Sunday, March 14, 2010

Highgrove, Shmighgrove

In yet another sign of the deflated housing bubble, contract holders at Highgrove, the overpriced condo tower in downtown Stamford, are getting tired of the delays in construction, and some are demanding their money back. Here's the Advocate article.

Despite developer Jason Schlesinger's assurances, the facts don't look too good for Ceebraid-Signal: they've pushed back their completion/occupancy date several times; Schlesinger has been sued for defaulting on a $6 million loan; and he and his company have been sued by the Florida attorney general. He's even asked the city for a "partial-occupancy" certificate, even though YOU CAN'T GET INTO THE BUILDING FROM THE STREET. (Minor detail, there, Jason.)

On a personal note, though I don't usually speak ill of anyone on this blog (unless they deserve it), we lived in an apartment building in Stamford managed by Ceebraid-Signal ("The Townhouse" at 65 Prospect Street), and they were the worst. Every time I had to call the management office with a question, I was handled by the rudest, least helpful people on the planet. They even tried to mess with our parking space rental contract (yes, we had to pay extra for parking). I called to cancel one of our parking spaces, but they told me that I couldn't because the contract had been revised to run concurrently with our apartment lease. I said that they couldn't have revised a two-party contract without the consent of, you know, the other party. The woman from Ceebraid-Signal continued to insist (with increasing anger) that they could and that it had been changed. I persisted with my case that what they did made no sense, until she screamed at me that the contract was canceled and hung up on me. Customer service at its finest!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is all over statements. Ceebraid Signal is a good company and they manage thousands of rental units very efficiently throughout the US. Highgrove is going to be ready for occupancy very soon and the fine quality of the building will speak for itself.

Unknown said...

Are you kidding me, annon??? You must be a family member to say they are good. Bobby, Jason and Richard Schlesinger are well known in FL as the sleaziest family in the real estate biz. They're name is MUDD in Palm Beach.

Streets of Stamford said...

Nothing I wrote is an overstatement (except maybe "the rudest, least helpful people on the planet"). What I say happened, actually happened.

As for Mr. Schlesinger and Ceebraid-Signal, the facts are all there in the article. They jumped into the real-estate boom and ended up over their heads, and that seems to be the least of their problems.

In the meantime, they might want to update the Highgrove website. It says "Occupancy starting late 2009."

Anonymous said...

I lived in 65 Prospect Street in the mid-1990s. 8th floor facing north. There were cockroaches all over the place. Is that still the issue over there?

Anon 9:21pm must be an employee of Ceebraid slumlord. No other person would write such nonsense.

Streets of Stamford said...

We never had a roach problem at 65 Prospect Street in 2003. To be fair, the building was very well-maintained and had new appliances, including a European-style washer/dryer unit in the kitchen! That doesn't excuse the awful attitude of their employees at the management office.

Unknown said...

I gues we call this fun and games with the economy? Yuck! Things still look prety bad from my view.

Anonymous said...

I had friends who lived in The Townhouse about 4 or 5 yrs ago. No cockroaches, but 100% infestation of bed bugs.

Anonymous said...

Anyone hear anything about Highgrove in July 2010? There is no advertising. Have they/will they drop their pricing like the rest of the world has?

Anonymous said...

Anyone hear anything about Highgrove July 2010? There is no advertising. Have they/will they drop their pricing like the rest of the world has?p

Anonymous said...

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FILES FOR SUMMARY JUDGEMENT.

HOPE THEY FINALY PAY FOR ALL THEY'VE DONE.

Anonymous said...

FLORIDA OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FILES FOR SUMMARY JUDGEMENT.

HOPE THEY FINALY PAY FOR ALL THEY'VE DONE.

Anonymous said...

THIS IS END OCTOBER 2010. IS THERE ANY UPDATE ON THE FUTURE OF HIGHGROVE? PEOPLE STILL HAVE DEPOSITS STUCK THERE. NOW THE PLACE LOOKS LIKE A GHOST TOWN. LATEST INFO THEY STILL CAN'T GET A CO. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY MORE OR LATER INFORMATION?

Anonymous said...

At least the now infamous Schlesingers have had the decency to not show their faces at any New York or Palm Beach society functions in many, many months.

Streets of Stamford said...

It doesn't look like anybody's living in Highgrove yet, and I'm not courageous enough to stroll into their sales office and ask if the building is freakin' done yet.