Along with new ownership has come $1 million in improvements so far for residents in the Fox Run Apartments residential development off Hunters Glen Drive in Plainsboro.
Aimco’s sale of the 776-unit Fox Run property to Vantage Mid-Atlantic (a division of the New York-based Vantage Properties) in August, 2009, was touted as New Jersey’s largest multi-family rental property sale to date. Sources cited an SEC filing that said the property sold for $70 million.
Since Vantage Realty has taken over, residents have seen improvements to their own units as well as community areas.
According to Susan Brown, community manager at Fox Run, Vantage installed new windows and patio doors for every resident over the summer — a project that only took two-and-a-half months.
Brown said Vantage hired a company that would install the windows and doors in at least 10 apartments a day, later progressing to work on as many as 20 apartments each day.
Fox Run, which was mostly built in the 1970s, is the only property in Plainsboro with gas utilities, and the new improvements save the residents the costs and discomfort associated with cold drafts, said Brown.
But Vantage also made other improvements, she said. “They had a huge landscaping project in which a lot of the trees were cut back from the facades of the buildings,” said Brown. “They’ve painted all the balconies, so in driving onto the property, one can see a remarkable difference.”
Vantage has also begun renovating the original units to bring them up-to-date with modern amenities. It also renovated the tennis courts and repainted and updated the fitness center and clubhouse. “It’s been a great experience having Vantage take over and really letting us do things for our residents that before, we weren’t able to do,” said Brown.
Next on the agenda is an asphalt and concrete project in the development.