A broken AC system causes hardships for Vista residents
By Shane Gomez
A brutal heat wave swept the East Coast last week, bringing health warnings and cancellations to the D.C. area along with 100-degree temperatures. Now, imagine being without air conditioning.
That’s the reality for many residents at the Vistas of Annandale, a 1,065-unit apartment community centered around Patriot Drive.
According to a statement from the Vistas, one of its three HVAC plants is not functioning at full capacity but is not offline. The other two are working at full capacity. About 70 residents have submitted AC work orders in the past month, according to a statement from the Vistas.
On June 23, Jakelin Lake, a parent liaison and lead member of the community outreach team at Braddock Elementary School contacted the office of Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw to report that kids had knocked on the door of the school and asked to come in and cool off because they did not have AC at home.
Frank Anderson, Walkinshaw’s chief of staff, worked to find cooling centers nearby and eventually helped 25 Vista residents access the air-conditioned Annandale Community Center, located at the rear of the Heritage Shopping Center. Anderson stayed there with the families until 10:30 p.m., said staff aide Alejandra Caballero.
She said Lake also arranged transportation to a church where Vista residents could cool off.
An equipment replacement was scheduled for July 2 for the malfunctioning HVAC plant. Following the installation of another replacement part on July 7, the air conditioning should be fully functioning, the Vistas management said in a statement to Annandale Today.
According to Caballero, during the repairs, the entire HVAC system needs to be temporarily shut down, leaving everyone without air conditioning.
Related story: Wedgewood residents suffered without AC during heat wave
Residences that submit orders have been provided with portable AC units, the Vistas said.
“Throughout this process, management has been in regular communication with residents, providing updates and timing on the repairs,” said the statement. “We appreciate that this is an uncomfortable inconvenience, and the team is working diligently to support resident needs and quickly complete the necessary repairs.”
Problems with air conditioning are a recurring issue every summer at local apartment complexes, as building managers make the switch from heat to air conditioning and large HVAC systems break down.
Residents at the Wedgewood in Annandale suffered through a heat wave without AC last year, and again this summer until the AC system was recently repaired.
According to Section 602.4 of the Virginia Property Maintenance Code, apartment buildings must provide air conditioning from May 15 to Oct. 1 to maintain a room temperature of no more than 77 degrees.
Temperatures in units without AC at the Vistas have been in the 80s.
The Vistas are currently owned and operated by the CIM Group, which acquired the property in 2022. The company owns $29.9 billion in real estate assets across the Americas and Europe, including Southern Towers in Alexandria’s West End.
In 2023, Southern Towers tenants, Alexandria leaders, and Virginia senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine condemned CIM for poor maintenance and predatory practices.
Shane Gomez is Annandale Today’s summer intern.
Typical CIM management, they only care about spending as little money as possible so they can flip the property in a few years. The contempt they have for their tenants is repulsive.
I’ve lived in the Vistas for 5 years. This happens every summer for a week or two and the heat is off here and there every winter with no warning. They just fixed the ongoing issue with the lack of hot water that’s been going on for years.
I’ve lived in this complex, unfortunately, since 2013. CIM, while they’ve done a few decent updates, they’ve gotta be the worst owners I’ve experienced so far. They wasted who knows how much money installing electronic locks to all of the building entrances, only to never activate them(they were installed 2ish years ago). They’ve turned MOST of the 1 bedroom apartments into 2, the 2 bedrooms into 3, etc…. they took away the guest parking passes (each apartment got like 7 free passes a month, and then they were $10 each afyer that) and turned into “pay to park” guest parking ($1/hour). So now literally anyone can pay to park here, even if they’re not visiting someone who lives here. They wasted money painting all the building exteriors when that money should have been spent on updating the original (from the 1970’s) metal framed single pane windows and sliding glass doors. The trash everywhere is still a huge issue, even though more cameras were installed. They renovated the entire leasing office, but they literally NEVER answer the phones anymore. This place is the definition of “putting lipstick on a pig”.
My family lived in Wedgwood 2 years ago when the ac was broken and I added a window unit ac to keep us cool. When a man broke into our apartment via the window where the ac was located (which the window didn’t lock anyways and they never fixed that either). He took my then 4 year old out of her bed at 4 am and tried to leave my apartment with her. He dropped her and ran when she screamed and ran hollering down the hallway for her. Had they fixed our window and the ac (testing it sooner than on the day of would’ve helped) my daughter wouldn’t have almost been kidnapped. Not to mention when the police spoke with the office about the broken window the maintenance man came to fix said windows that didn’t lock by drilling screws to permanently shut the windows. Which is against county code since the windows would be the only escape in the event of a fire. Plus, the no trespassing order in place for the individual who broke into my home due to his previous incidents with children at the property. I reported to police and the property multiple times about him squatting in the abandoned room in our building with no resolution before he attempted to abduct my daughter. They are just as responsible for the incident as he is as far as I am concerned. The office manager Joanna has no interest in following through on any issues brought to their attention and the receptionist is too busy flirting with the maintenance men to do her job period. Completely disappointing experience. If you’re not concerned about your healthy or safety then you can take your chances. Because even the corporate office tried to blame me for having a window unit ac in my apartment for the abduction attempt. But it was so hot in our apartment it took your breath away. They are useless. Not to mention the apartment complex is on Fairfax County owned property. Still no response from the county board of directors. Sad!!!