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Apartments back on top

by BILL BULEY
Staff Writer | August 24, 2010 9:00 PM

COEUR d'ALENE - When Mike James moved into the Fairway Forest Apartments in September 2003, it was "pretty nice."

From there, it went downhill.

The buildings, the grounds, the lawns, gradually got worse at the Fairway Drive development.

"I just slowly watched everything kind of deteriorate," James said. "It got to the point two years ago it seemed they didn't care about the tenants."

No longer.

Since late last year, new owners with West Fairway Drive Apartments LLC have spent $1.1 million improving the units inside and out, and before they're done this winter, they'll spend around $1.3 million.

Changes inside include new carpets, vinyl, drywall, paint and counters. Outdoors, roofs, garage doors and openers were replaced, and landscaping and parking lots have been brought up to date. The pool was eliminated and a new patio area created for casual gatherings.

"It's a difference between night and day," James said.

Jamia Boggs, both property and project manager, said there's a new name, too: Treetop Apartments.

The six, three-level buildings with 18 units each were built in the 1980s. This is the first major upgrade, and should be completed by the new year.

"We have kept a lot of local people working ever since we started," Boggs said Monday. "We'll probably keep some of those folks busy through the winter."

There are one and two-bedroom units, ranging from $575 to $695. Some come with two bathrooms, and all two-bedroom units include a garage.

A Sept. 9 grand opening is scheduled at Treetop Apartments on Fairway Drive just west of the Kroc Center. It will be from 2-7 p.m. and include tours, refreshments and door prizes. Mayor Sandi Bloem will also be on hand for the celebration.

The new owners wanted to make the investment, Boggs said, because "it's an awesome community, it's an awesome location" with the North Idaho Centennial Trail next door and the Coeur d'Alene Public Golf Course nearby.

Boggs, with 40 years experience in property management, and a background in construction and accounting, also manages the Trail's End Apartment in Coeur d'Alene and the Northwards Apartments in Post Falls for the same owners.

She came in with a directive to not just clean up the old Fairway Forest property, but make it a great place to live. She had to "play hardball" with some tenants behind on their rent or causing problems.

"This place had been run down for so long, that it was devaluing the neighborhood," Boggs said.

She said the renovation has reduced crime and improved property values in the area.

James said the crime was so bad, it got to a point he was fearful of walking to his car in his garage early in the morning to go to work. Family and friends, he said, didn't want to come visit.

He likes the changes and has moved into a renovated apartment.

"It's definitely a place where people need to consider moving with the different atmosphere," James said. "This is 100 percent better."

Units now are clean, comfortable and affordable. Occupancy, previously at 40 percent, is up to nearly 50.

"Strip 'em down and start over, that's pretty much what it is," Boggs said.

She credited local contractors with doing good work. Those who worked on it included Advanced Sprinklers; All Purpose Windows and Doors; American Air; America NW Plumbing; Dean T. Bryans Co., Mail Boxes; Eddings Custom Concrete; Extreme Drywall; Covenant Cleaning Specialties; Hughes Fiberglass; Grout Pro, Ed Lopez; Ian Mayall, floor coverings; Ken Bettes, excavating; Lake City Power Washing and Roofing, Inc.; Mr. Tubs; Mark's Gutter Service; Michael Lundy; Myers' Lawn Care; Neuman's Plumbing; Northwest Fence Co., Inc.; Riverview Landscape Co., Inc., Signature Carpet Service; Sun Valley Tree Service; The Paint Guys, Gene Mitchel; and Vital Power and Communications, Inc.