Board prepares for Malibu East's future

By Sam Bullock

Over the past few months, the Dialogue has featured articles about the past 50 years at Malibu East, leading up to our big event, the 50th anniversary party! This article will focus on the projects and challenges we will tackle as we begin to move forward in the sixth decade of Malibu East.

Our reserve fund has fallen over the last few years and that’s OK. Reserve funds are not meant to be a savings account, forever going up. They are designed for buildings to put away funds, a little at a time, to complete major repairs and renovations in the future to keep up the building’s structural integ­rity and appeal.

As you all know, over the past five years, Malibu East has completed or is about to complete several repair and renovation projects. The façade restoration, seawall stabilization, ga­rage concrete and membrane restoration, elevator renovation, and the land­scape and urban design project were all major initiatives that have made the building very structurally sound, added beauty and added value to our units. These projects cost more than $11 million and were managed without a special assessment, as well as four years with no assessment increase.

We have many more projects that must be undertaken, and at the same time we must rebuild our reserves. In 2019, the Board hired a company to review Malibu East’s infrastructure from top to bottom. This included every single piece of the building: doors; air handlers; the roof; elevators; lighting; the fob system; pipes; etc. It goes on and on. This study was undertaken so that we would know, from an expert’s perspective, when we should expect to do specific repair and renovation projects. We also included necessary amenities improvements in this study.

The good news is that even with our reduced reserve balance, we should be able to do all the things we want to do to make the building more attractive to residents and prospective buyers, in addition to all of the must-do’s … all without a projected special assessment.

What are these projects, you might ask? There is quite a long list, but first I’ll share with you the must-do projects over the next couple of years. During the garage concrete and membrane restoration project, our architects discovered some additional concrete issues in the garage ceilings. We are projecting to complete this work over three years beginning in 2022. We also just recently discovered some spalling concrete on the exterior of our seawall, and that work will also likely be done in 2022.

Unfortunately, our amenities have been left unattended for far too long, and these renovations are necessary if we are to maintain our property values and remain a viable option along Sheridan Road. With that said, the other initiatives that the Board hopes to undertake in the next five to 10 years include, but are not limited to:

• Completing the lobby refresh, with a new and up-to-date doorman’s station, improved security and a new fob system.
• Renovation of the resi­dential hallways, including new carpeting, lighting and required changes to the water heater closet doors.
• Renovation of the fourth-floor amenities area, including the Windjammer Room, the Community Room, the Fitness Room, the shower rooms and saunas.
• Renovation of the fourth-floor exterior deck, in­cluding the concrete, membrane, pool enclosure, tennis court and furnishings.

That is a huge laundry list of projects. The Board will work diligently to schedule these initiatives in such a way that avoids any special assessment and minimizes, to the extent possible, assessment increases.

It’s an exciting time to live at Malibu East and we are ready to face the challenges that face us.

Sam Bullock has been a Board member for four years and is the chair of the new Community Events & Recreation Committee.