The Ellis — Attraction in Charlotte

Scam to get over on applicants

On Monday April 22nd I applied via The Ellis Apartments site ( sent all info needed ) paid application fee $100 and Admin fee $300 which pushed a early lease signing prior to vero decision. I thought I was approved because it sent me info to sign lease and add rental insurance etc... (unable to retrieve the lease I signed) . Then received text from Vero which made me confused again because that link is asking for all my info again i just submitted via The Ellis site ( sent all info requested again) mind you im unable to retrieve application on site that i actually signed electronically.  Next day I received denial on April 23rd from Vero.. I do not recall seeing anything stating Non- Refundable Admin fee ($300) This is a rip off... I called and spoke with an office agent who stated yes I was denied due to my credit score being 542 and not 555 or higher. But also stated she would speak with her manager to discuss possible guranter to average out the credit score ( I thought that was very weird). Then I asked about Admin refund and she stated yes we can mail it to your current address if I want to go that route. And I would receive in 21 days. That was April 22 and I still haven't heard from her and it's April 24th. So I decided since I came in town June 2023 and had a in person tour with Coryn I decided to email her to discuss it further (because I thought she was a kind person and could explain it to me). Well, guess who was wrong... she is very very rude. She actually emailed me and stated I should have received something from Vero with decision. She did call me and left nessage so I called her back. I explained what I was told the day before regarding Admin refund.. She immediately got on the defensive and stated " we don't do that here ..Admin fees are non refundable" I was trying to explain to her what the other agent  stated the day before. She wouldn't listen to me and stated " you must have talked to some other place because we don't do that here" she also stated " I can send the information you signed where it states non-refundable." I said okay that's fine please email to me and we ended the call. So around 12pm I did email her and requested for her to send me a copy of the papers I signed. Just so I can see it because I might have missed the non-refundable part. I never received the email and I never received a call back and it's Thursday April 25th. The issue I'm having is the poor communication and the lack of empathy. I'm relocating to Charlotte in July and I want my ducks in a row. I'm coming from a state (Texas) where they refund admin fees if not approved. The application fee of course isnt refundable or if everything else checks out they  would have you pay extra deposit if your score isn't great. WHICH IS TOTALLY FINE I GET IT... But to have a person to pay $100 application fee and $300 Admin fee and keep the $300 admin fee if not approved is unethical, and pure greed in my opinion. I can only imagine how many people this has happened to and The Ellis apartments is gaining money off of hard working people like myself. I have no criminal background, My income meets requirements, I don't owe any apartments and I'm a great tenant who had some hardships during covid time frame that caused my credit to drop. To not consider all the good is crazy to me.. This complex has alot of vacant apartments and refuse to work with applicants. It's like once your not approved they don't want to have anything to do with you but keep your extremely expensive admin fee $300. They could at least try to work something out. Or refund the admin fee. The state of North Carolina should really look into this and banned Apartments from getting over on applicants. Basically robbing them out of their tax paying money. I'm just saying this isn't right on any level and The Ellis should be ashamed for even putting such ridiculous policy together. Do you actually care about having good tenants or just how you can get a quick buck? I personally don't have $300...

I moved into the high-rise last September and have loved every minute of it. The building has since filled up significantly relative to when I moved in, so I thought I could write a more accurate review. For starters, I have lived in a myriad of apartment buildings in Charlotte before and this is by far my favorite (granted, it has also been by far the most expensive). All of the staff that I have interacted with have been professional, pleasant, and prompt. Coryn was my leasing agent and she was excellent in helping me through the process of choosing an apartment and getting moved in.

Favorite Amenities: Gym: great views from a 33rd floor with Pelotons, free weights, a cable machine, and a handful of other weight machines. It isn't going to satisfy gym-junkies, but you can get creative and satisfy any workout you need. (A squat rack without a fixed barbell rail system would be nice if you're reading this). There is also an adjacent yoga room with additional bike machines. Pool: rooftop pool with amazing views, nearby grills, and the pool is heated year-round. Definitely my favorite amenity.

