The algae-filled pool at ilume on Cedar Springs Road (photo via Facebook)
Lincoln Property’s response is at the end of this article.
UPDATE: Code compliance vehicles were seen in front of the two former ilume properties this afternoon (Thursday, March 31). Dallas residents can file complaints against a landlord about code compliance issues by calling 311.
ORIGINAL POST:
Ilume and ilume Park on Cedar Springs Road have sold again. This time, residents are saddled with Lincoln Property Company, which began managing the properties March 1 taking over from Venterra, the previous owners. The five-story buildings have about 550 rental units.
A current picture of the algae-covered pool residents say is typical of the service they’ve gotten since the new management company took over.
“Park West is very dog friendly,” said one residents, who asked his name not be used fearing retaliation.
Park West is the current name for ilume Park. It has two dog parks and allows residents to have up to three dogs with no weight or breed restrictions. The resident said they ran out of poop bags within days at the dog parks.
“I’m not paying this much money for such pathetic performance,” the resident said. Rents run as high as $2,000 per month at the properties.
Trash not being picked up is another complaint from residents.
On the first day Lincoln took over management of the property, it fired all of Venterra’s property management staff. Three days later, they offered staff their jobs back at less pay.
After weeks of bad service, the new property managers had a resident appreciation reception serving Chick-fil-A.
“Tone deaf,” is how the resident put it. “Rainbow crosswalks are right outside our door.”
— David Taffet
Lincoln Property Company sent the following letter to residents and sent a copy to us in response:
Tone-deaf is an understatement.
Not surprising. Apartment management and especially apartment managers do not have a great history in the Oak Lawn area. Ruthless, money thirsty LIARS to put it nicely.
Are you freaking kidding me?????? Simply tone deaf or a complete slap in the face????
I love chikfila! Liberals and gays are hypocrites. The food wasn’t shoved down their throat.
You’re clearly just a troll. Go away.
Your ignorant! You must hate yourself.
They fired all of us with no clue as to how and run the place. 4123 is a beast. They still don’t have staff. 🤦
Casey as a resident we miss you, Cynthia, and Stephen so much!!! When we saw the the algae filled pool, we instantly regretted the renewal of our lease. The new staff do not answer the phones for days, they make an excuse for everything. Took away the smart lockers, changed the rent app, it seems like they wanted to make a statement as being new owners. I truly hate that you guys are gone, it feels so less welcoming in the office now. I hate to pay money somewhere and feel like a nuisance.
Haha
Aww thank you. We all miss you but this has afforded new opportunities. We are praying they can either get it together or find y’all a better option.
CASEY WE MISS YOU!
Miss y’all!praying things can turn around and y’all can get what you deserve.
How can a company you never worked for fire you? Sounds like the management group you worked for didn’t want to keep you and transfer you to another property.
Lincoln is a joke. When I lived in The Village, I paid my rent with weed. And that was just 2 months ago.
They still taking weed ? Lmaoo asking for a friend
Housing rights needs against the housing masters.
Get an attorney to place rents in an escrow!
all staff was actually not fired + the part about less pay being offered to everyone is false as well. just for the record lol
I managed 4123 Cedar Springs for one year.
Without Park West, 4123 runs like it’s 600 units. It’s a fast paced community that requires a very large staff. If Lincoln had asked, we would’ve given them the “411”! Having a dual manager doesn’t work at these two assets.
We catered to our residents, rolled out the red carpet,
listened to their concerns and ensured they had a positive living experience.
As much as I love Chick-Fil-A, if Lincoln had done their research beforehand, they would’ve known that majority of this demographics doesn’t support this eatery establishment.
It seemed like the prior management was aware they would not continue to work at Park West with the email they sent out.
Park West is in the process of being purchased by Sun Equity Partners.
As of 2/24/2022 the SMARTHUB app will no longer be available.
Please contact the office to submit a Maintenance Request. All payments must be made in the form of a check or money order and delivered to the office.
The new owners will officially takeover as of Tuesday March 1, 2022 and will provide details on their systems.
It has been a pleasure serving you and being a part of this community.
Thank you,
Park West Team
This transition has been a total nightmare. They didn’t even try to receive training from the previous amazing Venterra staff. We JUST got a resident portal to pay rent set up today, the 1st. Package locker alerts still aren’t working. The garage door has been open all week. Lincoln has not made a good impression AT ALL. BRING BACK VENTERRA!!
