The Grayson at Columbia — Attraction in Columbia Township

I lived at the Cottages from 2012-2013 for my senior year at MU and it was a great experience living surrounded by students. I was in the manors right at the entrance of the complex so I typically parked right in front of the building and in front of the gate, only needing to go behind the gate when I arrived late at night but then still a short walk.

The bus to campus was super helpful to avoid buying a campus parking pass although most days I did catch the last bus of the day from campus (~5pm) only to come back with my own car shortly after. In the summer, the pool would be a big student party spot. I really liked the CenturyLink internet/TV deal they had included in the rent. The security guard is a nice feel-good amenity but they do very minimal. The dumpster was on the opposite side of the property so it was always a pain taking the trash out but if your roommates get lazy and throw the trash (or guests' cigarettes) on the porch, then BAM! $50 fine. So don't be dumb.

My only complaints lie with what most large scale student housing complexes suffer from and that's with the construction of the buildings. It was one of the first large (non-apartment) student housing complexes when it opened in 2007 and some of the features were cheap. During my stay, the carpets were faded and coming apart and worst of all the windows were cheap without screens and were very tough to properly close (and thus making it easy to break into). When there was a foot of snow on the ground I would look over at most of my neighbors' windows and see their windows were left about an inch open letting a very cold draft inside (and thus inducing LARGE utility overages). In this complex they use heat pumps in lieu of gas heating which is cool but it all comes from electricity so you will have large bills in the Missouri summer and winter. Also, there were two HVAC units in the manor but we only used one at a time (or else VERY LARGE overages).

It seemed when I lived there most students were sophomores or juniors in their first rental property (other than the dorm) but mom and dad still paid for everything. Maintenance is not magic, they are not typically there weekends. But there are many many units that all have problems sometimes and it can take a few days.

An interesting anomaly that happened to me shortly before the end of the spring semester were the birds getting in my bathroom vents. In April when the birds started coming back for the spring, they would sit at the entrance to my bathroom fan air duct and wake me up most mornings. I called maintenance and they permanently closed it up to birds. HOWEVER, I still heard the birds in my air duct getting further and further along the line each day. I called maintenance again (on a Friday) and they said they thought they fixed it and would look at it soon. At this point I was beginning to see feathers and bird crap in the light fixture that surrounds the fan. Later that day, I went to the bathroom and turned on the fan/light and heard a CRUNCH and a screech. Dead bird in my bathroom fan all weekend. Stink and everything (without a fan). Luckily they fixed it Monday morning. But nature happens, and I expect this to not be typical. But a good story nevertheless.

Overall great place, I had minimal management interaction (like the cable company nobody likes their large complex management), great to be surrounded by students, great appliances and...

I will give this place a star because it definitely feels like a house more than an apartment which I liked and it is quite affordable for a college student that pays their own rent. But other than that, Grayson was a complete nightmare to live at. First off, we had MAJOR issues with our one random roommate. I’m not talking we just didn’t get along or butted heads, but she put us in physically dangerous situations where police got involved and restraining orders were put in place. When we brought this issue to the leasing office and said we genuinely feared for our safety living with her, they said they could do nothing about it and if we wanted to do something about it we would have to do it legally through the courthouse. Secondly, I had two cats that I both had registered as emotional support animals. When you have registered ESA’s, it waves you from any fees or restrictions related to animals under the lease. When I brought them my paperwork, they INSISTED that I was only allowed one and would still have to register and pay for the second. When I told them I would have someone speak to them about this (knowing I was right because I did PLENTY of research before I considered ESA), whoever I spoke to got super snappy and made sure to let me know I was in the wrong. 30 minutes later I received a call of her apologizing, saying I was right, and that she would get it resolved immediately. But the initial conversation was just downright rude. Lastly, if you plan to stay here over the summer, DON’T. When majority of the property is moved out for the summer, it is VERY obvious they put less effort into the property and their residents. They opened the pool for two days and then it was closed for the rest of the summer, the gate was broken and swung wide open for the majority of the summer, and oh boy do I have my own story to tell as well. Towards the beginning of July I returned from being out of town to go up to my third story room and realize the air conditioning was broken. I immediately put in a maintenance request and went to spend the night elsewhere because my room was 86°. The next morning they said they fixed it and they didn’t. That went on for about a week and a half back and forth. During that period they offered to let me stay in the model house which I’m beyond grateful for, but after that time they just installed a window unit (which they could’ve done right off the bat), and gave me a deadline to return the model house keys. When I returned to my apartment, the window unit was so badly installed that outside air was getting in and it did absolutely NOTHING to cool down my room. It stayed that hot until I moved out. Imagine packing up and moving out of an unfurnished room in 86°. I basically could not stay in my own apartment for the last month of my lease. This is a rant of a review, but I hope anyone reading understands that they’re not neglectful in just one area, but multiple. I’ve read their responses to other reviews about them being under new management and improving, and yes while their communication might be “better”, that doesn’t mean they’re more nice or accommodating. As heavenly as their initial presence might be, I think hell would be better than what my year living...

My friends and I would often label this place as a "pig with lipstick". The apartments are beautiful on the outside and even the inside I will admit, until you start to live there. I would not have so much to complain about, if it were not for the management and their obvious prioritization of money. When I first moved in, my friend and I requested to be with roommates who were near our age and who generally preferred the same lifestyle as us. This was evidently not taken into account at all, as us two barely nineteen year olds were placed with two people that were far older than us and did not prefer the same lifestyle. Therefore, we were met with constant harassment from one of our roommates. She also had a dog (that we did not know about), who would constantly act aggressively towards us. After contacting management about this issue for months, it was not resolved until we had mentioned the dog biting us and our guests. We finally got to switch units in the middle of our lease, however, this living situation was not any better. We had nothing to complain about as far as our roommates went. Although, when we moved in I had found that a dresser was missing from my room and a desk chair that was not the correct size for my desk. (Not a big deal normally, but after dealing with my previous roommate situation and only being allowed to move out of an old unit and move into the new one in twenty four hours can contribute to being stressed about small details.) When Covid began, leading to the school being shut down, I also lost my job, therefore I did not have an income and could not afford to live in Columbia. This resulted in me having to move back home 2 hours away to complete school. We were not offered any leniency on rent, even though they asked us if we were going to continue living at Grayson. The cherry on top of all of this is when I returned to move my things out of my apartment, I was made aware by another roommate that we had a mouse problem so severe that all of our food had been eaten, mouse droppings littering our kitchen and closets, and we had found dead mice in our rooms. I would also like to add that in both units, our washer and dryer were horrible. The washer would often not complete cycles, leaving our clothes soaked and the dryer would take at least three or four cycles to actually dry the clothes. I paid for my rent with my students loans (like many students and I also made them aware of this from the beginning). When I signed my lease I was told that there would be no late fees as long as I showed proof from the school of when my money would be deposited from the school. When it came time to pay for my January to July rent, the deposit came late (due to difficulties on the school's part). I made Grayson aware of this, even with showing them the proof was I charged over $100 in late fees and told that "they did not do the late rent payment exception any longer" although they told me at the beginning that I would have an exception. Be very careful with what this complex promises you.I came across many amazing student workers and people while living there, my biggest problem came from the price I was paying was not conducive to the...