Centro Condos (Henderson Developments) - Real Estate -

I think the debate about the key fob issue has nothing to do with which building you purchased. The point of the matter is our buildings are connected by the 5th floor and this in itself is a contradiction. Why can we access each others towers through the 5th floor but am denied entry at the ground level. I have brought this issue up with Jai and am waiting for a response - of course we all know what that means.

As for the response in regards to security. There will NOT be security at either towers now because the entrances are now only accessible via key fob or intercom access. Security and management has made this clear and I have also questioned this because when I purchased my unit I was told "24 hour concierge service" at the building not at the Gate House which basically watching cars come in and out. I have been told there will be 2 guards, one positioned at the Gate House while the other does "patrol". I have major security issues with this.

And finally, I myself have decided to run to be on the board. Your support would be great.
 
Consider it this way... imagine the condo was a home and the ground level as your back yard. The fence is not built so ppl are passing through your backyard for their convenience to get to the other side. Do you feel safe knowing that there's strangers passing through your property? Isn't this considered trespassing?

From what I heard from my friend who also lives in a condo that has a level with shared amenities, it's normal to not have access to the other building. Not only this, I was told that both buildings had different maintenance fees. If the NT had to pay higher fees to fix, clean, or maintain in general because there's a higher volume of traffic not caused by the actual ppl who live in the NT - Do you think that sounds fair? I don't.
 
I'm sorry, did you miss the part where I said we are allowed access to each others building through the 5th floor? Can you please apply your analogy there? How does the 5th floor differ from the front entrance? How do you feel more "safe" that people from the other tower can enter your building through the 5th floor but not the ground entrance... doesn't make much sense now does it.

And fyi: that may be the case for your friend at his/her condo, but I live in one tower and my friend lives in the other tower and our maintenance fee is exactly the same.
 
Bunnie, I'd definitely feel more safe knowing only people who could enter the building could get into my building by the 5th floor, compared to someone on the ground floor. Marginally safer, but safer. But this seems to be a silly point.

I think it's possible for them to lock the amenity access doors as well in the future, I remember seeing an electronic fob lock there as well. Perhaps our fobs will only work on one side of the amenity area in the future?

REgarding security, I too have found out that there won't be any security at the main desk, which to me is preposterous. There HAS to be someone on the main floor who can check who's coming in and out and help anyone who may be having difficulties. Jai claims the builder had them removed once the locks were installed, but this seems weird, because they installed a front security desk in each lobby...why would they install that only to have it unmanned? Especially now, since construction is still going on, and construction guys have access everywhere, why is there no security?

Here's the response I got from Jai regarding my earlier questions:

"Since the day the front lobby door locks have started operating, the builder had removed a guard that was hired by them so that they can monitor the lobby when it wasn’t locked.

Residents of each tower have access to their own towers only. Security being the main concern, and also as the access system is being integrated with the elevators, Once this integration goes through, we would be able to know how the system is designed to work.

As far as the entry of the bystanders by just following the residents, we understand is a big concern. We will be posting notices on the entrances to inform residents for being careful and not to let anyone following them enter into the buildings."

His answers are, to say the least, laughable.
 
Yes, there are FOB scanners by the gym doors. Jai was telling me that we have access via the 5th floor because of how the doors open - so someone from NT can go through to the ST but that same person cannot go back through the 5th because technically they don't live in the ST. So in order to get back to the NT you would have to go down to the garage and enter that way. I can see what you and rabbitangel are saying but I just think how management handled the situation was not very professional, seeing as how there were no real answers. I mean if we were told from the get-go of the rules and that is how its going to be moving forward then I guess there would be less of a commotion from the owners. I'm apologize angelrabbit if I came off sounding like a real b*@#! I am frustrated with the run around from management team and should not of lashed out like that.

In the end we're not going to all agree. But if we had some real answers and rules were enforced properlythen we wouldn't need to debate about the topic back and forth because it really would be endless and inconclusive.

About security, I totally agree that there should be a guard in the lobbies at all times, for safety/security reasons. Perhaps once a board is in place we can ask for this to be changed?
 
I guess the one thing we can all agree on is that the property manager's work so far is pretty much unsatisfactory across the board. I've already started to pull quotes from other management companies so we have some options once the board is up and running.

Bunnie, did you already put in your resume/application to Jai?
 
Oh wow, that's very impressive Ontnut!

No, I haven't officially handed any thing in yet. I have spoken with Jai about applying and will probably talk to him more about it. I plan to get the resume ready over this weekend and hopefully hand it in by Friday.

What about you Ontnut?
 
Not to stoke any fire with this question but would you all agree to have an increase in your maintenance fee in order to pay for security? Just curious....
 
Thank you Ontnut for sharing and getting a response from Jai. I'm glad that he was able to provide at least an answer/response...

Bunnie, no worries. I understand it can be frustrating when we are not informed properly which goes both ways for us. The management skills for our buildings was awful from the beginning. There's no fault that there's lots of questions to be asked and of course frustrations that arise when no questions are answered. I really hope we can have a better management like brookfield place. I know their skills are great.

