The Griff — Attraction in Columbus

I was very excited to move into the GRIFF during the summer, but disappointed when I moved in and I have continued to be disappointed since. Originally I was told I could move in the first of August, but then was told I could not move in until the 15th, which put me in a scramble to find housing until then. Upon moving in, my apartment was dust central. You could see it floating in the air and it took a good number of hours to clean. Even after cleaning (and cleaning throughout my time here) I can never seem to remove the dust. That might seem insignificant, but it's disgusting how much dust accumulates in just a week.

Many of the amenities that were originally offered to residents are now gone. You can no longer print for free (you are required to have your own printer paper) and you must bring your own mug to get coffee in the lounge, but the dispenser isn't big enough for any travel mug to fit. I eventually caved and got my own coffee pot. The study rooms require a key, but the office hours are ridiculous for a complex whose population is primarily students. They don't open until 8am and are often late. On more than one occasion I had to wait until 8:15/8:30am before anyone showed up. They also close at 6pm, which is before I get home most nights so I can rarely get a key to the study room. Maintenance took over two months to come fix our stove and it still doesn't work properly. They gave electricians permission to enter our rooms (without asking for resident consent)to change the wifi, even though it was working fine before.

Although the front of the apartment is clean, the rest of the complex is not. The staircases are disgusting and the hallways and elevators often have spills that will go uncleaned for days. The elevator in the back part of the complex has also been down for more than a week after a pipe burst. Given the fact that I pay 862 dollars/month, it should have been up and running much earlier. The management is unprofessional and has sent a fair share of passive aggressive texts, even saying they would go through people's trash if found on the ground by the dumpsters even though we have nowhere else to put the trash when the dumpsters are full. It is also incredibly noisy and the walls are paper thin, but the management won't do anything about it. The windows won't fully shut either, so the electric bill is ridiculously high during the winter because no matter how much you try to close them, they won't stay closed and cold air blasts into your room.

They increased rent by 50 dollars this year and I'm telling you that it is NOT worth it. I pay 862/month for a two bedroom. You can get a 1 bedroom/1 bath apartment for that price.

EDIT: We have had a very windy couple of days and because the windows never shut all the way, no matter how much to try to close them and lock them shut, the wind makes incredibly loud noises at high speeds, which prevents sleep. Again, AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

EDIT: Thoughts post moveout 7.31.2019 If you read the response below you will see that is surface level and addresses no actual concerns - that is what you will be dealing with if you decide to live at the GRIFF. They mentioned having paper cups available and while that might have been true when they responded, we did receive an email saying that you would need to bring your own cups if you wanted to use the coffee machine downstairs, so their response is not accurate.

Having now lived in an older apartment for a few months now, I can accurately say that the utility bills are ridiculously high. During the winter my roommate and I were paying a total of $200 for electric. In my current apartment all of my utility bills together don't equal that price. It's insane to pay that much with such an expensive rent.

If you really want to rent here, I would recommend waiting until near the very end when they are desperate (but them being desperate for rentees should be a hint). When I moved out they had a special of 750/month instead of 900 for a two bedroom. Still not anywhere near good enough in my mind,...

