Hear Neighbors thru Walls - No Privacy

Towne Park Apartments in Troy, Ohio were just recently sold. Please see the below newspaper clipping from Troy Daily News. My wife's parents lived there for a short period of time. They signed up for a rather long term Lease but left the apartment only after a few months due to several factors. They were inticed by Towne Park with several free months rent providing they fullfilled the long term Lease.

We just want potential renters to realize there is a reason why Towne Park Apartments is giving away several months free rent. Now we know. The reason is that Towne Park Apartments were constructed in a very poor manner. My wife's parents had leaking around the windows when it rained. The most unbearable problem was that the noise transfer between units was almost as if there was not any insulation put in the walls during the construction of the apartments. You could hear the neighbors in adjacent apartments as if they were in your own apartment - No Privacy!

We would suggest that you definitely catch a current renter coming out of their apartment and ask them about all the problems at Towne Park Apartments before being inticed by all the "Free Rent" or if you don't believe the article in the Troy Daily News. The City of Troy, Ohio fought the builders of Towne Park for many, many defects in construction as compared to what the Developer promised the City of Troy Towne Park Apartments would be when finished.

We would not suggest Troy Ohio Towne Park Apartments to anyone looking for a good quality apartment providing privacy between apartments.


T R O Y D A I L Y N E W S

Towne Park Apartment complex sold

National firm
takes over
management
BY RON OSBURN
Staff Writer
rosbum@tdnpublishing.com

The Towne Park Apartments, the
subject of intense Troy City Council
scrutiny this summer for making unapproved
changes to its building plans, has
been sold, according to a letter delivered
to residents last week ..

The letter said the former owner,
Indianapolis-based SC Bodner Company
Inc., sold the property effective Oct. 11,
and the apartments are now under the
management of the Texas-based Lincoln
Property Co., which has a regional office
in, Oak Brook, 'Ill. The letter, said rents
would remain the same and leasing
terms would be unaffected by the sale. '
The letter also said only checks and
money orders would be accepted for rent
payments. Credit cards will no longer be
accepted for rent payments", the letter
said.

SC Bodner president Steve Bodner
was unavailable until Thursday, his
office assistant said,Tuesday. The on-site
manager of the 204-unit apartment complex
on Towne Park Drive, off
Experiment Farm Road in west Troy,
declined comment Tuesday until she
could get clearance from her manager.

Mike Biggs, regional vice-president of
the Lincoln Property Co., said Lincoln is
the new managing agent, but not the
new owner.

A deed recorded last week at the
Miami County Recorder's office says the
new owner is Towne Park TIC, LLC, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Wisconsin based
Eliason 1031 Properties Corp.,
based in St. Germain, Wis.

President David Eliason was out of
the office until Thursday, said a person
who answered his office phone Tuesday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Towne Park
Apartments was still listed as the featured
property on the SC, Bodner Co.
Web site.

Towne Park Apartments was billed as
an "upscale" complex and approved by
city council in 2002 as a planned development,
meaning any changes to 'the
original design needed previous
approval from council.

But a January city planning
department inspection
revealed 16 variations to what
was promised on the building
plans, including using vinyl
instead of woodfascia and railings
and substituting asphalt
shingles for painted copper
over entryways.

Council said 14 of the 16
changes were variations made
from what was specified on the
building plans and did not
have prior council approval, as
required in a PD. Two changes
were deemed to be OK due to a
prior city staff mix-up.

Bodner, a third generation
residential developer, acknowledged
he made the changes
without prior approval. He
apologized to council members
July 28 during an on-site tour
of the 12 acre, 9 building complex,
saying "I misunderstood
how to go through the (Troy
PD) process."

Council approved the
revised planned development
Aug. 7. In exchange for
approval, Bodner made a verbal
commitment to make
improvements to the exterior
of the buildings, provide supplementary
recreational
amenities and follow through
with additional landscaping,
including planting 30 pine
trees along the south side of
the complex.

City planning director Mark
Cundiff confirmed he made an
on-site follow-up inspection
Tuesday to make sure Bodner
had made the promised
changes.

Cundiff said he approved
the last two of 14 items that
were still an issue - repainting
the fascia boards and
planting additional trees along
the south side of the site.

"Based on my inspection
today, I would say (the' apartments)
are in compliance with
the (PD)," Cundiff said.

Opinions by residents about
the quality of complex are varied.
David Joan, a current resident
who moved into Towne
Park in April 2005 and was the
complex's first official resident,
said he appreciated the "luxurious
touches" such as higher
ceilings, extra doors and high
end appliances.

"It's a good place to live,"
Joan said.


But Amy and Derek Green,
who moved in last July 4th
weekend, said they've' been
constantly beset by problems,
such as pest infestation, heavy
leaking around the windows
when it rains, and sounds and
odors traveling easily through
doors and walls. They pay $765
a month for a two-bedroom
apartment, he said.

Derek Green said his father
was a real estate developer and
he is chief deputy of real estate
for the auditor's office in an
adjoining county.

"So I know a little about
construction. This is by no
means a luxury apartment,"
Derek Green said. "As soon as I
find a house, we're out of here."

The property had been listed
for sale for $16 million on
the commercial real estate Web
site www.loopnet.com since at
least early this year.

City staff had informed
council members the property
was listed for sale. So the sale
announcement came as no surprise
to council representatives
Shirley Saxton and Ted
Mercer, who oversaw negotiations
with Bodner as members
of council's law and ordinance
committee.

"I didn't know (it had been
sold). Maybe that's good. If
someone else bought it, it
means someone thinks it has
value," Mercer said Tuesday.

Saxton agreed. "You know
when some of these real estate
companies come in, they're
going to build them and then
sell them. That's the trend of
the day," she said.


-- end Troy Daily News Article --

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