Pros: Location! First ward with excellent walking distance from so many things. There are 2-3 major grocery stores within walking distance (depending on your definition of "walking distance"). Light-rail allows extended access without needing a car. Awesome resident events (more on this below) Parking garage with reserved/protected parking for residents Staff Sound: Everything is relative and if you're searching to live in Uptown, then you have to accept some level of noise from external sources. Having said that, sound has rarely been an issue even whilst being in uptown with sirens, loud cars, etc. There is a bar on the N College St side, but The Ellis has been very pro-active about making sure the business abides by noise ordinances. This bar does, however, attract a lot of those obnoxiously loud Slingshot trikes. As far as noise within the building, I rarely hear any noise from neighbors so either the insulation is great, my neighbors are great, or both. Needless to say, the higher your apartment is, the less noise you will hear so that should be a consideration if you are noise-sensitive. Easy package retrieval in a dedicated, code-guarded package room. Wine fridge with a giant kitchen island The aforementioned gym and pool. There is also a game room that has a billiards table, board games, and two TVs on the 33rd floor. Last, but not least, the actual apartment. I opted for a layout with a big kitchen island and floor-to-ceiling windows. I love cooking, so having a big kitchen/island with tons of natural light has been very nice. The walk-in closet is also nice. There is a Nest, which is very convenient. Plenty of storage and no complaints here.

Criticism: The only thing I can really think of is that the rooftop/amenity floor closes at 11pm, which is a skosh early (especially on weekends). I believe they do this primarily to prevent noise for residents who live on the 32nd floor. Then again, some people fail to act appropriately within the current time restrictions as evidenced by emails about people trashing the game room, so I don't foresee this changing. I still get plenty of time to use the amenities, so this is a rather minor criticism.

I would be remiss if I did not explicitly mention Mark and Erica. They work with Apartment Life and have been absolutely excellent. They are extremely kind and generous with their events, which help residents meet each other and create a sense of community.

TL;DR - this is my favorite apartment I've lived in and would HIGHLY recommend. Unless they decide to get crazy with price-hiking come renewal time, I plan on renewing my lease and that would make this the first apartment I re-new with. Come...

PT 2

The Ellis Tower does not have a dog spa but the mid-rise Ellis residential does. Which we do not share. Although it is attached to the mid-rise section of the property, you can access it from the outside without compromising the security of the building. However, again we do not have access.

Management is subpar at the Ellis. From LMC, LIVE LMC, QUARTERRA. When you attempt to enter the leasing office they don’t seem approachable nor attentive. There has been several incidents where management was unaware of what was happening at their facility but continuously misinforming / blaming other parties for the issues, when they arise. For instance on several occasions preferred parking came to clean the garage. With no notification from the leasing office, our cars were covered with a thick layer of dust and cement debris. Meanwhile, management stated it came from the construction site but later learned it was preferred parking instead. Preferred parking did give coupons for basic car washes but that did not suffice to get cement off the paint of our cars. Keep in mind this happened more than once.

On another occasion, Preferred parking issued 162 tickets randomly to the community, including management. Management was unaware of preferred parkings visit. When mentioned to the office they advised to reach out to preferred parking. Not sure why I would have to do that when the car details match what is on file, parking decal was showing and all the car documents are also up to date directly with The Ellis, the property I have a lease with!

I received my renewal for my lease. I seen that the increase was roughly 15%. I went into the office to discuss with the property manager Taylor, however, she was off for several days. When I finally saw the property manager, I mentioned I wanted to discuss something with her. She stated she knew what it was for and she would reach back out. Unfortunately, she did not. I reached out to her and she immediately replied and stated my counter offer was denied. I had no prior conversation with her regarding what it was about nor a percentage. So I immediately went to speak with her and expressed to her my frustration. Especially after other residents have showed me their renewal rates. Some had a minor increase, while others did not increase at all. A week later I checked the rates on The Ellis website for my floor plan and they were cheaper than what was offered to me for a new resident. I denied the offer and when my apartment was released back into the market it was at a cheaper market value than my renewal. It’s a bit disheartening especially when other residents show you their renewal and the rates. It seems as if only certain individuals get that “special treatment” but they don’t offer the same courtesy to all residents. Talk about fair...