An Important Message from Melanie

Dear Residents:

First and foremost, we do not oppose your efforts to create a Resident Association. As you’ve stated, you have every right to do this. I am more than willing and happy to sit down on a monthly, bi-monthly or even weekly basis with a Representative you choose to speak for your group. It is my goal to make Jefferson at Capitol Yards a place that you want to call home. My request back to you would be that you please keep an open mind and consider our comments and some of the reasons behind certain policies.

Several of the “anonymous” responders have stated how unhappy you are. My question to you is: have you honestly spoke to myself or someone in the office and given us the opportunity to rectify what your concerns are? Please give us a chance to respond to your issues. As an aside, for those of you who may not have considered this, some of these postings may be originating from some of the residents who have been described or characterized as “frat boys” or the “drunks” on the property. There may also be postings from disgruntled residents who are upset due to the letters or notices we have sent to them for various reasons. If I were one of those residents, I wouldn’t like us either. To make a claim stating that we are “horrible management” is a little unfair if you are not willing to give us your name and allow us to help overcome the characterization. I believe that this forum can, and will be, a good thing if the criticism is constructive and coupled with real and honest feedback. We recognize that there is always room for improvement.

Please also know that we have been approached by several residents who told us that they have submitted positive comments which have not yet made it to the blog. We spoke to a handful of residents this morning alone who were very happy and willing to post positive comments to negate the negative comments posted, so we will keep a look out to see if they make it up.

In regard to all the comments pertaining to the guest policy, this is a policy that was implemented for a reason. It is not our intent to inconvenience you or to “violate someone’s privacy” by requesting identification, we are simply trying to control access to the building. We do not necessarily want to broadcast the people that we’ve turned away from the building, but please understand that this policy was put into place in an effort to control the people who shouldn’t be in the building, and so far, it is doing what it was intended to do. We do apologize that it can be sometimes inconvenient for the residents who do abide by the policy. We recognize that no system is fail proof and we are open to reasonable recommendations to the policy.

There is currently a posting on the blog that talks about the safety of the neighborhood. So we have a hard time understanding those that are concerned about the safety of the neighborhood but feel like our guest policy is too stringent. For those of you that oppose the policy, have you truly considered the flip side? Several comments have been made about residents and their inebriated guest(s). As a result of having this guest policy, we have had the ability to confirm who these people are and we have been able to legally ban them from our property. This is not something we would have been able to accomplish had we not had our guest policy in place. Unfortunately, there have also been instances of minor vandalism to the building, this policy has enabled us to track down who the offenders were. Additionally, I have had a handful of residents that have had an unwanted visitor show up and were not granted permission to the apartment due to the resident refusing to come down to sign for them. Again, this is not something that would have happened had we not had the policy in place. There are many reasons why this policy works. Please also understand that although you may not see or be witness to the way that certain situations are being handled behind the scenes, it is this policy that allows us to control unwanted and unwelcomed visitors to the building.

In closing, we are open to listening to your comments and suggestions, we would just ask the same courtesy in return. Please feel free to contact me at mmartin@greystar.com or Michelle Hopson, Resident Services Manager at mhopson@greystar.com. Thank you for allowing me to comment as well.

Sincerely,

Melanie Martin

Property Manager