An informal inspection by members of the Van Ness South Tenants Association found that many of the same security problems that have been reported in the past have not been addressed. The tenant association has recorded well over 80 videos of malfunctioning security doors over the past two and a half years.
Many of the problems recorded on video on December 31st are the same issues that were witnessed by the DC Department of Buildings (DOB) during an official inspection of 3003 Van Ness on December 17th. The DOB discover many malfunctioning security doors, and it issued a 21-page Notice of Infraction to Equity Residential and levied $609 in fines.
On December 31st, two weeks after the DOB inspection, the tenant association found that only two doors had been repaired, while many others remain broken. One door that was repaired is the second Veazey Terrace entrance, which has been broken almost continuously for more than two years — it now has a reinforced handle and lock mechanism. The main entrance from Veazey Terrace also received a stronger door handle, but the hinge mechanism still does not work properly so the door does not close automatically.
The chronically broken security doors are of especially serious concern given that an intruder attempted to light a resident’s apartment door on fire on Monday, December 30th. Equity Residential management has not informed residents about this incident, and it is not clear whether it has taken any steps to prevent the intruder from entering the building again. In any case, as the videos below indicate, it is extremely easy for anyone to enter 3003 Van Ness.
An intruder attempted to light a fire outside a resident’s apartment.
The informal inspection of 3003 Van Ness by the tenant association found that exterior security doors were left open, and other security doors malfunctioned or had broken locks and could be opened without a fob.
The door at the main entrance from Veazey Terrace does not close automatically.
The door in the G2-level garage to the West building by the gym can be opened without a fob, allowing easy access to the West building.
Door N to the South building in the G-2 garage can be opened without a fob, allowing easy access to the South building.
This door has been broken for months, allowing easy access to the apartment building from the underground garage. It is easy to get into the underground garage from other entrances, so it is easy to walk off the street into the garage and then into the apartment area.
Door G on the G-1 level of the garage into the South building won’t open with a fob. As a result, someone frequently props it open with a fire extinguisher, allowing easy access to the building.
Door Q on the G-3 level of the garage remains broken, allowing easy access to the buiding.
The loading dock door is left open at approximately 10 am on December 31st. There is no Equity Residential employee in sight.
The same loading dock door is still open four hours later, allowing easy access to the building.
Two of the four elevators in the West building are broken, including the only freight elevator. One of the remaining elevators is frequently used by contractors, so only one elevator is operational for residents of the 11-story West building.
In the 11-floor South building, one of the three elevators is out of service.
One of three elevators in the South building is out of service.
Residents of 3003 Van Ness are extremely concerned about the fact that there are not enough working elevators to serve the residents of the two large apartment buildings. Older and disabled residents cannot climb the stairs or exit the building easily. Other residents are forced to wait a long time for an elevator. Residents cannot move large furniture in or out of the building due to lack of a service elevator.
LAUNDRY ROOMS
Residents largely welcome the recent upgrade of laundry rooms, with the installation of new washers and dryers.
However, it seems like some of the new washers are leaking or were incorrectly connected to the plumbing. One resident recently alerted management to this leak on the 5th floor laundry room in the West building.
BROKEN LIGHTS
Residents also report that many lights are out in stairwells and some hallways.
While management has claimed that the broken lights are due to the recent massive flood in the West building, residents say that many of these lights have been out for a long time. In fact, there is a lot of email evidence between residents and management showing that residents have complained about broken lighting in stairwells long before the flood.
Long “dolly shot” of maintenance problems in stairwells and hallways of 3003 Van Ness
MORE bROKEN LIGHTS
Residents have recorded more videos of broken lights. The videos below were recorded on January 6th in stairwells 1 and 2 near the 10th floor in the West building. Both show that many lights are out in these stairwells.
We are concerned about this safety and security issue, in part because two elevators are out of service in the West building, forcing residents to walk up or down stairs in some cases.