Kudos to the building engineers at Penguin corporate headquarters! The crew managed to get the air conditioning cranking in time for this week’s unusual heat, AND they were kind enough to leave a little sumpin sumpin in the refrigerator to whet our reporters’ whistles.
Stay cool as you soak up Silver Spring’s offerings:
Monday
9:00 a.m. The county council’s transportation committee considers operating expenses for the county’s parking lot districts, mass transit fund and taxi fares. This free event takes place at the council’s office building (100 Maryland Ave, Rockville), seventh floor, and is open to the public.
Tuesday
7:00 p.m. The Buy Local Silver Spring initiative holds a forum for downtown Silver Spring’s small-business owners to discuss common concerns. This free event takes place at the Mayorga Coffee Factory (8040 Georgia Ave) and is open to small-business owners only.
The Silver Spring Penguin is the official online-media partner of the Buy Local Silver Spring initiative.
Wednesday
12:30 p.m. Montgomery College hosts a screening of the 2001 documentary “Promises”, followed by a discussion with Barbara Petzen, educational director of the Middle East Policy Council. This free event takes place at the college’s health sciences center (7977 Georgia Ave), room 201, and is open to the public.
2:00 p.m. The county council’s planning and economic development committee considers operating expenses for the county’s regional centers and urban districts. This free event takes place at the council’s office building (100 Maryland Ave, Rockville), seventh floor, and is open to the public.
Thursday
Ice cream for everyone! Yay!
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Qfamily.
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Boxed wines and rosés are back in vogue. Just ask The Penguin's sommeliers.
Meanwhile, I was baking to death in my Summit Hills apartment building. They still had heat coming through the vents in my apartment unit while the temperature was 90 degrees outside.
Note to Southern Management…switch off the heat much earlier in the season. Thanks to global warming, we are getting heat waves sooner in the spring season.
+1, IHY; but you can’t turn the HVAC units off completely? It was hot as heck last night in Twin Towers (and I’m on a lower floor). I feel bad for people on the upper floors, which are probably hotter…
I think it’s all the old people who want the heat on until it’s breaks 70 outside that mess everything up… ya know.. the ones who were walking around with sweaters on this weekend? I’m in twin as well -and we NEVER have to turn on our heat during the winter, I can only imagine it’s because there are enough apartments around us baking at 80 or so to keep us perfectly comfortable.
Management companies go through this ever spring and fall when the weather changes frequently and is unpredicatable. Until two days ago, the Weather Channel was forecasting lows in the mid-40’s for mid-week so had you been switched to AC, you’d be unable to turn on the heat when it got chilly again. Like you said, it is often the older residents who are most sensitive to the changes. I’m sure it’s been miserable in a highrise the past few days and nights. Of course in all the newer, yuppie-haven apartments the residents have complete control of their heat/ac (and pay for utilities, too).
Of course in all the newer, yuppie-haven apartments the residents have complete control of their heat/ac (and pay for utilities, too).
gotta tell ya, as a survivor of both Summit Hills and Twin Towers, it’s worth it. If that makes me a “yuppie,” so be it.
I live in the 8484 building in Summit Hills and that building has the WORST insulation. Too hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. I keep the heat cranked up 24/7 from December through March and I blast the cool air 24/7 from May to September in my apartment. Lots and lots of energy usage, baby.
I must be running at least $150/$200 per month in electrical/gas costs from the constant heat and A/C alone. But wait. I really don’t pay for it. It’s the PEPCO customer like Woodsider who end up paying for my excessive utility usage at Summit Hills. PEPCO has to spread the costs somewhere, right? Summit Hills probably negotiated a contract with PEPCO years ago for utility fees. In other words, Southern Management is getting a sweetheart deal with small utility rate increases while those yuppies in the cool, stylish condos get slammed with the utility bill at current market rates. All well…not my problem.
IHY, I empathize. I also empathize with building managers. All this leads me to question the assumption that hi-rise dwellings are so wildly energy-efficient. In Canada, maybe.
I bet those who dwell in small houses (in East Silver Spring and elsewhere) who are blessed with shade trees, have the windows up and nothing, not even a fan, running.
Jennifer, question about a sign I saw at Colesville & East-West today. I was on the bus, so I didn’t get close enough to read it. All I saw was “Community Meeting” and “Metro.” I am very curious. Hope to see you list it, and also hopefully cover it.
Re: community meeting, not sure what that is. Will look into it.
Re: energy-efficient high rises, Penguin corporate headquarters is in a high rise (penthouse, baby!) that operates completely on wind power. However, I’ll admit that the windows are like freakin’ sieves.
I lived in Summit Hills and I doubt it’s possible to truly “flood-the-grid” in electric costs because of the measures put in place to restrict usage by tenants. These include the restrictions of turning the A/C and Heat on/off earlier/later than one would like, a problem complained about at the beginning of this thread. Also, while the heat may work alright, the A/C is DECENT at best, blowing small amounts of cool air at low power.
The 10-20% rent increases every year go towards the rising utility costs. People in new condos and homes aren’t paying the increase. Tenants, their neighbors, and new tenants are paying them in the form of higher rent.
I live in a garden-style 4 story low rise and there are a few trees surrounding the windows in my apartment. It’s still hot right now without A/C.
Corona,
You might have a point about the A/C. When I lived in 8508 back in 2001-2007; I was able to blast the cool air and keep my apartment comfortably chilly.
I live in 8484 and the A/C is no where near full capacity. My bedroom gets blazing hot in the summer because my window faces the sunset side. I would never rent an apartment that has its windows facing the South…the sun swings East to West via the southern direction.
