I am an owner living in building 4850. I have been here for 3 years and I have progressively seen this propery lose it's appeal. Today, 1 April 2009, I entered my parking garage to head for work and I noticed that the car next to mine was vandalized. The driver-side window was broken out and laying next to the car. The interior was torn through and the hood was open with engine hoses lying on the ground in front of the car. This property SUCKS when it comes to security. There is ABSOLUTELY none. We pay very high condo fees and we are still unprotected. I know of 4 motorcycles and a BMW stolen out of my garage. There were many others reported, but those are events I specifically talked to the victims about. Management posts flyers in the elevators telling us to lock our car doors and never leave valuables... but we are not stupid. PROVIDE SOME FREAKING SECURITY MR. MANAGER!!!! If you are interested in this place.... I say keep looking. The maintainence has definitely taken a dive. Try not to step in the smelly pet urine and crap in the elevators. I am one unhappy owner. See you at the next board meeting Mr Manager. DO SOMETHING ABOUT OUR SECURITY!!!!!!!

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/01/2009
I am also an owner in 4850 and sadly saw this too. We've been more than satisfied with The Exchange, also living here for 3 years next month. No complaints, it's a luxury property with all the bells and whistles. But this incident is sad to see and a sure sign of the times. With the number of foreclosures and rent prices dropping everywhere in VA, we need to brace ourselves for more events like these, quite frankly we need to be more cautious. Our new property general manager was there dealing with the situation w/the Alexandria police around 9:30am. You should definitely attend the next board meeting and have your concerns heard in a more serious manner. You may also want to consider joining the neighborhood watch which I believe was started over the summer. As owners, we have the right to recommend patrolled security and reviews of the video tapes of any nearby cameras, just a suggestion. We need to do this together--it's not just our immediate community that is affected by this, I've heard of it in neighboring communities, i.e.: Cameron Station. You may want to call the management company today if you are really overwhelmed by this. Contact: Marck Rossy at mrossy@cmc-management.com (Assistant Manager, Exchange at Van Dorn Condominium) they can help. It's easy to complain and harder to do the follow-up, but worth it.
From: Bldg4850owner	Date: 04/01/2009
I would like to respond by saying I value your opinion, but it's clear that my expectations of having a secure property are much higher than yours. I have attended nearly EVERY association meeting, and have spoken out about the lack of security and piggy-backing that goes on. This is nothing new. Obviously your car/motorcycle hasn't been stolen from our luxurious property...yet. I would not mind patrolling our complex, but I refuse to patrol when the service should already be out-sourced using my monthly condo dues. Sure, I could patrol very easily, but not when I have to pay nearly $300 a month outside my mortgage. Security should be supplied. It's hard for me to call a place with filthy common areas, pet poop on sidewalks, dirty walls, and deplorable elevators... a "luxury property". I am retired military, and I consider myself very knowledgeable in standards. This property was maintained at a higher standard when I moved in three years ago. Once again, I value your opinion, but my level of an acceptable standard is much different than yours. Thanks for your suggestions.
From: DidIsaythat	Date: 04/01/2009
You go Bldg4850owner! I ECHO your sentiments. The EXCHANGE is deplorable and the management and association board lack the ability to achieve results and are less than courteous. They all meet each month and listen to honest hard working residents take the time to provide constructive and candid feedback month after month and they do NOTHING! They perpetrate a serious FRAUD. On two separate occasions I had one of the board members and the so called ??????new?????? property manager (who is also ineffective) offer to meet with me so I could point out areas of the property that are despicable. Neither of them followed through with doing a walk through with me so I could demonstrate for them areas that are stained and filthy. The ??????new?????? property manager had the nerve to say I was the only one who complains??????I guess therefore indicating I??????m a nuisance of some sort. Well, now I have you bldg4850 joining in. I applaud you for taking the time to let the world know the EXCHANGE is below par and property management can be arrogant too. I don??????t know what we pay those dudes who man that office or what type of stipend the board members are receiving but as far as I can tell it??????s money out the window. Sorry, I won??????t be as polite as you??????re being Bldg4850owner because I??????m fed up and it??????s time to put the EXCHANGE on full BLAST! They need to do something to clean this place up and make the property presentable to represent the professionals who??????ve chosen this community to live in paying crazy high mortgages. The luxury rental property up the street puts this place to SHAME! Now what anonymous? You sound like management to me.
From: wishingforreason	Date: 04/01/2009
Board members are owners just like you, and they receive NO COMPENSATION WHATSOEVER to do that work for you. Please keep in mind that sites like this and spur of the moment comments like this do NOT add to your property value, or mine. I hope if you are as concerned as you say, you will be a part of the solution and do your best to work with management to get all your concerns addressed, even if you have to do follow up to ensure your issue was addressed, and not just complain here.
From: exchangeatvandorn	Date: 04/02/2009
I also live in 4850 and I love it here. This is certainly NOT the forum for this type of complaint. When we looked at other properties in Northern Virginia, this one had by far the lowest condo fees. To all those who are reading, the Exchange is a great place to live-- crime is something that is happening all over VA due to the economy.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/05/2009
The sad truth is the Exchange was run much more efficiently and effectively as a rental property. The grounds were well kept and cleaned continuously. Though, vehicle crime was and is an ongoing problem. However, professional security patrols have started. It will be interesting to see whether or not the patrols actually deter or reduce crime. I would never purchase a unit in this development, shoddy construction, high condo fee's, and very little in the way of actual "luxuries." Unless you are getting a great deal on a rental unit with two parking spaces, you must rent a two bedroom with two bathrooms to do so, one can easily find better accommodations elsewhere. There is limited value in this development, since the Exchange is an apartment unit conversion. Given the options to rent and own in the Alexandria area, one can certainly do much, much better than the Exchange.

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