Review for Henry On The Park Apartments

Thanks to mismanagement by a real estate conglomerate, this is an apartment complex that has gone from beautiful to shoddy in only a year. When we moved into Henry on the Park three years ago we were delighted with every aspect of the community. Our apartment was convenient to work and recreation, reasonably priced, and afforded us an unparalleled view of Fairmount Park. The grounds were attractive, the amenities appealing, and the staff were friendly and responsive. We were proud to invite friends to visit us! A little over a year ago the complex was taken over by Fairfield Properties, and the deterioration has been dramatic. You wouldn't know it from the outside, because the company is careful to spend lavishly on exterior cosmetic touches (new signs, paint on the balconies, lovely plantings and pennants!). Meanwhile, the quality of life for tenants is going downhill. There are virtually no upgrades to the public interior spaces: hallways are dingy and under-illuminated, lobbies are shabby, and elevator interiors are filthy. The elevators are the age of the buildings, and many of them work irregularly. In our building, we went through a period when the doors of one elevator slammed shut only moments after opening, trapping and injuring elderly residents. A ten-minute wait for an elevator is not unheard-of. Elderly and pregnant tenants are forced to choose between struggling up and down up to 5 flights of stairs or not leaving the building. Low-quality tenants have created problems, as well. Because an in-building letterbox was destroyed by a tenant, the Postal Service has removed all mailboxes from the complex, creating a hardship for tenants who are not very mobile. The worst development: the management has contracted with an outpatient psychiatric unit to house clients who are emotionally disabled. These residents are sprinkled throughout the 7 buildings, and they are affecting the quality of life for the worse. They have been known to provoke arguments with neighbors, and they loiter outside the building entrance at all hours, smoking--treating this public space as if it were their private front stoop. We have been told by delivery persons that they are worried about the security of their vehicles, and one nervous young mother called her husband to come to the front door to escort her and her children into the building. When presented with these problems, the onsite management are argumentative and unresponsive. They seem unwilling or unable to go to bat for stable and long-term residents. This apartment complex could be outstanding: poor stewardship, however, is bringing it to ruin. An illuminated sign in front welcomes prospective tenants home; increasingly, we and other tenants do not feel at home at Henry on the Park.