I have lived here a couple of years and have had mostly a positive experience. There are a number of pros and cons that I will list out below. Honestly I would prefer to give it 3.5 stars, but rounded up to 4 because I do not believe 3 would be justified.
PROS:
- Maintenance and the office management are amazing. Very friendly and responsive. They even listen to valid complaints and have adjusted my rent without asking. It was not much, but it spoke volumes to me that someone actually listens and cares.
- Cat friendly building with no pet deposit/rent. Dogs are not permitted (see cons)
- Apartments are very large and spacious
- Everything included in the rent (apt are not individually metered so electric is included), cable/internet is the only thing not.
- They just turned an apartment into a beautiful new gym/exercise room with all new equipment
- Location is wonderful and the grounds are beautiful.
- They really focus on the building. In the last couple of years, all new carpeting, new main entryway, etc.
- The management puts on some events; organizes trick or treating, ice cream on the first day of summer, a visit from Santa Claus, etc.
- LOVE that the kitchen refrigerators have working automatic ice makers.
- Also love that packages are delivered to your apartment. All deliveries are made to the office and then in the late afternoon, staff comes and delivers the packages to your apartment door. You can even have dry cleaning delivered to the office and they will bring it to your apartment.
CONS:
- missing some modern conveniences found in most of the buildings in the area such as garbage disposals, in unit w/d, etc.
- storage space is a little limited
- Electric is a nightmare. In a 2 bedroom apt there are light fixtures in the hall, dining room, and kitchen. Nothing in the bedrooms. Outlets are in very short supply, only 2 in each bedroom and one is controlled by the switch for your room light, which means basically one usable outlet. And in my master, the light switch controlled outlet is where the apt company ran the Fios equipment (Fios fiber is installed in every apartment) which means you can't use the switch as it has to stay on at all times.
- Garage rent is 3x-5x more than other complexes in the area.
- Dogs are not permitted. That being said, there are tons and tons of "emotional support dogs", most of which are not well behaved, bark, and not controlled by their owners. Frequently have dogs running up to me and jumping on me in the elevator, hallway, or garage.
- The beautiful gym is not included. There is a one time access fee and then a monthly charge based on the number of people in the apt who want to use it.
- It is frequently difficult to find washers/driers not in use and often necessitates walking to the other side of the building and hoping to find an empty one.
- The apartments have beautiful hardwood flooring. However, under the leasing agreement they have to be something like 80% of the space covered by area rugs. Which kind of negates having hardwood in the first place. If you're going to require that, just install carpet. Of course, I get why they don't, that's another expense that would have to be regularly replaced just from normal wear and tear. Plus hardwood is a "selling" point.
Pricing is maybe slightly high compared to the area even taking into account you have to pay for electric at most other places, especially taking into account the lack of in unit amenities that are offered pretty much everywhere else. I can understand, as no doubt they build in quite a cushion for electric. I can imagine most people run their AC much more often and at much colder temps than if they had to pay the electric bill themselves.
All said, I will probably continue to remain for a couple more years as there are definitely some huge pros and the cons currently do not outweigh the cost and hassle of moving. If I was still at the point in my life where moving could be accomplished in an afternoon with a couple of buddies and a U-Haul, it would be more of a toss up. read more