Yeah, this transition hasn’t been the smoothest at all. I definitely enjoy a chicfila though not gonna lie, (sausage and chicken biscuits were a heinous choice knowing they have the almighty chicken minis available) but they definitely should of researched chicfilas political standings before buying for this community. Lack of poop bags was annoying. My biggest thing is WHY HAS THE GARAGE DOOR BEEN OPEN THE PAST WEEK AND HOW HASN’T THERE BEEN ANY COMMUNICATION ABOUT IT FROM THE OFFICE?? The old property management would have reached out immediately and it wouldn’t have been open more then 24hrs tops. If my car/ apt gets broken into because of the access to the garage and living area somebody is going to have to come out there pockets for that AND AIN’T IT GONNA BE ME.
Ummm I still will eat a spicy chicken sandwich from CFA don’t catch me lying lol
They really directed us here with that email huh. The management transition was so rushed with absolutely NO thought given to the impacts it would have. When the package system first went down (over a month ago and still not up), the workers didn’t even know where the package locker was. Everyone remember your grievances for when they jack up your rent when it’s time to renew
Yes I do: Please join the tenant union ParkWesttenants@gmail.com to establish a collective voice on violations of our safety, the warranty of habitability and municipal code violations. This should also be a mechanism to build community and increase communication. I have evidence of emails for weeks outlining problems, resolutions and that a failure to be transparent, establish accountability and action market standard management practice which went unresponsive.
I would like to have this group reflect a collective voice of our shared community which efforts have been made to silo, silence and deprecate. The common spaces locked more frequently and securely then our own homes could be a wonderful venue for small business, non-profit and outreach groups, but instead Lincoln chooses to punt on every issue.
Does anyone really believe a national property management organization can’t fix a garage door in under 48 hours conservatively or 6 in any major market metro equivalent.
I would love to see the training implemented on a corporate level and also the contract between Sun Equity Partners and Lincoln.
I was always taught you don’t shit where you eat but Lincoln hasn’t quite caught on to this as they could and DID actually **CK up a free lunch. It amazes me how the standard and duty of care are knowingly ignored so Bev can tell us all she made a call to a group.
Get counsel and executive leadership involved and make the right move for the residents, owners and shareholders.
Anyone notice the D&I initiatives plastered all over the Lincoln site filled with obtuse and mediocre slobs…. me neither.
Watch those occupancy and rent delinquencies respond to this market failure.
Great article and I’m hopeful a swift and impactful change is on the horizon for the residents. For Lincoln it’s time to hit the bricks. Amateur hour has ended.
I agree with what other people say here, this new management is terrible! They can’t figure out package system, gates, trash, pool, tanning bed, cleaning hallways/gym, or even answer the phone but y’all notice they got the system working to pay rent up just fine lol
What they did by changing the billing method was breach the lease which states under Section 24.123 (c) Tenant agreement to billing method changes. An owner shall not change the method by which a tenant is billed unless the tenant has agreed to the change by signing a lease or other written agreement. The owner shall provide notice of the proposed change at least 35 days prior to implementing the new method.
Schedule A in the lease also outlines the fees earmarked for trash, pest services and other services that Lincoln charged us all for without providing at least in part. Those photos of cockroaches and dog poop everywhere. That’s what happens when the fee is collected and not used for it’s stated purpose.
Wow, reading this so glad I got out right before they took over, I seems like everyone is just hiking up rent and doing less work! There goes the Gayborhood!!!
I love me some real drama, but this is just a little cringy. How can a company fire people that don’t even work for them? The employess worked for Venterra. If they don’t have jobs, that means Venterra fired them, not Lincoln. It’s possible Lincoln could have offered them jobs when they found out Venterra let them go. They ran out of poop bags… OMG! ohhh myyyyyy gawwwwd. Really? And lastly, not all of us boycott Chick-fil-a. Some do, but some don’t. I hope to see better publishings in the future.
Just to reply to you about the poop bags, It was 6 days of over 100 or more dogs shitting and no bags to pick up, i personally went to pet store and bought bags for the large dog park and changed out the over flowing shit container, we pay dog pet rent to pay for this. Obviously you are not a pet owner or a good pet owner or you would know a large amount of shit will cause disease to other animals.
And as for the chick-fil-a thing, enjoy all you want, however the LARGE majority of gay persons and some straight persons that understand why we dislike that companys values out way the few that dont give a shit that they hate us.
Have an amazing day.
Look how awful they are. One of the main lessons you should have learned as a child is do not f up an apology with an excuse. They really are just mad they’ve been caught! I’ll keep my popcorn close.