Smallwood Plaza works to improve image in wake of Spierer disappearance

Smallwood Plaza doesn’t try to deny that it attracts East Coast students with apartments named Manhattan, Soho and Carnegie.

Ernie Reno, the spokesperson for Smallwood Plaza, describes the location as a Class A property that is an investment for residents who can afford to live there.

At the apartment complex on College Avenue between Eighth and Ninth streets, a two-bedroom apartment can cost as much as $1,250 a month, and a four-bedroom apartment can cost as much as $2,550 a month.

More than 700 students live in the 223 apartments at capacity, all of which are occupied by students, creating a dorm-like atmosphere.

Sydney Myers, a 2007-08 resident, said when she signed with Smallwood her freshman year, she didn’t even look at the apartments first. All of her friends signed at Smallwood, so she thought she would too. She said it was an easy transition because it reminded her of an extended dorm.

But as the year progressed, Myers had to deal with the partying of other residents.
She remembers falling asleep on the bathroom floor to the sound of the fan to escape the booming music coming through her apartment’s thin walls.

She said she remembers the smell of alcohol lingering in the air Wednesday through Saturday nights, and the atmosphere wasn’t for her. She said you also sometimes could smell marijuana and other drugs in the hallways.

“It was great having the people I was so close with a floor above me or a floor below, but I could only do a year,” Myers said.

However, Reno said the party reputation that Smallwood often receives is an unfair portrayal of the building. When the owners built Smallwood in 2004, they spent $700,000 on its security system.

Smallwood is lined with 156 cameras in hallways, corridors, elevators and garages. There is also a member of security personnel on duty about five nights a week during the school year, Reno said.

“You’re talking about a property that has more than 700 young adults in it,” Reno said, commenting on talk that Smallwood is known for parties. “A certain amount of that is
 going to happen.”

Rebecca Suchov, a current Smallwood resident, agreed the common areas are highly watched by security.

Residents aren’t allowed to have drinks in the hallways, and Suchov said she’s been stopped by security before and told she must take her drink back to her room.

Suchov’s roommate, Alyssa Mandel, said if there’s even a large group of people gathering in the hallway, security will usher them back into their rooms.
Suchov and Mandel said they both chose Smallwood after their freshmen year
because they didn’t want to “go greek,” and they felt it was the closest thing to the fraternity and sorority atmosphere.
“It’s like a separate bubble from IU,” Suchov said. “You don’t have to go to the bars to have a party. When you’re living with sophomores and juniors, if you’re going to pregame it’s easier to do it when you’re all under one roof.”

However, Reno said he thinks Smallwood’s security system slows the party
atmosphere.

“We do what we can to keep habitual troublemakers out of the building,” Reno said.
Smallwood has a “no trespass” list of people who might have destroyed property or caused a disturbance
to residents.

Reno also said if the owners hadn’t made that initial $700,000 investment in the apartment’s security system, police would be lacking critical evidence in finding Lauren Spierer, a 20-year-old IU student that has been missing since June 3.

Reno said Smallwood has done everything it can to comply with police in their search for Lauren and at the same time, not disturb their residents.  On June 7, police entered Smallwood with a search warrant.

Reno said no one was at Smallwood at the time to let police in, but a property manager said he could be there in 10 minutes. However, BPD did not wait for the property manager.

When the property manager arrived, BPD had already entered the building and the property manager helped them remove the hard drives and CDs police asked for.

“The idea that we did not cooperate with them is baloney,” Reno said.
Smallwood has allowed volunteers to use the old Copper Cup property, which is connected to the apartment building at Eighth Street and College Avenue, as the headquarters for searches.

Reno also said Smallwood has complied with everything police have asked of them, including handing over information of about 4,000 key strikes in a 48-hour period before and after Lauren went missing.

“Because it did happen here, we have information we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” Reno said. “It doesn’t make it any less regrettable or any less painful, but we still have the information that we wouldn’t have had.”