Residents at the Phoenix wonder where the luxury is (Photo by Ashley Jorgenson, The Daily Campus)
When SMU senior Steve Feffer moved into his two-bedroom apartment at the Phoenix Midtown Apartments in May 2004, he was looking forward to living in one of the most popular complexes for students.
“It was a really cool place to live in. It was really nice and fun, and tons of upperclassmen lived there,” Feffer said.
But as months went by, Feffer’s opinion of the Phoenix began to change. In November 2004 the complex started what Feffer was told was a remodeling project that would be finished in April 2005. But the project is still not finished, causing several tenants to live in what they say are undesirable conditions.
“Basically, my roommate and I are giving a check every month to live in a place that we can’t live in,” Feffer said. His monthly rent: $1,200.
Since November 2005, Feffer’s patio overlooking the pool has been ripped out, his blinds have fallen due to constant hammering, holes have been drilled through his wall and his daily “alarm” is the sound of construction workers outside his window.
Feffer is not alone. Many tenants at the Phoenix say coping with substandard conditions and poor maintenance is a way of life at the complex. Forty-four disgruntled residents, all SMU students, recently sent a petition voicing their concerns to BH Management, the corporation that manages the Phoenix.
The petition lists a litany of complaints about several individual apartments. “To say that the apartment is unlivable would not be an understatement,” it states. “When the floor is shaking so much that the picture fluctuates on the television, there is a problem.”
Drew McOlgan, the director of marketing for BH Management, defends the Phoenix. “Unfortunately, we cannot satisfy every need and want,” he said. “The property is going through a rehab, and you’ll always come across issues that will upset some more than others.”
McOlgan also said that it is impossible to avoid certain inconveniences when renting an apartment. “I’ve been a renter for 10 years, and I’ve dealt with all sorts of problems,” he said. “It’s just part of renting.”
Advertising for the Phoenix, located just east of Central Expressway next to the trendy Mockingbird Station shopping center and lofts, suggests a picture of residential luxury. In the April 2006 Dallas/Ft. Worth Apartment Guide, BH Management describes the Phoenix as a complex offering “luxurious amenities and first-class services in an urban environment with seven interior courtyards.” From the outside, the 450 apartments, ranging from $760 to $2,047, appear to fit that description. But, the tenants who live there tell another story.
On any given afternoon, Stephen Hinterkopf’s visitors can hear the steady beat of a hammer outside his apartment windows. But according to Hinterkopf, afternoons are actually the quietest time of day.
“It’s definitely more intense in the morning. This is nothing,” Hinterkopf said one recent afternoon. “They say that construction never starts before 9, but I’ve been woken up at 8:30 plenty of times.”
McOlgan said he was not sure when work begins on any given day. “If they get there at 8, they’ll be doing prep work,” he said.
Hinterkopf, an SMU senior who works in real-estate part-time in his apartment, finds it impossible to accomplish the easiest tasks. “A lot that I do is on the phone, and it’s pretty hard to make phone calls,” he said.
Like Feffer, Hinterkopf has lost his third-floor patio. His roommate has holes in his bedroom wall. The hammering, drilling and loud voices of construction workers have become routine.
Other residents have complained about damaged personal property as a result of the construction. When SMU senior Matt Corn came back from winter break, he discovered his window had been shattered.
“I thought the broken glass was rain on my window,” Corn said with a laugh. “After that, everything started falling apart little by little.”
In mid-March, when Corn and his roommate, Travis Hubbard, returned from spring break, they found their apartment in disarray. Baseboards had been ripped up, furniture had been shoved to the corners of their two-bedroom apartment, and Hubbard’s desk had been taken apart. Maintenance workers came to repair the desk, but Hubbard said that instead, they broke it. So Hubbard went to management for compensation.
“The lady in the office said, ‘The guy said your desk was pretty ratty to begin with, and when he picked it up, it just fell apart,'” Hubbard recalled.
Hubbard said Phoenix management eventually compensated him. However, he said it was a struggle to convince it that the complex was at fault. McOlgan said he was unable to comment on specific cases.
For SMU seniors Lauren Jamison and Meg McCollum, conditions at the Phoenix were so unbearable that they decided to get out of their lease as quickly as possible.
“There were holes in my walls, my blinds fell from the construction and there were creepy workers peering at me through my window,” Jamison said. “If you’re a 21-year-old girl, would you want to live that way?”
After telling management they were considering legal action, Jamison and McCollum said the complex allowed them to move out of their apartment with no charge.
Once again, McOlgan refused to comment on a specific case.
SMU senior Ashley Moss said living at the Phoenix was a nightmare. Moss said that when she returned to her apartment after spring break, she found the carpet in her apartment soaked due to flooding. After complaining to the management, maintenance removed the padding but neglected to also get rid of the damaged carpet.
“I asked them to replace the carpet two or three times. It smelled so bad that I couldn’t live there,” Moss said. “They told me they had to bring in an insurance company to assess the damages, and then they finally agreed to replace the carpet a week later.”
Then, before removing the carpet, management told Moss that she had to move into another apartment immediately because they had discovered that the flooding had been caused by a broken pipe underneath her apartment. Forced to move in three days, Moss said maintenance then informed her that work would not be starting on her apartment for two weeks.
“Moving is always a huge hassle. And since my lease is up in a month anyway, I’ll have to turn around and move again because I definitely don’t want to stay at the Phoenix,” she said.
Joey Marone moved from Wisconsin to the Phoenix 18 months ago after accepting a job in Dallas. At the same time that flooding occurred in Moss’ apartment, Marone experienced a similar problem. He said that after returning from a business trip, Marone discovered his apartment had flooded, leaving behind a terrible smell. Maintenance cleaned his apartment the following week, but in the meantime, Marone said his air conditioner broke. It was another two weeks before maintenance came to fix his air conditioner, according to Marone. Despite the wait, the air conditioner remains broken, he said.
“I don’t understand why this whole place is so shoddy,” he said. “Why is it built so half-ass? Why does it leak? Why do things break? And why do things flood when there’s a little bit of rain?”
McOlgan said he could not comment on specific cases.
Phoenix resident Lauren Morrison, an SMU senior, has a different problem – mold. She said that for the past year a leak in her ceiling has led to a substantial problem with mold. And Morrison said that maintenance has failed to address the cause of the problem.
“I have come to believe that the mold is why I have been constantly sick,” Morrison said. “They are only fixing it on the beauty side of it – repainting, cleaning the carpet and replacing it. But they’re not going to the root of the problem.”
Despite such complaints, the advertisements for the Phoenix apartments have not changed. There are still pictures of the building before the construction began. The pool is still listed as an amenity. Balconies still line the outside of the apartments. McOlgan said he believes the ads present an accurate picture of the complex.
“We’re not trying to deceive people,” he said. “If they see scaffolds and it’s not their thing, don’t rent there. When you shop at Dillards and you get crappy customer service, you always leave and go to Foley’s. But, with apartments, it’s different. There’s a contract. Unfortunately, you can’t make everyone happy all of the time. “
Residents at the Phoenix wonder where the luxury is (Photo by Ashley Jorgenson, The Daily Campus)
