If you're considering moving here, please read this first. My experience at Vie at University Downs has been extremely disappointing. The living conditions were unsafe and unsanitary, and maintenance issues were ignored for long periods of time. I dealt with roaches getting into my kids' utensils, leaks, and other problems that were never properly addressed. Instead of taking responsibility for the condition of the unit, management tried to charge me for things that had nothing to do with me -- including a chair -- and even sent unrelated photos as "proof." After moving out, they continued to mishandle my account and reported inaccurate information to the credit bureaus. The reporting is inconsistent across all three bureaus, and they have not provided proper documentation to validate the charges. This has caused unnecessary stress and hardship for my family. I would not recommend this complex to anyone looking for a safe, clean, and professionally managed place to live. read more

My girlfriend lives at Vie and I would not recommend anybody to live here. The maintenance staff is horrible and threatened to "beat my brains out". This happened because he entered my girlfriend's unit without permission after me told him several times to not enter! read more

It's so convenient as a student! The apartment is nice, maintenance has been wonderful so far, and there are so many great amenities! There is also a bus that runs for students that takes you to campus, which has been super nice. read more

(0/5 STARS IF POSSIBLE) Do you enjoy cockroaches everywhere!? Do you enjoy throwing away groceries because of ant colonies!? Better yet, Do you enjoy being lied to that an exterminator came on Wednesday, but you know they didn't because you were home sick!? Do you enjoy an incompetent maintenance staff that claims to fix your A/C unit not once, not twice, but three times and it still leaks!? If that doesn't sell Vie for you how about the lovely smell of weed!? If any of those interest you then Vie is the place for you! Never in my life have I left a review for anywhere. I despise writing anything longer than a couple sentences. The fact that I wrote this alone should tell you how bad this place is. I'm shocked this place is still operating. read more

Vie at University Downs - My leaking A/C leaked this much water in 12 hours after it was "fixed". Told me I should just keep collecting the water and emptying it. - University Housing Near Me - Tuscaloosa, Alabama

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Nothing has been done to address noise issue. Files noise complaint but no response from management

-100/10 unprofessional, terrible management, and would never recommend to anybody in tuscaloosa, over charged and petty behavior from the front desk workers read more

I love this place! Looking at past reviews I think someone else is in charge. I rarely have issues and even if I do they are sorted and worked on the next day. The amenities are really nice and the apartment is as well. read more

I have listed bullets below of issues I encountered for the reader's ease. Bear in mind: you have to resign your first month if you don't want your rent to increase the next year. And they tried to increase my rent by 16.8% ($1,009 to $1,179 per month). 1. Danger: multiple shootings/gun discharges throughout the year. 2. Will make new rules throughout your lease (e.g., "amenity wristbands" made of cheap plastic that cost $75 to replace; came up 2/3rds of the way through my lease) 3. Mold growing on shower stall walls, and a stain in the bathtub that the maintenance crew claimed to not be able to remove (I expect it is still there) 4. Grime and broken glass on the balcony (my neighbors informed me the prior tenant's dog urinated here so badly that it dripped down onto their balconies; like many things, it is obvious the balcony was never cleaned). Unable to use balcony August to June in spite of asking them throughout the year to fix it. Finally responded to my request in June. If you move here, do not communicate by word of mouth. Submit formal maintenance requests and keep your own records apart from their website. 5. Spots of grime in the kitchen and living room. From what my neighbors told me, some of these are likely fecal matter from the prior tenant's dog. 6. Kitchen shelves in general disrepair. Garbage found in the cabinets, indicating they had never been cleaned. Rust caked under the sink. Lower shelves were never even put together (e.g., hanging askew or on the bottom of the cabinet). The maintenance crew kept telling me they would put these shelves up but never did--when I finally filed a formal report, the maintenance head (Ryan) only gave me pegs to do it myself. 7. New white rags that I brought to the apartment were ruined simply wiping down the cabinets and under the sink, again showing that the apartment was never cleaned before my arrival. 8. I moved there to be in a secure, gated community. However, gate was open from the time I moved there until March. After installing new gate, landlords refused to give access to app used to open the gate. I resolved this by speaking to separate manager on condo side where I lived--I think people in non-condo apartments had to wait about two weeks with no way to open the gates themselves. 9. Damage to dryer, filthy stove top (supposedly only a year old at the time of my move-in)--after a week I could still not repair the stovetop and was still finding new messes 10. My bathroom towel was turned black when I stepped on it after walking through the apartment the morning after my move-in (showing the apartment had never been mopped) 11. Complex was under construction last year. The amenities that I paid for were only available to me from August to November. I was told these renovations would be done by the time of my move in. 12. Slow draining bathroom sink for the entire year. Maintenance resolution (some chemical) did not work. 13. Furniture is of poor quality. Sitting in the chairs and even sofa gave me excruciating back pain. 14. Had to run dryer twice most of the time, even after cleaning lent. 15. Mess encountered in the kitchen upon move-in (looked like something spilled by prior tenant) 16. Dirt and grime caked into the washing machine All in all, it took two months to get the place clean enough that my skin didn't crawl, and this set me significantly behind in my work for my PhD program at UA. First weekend I was there, a pipe in my wall busted and I was left without running water for the entire weekend Friday to Monday. Receptionists in main office were reluctant to provide me with alternate arrangements so I could use the bathroom. Let me use bathroom in "show room"--toilet didn't flush. Monday, the manager (Garret) minimized my problem by telling an elaborate story about how he was out of water for a month at one of his prior residences. They entered my apartment while I was away without notifying me to install an alarm that sounds when there is a water leak. I did not know of the existence of this until it woke me up in the middle of the night. Maintenance will not oblige to scheduling times with you--they will show up unannounced and enter if you don't answer a few seconds after the first knock. They did this multiple times even when I had not filed a maintenance request just to do this or that (e.g., AC unit inspections). The AC unit is so loud you will have to either sit in 80 degree heat to watch TV or turn the volume up to max (talking on the phone is impossible). Again: nightmare. read more

