With new owner, Suburban Estates improvements to continue

DeKALB – DeKalb residents who live in the Suburban Estates apartment complex are hopeful the complex’s new owners will continue to improve the apartments and property.

MCJ Investments, a Naperville-based company that owns complexes throughout Illinois, bought the complex at 1400 Twombly Road for $10.5 million Feb. 9, according to DeKalb County property transaction records. The new ownership will keep renovating the property and grounds, said assistant property manager and leasing specialist Courtney Warren.

“Honestly,” Warren said. “It’s going to be a lot better.”

The 24-building complex on DeKalb’s northwest side has 531 units; it was built in the late 1960s. Warren said 286 of the units are rented. The roughly 54 percent occupancy rate is partly because the owners are renovating the empty units, which Warren said started before the sale was official.

Chris Walters, 30, has lived in a two-bedroom apartment with his fiancée and two dogs for more than four years. He said tenants received a letter informing them of the new owners and they also receive emails from management.

He’s noticed friendly staff and more prompt maintenance service in the past few months.

“We had issues with our heat,” Walters said. “They came the same day. We had issues with the garage doors a couple times. They came the same day. It all got taken care of.”

Warren said crews are renovating apartment interiors and should start landscaping upgrades this year. She also expects building roofs to be replaced by next winter.

Starting next year, tenants can expect the pothole-riddled parking lot to be fixed.

“They really want to make the outside reflect the changes we’re making on the inside,” Warren said.

Tenants who live in the building won’t see any increases in rent, although the prices for renovated units are slightly higher, she said. Rent ranges from $475 for a studio to a maximum of $1,000 for a three-bedroom, she said. The complex also offers college students unrenovated two-bedroom apartments for $500, she said.

Wendy Oros, 24, moved into a renovated unit in December after staying in another apartment in the same complex for a year. She said her new two-bedroom apartment includes upgraded fixtures, cabinetry and carpeting.

She said she’s noticed more of an effort from maintenance and management, as well as local police, whom she said are patrolling the complex more.

“If they are actually going to keep up their promises and do everything,” Oros said. “It will be awesome.”