As for the rent increases…I was able to talk Summit Hills down to a 4 percent increase when they proposed a 10 percent increase. The massive rent increases have more to do with Southern Management greed than the utility cost pressures. They always use the utility rate excuse in their rent increase notification letters. It’s mostly B.S. Summit Hills sits on valuable property and I think this has a greater impact on leasing fee trends.
Corona…Southern Management isn’t refraining from turning on the AC to restrict energy use by residents. The last thing Southern wants to do is piss off the residents by keeping the place hot. They, like hundreds of apartment companies in our area, got caught in a freak heat spell with very limited options. The original heat “wave” was only supposed to last saturday and sunday, but it now is going until tomorrow. If they really wanted to “restrict” energy use by residents, they would submeter (or similar program) the apartments so residents are responsible for the utility they use, rather than having the whole community’s expenses allocated to all residents via rent. Many apartment companies are doing this…and they reduce the resident’s rent to make up for the burden of additional utility bills.
IHY: sorry, but I don’t pay for your energy use–you and your fellow residents at Summit Hills do in the form of rent increases.
Deja vu all over again and again and again. I said the same things about apartment management in the early 1970s and my son repeated them last night like it was something new. And if your windows get the afternoon sun you fry. They turned the air on around May 15 then and probably now too. Problem is when the air comes on everyone is so grateful they forget about the discomfort and nothing changes.
Even if you can control things in s detached house with its own air, heat, windows on all sides, and bills, energy bills went way up in detached houses too this winter, for some as much as 30 percent, according to a local listserv. It was beyond what the lower temperatures would predict and will probably be worse this summer as we go from part gas to all electricity. Then there is the ridiculous water bill if you want to keep it green.
Woodsider,
My rent increase is only 2.9 percent for this year. PEPCO and Washington Gas utility rates have increased dramatically since about 2007. This is not a solid 100 percent correlation. I think the rent increases are influenced by several factors including non-utility services provided by management, the increasing tax assessments, and the pursuit of a healthy profit margin (i.e. greed).
I would also argue that apartment buildings that make residents pay electric bills have not been shy about hitting residents with significant rent increases either. Just because you pay the electric bill doesn’t mean the management company won’t sock you with a 5-10 percent increase. Most increases can be justified through renovations of apartment units alone.
It will never be a 100% correlation. While gas utility rates may have increased dramatically, the property/company’s overall expenses may not have. Utility expense is just one piece of a very large property management operating expense puzzle. And comparing rent increases with communities that do not include utilities is not relevant. You’ve heard it a million times on here and other blogs: apartment companies are no different than home sales in that owners will charge what the market will pay. If the demand is there, then the increases will be. If it is softer (as it is now), then your increase will likely be less.
Very true, Woodsider.
We have some vacant units sitting in building 8484. I have a friend who lives in Blair Tower and he notices vacancies there as well.
Conclusion: the recently unemployed 20-somethings are moving back home to Mommy and Daddy.
FWIW, they had the AC on at Twin Towers by last night :)
IHY, you’re right…there has been considerable “household consolidation” in the apartment market, which it’s more difficut for apt companies to rent studios or 1BRs. 2BR + 2BA’s are in very high demand.
There is, however, the misconception that if there are some vacancies that the property is having a hard time leasing. The old saying in the apartment business is “If you’re 100% occupied then then the rent is too low”.
Apartment companies are in the business of maximizing revenue, not occupancy. The sweet spot varies, but is typically around 94%–meaning they make more money with 94% paying higher rents than 100% paying lower rents.
Hey, Woodsider, could some of the apt managers combine some of the 1-bedrooms and make them 2-bedroom? I’ve read that coop owners have tried to do that in NYC sometimes, but faced reluctant boards.
Also, every apt building should allow cats. And it would be fine to have an extra deposit for them.
They should also have plenty of laundry machines that work well, also.
They could combine apartments but fiscally it wouldn’t make sense to do so. You’d never be able to charge enough for the new 2BR to justify the loss of two 1BRs.
Woodsider, I wonder how many 2-bedrooms are occupied by people who live as housemates. Some people stay single for a long time. Say 2 people lived in a 2-bedroom for, say, 7 years.
Do landlords make more $ when people stay for years, or more $ when tenants turn over faster?
By Wednesday evening, you won’t be caring about air conditioning, but you can think about future air conditioned locations, like the Elizabeth Stickley Auditorium. Attend a presentation about the Old Blair Auditorium Project (7pm, Wednesday the 29th), where the county’s hired architects will be presenting four renovation options for the auditorium. Meeting is at Silver Spring International Middle School at Dale and Wayne (which does happen to be air conditioned during the warm season). http://oldblairauditorium.org/
See you there!
LuvMyHood: It really depends on how much turnover cost/time is…newer properties cost less to turnover than older. Landlords generally have higher revenue when rents for existing residents are increased to keep up with the market, but kept a little below what new residents would pay. Where landlords get in “trouble” (profit-wise) is when they are more concerned about occupancy than revenue and they go years thout increasing the rent on existing residents. Eventually, when the market is on the upswing they will often increase the rents on existing residents a considerable amount to make up for the lost time…and then they have massive turnover. Depending on how strong the market is at the time, it could be worth the hassle.
Hey, Woodsider, “massive turnover” sounds painful. Best to have small annual increases. One of the many bad things about the recent real estate boom is that real estate was seen as a prepetual money machine. Why were housing costs going up and up when incomes were stagnant or falling for so many people? If we don’t get national healthcare and a commitment to continually training and employing people, 20-somethings, 30-somethings and 40- and 50- somethings will be headed for their mother/uncles/offspring’s basements.
Sorry to say, but the “lessons” you are hoping real estate managers will “learn” will not happen–and never will as long as we are in a capitalist society and not a socialist one (or unless rent control is imposed). Real estate developers and management companies are in the profit-making business.