East Lake Management & Development
Darul Amaan Senior Apart-
ments is a new East Lake
managed residence for peo-
ple aged 55 and older on
Chicago’s North Side in the
Albany Park community. Da-
rul Amaan translates to
mean “Abode of Peace.”
The property offers spacious
studio, one and two bed-
room apartments. Kitchens
include new appliances plus
dishwashers and microwaves. In addition to on-site
maintenance and laundry there is also a rooftop ter-
race, plus a community room, computer room and
m e e t i n g
room.
J a n e
Hunter is
the Over-
s i g h t
Manager
a n d
M u s t a f a
Quadri is the
Property Manager.
He joined East
Lake in May
2014. Mustafa
was born in Chi-
cago. He at-
tended Niles West
High School then
DeVry Institute
where he graduated with a degree in Business Ad-
ministration.
What Mustafa likes most about his job is the cus-
tomer service and that he gets to show clients brand
new units that they are excited to see. He likes that
the management at East Lake is helpful and organ-
ized and has taken the time to show him how to best
get things done especially in a tight time crunch. The
words he lives by are to treat others the way you want
to be treated. His keys to success, “take one step at
a time and stay positive”.
Darul Amaan is located at 4820 N. Kedzie. Welcome
to the East Lake family.
Volume 4, Issue 3
N E W EA S T LA K E SE N I O R P RO P E RT Y : D A RU L A M A A N SE N I O R A PA RT M E N T S
July/August/Sept. 2014
EAST LAKE NEWS
Team East Lake Gets The Job
Done: Oversight Manager Jane
Hunter (far lft.) and Archer
Senior Property Manager Alicia
Watkins have provided Darul
Amaan Property Manager
Mustafa Quadri with the East
Lake training and support he
needs.
Rooftop Terrace with sweeping views of the city
Page 2
E A S T L A K E F O U N D E R & P R E S I D E N T E L Z I E H I G G I N B O T T O M R E C E I V E S F A T H E R O F T H E Y E A R A W A R D
Volume 4, Issue 3
East Lake’s Founder & President Elzie L. Hig-
ginbottom received the Father of the Year Award
from the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative in June.
Among those also honored were Mark Trestman,
Head Coach of the Chicago Bears, and Allen
Lynch, U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor Re-
cipient. Here Mr. Higginbottom addresses the
audience of a wide cross-section of Chicago fa-
thers, families and children as Master of Cere-
monies Art Norman of NBC-TV looks on. Mr.
Higginbottom was presented with his award by
CBS-TV Weatherman Steve Baskerville.
Burling Builders On the Move: East Lake’s sister company Burling Builders will be building the new
Morgan Park Sports Center at 115th and Western Avenue for the Chicago Park District. The facility will
include an indoor ice arena and a gymnastics center. At the groundbreaking ceremony in July, pictured
(lft.—rt.):East Lake Operations Manager Mike Sheahan, IL. State Rep. Fran Hurley, IL. State Sen. Bill
Cunningham, 19th Ward Ald. Matt O’Shea, Burling Builders Executive Vice President John Girzadas,
East Lake President Elzie Higginbottom, and East Lake Senior Procurement Specialist Kelly Doherty.
Congratulations To These East Lake Properties With Outstanding REAC Scores Of 85 or Better!
Liberty Commons—97b
June Siggers—Property Manager
Juana R. Pollard—Project Executive
Lake Park Apartments—96b
LaToya Artis—Property Manager
Michelle Ratcliff—Oversight Manager
East Lake News
Kenzella Greer is Regional Manager for
Altgeld Murray Homes, the largest prop-
erty in East Lake’s CHA portfolio. She
began her career here in 2003 as an
Assistant Property Manager and started
her career in property management as a
receptionist at Rockwell Gardens.
What Kenzella likes most about her job
is the interaction with the residents.
She likes being in a position to make a
difference in people’s lives. Each day
she focuses on getting as much accom-
plished as possible while being consis-
tent, concise and accurate. Kenzella
feels she is a natural trainer and enjoys
encouraging others to go towards their
goals. What she likes most about East
Lake is the camaraderie, plus the com-
pany’s investment in employee profes-
sional growth. The Chicago native at-
tended Whitney Young High School and
the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign. She also has several real
estate and property management certi-
fications.
Her keys to success are to, “obtain as
much knowledge as you can in your
field, work diligently, work to improve
and never be satisfied with the status
quo.” She also says, “Work smart and
hard to be successful.” The words she
lives by, “treat people the way you want
to be treated” and, “Be cognizant of
your behavior be-
cause what you put
out will be given
back to you.”
Her advice for
someone who
wants to get into
this line of work is
to, “Have a sense
of responsibility to
yourself and oth-
ers. The actions you take affect many
other people.” She says a positive attitude
is also important for everyone you deal
with. Thank you Kenzella!
Page 3
S P O T L I G H T O N R E G I O N A L M A N A G E R K E N Z E L L A G R E E R
others to get things right. “ He says it is
important for the Accounting team to,
“Work together to find the solution to
make things correct.”
