Casa Apartment hopes to improve image with new owners

By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

Casa Apartments in Charles City changed ownership in the last three months. Unfortunately, in the last several weeks the property was also the site of a fatal shooting.

The new owner wants to let Charles City and his tenants know that the he’s working toward making the units a safe place to live.

Since he’s taken over, Casa Apartments Managing Partner Mikhail Geister has brought in an experienced property manager to be onsite 24/7, and he is encouraging a neighborhood watch.

Currently the apartment complex is 95 percent full, Geister said.

Geister has owned the Casa Apartments business for eight years, since 2009, with headquarters in Northbrook, Ill.

“We have apartments at the lowest cost and good quality,” Geister said. “We saw an opportunity (in Charles City) to add value.”

The apartment complex at Clarkview Drive was acquired in April.

“It was mismanaged, from what we saw,” Geister said. “It was partially — probably about 30 percent — empty.”

The Clarkview Drive apartments were not in good shape when Geister first bought them, he said.

“There were a lot of tenants that we saw and heard, that were not good tenants there,” Geister said. “There was some crime and we were reading about it.”

Along with media reports of violence around the complex, Geister found that reviews for the site were usually negative as well, he said.

“People called it crapview,” Geister said. “It seemed like it was not where it needed to be.”

From all that negativity Geister decided to improve the apartments’ image and grounds.

Hiring a property manager to live there was one of the first steps.

“He’s available 24/7 for any emergencies and tenant needs,” Geister said. “He’s observing what’s going on in the complex.”

Geister and Casa Apartments have implemented multiple procedures and policies to handle problems in the complex should they occur, he said.

“We’ll look at the tenants and how they behave,” Geister said, “and if somebody’s found to violate peace and quiet in the complex we identify those tenants and we remove them with the process of eviction.”

Antoine Williams, 36, the suspect in a first-degree murder case that took place near the complex, was in process of being evicted, Geister said.

“That was actually his last day,” Geister said. “He was vacating the apartment.”

Geister is also encouraging a neighborhood watch program at the complex.

“That’s how’s we’re able to find the troublemakers,” he said.

Casa Apartments has zero tolerance for drugs and crime, Geister added.

“If we find somebody that’s using or selling drugs or involved in some crime or fight, those tenants will be eventually driven out of the complex,” Geister said.

Geister calls on the residents of the complex to work to help him improve the space.

“We need help from the residents,” Geister said. “It’s not gonna happen over one day.”

Casa Apartments has a reputation for working apartments in more difficult areas, like Waukegan and Rockford, Illinois, Geister said.

“We took a few buildings and properties there in similar condition and a couple of years later those properties are much better,” Geister said. “In some of those buildings we have a wait list.”

Geister thinks that with time Casa Apartments will succeed in Charles City, he said.

“We’re looking at not just filling the complex and getting rents, we trying to improve the complex and get some of the bad tenants out and good tenants in,” Geister said. “We’re trying to be very selective.”

Over the last three months Geister has moved over 20 new families into the complex, he said. The 20 new families are coming from all over the country, including Florida and California.

Geister is specifically targeting families coming to work at Simply Essentials, he said.

“Good, working families,” Geister said. “That’s how we’re able to bring the good tenants on site.”