Pencil Factory Flats — Attraction in Atlanta

More like Disappointment Factory.

But first, let’s start with the good news. The complex is right next to a MARTA station, and is close to major highways and Georgia State. Additionally, it is within walking distance of Oakland Cemetery as well as the Beltline and Grant Park if you want to walk a bit further. The units facing Decatur St. have some great views of the Downtown and Midtown skyline.

Now time for the bad news, starting with security. I did not feel particularly safe while living here. The access control system has not been maintained. Multiple doors to the hallways of building 3 have never been locked, meaning that once someone slips though the parking garage gate, they have full access to the building. There was even a period of several weeks where the parking garage gate was just left open because fixing it in a timely manner was simply not a priority. Additionally, both the MARTA station and the corner store on the street level seem to be magnets for some potentially unsavory characters, and I witnessed numerous altercations and brawls on the sidewalk below my apartment. Although it appeared to be an isolated incident, there was even a shooting at the complex across Decatur Street this past summer. The lax access control also means unhoused individuals have been known to seek shelter in the building hallways. Never once saw a the courtesy officer that they supposedly have doing rounds.

Second, the overall cleanliness and lack of upkeep leave a lot to be desired considering what they charge. From rusty gates and fences, beat up walls and doors, filthy stairwells that smell like urine and feces, and the crumbling siding on the back side of building 3, the complex is in overall pretty rough shape and looks much older than it actually is. Additionally, this complex participates in the beloved mandatory valet trash service, which on paper sounds lovely, but in reality is a nightmare. Residents leave their trash in the hallways outside of trash collection days/hours, so the hallways constantly reek of trash. On that note, it seems a lot of the residents here simply do not care about the cleanliness of their home, and leave trash in the stairwells and parking garage as well. They even had to leave a notice by the mailboxes saying not to dispose of pet waste there because someone was. The whole place needs a deep clean and repaint.

Overall this place just seems like one big corporate money grab disguised as housing. The structure seems to be built very cheaply, meaning you will hear every step your upstairs neighbor takes as well get very acquainted with your neighbor’s favorite music and shows. Maintenance requests take forever to be responded to, and the maintenance staff do not seem to have the resources to adequately fix major problems such as aging HVAC units. The valet trash pickup was pretty inconsistent, but you are expected to pay $30 a month regardless of if your trash gets picked up or not. Also, beware of the Assurant renter’s insurance policy they will try to push on you, as it does not cover damage to your personal belongings and is probably more expensive than getting your own policy. If you do get your own insurance policy, the interested party information they provide is incorrect, so they will just happily enroll you in the Assurant policy despite you having your own insurance and providing them the policy declaration upon move-in. Residents are also billed for all of the common area utilities, allowing management to tack on whatever fees they want to these charges. There is also no incentive for management to cut down on common area utility costs, as these costs are just passed on to residents. For example during the winter, the stairwell heaters were all cranked to full blast leading to uncomfortably hot stairwells and high energy usage.

I would overall not recommend this place to anyone unless you have no...

(Edited) Biggest cons at pencil factory

-security; when I moved in June 2024, a security guard would walk the complex halls and “patrol the grounds” by move out July 2025 there is no security guard . Parking gate has been stuck open for weeks. Disregard for tenant safety; certificates for elevators are often months expired before addressed. Fob entry to building 3 level 3 has been unlocked for the duration of my lease, I sent an email to Katie on 1/9/25 requesting it be fixed. With the open garage gate building 3 is unsecured. Car break ins are common, even behind the security gate.

