More stories about Safety

  • Quick & Quirky: April 10, 2008

    MULTIFAMILY EXECUTIVE Senior Editor Chris Wood rounds up interesting and intriguing news tidbits. This week: snakes, students, and a reminder that children cannot fly.

  • Lights Fantastic: Outdoor Lighting

    Multifamily developers and owners spend thousands of dollars on landscaping, lawn services, and expensive outdoor elements such as pools, decks, and patios. Yet they often overlook the importance of exterior lighting, which not only highlights landscaping, but also provides a measure of safety.

  • Deck Doctor

    Tis the season to enjoy the great outdoors, and multifamily dwellers across the country are soaking in the rays from their decks and balconies. But just how safe are these outdoor amenities?

  • SPECIAL REPORT: Cause for Alarm

    Apartment building safety has improved steadily over the years, but those improvements–particularly regarding fires–have been won at the cost of many lost lives. "If you look at the fire code,, you can see [a number of] things that were put in place after major disasters, when people were more...

  • SPECIAL REPORT: Cause for Alarm

    It was 5:20 a.m. on July 24, 2005, when CEO Bill Donges got the phone call: The Lane Co. condominium project under way in downtown Atlanta's bustling Atlantic Station community was on fire. The news got worse when the four-alarm fire spread to Lane's already-built Art Foundry community nearby.

  • Quick Fixes

    It's all too easy to get caught up in the buzz of the latest high-tech security gadgets and gizmos. But it's often the cheap, simple strategies that have the greatest impact on a property's safety.

  • Swim at Your Own Risk

    Like most 2-year-olds, Loren Hinton loved to play hide-and-seek. On a warm spring day in May 2001, Loren ran around with her friends at her family's apartment community, while her father manned the grill. The little girl wandered into the community's pool area through a broken gate, took off her...

  • Safe and Secure

    Security. It tops residents' wish lists of amenities. But it's the last thing owners and managers want leasing agents to talk about when selling a community. Promising security could lead to liability if something happens on site. "When you talk about security, [owners] have a tendency to freak out...

  • Under Lock and Key

    Biometrics, formerly available only in spy movies, has moved into multifamily housing. Residents of one Archstone-Smith property in New York must have their palm print accepted by an electronic reader to get into the fitness center. But that's unusual for the Englewood, Colo.-based company—and most...