Also fyi, the maintenance fees will be the same for now in both towers considering it is how it was marketed for purchasers. It's quite normal to see a dramatic difference for the following year considering it's fees that either needs to be covered for the 1st year or 5-10years down the road. Because there's 2 buildings it is possible that there will be a difference of fees later. It all depends what needs to fixed/maintained in either building. I'm sure these things will be covered during the board meetings.

I don't know how to raise the 24 hour security/concierge question to Jai if his response was b/c we got the key fob working it should "safe" to remove them from each buildings... I seriously don't understand why there's a desk at each main entrance that is unsupervised. there should be at least a total of 3 security: 1 at each tower entrances and 1 at the parking garage.
 
Bunnie, yes I have already submitted my resume to Jai. I have even spoken with Henderson, who have told me they will be sending some high-level execs to town when we do the handover meeting; so hopefully we will have some time to discuss matters such as security/keyfobs/maintenance fees etc., with them.

Roamingmonkeys, I would probably agree to a small increase in fees if it meant we would have 2 additional 24 hour securities at the front desk. There's something like 300 units in our building right? I figure to hire two additional guards would cost each owner about $20/month more, with a full building of course. Definitely will have to do some more research into this matter, but I wouldn't be entirely against a reasonable increase
 
So I got a call from Jai today...they didn't even receive my resume fax :/ I know it went through too, and to the right number haha...guess I'm delivering by hand this time.
 
Raising fees for security?? Bad idea...few reasons:

1. Fees are already going to go up as they always do in the first year.
2. Maintenance fees are already high. We don't need to add on. We need to incorporate and see what our fees are going towards right now and adjust accordingly. We don't want to go and spend and add on Maintenance fees right off the bat. If that is your mentality, applying for the Board is a bad idea. You want to keep maint. fees as low as possible.

As for security, everyone will have different opinions on this one...in the end, the guys in the gatehouse are there to watch all cameras and monitor parking. We have 2 right now, one to do that and one to patrol. That is good enough. We have cameras everywhere in the building. I don't think we need anymore guards, but as we can clearly see, this is debatable.

One thing I will agree on, the management in this building is not the greatest and something needs to be done about it once Board is created.

Ontnut said:
Bunnie, yes I have already submitted my resume to Jai. I have even spoken with Henderson, who have told me they will be sending some high-level execs to town when we do the handover meeting; so hopefully we will have some time to discuss matters such as security/keyfobs/maintenance fees etc., with them.

Roamingmonkeys, I would probably agree to a small increase in fees if it meant we would have 2 additional 24 hour securities at the front desk. There's something like 300 units in our building right? I figure to hire two additional guards would cost each owner about $20/month more, with a full building of course. Definitely will have to do some more research into this matter, but I wouldn't be entirely against a reasonable increase
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LOL... security at monarch is crap...My friend lives there. She can get into parking without giving any name or license plate (this is done now from gatehouse)...She can park in visitor and get into the building without buzzing...I don't see how the Monarch's building is better...As far as I know people follow everyone in that building as well...

Everyone complaining about gaining access to South from North, b/c of weather...etc, etc....ridiculous...having access to north just because you dont want to walk around to south or b/c its cold is the craziest thing I have ever heard....it's Canada...stop complaining already...

SupraT said:
let me get this straight... you are saying people that live in the ST should have to walk around the building because people in the NT have a crappy view??

i'm sure if you guys had elderly parents or grandparents that lived with you, you would want them to have access to the closer entrance so they don't have to walk outside in the cold.. management should look into this issue...

and one more point, if someone wanted to get into the either building.. all they have to do is follow someone in... since there are no longer any security guards on duty at the lobby... there isn't much security in the building anyways.. the security at monarch across the street is alot better than what we have in our building...
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Amen to that....

roamingmonkeys said:
I live in the Monarch condo right next to the TTC entrance to STC. We share an underground parking with our sister building which is to the West of my building but our fobs do not allow access to each other's building. In order for them to get to the TTC, they have to walk around my building. It sucks for them to have to walk around but I actually like it this way. Less traffic in my building = potentially less security issue, vandalism, people throwing garbage around, breaking things, etc.... Trust me, it's better this way.
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Just curious on this one...what happens if you raise the fees and then the security guards hired don't enforce the rules or are not there all the time and people start noticing this? How will you handle all the complaints you will get?

Ontnut said:
Bunnie, yes I have already submitted my resume to Jai. I have even spoken with Henderson, who have told me they will be sending some high-level execs to town when we do the handover meeting; so hopefully we will have some time to discuss matters such as security/keyfobs/maintenance fees etc., with them.

Roamingmonkeys, I would probably agree to a small increase in fees if it meant we would have 2 additional 24 hour securities at the front desk. There's something like 300 units in our building right? I figure to hire two additional guards would cost each owner about $20/month more, with a full building of course. Definitely will have to do some more research into this matter, but I wouldn't be entirely against a reasonable increase
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