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The worst run business in America. They turn over staff daily. My son had exposed water pipes for three months. Then when you move out they threaten you with collection bureau and other threats. I WILL NOT LET THEM GET AWAY WITH BULLYING PEOPLE !! read more

First let me say, the renovations to the pool and gym and other common areas are beautiful. However, there was complete neglect to the units. Our sink broke as soon as we moved in and had to get it replaced. We had to call about the air filters constantly because the place was always covered in dust. The paint was chipping everywhere and the furniture is beyond cheap. My biggest concern here is the lack of safety. I personally had several issues including being stalked at the gym, coming home to my apartment being unlocked, maintenance being there without me knowing, break-ins, being forced to move out, and no working air for 3 days or more on two separate occasions. I was approached by a man at the gym one day whom I had never seen or met before. As soon as I walked in, he started talking to me asking my name, if I was alone and asking random questions such as "Where did you say you work again?" or "What did you say you were studying again?" as if I had previous conversations with him. I immediately called my friend and acted like I was waiting for her to which he asked where my friend was and why I was alone. When I went straight to the office they said they would review tapes and I never heard anything again. I can think of 3 instances off the top of my head where I would come home from work and my door was already unlocked. By the third time, I confronted the office about it and they told me that they had a note that maintenance was there for at least one of the occasions. As for the other two, I convinced myself it was also maintenance for peace of mind though I had no work orders submitted. One of the times I came home kinda late at night and there was a man kinda hiding behind the wall of the building by my door. I didn't see him until I was nearly at my door and he immediately walked around from his hiding spot to ask me how I was. I said good and went to unlock my door and of course it was already unlocked. I later found out that there had been recent break-ins of people literally kicking doors down. I also came home one day to my neighbors door wide open for 3 solid days over the weekend when the offices were closed. They have security but are absolutely useless. I've had my air go out two separate times. The first time I actually called because it sounded like a shower was going off in the unit closet. They came and looked at it, vacuumed all the water and left. A few days later my air goes out and of course it happened over a weekend when again, the office was closed. I called anyway and was directed to an emergency number. No one ever called back despite my numerous attempt over the 3 days and my many emails. It was 87 degrees in my apartment and my poor cat was sprawled everywhere trying to cool down. Monday morning, I went to the office and they told me the emergency number was no longer in use. There is simply no way to contact anyone from the office about any issues if it is after hours or on weekends. I let them know they had until the end of the day to fix my air because it was simply unlivable in my apartment. The second time was a very similar situation. They came over the course of Thursday to the following Wednesday when I was basically forced to move due to another issue. I was without any air for 3 days. The next day at work, I get a call that I need to come home and clear my bathroom because my toilet is leaking and flooding the room below me. By this point I was beyond done. I still had no air and had to leave work to essentially move out of my bathroom so I moved out completely. Maintenance was constantly in and out of my room, again without me knowing when. Eventually they installed a window unit for air because that problem was never fixed. The next day, they tell me its not the toilet leaking, but the air unit. Which I already knew was a problem months ago when I first called and they did nothing about it. I know nowhere is perfect but please be careful out there. Safe to say we did not renew our lease. read more

Amenities, events, great atmosphere and perfectly clean public pool gym and lounge. Only problem is that it is right by the train tracks and there is ONE trash dumpster for all residents to use all the way at the front of the complex read more

