Firm promises fixes at Elgin high-rise

The management firm for a much-maligned nine-story public housing complex on Elgin's near west side says good changes are coming.

In recent weeks, members of the Near West Neighbors Association and other residents have complained about drug sales and other illegal activities emanating out of 222 Locust St.

Polly Kuehl is senior vice president of Evergreen Real Estate Services, which manages the 96-unit federally subsidized building called "Buena Vista Tower."

Kuehl said crews have installed two security cameras on each floor, for a total of 18, and plan at least four more outside the building.

She said the cameras were added because of a spike in vandalism, not necessarily because of complaints from the neighborhood association.

Evergreen officials also have changed the building's rules so residents can be evicted if they commit criminal offenses involving drugs, violence or sex crimes, Kuehl said.

New residents will be subject to more intensive screening and criminal screening will be done for all residents annually, she said.

The firm also is refinancing the property and plans to invest $800,000 to repave the parking lot, add a tot lot, improve landscaping and replace windows.

"We're trying to work with police to make sure our residents and visitors are not going to be an issue in the area," Kuehl said. "We want to be good neighbors. That's why we're making the changes we're making."

Elgin City Council members David Kaptain and Juan Figueroa have met with Evergreen representatives.

Kaptain said the plan to install more security cameras is a "step in the right direction" but said management needs to do more.

"You need to make the people living there feel safe," said Kaptain, adding he and Figueroa will announce a new plan to improve the building and neighborhood during a tour this afternoon.

"We have a couple of things we would like to get done," Kaptain said, declining to elaborate. "I think we have enough support to move forward on it."

Evergreen has promised to invest more into the high-rise, but the amount of property taxes the building's owner is paying each year has actually decreased.

According to tax records, Knollwood Associates, a Chicago-based firm that owns the building, paid $99,327 in 2005.

But the firm appealed to a review board, which decreased the building's overall value, and thus its property tax bill to $85,122. Since then, the building's value has risen slightly and $88,243 in taxes were paid in 2007.

Asked about the $14,205 -- or 15 percent -- decrease from 2005 to 2006, Kuehl said it's common for building owners to challenge assessments to ensure they're paying the proper tax.

Aurora Township Assessor Davis Offutt said firms taking their case to a review board to have an apartment building's assessment lowered happens all the time.

"That's a common practice," Offutt said. "If you don't (try) the worst thing is they're going to say 'No, you're fairly assessed.'"