Minot’s Chateau Apartment Homes Suffers a Fire While Under Repair from Summer Flooding

Minot, ND – February 22, 2012 – A fire occurred today at the Chateau Apartment Homes in Minot, North Dakota. The fire began sometime in the early-morning hours and was confined to the complex’s Eastern building located at 1725 2nd Ave SW.

Thankfully, both buildings of the complex are currently vacant for repairs from the 2011 Souris River Flood, and no one has been reported injured due to the incident. No cause for today’s fire has yet been determined.

Construction was currently underway within both the Eastern and Western buildings of the complex. The Eastern edifice of the complex contained 32 of the 64 total apartment units at the Chateau.

The Minot Fire Department was quick to arrive at the scene at the onset of the incident and will work to identify the cause of the fire as soon as it is deemed safe to do so. We at IRET are extremely grateful for their work to ensure that the nearby neighborhood, its people, and property were never in any danger from today’s unfortunate fire at the Chateau Apartment Homes.

Further media inquiries can be directed to:
Justin Fisk
Director – Marketing & Communications
1400 31st Ave SW, Suite 60
Minot, ND 58702
701.837.4738 | 701.837.7189

IRET Properties Announces the Promotion of Justin Hammer to Director

Justin Hammer, the new Director, Residential Property Management - Western Division

Minot, ND – February 21, 2012 – IRET Properties is pleased to announce the promotion of Justin Hammer to Director of Residential Property Management – Western Division.

In his new role as Director, Mr. Hammer will oversee the entirety of IRET Properties’ Western Division, consisting of over 3,600 apartment homes spanning the state of North Dakota as well as Billings, Montana, and Rapid City, South Dakota. He is based in IRET’s Corporate Headquarters located in Minot, North Dakota.

Prior to joining IRET Properties in 2009, Mr. Hammer served as the Sioux Falls-Fargo-Moorhead Regional Property Manager for Investors Management & Marketing after spending a number of years with Scheels Corporation.  He is also an active member of the community with the Magic City Apartment Association as well as the National Apartment Association.

IRET Properties Announces the Promotion of Curt & Judine Hills, Opening of a New Rochester Office

Minot, ND – October 4, 2011 – IRET Properties is pleased to announce the promotion of Curt Hills to Director of Residential Property Management – Eastern Division and the opening of a new regional office in Rochester, Minnesota.

Mr. Hills joined IRET Properties in 2010 as the Rochester Regional Manager of Residential Property Management with nearly 30 years of experience in property management. In his new Directorship role, he will oversee the entirety of IRET Properties’ Eastern Division, consisting of over 4,200 apartment homes spanning from Fargo, North Dakota, to Omaha, Nebraska, St. Cloud and Rochester, Minnesota.

Decorate for Christmas

Now that the holiday season has arrived many of you will be making decorating plans, which may include the purchase of a Christmas tree to display in your apartment.

When decorating your apartment for the holiday season please note that there is an International Fire Code allowing only artificial trees in your apartment.  You may also decorate your balcony or patio if you choose.

The following are some safety tips to keep in mind for the holidays this season:

• Mini/small lights are safer and more energy efficient than larger bulbs.

• Always shut off your tree lights and decorative lights before leaving your apartment.

•  Be sure trees are positioned away from heat register

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday season.

Holiday Giving in Grand Forks and Rochester

As the Holiday Season approaches, many of our regions find the time to give back to their communities in one way or another—they hand out holiday cards to residents and customers, sponsor gift-giving and tree-lighting programs, and much more. Below are what several crews from our Residential Division have done lately to help out this Holiday Season.

From Curt Hills, Director of Residential Property Management – Eastern Division:
Last week, the Rochester Community Manager’s took part in the annual “Festival of Trees—A Celebration of Giving”. The success of each year’s Festival of Trees allows the Hiawatha Homes Foundation to give financial support to children, adults, and families with: developmental disabilities, Physical impairments, brain injuries, specialized medical needs, limited mental health issues, autism disorders, and other health disabilities.

IRET and other business from the community sponsor trees of the Festival to be professionally decorated, and the proceeds from the sale of each tree directly benefit Hiawatha Homes. The “Festival of Trees” is a five-day affair at the Civic Center here, and many thousands of people turn out to view the dozens of trees on display. A very worthwhile cause and one that IRET should be very proud to have taken part in.

http://www.hiawathahomes.org/

from left to right: Frankie Bergeson, Peggy Betting, Judine Hills, Linda Blanshan, Rachel Aljets, Katherine Bauman, Valerie Pastor.

 

From Kristin Speldrich, Community Manager – Legacy Apartment Homes and Valley Park Manor, Grand Forks, ND.
We wanted to send you some photos, of what our wonderful Legacy residents and staff did when we came together to help the North Lands Rescue Mission—an organization that aims to provide a place of hope where people can recover from homelessness, pain and addiction, restoring their dignity and improving their lives.

Our residents and staff worked together to gather and donate canned foods, non- perishable items and clothing to the Mission. We delivered the bags to the mission on November 18th and had over 60 bags of items to give. According to the staff of the Mission, this was the largest donation they’d received from one organization.

A special thanks goes to Hugo’s for the bags they provided and special thanks to Emily Bakke and Lindsey Nelson for organizing the donation.

http://www.nrmission.com/

from left to right: Shawn Jerome, Karen Green, Lindsey Nelson, Tina Ness, and Chelsey Finnison. (sneaking in to the photo is a cook from the Mission)