urbanSTL

The Central Scrutinizer wrote:

shelbyelyse wrote:I also like the blue and the name off-center. As far as the settling in goes, I guess that is never easy. To that end, I'm wondering how everyone's experiences with the management company are going. I can't say I am entirely pleased at all.

Details? Who is the management company?

Bob and Elaine of Civitas Real Estate Services (the third party that has been chosen to coordinate the move-in process) have been telling people that they will be managing the building. I was told that a verbal commitment had been made but nothing was official. Regardless, they have currently taken over many of the responsibilities that Hip and Ohm have been handling, coordinating parking, unit problems, etc.

It's still covered in cardboard, so it's hard to tell. It looks like a medium stain.

Hello, my name is Scott McGee. I work for Charter Communications and I have been working with the owners of Meridian for about a year. We could not come to an agreement with the owners, but I do want to bring cable service to the building. I had an engineer out there today to see what we need to do in order to get cable services active in the building.



I would like to speak to someone from the condo board in regards to bringing service to the building. Could someone get my contact information to a condo board representative?



Scott McGee.

Charter Communications

314-220-8040



I look forward to helping to get cable to your building.

smcgee wrote:Hello, my name is Scott McGee. I work for Charter Communications and I have been working with the owners of Meridian for about a year. We could not come to an agreement with the owners, but I do want to bring cable service to the building. I had an engineer out there today to see what we need to do in order to get cable services active in the building.



I would like to speak to someone from the condo board in regards to bringing service to the building. Could someone get my contact information to a condo board representative?



Scott McGee.

Charter Communications

314-220-8040



I look forward to helping to get cable to your building.

What sort of "agreement" would you even be negotiating? I know nothing about developing property, but I'm guessing the developers look for some sort of payment to allow you to bring cable to the building? But they must know that you can simply return later after they are gone.



Having said that, the board doesn't exist yet, as far as I know.

smcgee wrote:Hello, my name is Scott McGee. I work for Charter Communications and I have been working with the owners of Meridian for about a year. We could not come to an agreement with the owners, but I do want to bring cable service to the building. I had an engineer out there today to see what we need to do in order to get cable services active in the building.



I would like to speak to someone from the condo board in regards to bringing service to the building. Could someone get my contact information to a condo board representative?



Scott McGee.

Charter Communications

314-220-8040



I look forward to helping to get cable to your building.

I for one would absolutely love that. I am really disappointed that you could not work anything out with the developers because I could simply have transferred my service. The problem now is that I had to commit (as did most others I believe) to 18 months with Dish TV so I would have to have some incentive to incur whatever penalty is associated with canceling before that time period expires.

There were no moneys required for us to pay the developer. We simply needed a service agreement in place that would grant Charter a right of access to install services to the property. There were some business points that could not be agreed upon.



I would simply be requesting the same sort of service agreement with the association board.



If there are any updates, please call me at 314-220-8040.



Thanks

smcgee wrote:There were no moneys required for us to pay the developer. We simply needed a service agreement in place that would grant Charter a right of access to install services to the property. There were some business points that could not be agreed upon.



I would simply be requesting the same sort of service agreement with the association board.



If there are any updates, please call me at 314-220-8040.



Thanks

Not to be grilling you, but the board would need to know what those "business points" are. I can't imagine why a developer would tell Charter "No, you can't bring a wire into our building" unless there was money involved. Either as income or an expense.

I gave Scott (smcgee) a ring to find out more about this. He stated the following:



- The proposed agreement was nonexclusive, meaning tenants would still have the choice between satellite and cable.

- Installing the infrastructure necessary to provide cable service to the building and tenants would cost nothing to tenants or the developers.

- Charter only needs right of entry from the developers (since the board hasn't taken over yet)

- The sticking point was a "time of essence" clause by Ted mandating that work be completed within 30 days of project start. However, Scott of Charter requires a 90 day window to complete this...



I think a couple questions beg to be asked. First, is this the complete story? And second, what is Ted's concern with the 30 day time of essence clause? Does this installation affect cost, quality and schedule of the Meridian's development in any way? If the information that has been passed to us by Scott is complete and there is low to no impact to cost, quality and schedule, I feel we should apply pressure to the developers to enable Charter to do this.



As stated previously, it won't prevent tenants from getting satellite if they want it. It will only provide tenants the choice to have cable at no installation cost to the developers or tenants.



What do the current and future tenants think?

innov8ion wrote:I gave Scott (smcgee) a ring to find out more about this. He stated the following:



- The proposed agreement was nonexclusive, meaning tenants would still have the choice between satellite and cable.

- Installing the infrastructure necessary to provide cable service to the building and tenants would cost nothing to tenants or the developers.

- Charter only needs right of entry from the developers (since the board hasn't taken over yet)

- The sticking point was a "time of essence" clause by Ted mandating that work be completed within 30 days of project start. However, Scott of Charter requires a 90 day window to complete this...



I think a couple questions beg to be asked. First, is this the complete story? And second, what is Ted's concern with the 30 day time of essence clause? Does this installation affect cost, quality and schedule of the Meridian's development in any way? If the information that has been passed to us by Scott is complete and there is low to no impact to cost, quality and schedule, I feel we should apply pressure to the developers to enable Charter to do this.



As stated previously, it won't prevent tenants from getting satellite if they want it. It will only provide tenants the choice to have cable at no installation cost to the developers or tenants.



What do the current and future tenants think?

I vote we put the pressure on. I'm no fan of Charter necessarily, but choice is always good.

Cardboard isn't covering the wood on the 5th floor and I'd imagine they used the same flooring type for each floor. It did look like a medium stain on 5th.

aimster wrote:It's still covered in cardboard, so it's hard to tell. It looks like a medium stain.

