On behalf of Lourdes Alvarez, Margaret Fine, Ralph Freedman, Jaime and Elise Resnick, Renee Tatusko, Paula Tucker, and myself, here is our consolidated factual summary of our meeting Tuesday with the 8045 developer and its representatives. Some of the attendees may be posting individual interpretations and additional details of what happened.
Overall, the meeting was cordial and the developer and its representatives were open to answering questions. The developer explained why the project is in its current situation and provided some indication of plans. Perhaps most importantly, the developer expressed a commitment to completing a quality project and to significantly improve communications, with the next step being a meeting for all buyers planned for March 15th.
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The developer was represented by:
 | Leith Wain, Managing Partner, Patriot Group |
| Jerry Riccardi (not correct spelling), 8045 Project Manager, Patriot Group |
| Steve Jones, Crescent Project Manager, Patriot Group (and 8045 buyer) |
| Barbara Causey, Mayhood Company |
| Carol Felix, Felix Communications (corporate communications) |
The Patriot Group has been focused on construction issues and they assumed that everyone is familiar with what is happening. This is their first residential project. They have not given sufficient attention to communication with the buyers, but that is changing.
They are interested in delivering a quality product. They have no interest in people giving back their units. Patriot Group expects to be involved with us even after closing, when the Mayhood Company's involvement ceases.
In Silver Spring, the Patriot Group is working on construction permits for their Crescent condo project. They also have plans for a condo at 1203 Fiddler Lane. They are looking at several other opportunities that they were not ready to discuss.
The Patriot Group, the Mayhood Company, and Carol Felix will be working to improve communication with buyers. Carol advises developers on how to improve communications with customers. They will be sending monthly updates by email. Paula will send the Mayhood Company the email addresses from the yahoo group. Mayhood will be calling people for whom they do not have email addresses. The 8045condo.com web site will contain construction updates and pictures and a chat group.
The developer expects to have a meeting for all buyers 7 p.m. March 15 at 8241 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring. Everyone will be receiving invitations by U.S. mail. At the meeting the developer will present a schedule for construction and move-in. The developer will also present details about the project, including technical aspects of the building (e.g., insulation), designs for the public art arcade and the shared interior spaces (e.g., lobby), and security details (e.g., key policy). They will try to arrange for at least one of the designated lenders (SunTrust or Bank of America) to be present. Carol Felix (carolfelix@comcast.net) would like to hear in the near future about issues that people would like to be addressed at the meeting. A list of issues that the meeting attendees collected appears at the bottom of this summary.
The building will be delivered to the owners by floor. At the March meeting the developer will present a move-in schedule by floor and explain the move-in/finishing process. It's likely that there will be a roughly two-week delay between adjacent floors. If future owners find that the closing time for their floor will be a problem (e.g., out of town), they should contact Barbara Causey as soon as they can. The Mayhood Company will contact people about a month before their closing date.
One of the buyers pointed out that people might not want to move in if construction is still in progress on the floor above them. The developer had not considered that but will now.
People can use their choice of lender. On another project Barbara Causey has seen some people's closings be delayed by 2-4 weeks when they did not use a designated lender. She suggested that people using another lender contact her now so the closing might go smoothly. She also suggested that people using another lender ask the lender "Can you get this loan to settlement with only a Fannie Mae 10-27?" That is what has caused problems for some people.
The developer is renegotiating the construction schedule with the general contractor. The developer expects construction to be finished in the fall. Floors will be completed bottom to top. Lower floors can move in before construction on higher floors is completed. The schedule presented at the March meeting will include allowances for a normal number of bad weather days, holidays, and some slippage due to materials.
The developer explained in more detail the problem with the bedrock that delayed excavation and foundation work. While it would have been technically feasible to drill through the floor of the post office that had been previously on the site, the developer was not permitted to do that while the building was occupied. Thus, they did not understand what obstacles were underneath the building until they started construction.
There are continuing problems with the framer's level of effort on the project. This has especially been a concern for the past 4-6 weeks. They expect roof trusses to be on the north wing next week. There are only two or three wood framing companies in this area that do this type of work, and they are having trouble keeping up with the area's building boom. Also, framing work is much more susceptible to weather delays than interior work. Other developers are having similar problems. There's little benefit to changing subcontractors at this point. Also, if a new framer were brought in they would not take responsibility for work that has already been done.
The building code prohibits starting electrical work until the building is water tight. Thus, delays with the framer are holding up other work. A lot of work can begin once the building is water tight.
There are three sources of quality for the project. 1) The subcontractors bring a basic level of quality, which is similar across all local projects; 2) Patriot Group oversight; and 3) the onsite project manager.
The developer chose the general contractor because their relationship allows the developer to have tighter control of quality than would be possible with other builders. However, sometimes this has slowed down work because the developer asked questions and made changes to ensure the desired quality.
Work is in progress on the public arcade art area along Kennett Street. A 30-foot-long art-glass wall is being fabricated in Germany. Also, decorative metalwork and a mosaic floor made from thick stones are being installed. The area will have a postal theme to acknowledge the post office that used to be on the site. The developer fought a battle with the county over the public space. The county wanted to see some area open to the public (which is why we have the open art area), while the developer wanted to close off spaces to make them private. The developer expects that there will continue to be tension between the owners and the county on this public space issue.
Nice, commercial-grade furniture has been ordered for the lobby.
This is one of the first seismic rated buildings in Silver Spring (built with reinforcing to help resist earthquakes).
A window was installed on the first floor in the back of the building to determine the best order to install all of the materials (Tyvek, etc.) to obtain a watertight fit.
The developer is aware that people point to the Silverton condos and wonder why it is rising faster than 8045. Silverton received its building permit in July, 2003; 8045 received its permit in September, 2003. The Patriot Group talks with Clark, contractor for the Silverton. Clark is also frustrated with their framing situation.
Silverton is really a four-story building (it has mezzanine, which makes it appear to have five stories). This causes it to fall under a less stringent building code: International Building Code 5A (e.g., exterior walls fire rated for 1 hour). The building was originally designed as an apartment building. It has a pool (which attracts tenants) but only two elevators were included in the original design for 220 units.
8045 was designed from the beginning as a condo. It has two elevators for 120 units. Since it is a five story building, stricter codes apply. The parking garage is a 1A concrete structure while the wood frame structure is 3B (exterior wall fire rated for two hours, more comprehensive sprinkler system, etc.). For instance, the white material currently on the side of the building is plywood treated to be fire resistant. Leith Wain said that there is a lot of detail in 8045. It is not cheap to build; it costs more than any other building in the area [presumably per square foot]
The buyers at the meeting identified the following questions/issues that they would like to see addressed at the meeting in March. Additional questions should be sent to carolfelix@comcast.net [you might want to indicate that it is in reference to 8045].
| Schedule for construction milestones |
| Move-in schedule and process |
| Why is progress so slow |
| Other projects in the neighborhood |
| Other Patriot Group activities in Silver Spring |
| Why are balconies on two-bedroom units on Kennett Street building different? |
| Would the developer allow an inspector hired by the buyers to look at the site (e.g., before drywall is installed)? |
| Building security |
| How things will work/look in interior common areas and the exterior public area |
| What are the incentives to use the designated lenders? |
| Is there any reason to believe that the association fees will be different than what was previously estimated? |
| Would it be possible for the developer to provide in advance inner and outer dimensions of windows and exterior doors so people can have window coverings ready when they move in? |
| Building energy efficiency |
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Last updated: February 22, 2005