Unsafe, poorly managed, and has mold issues. Maintenance regularly checks things off without doing anything. Good luck getting the pizza guy or an ambulance to your apartment. Good chance they wont be able to find it due to a lack of clearly defined building numbers and directional signs. Office girls are clueless. read more

Do not rent from this company!! No one in the office is on the same page, they all contradict one another and none remember having previous conversations with tenants. These apts may have new appliances but everything else is old, dirty, broken and moldy. Talking to management's gets you no where except for broken promises of when things will be fixed or replace. They recently moved us to a different apt because the original was a nightmare, this one is some better but not by much. Definitely not worth the $2100 a month they receive from the 3 girls that live there. Run!!! Once you sign, you're screwed! read more

I want off this ride. I am so upset with this company, I actually sat down to write a review. Vie has only managed University Downs for a few months and in that short span my naive smile of optimism has faded. I am so upset with the poor planning and mismanagement of their takeover. They have driven rent prices up to cover their renovations. About $200 in some cases. I have had a brand new dishwasher sitting in my apartment in a box for an entire month because Vie hasn't hired someone to install it. My rent is upwards of $1k and my appliances aren't even installed. They continue to "surprise" residents by not giving proper notice of entering your unit or not even announcing themselves. Imagine my surprise to waking up to someone drilling a showerhead in my bathroom. Or how about when I came home to the painters throwing all my belongings on the floor. Once, one of the maintenance men saw my surprised face and said, "No one told you we were coming, did they?" So its not just me. If you're looking for a well managed property, continue your search. read more

A newly renovated apartment complex, I am highly impressed with the new office staff and management, as well as the upcoming and projected additions coming to the clubhouse area and the pool. This complex is a great place for students to study and get to know others, and for parents who care for their young students' safety. read more

THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN TTOWN! The employees are absolutely amazing, they care so much about you individually and your housing situation. Everything here is newly updated and super clean. I plan on staying at Vie for all 4 years of school!!! read more

If you want to live here, ask for Priscilla! She is amazing at her job. Coming from another state she made the transition so easy by communicating quickly and efficiently with me about the property and was transparent about the whole process! Hard to come across such great service and she does just that!!! read more

DO NOT rent from this company ! They claim to have renovated they have not . They apts are dirty , old , moldy , broken cabinets and they take 6mnths to make repairs IF they do at all . We were told they ran out of money to complete apt renovations. Only new appliances , 25yr old bathroom , kitchen countertops and faucets . Any photos you see online are FAKE they are not the real deal . Renter Beware ! read more

I have loved living at Vie at University Downs. The staff is helpful and friendly and the brand new clubhouse and pool look amazing. The security and gated entry makes me feel safe living here, as there is a security officer 24/7. I would definitely recommend living at UD! read more

I typically do not write reviews but having relied on this type of site in the past to get the truth -- the whole truth -- and nothing but the truth regarding making a decision on where you want to live, I hope this will be helpful to others who are trying to make a decision and are thinking about living at this apartment complex. I first viewed this complex in 2019 for a potential Summer / Fall 2020 move-in date. Since then, a few of my friends have moved to this complex and were very excited about the new renovations (especially the pool and the gym). NEWSFLASH: There is NO gym and NO pool and if you are told that there will be one "soon" or "in the next couple of weeks" ... do not sign a lease if you want a pool and a gym. I do not know what is going on with management but there is NO EXCUSE -- these renovations have been in progress for over a year (probably more). There are so many tenants living there now who signed their lease thinking they would have a pool and a gym. If you are a current tenant and ask management about the status of the pool or gym, be prepared to be treated with the utmost callous disrespect & rudeness. If you are a prospective tenant about to sign a lease and ask them about the pool & the gym, you will not be told the truth about the current status / when you will have a pool or a gym. If you don't care about a pool or a gym then this review does not apply to you. Hope this helps others. read more

I have lived at University Downs/Vie at University Downs for a year and I absolutely cannot wait to move out in a few weeks. This entire experience has been terrible. The apartments themselves are poorly laid out and barely upkept. We have growing water damage in the ceiling which we have reported and received no maintenance. There is paint splattered on all counters, floors, etc where it seems as though they repainted with no regard for quality. As frustrating as the apartment's floor plan, maintenance, and cleanliness is, it would not be nearly as bad if the management were not so impossible to work with. The manager is never in his office, he does not respond to emails within a reasonable timeframe, and if you try to call the office number then you will most likely be put on hold for 15-20 minutes. Add to this the fact that the trash compactor is always overflowing and the grass surrounding the apartments is always riddled with dog poop (both to the credit of the apartment occupants, but also because of the lack of effort by management) and these apartments are nowhere near worth spending a year of your life living in them. read more