10-24-2008, 08:48 PM
Can this place really be rehabilitated?? 1,600 residents, yowza...
New management company cleaning up troubled apartment complex
Waukegan police have responded to more than 1,000 calls this year, official says
By Ralph Zahorik | Special to the Tribune
October 24, 2008
A Waukegan apartment complex known for drug, rodent and various other problems is under new management, and authorities hopethe company will reduce crime and clean up the property.
Whispering Oaks is a sprawling cluster of three-story buildings on the border between Waukegan and North Chicago surrounded by grass, trees and part of the Greenbelt Forest Preserve. The setting is almost pastoral, but Whispering Oaks is anything but idyllic for its 1,600 residents. Some buildings are infested with roaches and rats, about a dozen apartments are without utilities, and firefighters and police are called to the development almost daily, officials said.
Police already have been dispatched to Whispering Oaks more than 1,000 times this year, said Anne Linn, an attorney for the city's Building Department. Some narcotics dealers make Whispering Oaks their home, and authorities have identified at least one apartment as a "drug facility."
The city had seen enough and started the process of seizing the business license from the owner, Los Angeles-based InterCoastal Property Services. In response, InterCoastal brought in a new group to manage Whispering Oaks last month, and so far the change seems to be working, officials said.
Alpha Property Management Inc. of Los Angeles started a rodent extermination program, replaced broken lights, towed derelict vehicles, cleaned the laundry rooms and hired a new security service.
"They need a lot of changes in the apartments," said Jynekia Sutton, 25, who lives in Whispering Oaks with her two young children. "They need new floors, new cabinets."
A group of Alpha investors is negotiating to buy the site and obtain loans for a major rehabilitation at a cost of about $35 million, said Tim English, Alpha Property president.
Whispering Oaks was built in 1969 as the first large low-income development in the city. Today, it is surrounded by a 10-foot-high black steel fence and maintains a list of hundreds of individuals prohibited from entering for various reasons, including alleged criminal activity.
Visitors entering through the main gate are required to show armed guards a photo identification, but residents say scores of people ignore the ban by climbing over fencing on the fringes of the development.
"People are coming in all the time who shouldn't be here. My apartment has been robbed twice," Sutton said.
Alpha sent in an aggressive manager, Scott Mason, from California to establish a new order.
Alpha cleared brush and trees along the fence to discourage fence-jumping. Mason recently called an outdoor meeting for tenants that lasted more than two hours and explained new rules for the complex.
Eviction notices have been sent to tenants in 24 apartments, mainly for housekeeping problems, electricity theft and having unauthorized visitors, Mason said.
"The word is out," Mason said. "We know how to clean up properties."
A dozen city staffers, including several department heads, took a tour of the development this month and saw freshly painted, newly lighted stairwells and a set of offices Alpha hopes Waukegan police will one day occupy as a substation.
"It's a monumental task, but [they're] getting there," city Building Commissioner John Jurkovac said.
Mason said there has been some resistance by residents, but the changes were necessary. "I'm not well-liked, but there's a calm in the air," he said. "Maybe everybody's keeping a low profile."
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-waukegan-eyesoreoct24,0,3517435.story">http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 7435.story</a><!-- m -->
New management company cleaning up troubled apartment complex
Waukegan police have responded to more than 1,000 calls this year, official says
By Ralph Zahorik | Special to the Tribune
October 24, 2008
A Waukegan apartment complex known for drug, rodent and various other problems is under new management, and authorities hopethe company will reduce crime and clean up the property.
Whispering Oaks is a sprawling cluster of three-story buildings on the border between Waukegan and North Chicago surrounded by grass, trees and part of the Greenbelt Forest Preserve. The setting is almost pastoral, but Whispering Oaks is anything but idyllic for its 1,600 residents. Some buildings are infested with roaches and rats, about a dozen apartments are without utilities, and firefighters and police are called to the development almost daily, officials said.
Police already have been dispatched to Whispering Oaks more than 1,000 times this year, said Anne Linn, an attorney for the city's Building Department. Some narcotics dealers make Whispering Oaks their home, and authorities have identified at least one apartment as a "drug facility."
The city had seen enough and started the process of seizing the business license from the owner, Los Angeles-based InterCoastal Property Services. In response, InterCoastal brought in a new group to manage Whispering Oaks last month, and so far the change seems to be working, officials said.
Alpha Property Management Inc. of Los Angeles started a rodent extermination program, replaced broken lights, towed derelict vehicles, cleaned the laundry rooms and hired a new security service.
"They need a lot of changes in the apartments," said Jynekia Sutton, 25, who lives in Whispering Oaks with her two young children. "They need new floors, new cabinets."
A group of Alpha investors is negotiating to buy the site and obtain loans for a major rehabilitation at a cost of about $35 million, said Tim English, Alpha Property president.
Whispering Oaks was built in 1969 as the first large low-income development in the city. Today, it is surrounded by a 10-foot-high black steel fence and maintains a list of hundreds of individuals prohibited from entering for various reasons, including alleged criminal activity.
Visitors entering through the main gate are required to show armed guards a photo identification, but residents say scores of people ignore the ban by climbing over fencing on the fringes of the development.
"People are coming in all the time who shouldn't be here. My apartment has been robbed twice," Sutton said.
Alpha sent in an aggressive manager, Scott Mason, from California to establish a new order.
Alpha cleared brush and trees along the fence to discourage fence-jumping. Mason recently called an outdoor meeting for tenants that lasted more than two hours and explained new rules for the complex.
Eviction notices have been sent to tenants in 24 apartments, mainly for housekeeping problems, electricity theft and having unauthorized visitors, Mason said.
"The word is out," Mason said. "We know how to clean up properties."
A dozen city staffers, including several department heads, took a tour of the development this month and saw freshly painted, newly lighted stairwells and a set of offices Alpha hopes Waukegan police will one day occupy as a substation.
"It's a monumental task, but [they're] getting there," city Building Commissioner John Jurkovac said.
Mason said there has been some resistance by residents, but the changes were necessary. "I'm not well-liked, but there's a calm in the air," he said. "Maybe everybody's keeping a low profile."
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-waukegan-eyesoreoct24,0,3517435.story">http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 7435.story</a><!-- m -->