Regarding the association has anyone reviewed and/or is familiar with the Condo Association documents, which outlines the span of control that the developers have with respect to the HOA? I admit, I haven't reviewed it in some time nor do I have it handy at this moment, but I do recall that the developers could be in charge of it for up to a year after the building completes or something to that effect. I also remember reading that they have the right to turn it over before this time period if they are so inclined. However, I also recall reading that after a certain number of units have closed, that the board members shall include no less than one unit owner. Given the fact that all of the 'temporary' parking spaces (32) are occupied and at least 6 floors have occupancy permits and residents, I'd guess we're reaching that threshold.



Can anyone who is more familiar and/or has a better understanding of this verbiage shed some light on this?

The Central Scrutinizer wrote:I vote we put the pressure on. I'm no fan of Charter necessarily, but choice is always good.

I agree. I actually found Dish TV very difficult to deal with. Furthermore, I am not getting a consistent signal. Hopefully they can work the problem out but I would really prefer to return to Charter. Although I certainly agree that Charter is no walk in the park but once I was able to actually get it installed, the product worked well consistently. Also, I wonder if Charter would allow us to have more than two independent cable tvs. Having one mirror another is not ideal to me.

What say you, cbroy?

shelbyelyse wrote:

The Central Scrutinizer wrote:I vote we put the pressure on. I'm no fan of Charter necessarily, but choice is always good.

I agree. I actually found Dish TV very difficult to deal with. Furthermore, I am not getting a consistent signal. Hopefully they can work the problem out but I would really prefer to return to Charter. Although I certainly agree that Charter is no walk in the park but once I was able to actually get it installed, the product worked well consistently. Also, I wonder if Charter would allow us to have more than two independent cable tvs. Having one mirror another is not ideal to me.

The Central Scrutinizer wrote: I vote we put the pressure on. I'm no fan of Charter necessarily, but choice is always good.

I agree. I haven't had good dealings with Charter in the past but I would love to have options to weigh.

Ok, I plan to prepare an email to send to Ted & Jeff regarding this issue. Once prepared, I'll post it on here. If tenants agree to the contents of the email, please send me a private message with your name and unit number. It'll give more credence I'd think...



Dave

Downtown Newbie wrote:

The Central Scrutinizer wrote: I vote we put the pressure on. I'm no fan of Charter necessarily, but choice is always good.

I agree. I haven't had good dealings with Charter in the past but I would love to have options to weigh.

innov8ion wrote:I was walking outside yesterday when I noticed cranes and Paric personnel working on the exterior of the building. Talked with one of them and he reported that they are installing the lamps that will illuminate the building's facade. There will be two rows; one between 2nd & 3rd floor and one between 7th and 8th. They might be on by this weekend or maybe later and should add a little cachet to the building. Nice...

I talked to one of the developers (don't remember which one) many months ago, and he said it should end up looking like the night picture that was on the website. Very nice.

In case peeps are wondering, 4 tenants have signed the letter to include myself. I'll wait until Monday morning to send it, giving more time for people to PM me to add their names/unit #....

D

innov8ion wrote:In case peeps are wondering, 4 tenants have signed the letter to include myself. I'll wait until Monday morning to send it, giving more time for people to PM me to add their names/unit #....

D

You may not get many. Given that there are 30(?) people living there, and of that group maybe 6-7 post here? You might do better going door to door.

Found out Ted was leaving on a trip to Europe today, so I thought it best to send the letter w/ the signatures I had and give him a call. I didn't write down notes from the conversation, so I'm only going off recollection.



- He seemed rushed and stated his displeasure for cable

- He said Charter asked for an exclusive agreement and mentioned something about fees to install the necessary infrastructure

- He said he heard from other electricians that it may take Charter many months to complete the installation (seems like BS to me...)

- He said, oh just wait.... When the time comes, you can sign an exclusive contract with satellite and get a discount...

- When I asked him if Charter installing the infrastructure would affect cost, schedule or quality of Meridian development, he deflected the question.

- He said the association will be probably handed over in a few months or so and we can do what we want then.



That being said, the stories from Charter and Ted don't seem to agree. Yes, Charter may have offered incentives for an exclusive agreement. Isn't it possible that Satellite offered incentives for an exclusive agreement with the developer, at least as long as they maintained control? This is how business works; you rub my back, I rub yours... And when I begrudgingly signed up for Satellite, they forced me to sign an 18 month contract w/ penalty for early termination. Funny how these things work, eh?



As far as signing an exclusive contract with one or the other, I hope we don't do this. It's not like we're talking about a school signing up for an exclusive contract with either Coke or Pepsi. Many people loathe cable and perhaps just as many loathe satellite. In this case, I hope our building maintains choice.



The developers have their own interests in mind, as do the satellite and cable companies. Looks like we'll have to wait until the association assumes control to address this issue and make the right choice for us.

innov8ion wrote:- He said Charter asked for an exclusive agreement and mentioned something about fees to install the necessary infrastructure

I don't know who is telling the truth (Ted or Cable Guy), but I can guarantee that $$$ is involved somewhere.

I would think that Charter would cough up the cash necessary to provide the option of cable to the building as a long-term investment on their part. Whether this is true or not, I'm sure we'll find out the unfiltered scoop later. I also think that $$$ was involved in keeping Charter out in the first place, but we'll never know so it doesn't really matter...

The Central Scrutinizer wrote:

innov8ion wrote:- He said Charter asked for an exclusive agreement and mentioned something about fees to install the necessary infrastructure

I don't know who is telling the truth (Ted or Cable Guy), but I can guarantee that $$$ is involved somewhere.