-cleanliness; trash services are missed regularly, leaving halls smelling bad. Animal droppings are left in places they should not be, (photos attached). Pile of dog feces in the corner of the parking garage and urine stains.The units themselves are slightly nicer, however I’ve found hairs painted into baseboards and walls (photos attached)

-double charges or charge backs; we moved in on the 15th and out on the 16th. As my first month was prorated there were no issues, on my first full month the portal showed I owed double charges ($4,400) on a 1 bed 1.5 bath loft. Shanae’s advice was to just not worry about it, the interaction lacked of customer service. The last month should also have been pro rated but the advice from the office was to pay the full amount and wait for a reimbursement. I was absolutely not comfortable with that, so my husband talked to Todd who said we could pay by cashiers check as late as the move out day (the 16th). On the 8th an officer dropped off a notice of eviction procedures to begin in 72 hours, the note was back dated, cutting the time down to 48 hours. We paid the cashiers check on the 9th with no further issue.

-lack of customer service; emails with questions and concerns often go unanswered. The office opens at 9 but most days the staff is not in or unavailable until 9:15/9:30 despite living onsite. The complex changed the parking policy during the duration of lease and did not tell tenants, leading to guest being booted. When I addressed Shanae she told me the parking never changed, I showed her the documents and asked her not to interrupt me, at that point she terminated the meeting. She has apologized for the unprofessional behavior; however gaslighting the tenants when they keep records was incredibly off putting.

-tenants right to privacy; this complex has requested and gained entry to our unit no less than 20 times. On one occasion the complex did not send out the required 24 hour notice and pest control gained access to the unit, which is a violation of the law and the lease. Todd apologized for this incident.

Pros

The only completely positive comment is the maintenance staff. They are phenomenal.

The units view and layout are beautiful, but walls are thin and hairs painted into walls. This place has so much potential, it just feels like the leasing staff doesn’t care about anything but getting you in the door and signing a lease.

My best recommendation to anyone touring or looking to lease here; Find a tenant and ask about their time at Pencil Factory. I left a positive review when I first moved in and after completing the lease I felt my review was a lie. If you decide to rent here I implore you to get a paper trail of everything or record conversations (GA is a one party consent state) I’ve seen Todd wear Meta glasses so getting a copy from him might be...

We haven't moved in yet ,but after a long time apartment hunting in Atlanta, we were directed to the Pencil Factory Flats by a real estate company, Heather Fremin/Charlesworth Realty to take a look at this property.

We met with Amy in the leasing/front office when we arrived, (without an appointment) I can't stress enough how kind and approachable she was with answering our questions and letting us take a look at one of the apartments available.

We'd just come from a look at another apartment and their leasing office agent was nice, but he was very aloof and didn't really seem to engage with us while we were asking questions about various things, a lot of which were questions about the area that we really needed to know in order to make a decision. One word answers and very little elaboration from him gave us the impression he really didn't care too much about whether we chose to move in or not.

We're moving to be closer to my partners job, and Amy was incredibly helpful in giving us insight into the area, what we could expect from living here, and just overall we could tell she was very kind and wanted to help us make the best decision, even if it wasn't moving into these particular apartments. She was very forthcoming with her information, giving answers to questions we weren't even aware we wanted to know more about until she was telling us about various things. She addressed our security concerns with living in the area, and was candid and honest about everything we had questions on.

The promptness of the front office and Amy in particular, in getting back with us the next day, answering follow up questions about our application and our particular circumstances was a huge relief for both of us. Amy seemed genuinely excited for us when we were approved for the apartment and even when I was calling multiple times for different questions I had the next day, she never acted like she felt I was a burden even though I'm sure I was a tad bit annoying when I was asking about things we'd probably already gone over beforehand.

The apartment we toured was very nice, the open floor plan giving the flat a very spacious feel. The attached balcony giving a good view of the courtyard, but it still seemed to afford us privacy as well. The hallways were clean and didn't smell badly, unlike the previous complex, and the few current residents we met were friendly who all spoke happily about their experiences living in these apartments. The pool and courtyard areas were clear of debris, and the pool itself seemed very well maintained, the deck equipped with a very nice grill available for use as well.

Like I said, we haven't moved in yet, but we're looking forward to it, and don't anticipate having any problems that wouldn't be addressed quickly, easily, and to our satisfaction by management of the property. I'm sure my review will become a five star review within a month of living there, although I can't give it five stars until we have actually moved in and lived there for a...