Franklin Park’s Bulldog Team Is Set on Change

Greenbelt has been abuzz with talk of Franklin Park since Fieldstone Properties closed on the massive 153-acre, 2,877-unit apartment and townhome rental complex in October 2010.

Since then, the Franklin Park team has renovated more than 150 units, according to resident relations manager Sharee Koenig, who added they’re not through yet. The management company has plans to upgrade them all in the next two years.

The company has also shown a willingness to lose rental money in an effort to lower crime there.

“At my request, Franklin Park has evicted 42 units,” Greenbelt Police Officer Tim White said at an April 12 PTA meeting at Greenbelt Middle School. “Short term, right now, it looks like what we’re doing and what they’re doing in cooperation with each other is starting to have an effect.”

Long-time Greenbelt resident Sheila Maffay-Tuthill has witnessed the property in all three of its installments. She recalls the original Springhill Lake Apartments as a thriving community full of university students until violent crime and drug dealing rippled through them in the 1990s.

She also witnessed the short-lived reign of Empire American Holdings, starting in 2008, and its unrealized plans for a $30 million upgrade to the renamed Empirian Village complex.

Although Fieldstone Properties arrived with more promises for improvements and renaming the complex yet again to Franklin Park, Maffay-Tuthill said she thinks they may just be the real thing. Their cooperation with the police and attempts to dig into Greenbelt’s history have her taking note.

“It’s not just talk.” Koenig insisted. “The owners have set aside over $15 million for renovations on this property, and they [have scheduled] between 80 to 100 units [to be] renovated every month.”

To accomplish these ambitious plans, Koenig is putting her faith in Franklin Park’s new team of 64-staff members and feels confident that together they'll get it done.

“You’ll love Angela, she’s one of the bulldogs,” said Koenig, pulling out the word over and over as she walked around Franklin Park introducing team members.

When it comes to Officer White, who is also the dedicated on-site police officer at Franklin Park, Koenig has been impressed by his determination to clean up crime on the property.

"He just seems like he’s not letting up until it’s a done deal," she said, dubbing him, yes, you guessed it — another bulldog.

Koenig explained that she's not using the term bulldog to depict ferociousness but rather as a metaphor for the Franklin Park team’s tenacity — because they are a group of “people who are devoted to their position, people [who] are committed to this property and watching it go forward.”

They aren’t pit bulls, though.

Koenig clarified, “In fact we’re trying to get the pit bulls off this property.”

When it comes to her enthusiasm, Koenig believes enough in Franklin Park that she lives on the property.

It’s not just about show either, according to Kenneth Sparrow, service manager and a maintenance team captain, who Koenig said was a champion behind bringing service requests in the about 40-year-old buildings down from 1,600 to fewer than 600 in around 60 days.

“We’re not just trying to put lipstick on a pig,” Sparrow said.

Susan Gotshall, a member of Franklin Park’s accounting team, said “There’s a lot of difference." She has been working on the property for 12 years and spoke from experience. Now, she said, “Management actually cares.”

As for Maffay-Tuthill, having witnessed the glories and agonies of the complex’s checkered past, she feels a little cautious.

“But I’m basically optimistic,” she said. “I feel that they’re probably here for the long haul.”

This is the first story in a series of two about the changes at Franklin Park.