[September 01, 2011] Building owner promises to fix problems Tweet Sep 01, 2011 (The Wichita Eagle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Almost 100 Wichita Executive Centre tenants received a promise Wednesday that the air conditioner is coming on and the elevators will soon work in their neglected downtown Wichita office building. Owner Dave Lundberg, one of the partners in Minnesota-based Real Development, said he has moved to town to solve a laundry list of problems confronting the center at 125 N. Market, formerly known as the Kansas State Bank and Trust Building and the SC Telcom Building. "If it takes more money, I'll find more money," Lundberg told the group. "I found $20 million to do what I've done so far, and I'm not giving up on this building." The meeting, held in the building's ornate lobby renovated by Real Development at a cost of almost $600,000, grew testy at times. Tenants demanded that Lundberg invest some of the group's new $5.6 million mortgage on the property in repairs. "The last person who wants to see the tenants leave is me," Lundberg said. "We have a huge investment here and we want to take care of that investment." The property manager for the center, Troy Palmer of R.E. Black Building Management, resigned Tuesday, saying Real Development lacked the money to properly maintain the building. On Wednesday afternoon, Palmer stepped away from four other Real Development management deals -- the Workforce Alliance at 150 N. Main; Landmark Square at 212 N. Market; the Farmers & Bankers building at 200 E. 1st; and the Kaufman Building at 210 S. Market. Palmer said his reasons are the same. "At this point, the buildings are not adequately funded to be maintained at the level that R.B. Black would like to maintain them," he said. Lundberg acknowledged during the tenant meeting that his company hasn't had the money to adequately maintain its buildings. And he deflected blame away from Palmer. "If I don't give him the money," Lundberg said about Palmer's company, "he can't fix it." Some of the tenants said after the meeting that the communication effort pleased them. But they remain skeptical that Lundberg and partner Michael Elzufon have the financial resources to make the building usable. "I guess I'd have to see whoever's running this building say, 'This is what we're going to do,' and then I'd have to see that happen in the time they say it's going to happen," said Bob Blinn, a patent and trademark attorney who has an office in the building. "I'm giving it about 70 percent right now. They might put together a schedule of things that need repaired and they might happen, but I'm going to need a lot more communication." "Do I think things will get fixed? I hope so," said Lisa Pruitt, collections manager for LML Payment Systems, who attended the meeting with legal counsel. "We're going to watch what they do. We're very, very skeptical at this point." Earlier this week, several tenants told The Eagle about unsuitable business conditions in the 19-floor executive center, including air conditioning and elevator failures, rusty water, locked stairwells and a parking garage that tenants said has been plagued by falling concrete. Lundberg told the tenants that the building's antiquated water-cooled air conditioning system should be fixed later in the day -- with multiple new motors and fans on the building's chillers. Lundberg blamed the humidity in the building -- tenants put it between 60 and 80 percent -- for wear and tear on the elevators. "We may have to replace some of the elevators," he said. "We're analyzing that now." And he promised tenants a share of the insurance claim Real Development has filed for the recent failure of a private water main that knocked out air conditioning service for three days earlier this month. City fire officials have cited the center three times in the past year for maintenance and testing issues with the building's fire safety system. Fire Marshal Brad Crisp said the building lacked documentation of any tests on its backup emergency power system and had no evidence of an annual fire alarm inspection. Both violations were corrected Aug. 1, Crisp said. However, the fire marshal said the building's fire sprinkler system remains untested by a licensed contractor. The city of Wichita provided $1 million toward the $4 million facade improvement project at the center. Lundberg and Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer characterized the money as a city investment in the project. But City Manager Robert Layton disputes that, calling the million dollars a loan repayable through special assessments. Layton didn't know Wednesday whether any of the money has been repaid through the assessments. Reach Bill Wilson at 316-268-6290 or [email protected]. ___ (c)2011 The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.) Visit The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.) at www.kansas.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]