Punishment with a fence: how Donstroy persuades tenants to choose a management company

This is a new "Berlin Wall" in the very center of Moscow! residents are outraged.

Anna Metelina

Own park right on the local area, and in the center of the capital! This promise of the developer JSC "Don-Stroy-Invest" for many hesitant buyers has become a decisive argument when choosing housing in the "Heart of the Capital".

However, the construction company fulfilled all other obligations on infrastructure and development. A school, a kindergarten, a stadium were built, yard landscaping was completed... But the green zone - referred to in the project declaration as "Central Park" - a space with "landscape amphitheater integrated into the hill", "forest in the yard", "grove, in silence which arranged places for secluded recreation", seems to have become a trump card in the war between the two management companies.

"When selling apartments, retail space, storage rooms and parking spaces in the Heart of Capital Residential Complex, Donstroy justified the sale price of objects with a competitive advantage in the form of "all the infrastructure necessary for the life of residents." In particular, the park, which is publicly accessible to residents, was especially advertised. For our family, the park was a serious advantage and one of the important reasons that made us choose this residential complex. The park was amicably promised at all stages of interaction with the developer: from the project declaration and advertising booklets to the sales office. We are not at all cunning if we say that we paid for this park when buying a home! On the official website of the developer, the “publicly accessible” park is still being praised. In fact, all promises have disappeared", - says the buyer Alexey Kharitonov.

Why did the dual power of management companies arise? At the stage of construction of large housing facilities, the developer also uses the services of hired management companies - someone has to keep records of consumed energy resources, monitor technical premises, common property and clean the adjacent territory. When apartment buildings are put into operation "by inheritance" from the developer, the management company often passes to the residents - this is a common practice in the construction business. Later, at the general meeting, the homeowners can re-elect it or keep the proposed house management.

In the case of the "Heart of the Capital", the owners of apartments on the first coastline in 2018 automatically got the management company "MSK-Group". For homeowners on the second line in 2021 - Smart North-West (a subsidiary of the developer Don-Stroy-Invest). Both companies were appointed by the developer. The temporarily invited "MSK-Group", when the hour struck, apparently, did not want to leave. Still - thousands of consumers of utilities in the prestigious microdistrict of the capital do not fall from the sky!

According to the stories of the residents, "Central Park" was opened on New Year's Eve - December 29, and for some days everyone calmly walked around it. But…

"One morning we woke up and saw an iron curtain in our window, more precisely - a corrugated one. The common yard area of the housing complex was divided into halves. Now the residents of the second line continue to use the park and walk freely along the first line, while we, the residents of the first line, are denied access to the park. Chopovtsy are assigned to the gate, their only task is not to let us into the park. They say: "Sorry, nothing personal, but the entrance is only for residents of the second line." Internally, of course, we do not agree with this decision, so every day with the onset of twilight in the "Heart of the Capital" a guerrilla war unfolds", - Pavel Bystrov, leader of the initiative group, tells "Novye Izvestia".

During the night, stairs grow to the fence, tunnels appear under the fence, and gaps in the fence itself. In the morning, the builder boards up these holes in the hedges, digs in tunnels, puts aside ladders, and so on. But the next night, history repeats itself in a circle.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that both management companies cannot agree in a civilized manner, and initiate complaints and lawsuits against each other. At the time of the proceedings, as you know, restrictive measures are imposed on the disputed objects. Until a verdict is passed, everything built and everything published on paper must remain in the status quo.

The residents themselves from the “two camps”, unfortunately for the developer, do not conflict with each other, no matter how much they are pitted. Neighbors, on the other hand, advocate equal access to the park. This is confirmed at least by the fact that often one half of the residents, seeing how the other half heroically breaks through the "Berlin Wall" towards them, throw or slip their "gate" passes to them. Even despite the fact that some pay monthly for the park, while others do not include this line in their payments.

The decision to erect a fence was ripening, apparently, in the head of the representatives of the developer.

In verbal explanations to angry residents, Don-Stroy-Invest explained: you can use the park, but ... only after switching to Smart. Re-elect the management company, and you will be happy.

So the residents of the elite complex became a bargaining chip in the war between the two management companies, provoked by the developer.

- The developer is engaged in open blackmail. They planted an unwanted management company in our complex and are now using us as expendable material to solve their problems. We still don’t remember about the legal grounds for prohibiting movement in our common house territory - this is the documentary status that the park has. To put it bluntly, the developer simply does not have such grounds! We can also pay these 4 rubles [per square meter of apartment for the park]. No problem. But no one even offers us this! - comment "disgraced" neighbors.

Residents of the first line are not at all averse to changing the "manager". For the sake of opening the gates of the park, they, one might say, performed a miracle. 5,000 residents of the first line suffered, suffered for half a year, and hallelujah - they gathered a quorum for a full-time general meeting of owners. Voted for "Smart North-West".

The trick came from where they did not expect. The Moszhilinspektsiya did not agree with the final protocols. The instance recognized the meeting as held, but did not recognize its results - formally, the questions were caused by "postponing the date of the end of the meeting".

"Gathering a quorum is very difficult when it comes to thousands of residents. Even if we imagine that the minimum 50% for a quorum gathered live, and this is 2,500 people (and by the way we did!), then the laborious correspondence process begins - filling out signature sheets, going around these thousands of apartments", - explains a member of the initiative group Leonid Vasilyev.

The initiative group "Hearts of the Capital" has prepared a petition to the developer and two hostile management companies.

“On the territory of the residential complex “Heart of the Capital”, an unpleasant and unacceptable situation for residents has developed with the division of the territory of the residential complex between management companies. As a result, residents do not have access to the entire common territory of the complex <… > instead of this [common territory], residents received a territory separated by fences, which also contradicts the architectural concept of the residential complex without fences […]

The current situation is unacceptable for the residents of the residential complex and damages the reputation of Don-Stroy Invest JSC, which failed to fulfill the previously stated conditions for the development of the residential complex.

We ask you to make every effort to immediately resolve the situation and provide all residents of the Heart of the Capital residential complex with equal access to the entire territory of the residential complex, regardless of which management company is hired by the residents to manage the territory”, - the petition says.

The residents insist that the competition between management companies should not cancel the developer's promises and infringe on the right of owners to equal use of the common adjacent territory.

Novye Izvestia sent an editorial request to the developer with a request to comment on the situation with the restriction of the right of access of residents of the Heart of the Capital residential complex to the common house territory in the form of a landscaped park. At the time of publication, no response had been received, although more than a week had passed.