For The Best Experience For Everyone, Including Residents Simply Coming And Going From The Garage Or Laundry Room, Following A Few Simple Procedures Will Help

From The Desk Of Administrative Assistant Kirsty Evans

Let’s talk about Elevators 5 and 6, which serve the Tower from the 2p Garage level, all the way up to 55. Most residents are familiar with these elevators from moving in to the building, or if you do your laundry in the laundry room on 1p or park your car in the garage.

Recently we’ve had several events, where (for example) residents and Owners just show up with a U-haul whenever they please, and take over one of the service elevators.

No big deal?

Wrong!

It is a big deal…it creates a hassle for the staff and other residents going about their day, who are suddenly obstructed from what should be smooth and orderly use of the elevator. The purpose of the procedures put in place by the Association for use of these elevators, is to keep order and set reasonable expectations when you’re coming and going.

Elevator Reservations at Park Tower

As many of you know, residents and unit owners may reserve our service elevators for a variety of reasons. The elevator is most commonly reserved for move ins and move outs, but also for construction and remodeling, and furniture or appliance delivery/disposal. This article will go over the proper procedures for reserving the service elevator, and will touch on a variety of circumstances.

Policies for ALL Reservations

The service elevators may only be reserved Monday through Friday. We do not schedule elevator reservations on weekends, or on major holidays that happen to fall on a weekday. We have two time slots available each day: a morning slot from 9 am to 1 pm, and an afternoon slot from 1 pm to 5pm. Time slots are “first come, first serve”, and we will not officially reserve a time slot for you without first having all applicable fees/deposits and paperwork. Residents who find that they cannot finish within their allotted time slot may go over for an hourly fee of $62.50, as long as there is not another reservation that they would be interfering with.

We also require at least 7 days’ notice to schedule the elevator. This notice is required not only for the scheduling of a security guard, but also to allow the reservation to be posted on our website calendar in a timely manner. Many residents rely on our calendar to know if they should expect longer than average wait times for the service elevators. If you will need to cancel or reschedule an already existing elevator reservation, we do require 7 days’ notice to be able to accommodate this request.

You may reach out to the management office at (773) 769-3250 or by email at parktowercondo-mgmt@habitat.com to schedule an elevator reservation. You may also refer to https://www.ptcondo.com/calendar/  for an up-to-date schedule of our current elevator reservations.

MOVES

If you became a resident of our building after June of 2012, then the registration fee you paid at that time covers your move in, and your eventual move out. All that is required to schedule is a $100 refundable security deposit in the form of a cashier’s check or money order. The certified funds may be left blank, as this deposit will be returned to you as long as there is no damage to the elevator or hallways after your move is complete. To make it simpler, Unit owners may charge their account for the refundable deposit if they wish.

Your registration fee only covers one move in, and one move out. Some residents may require more than one time slot to complete their move in or their move out. If this is the case, then there is an additional $250 fee to reserve the elevator for a second move in or move out, in addition to the refundable deposit. The $250 fee is not refundable. If you became a resident prior to June of 2012, a $250 fee is required to schedule your move out in addition to the refundable deposit.

Our building requires bed bug inspections to take place within 2 weeks of a move in or a move out. This inspection will be scheduled at the time that you are scheduling your reservation. Our technician comes on Tuesdays, and his time frame for arrival is between 9 am and 1 pm. You do not need to be present in the unit for the inspection to take place if you have work or other plans that day.

CONSTRUCTION/REMODELING

Unit owners who wish to make improvements or betterments to their units may need to reserve the elevator for their providers during the process of construction or remodeling. Any projects which require prior approval must have completed the approval process and have been given permission to begin work before an elevator reservation may be scheduled for construction. Please reach out to our Operations manager, Scott Turton, at sturton@habitat.com with any inquiries related to construction and remodeling.

There is a $250 fee required to reserve the elevator for a construction or remodeling reservation.  We do require 7 days’ notice to schedule the reservation. There is no bed bug inspection required for construction or remodeling reservations. Depending on the nature of the work and your reservation, your providers may need to lay down carpet shield in the hallways before beginning.

If your required usage of the service elevators will be very minor, such as a small delivery of materials, please see the section below titled “Unreserved Use of the Service Elevators.”

FURNITURE OR APPLIANCE DELIVERY/DISPOSAL

Many commercial appliance or furniture deliveries can be accomplished within the criteria for unreserved use of the service elevator. Please see that section below for further information.

However, if your deliveries or disposals do not meet those criteria, you will need to make a reservation. For those deliveries or disposals which cannot be accomplished without a reservation, a $250 reservation fee and $100 refundable security deposit are required to reserve the elevator. We also require 7 days’ notice to schedule.

CRITERIA FOR UNRESERVED USE OF THE SERVICE ELEVATOR 

Residents and owners may use the service elevator without a reservation under the following criteria, Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 7:30 pm:

• Your total elevator use is 3 trips or less
• Your total elevator use is one hour or less
• You may not hold the elevator door open to load items inside. The door can time out if held open too long, which can necessitate a call to our service provider to come put the elevator back into service.

Many minor deliveries or disposals can be accomplished within these criteria. You may do this once per day, Monday through Saturday, from 9 am to 7:30 pm. Residents who violate these criteria may receive a Notice of Violation and corresponding fine. If the door is timed out through misuse, the unit owner will charged for the cost of the service call and repair.

WHEN IN DOUBT, REACH OUT 

If you have any questions or need any clarification regarding the elevator reservation process, please don’t hesitate to contact us at (773) 769-3250 or by email at parktowercondo-mgmt@habitat.com. We are happy to answer any inquiries, and help you schedule your time slot. Please be sure to reach out NO LATER than 7 days before your preferred date for scheduling. Residents or owners who would like to request an exception or accomodation to any of these policies may send an email to parktowercondo-mgmt@habitat.com . We do want to accommodate owners and residents whenever possible, but we also have a duty to ensure that the common areas (such as the service elevators) remain open and accessible for all residents.