Victor says what he likes most about
being at East Lake is the people. “I en-
joy working with my fellow account-
ants.” He also notes that he likes work-
ing with Senior Accounting Manager
Mohan Rajkumar. “I consider him a
mentor. I like the way he works and
treats people.” The Chicago native says
he has always loved working with num-
bers and math and that is why he
got into the field. He has been
working in Accounting since 1996.
He went to Curie Metro High School
and graduated from Robert Morris
College with a degree in Business
Administration and a concentration
in Accounting.
Victor says, “I love what I do!” His
keys to success are to, “Let your
work speak for itself. It reflects on
you. Be responsible and efficient.”
Thank you Victor!
Victor Martinez
is Accounting
Manager at East
Lake and he has
been with the
company since
August 2007.
What he likes
most about his
job is being re-
sponsible for the accounting group and
getting their work out on time and correct.
He adds, “I like supervising and helping
S P O T L I G H T O N D A V I D L A W R E N C E : M A I N T E N A N C E
S P O T L I G H T O N A C C O U N T I N G M A N A G E R V I C T O R M A R T I N E Z
David Lawrence is in Maintenance with the
Mixed Income Acquisition Portfolio. He joined
East Lake in November 2012. He says what he
likes most about his job is dealing with his su-
pervisor, Steve Richardson, because he has an
open door policy. He says the entire mainte-
nance staff works together as a team. He appre-
ciates that, “From day one I was welcomed with
open arms.”
Although David had not worked in maintenance
before he says, “I like getting things fixed, being
productive and helping people when they need
it.” He says he has learned so much about work-
ing with power tools, fixing water tanks and has
enrolled in a two year program for engineering.
The Chicago native says that as a teen he
thought he’d have a sports career. He notes
that he was a basketball star at Carver High
School and received a full basketball scholar-
ship to the University of Illinois. However,
shortly after he got to college he was in a car
accident and had to learn to walk again.
David says, “This was actually a blessing in
disguise.” He says this experience made him
stronger.
He is appreciative of his new career path and
is looking for longevity and growth. He highly
recommends the field to others including his
children. He just bought his youngest child his
first real drill.
The words that he lives by are
“Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you.” He
also says, “I am a man of God.
God is love. Just because you
have to struggle doesn’t mean
that God doesn’t love you.”
Thank you David!
S P O T L I G H T O N E A S T L A K E I N T E R N S H A N E S A M U E L S
S U M M E R Y O U T H E M P L O Y M E N T P R O G R A M I N T E R N S
This summer East Lake has also been joined by interns from the 2014 Summer Youth
Employment Program recommended by State Senator Mattie Hunter’s office. The stu-
dents have had an opportunity to work with various properties in our CHA portfolio.
Brianna Lusk, 21, a Harold
Washington College Art His-
tory major interned in the
Procurement Dept. at the
East Lake Corporate Office.
Marie Washington, 20, a junior at
University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign interned at Patrick Sulli-
van Apartments with Property Man-
ager Darlene Turner.
Chaz Milligan, 16, a senior at South-
land College Prep in Richton Park
interned at the Mixed Income Acqui-
sitions Management office with
Property Manager Erika Ward.
Christopher Swann, 16, a junior
at Hales Franciscan High School
interned at Las Americas Apart-
ments with Property Manager
Estee Fournier.
East Lake Management & Development
Corp.
2850 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60616
312-842-5500 ph. 312842-0765 fx.
www.eastlakemgmt.com
Newsletter editor: Lydia Davis Eady,
Director of Marketing
East Lake: Many Faces, Diverse Talents,
One Team
Pizza Celebration For A
Job Well Done The staff at 6920 S. Crandon en-
joyed a pizza luncheon courtesy of
East Lake in honor of the building
rehab and completion of an ag-
gressive leasing program. Property
Manager Joya Turner (far rt.) is
pictured with her team: (lft.—rt.) Ida
Lambert, RSC, Charles Jones, Main-
tenance, Vivian Campbell, RSC,
Maurice Merrell, Lead Mainte-
nance, Traci Stanford, Asst Prop-
erty Manager. Not pictured are
Martha Fonseca and Kenneth
Berry in Maintenance. Michelle Ratcliff is Oversight Manager.
Shane Samuels is an Illinois Insti-
tute of Technology (IIT) student
majoring in Architecture and has
interned this summer in the East
Lake Development Department.
He has enjoyed seeing first hand
how proposals and bids work,
how contractors are chosen and
how construction and architec-
ture makes an impact on the dy-
namics of the management of
buildings. When Shane was 7
years old he saw a floor plan
drawing and he fell in love with
architecture.
The words that he lives by are to,
“Drink ambition, sweat success.”
Shane is a young man with strong
aspirations and adds that at East
Lake, “I appreciate from the bot-
tom of my heart the encourage-
ment I have received!”
When he came to Chicago he had an
opportunity to see full blown architec-
ture, “limitless,” beyond the Carib-
bean style. Shane was born in Anti-
gua and came to Chicago in 2011 to
attend IIT. His keys to success are
hard work and, “You have to be your
own critic. It is best to compete
against yourself.”
The advice that he has for other
young people who want to do what
he does, “You have to love what you
do. Architecture is not an overnight
success major. You have to have a
lot of passion.”
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