to ignore the ridiculous ongoing leaking of water into the lobby and elsewhere on the first floor of the building. Throughout Sunday and Monday (the days of the hardest rain from the Nor'easter) there was water continuously pouring into the entry and lobby area of the building. This was not simply moisture creeping in, but a steady flow of water. This is a testament to the poor planning of the initial reconditioning of the building and the utter inability of management to do anything useful to counteract the leak. This has clearly been a known problem over the years and yet nothing has been done, despite water leaking in all over the parking-lot side of the first floor. The "renovations" last Fall that only left the parking lot in worse condition clearly did nothing to solve the problem. It appears that more drains were installed, but nothing was done to re-grade the parking lot and water will continue to flow into the building until the whole area is re-graded. However, that costs money and management is clearly uninterested in spending money for the greater good of the building, even if it would be money well-spent.

As a resident, I am embarassed to be associated with such incompetence. If I were the property manager, I would demand that the problem be fixed or I else I would simply leave. How can one expect to rent out units when there is obviously a major problem with the structure of the building? There is no good explanation for water flowing through a hole in the foundation of the building.

Speaking of management, we residents have not been informed that there is a new property manager. This utterly ridiculous and just goes to show that management cares nothing about its relationship with residents and has no communication skills. If they were children, they would be held back in school...as adults, they are slowly wasting away a multi-million dollar investment. Eventually, the problems will have to be fixed or no one will rent in the building.

If you are a prospective renter, I would recommend that you think long and hard about possibly renting at 305 Dutton Street. When I was looking into it, I saw a few complaints but decided that I could live with some things and that others did not apply to my particular unit. Sadly, it has been my experience that nothing has gotten better in my time here. Rather, existing amenities were limited or removed altogether and the overall atmosphere of the building has rapidly declined. I do not expect this to change at all.

The best-laid plans...

There is a nice "new" site plan for the 305 Dutton property that includes a drastically different plan for the parking lot. There would be parking along the long side of the building and then two more rows of parking. There would also be an opening into the American Textile History Museum / Lowell Sun parking lot. It also confirms my earlier suspicion that Worthen Street formerly ran through the existing parking lot and behind the Sun building, probably going through to Fletcher Street. Unfortunately, there's always a ridiculously sad, head-shaking aspect to any positive thing about this apartment building. The site plan dates to 2004. That just goes to show that there is a great deal of talk, but very little follow-through for this property. As with everything, particularly in terms of marketing statements, let the buyer beware.

Change on the horizon?

There has been someone else present with the property manager at the lobby desk for most of this week and given comments I've overheard, it seems like we may be in for another property manager. Considering the up-and-down history of property managers here, I'm not sure whether to be optimistic or apprehensive. I can only hope for the best but expect the worst, I suppose. Unfortunately, my experiences here have left me no other choice. It will be interesting to see whether this even gets announced at all, or whether there will simply be a new face at the desk one day.

The Gym Fiasco

The ruination of the gym/training room is one element of the 305 Dutton Street saga that has been left out thus far. Upon first moving into the complex, the gym was a very bright spot in choosing this complex. I am not a “hard core” trainer, however, I do enjoy an occasional run or weight-lifting to keep toned and in shape. Considering that 305 Dutton Street is on the higher end of the rent-spectrum for Lowell, it seemed like a perk worth a little extra in rent.

It must have been late fall when the well-meaning building manager decided to “upgrade” the two TVs in the gym. The other two were fine, as far as I was concerned. They were tubes and probably about 24 inches. It’s just a gym and for what they were used for, it was fine.

One day I walked into the gym and noticed construction on two walls. By the end of the day, the older TVs were removed and replaced by brand-new 30 inch, wall-mounted wide-screens. I remember saying, “Well, that’s nice. But I think I would have preferred if they replaced some of the old, squeaking gym equipment rather than spending money on TVs.”

Begin Fiasco

Within the very same week of the new TV installation, I went into the gym and one was gone from the wall. Upon closer inspection, it looked like the cable had been clipped and it was off the wall. Apparently, someone had STOLEN the brand new flat-screen. In one week we’d gone from two old TVs in the gym to two brand new TVs in the gym to now only one TV in the gym. My question is, At this point, why was the old TV not put up to replace the stolen one?

Then, a month later, we were given one of our lovely memos that the gym would be locked at all times and to use it, one must obtain a key from the “security guard” or “building manager.” While this works fairly tolerably for evenings, it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to obtain the key for the gym between 7AM-9AM, which is a great work-out time before leaving for work.

Then, a month or so later, the second flat-screen was removed from the gym (I don’t know if this was building management or yet another internal theft in our building). Now the gym is just difficult to access and without TV. Frankly, I’m not into working out while staring at my reflection in the mirror or making small talk with the person on the next machine. I don’t know why the other smaller, original TVs (obviously less enticing to our burglars) were not put up to replace the waste-of-money that were the new flat-screens. Seems like yet another example of building management missing the mark.

Time is ticking away...

So April (March 31st, actually) has brought us yet another "duh" notice with regard to parking. Signs have been posted informing all comers that visitor parking passes expire at midnight of the expiration date. This is common sense, I would think, but someone must have complained or else there wouldn't have been a notice.

What is not common sense, though, is the entire visitor parking pass policy. It is outrageous and insulting that Lowell Sun employees are allowed to park with impunity and yet 305 Dutton Street residents (and their visitors) are forced to jump through hoops to get a parking pass that mercifully removes the threat of towing.

There ought to be a consistent towing policy in place. If there is going to be a refusal to stop dating visitor parking passes, then there should simply be no towing Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM through 6:00 PM, which is when Lowell Sun employees are "allowed to" park in our lot. Even this time-frame is a joke, since it is repeatedly flaunted by Sun employees arriving early and staying late. Additionally, I saw at least one Sun employee vehicle in our lot this past Saturday. Again I ask: where is the towing?!?