I don’t recommend living here. I originally signed my lease with a move-in date of August 2022 and decided to renew simply because I thought it could be a place I could live in until finding a better place. I’m honestly happy I didn’t renew my lease at the Griff for 2024-2025. The front desk staff wasn’t very welcoming; it always felt like going downstairs and getting your package or asking for something was bothering them. When I originally renewed, I was offered a deal to have my packages delivered to my unit along with other amenities. I called the front desk on 01/23/2024 to see if the Griff would still be delivering my packages as offered, and was told that the deal was under a different leasing manager and they are no longer offering that service, even though they originally offered it as an incentive to renew my lease. I should have listened to the other OSU students who said that living here wasn’t worth it. They raised the price of rent but don’t offer 95% of the things they have advertised. It’s not worth paying High Street prices to be so far from campus. They have signs that say to pick up after your dog, but one of the leasing managers from the front office doesn’t pick up after her dog. Valet trash sometimes doesn’t even come to get our trash on the days that they’re supposed to. For a “luxury” apartment, there are a ton of flaws. We’ve had an issue when someone's dog pooped in front of our door in the hall and the Griff wanted to charge us a fee for improper dog waste disposal. When I called the front desk and Alexis answered the phone, I told her it wasn’t my dog nor was it my roommate's dog, and she just brushed it off. There are cameras in the hallway on both ends that the Griff could have checked before trying to charge us $25. On April 28th, my previous roommate and I were locked in our apartment due to the lock not wanting to open from the inside or the outside. The first occurrence, the girl from the front desk was able to come down from her unit and I was able to yank it open after she tried from the outside. We thought our problem was solved until 3 hours later when my roommate went to take her dog for a walk and we couldn’t get the door open. The same girl tried and she was unsuccessful. About 15-20 minutes later, the on-site maintenance came, and my roommate had to unscrew the door from the inside so he could unlock it from the outside. The Griff does quarterly inspections on the property, but I’ve personally never seen them check our locks in the 2 years I’ve been here. The side door on the main side of the building has been broken for a month due to issues with the lock system and has been left propped open by residents to be able to access the building. It’s extremely dangerous leaving the door just propped open all day. There are supposed police that live here, but I’ve never seen them besides when they’re investigating car break-ins. The walls are super thin, so you can literally hear everything above you and in the halls when sitting in your living room. There is always someone blasting music during late hours. We pay 50% of the building’s light bill, so don’t think your light bill will be cheap. They have horrible WiFi; there’s literally always something wrong with it. This isn’t luxury, just glamorized dorms. I’m happy that I was able to break my lease and I get to live somewhere much better for the same price I’m paying at the Griff. Once I made the decision to move, getting any communication via email is like physically pulling teeth, I literally have to call the griff just to get questions answered that could simply be...

I regret signing my lease and it has only been 3 weeks. Thought I would love this place only to be sorely disappointed. Pros and cons:

My primary complaint is the building-wide fire alarm - it goes off ALL THE TIME, ANYTIME (for anywhere from 1 sec to 30 min), and I've counted 8+ times in a single day. Even now, I am writing this review at 3:30 AM because it woke me up and it's been going for 10 minutes. If you've lived on campus before, just know the noise is 2x worse than the dorm alarms. God forbid you have pets because they'll be traumatized. Management will say it "works as intended" and blame the residents, but EVERY apartment complex has people who can't cook, and they don't have this issue. Maybe management should intend for the system to not be so trigger-happy instead.

The staff seemed extremely nice and welcoming when I toured the premises, but their attitudes changed a bit once everyone was settled. Overall, I think they're still fine because I wouldn't enjoy sitting at the front desk either so I gave 2 stars instead of 1. While interactions with them don't exactly make my day, they don't ruin it either. I have noticed that experiences with staff tend to differ based on the reviewer's ethnicity, and I can say with confidence I've never been greeted or smiled at like certain people here are saying so...yeah... but regardless, they are definitely helpful and good to have around.

I agree with the other review about this place being cheap, but the value isn't TOO bad. The washer takes forever, the dryer is inefficient, there's barely any water in the shower, and the stove is very old. The floor is thin and you can hear the stove rattling from the vibrations when you walk around the kitchen (and I'm a pretty light walker). It also always looks dirty from minor wear and tear. There was mold in my toilet when I moved in, and my desk chair had a giant piece torn off. Bugs do get inside pretty frequently as well.

Some pros: the room is decently sized, especially the bathroom, and you get a big bed. A lot of amenities but you might not get much use out of them. Free outdoors parking. Reasonable rent and you're near a CABS bus stop, even if it's a bit of a trek. Safe and secure building with little crime in a quieter area.

Some more cons: there are fees for everything, valet trash is inconsistent (which would be fine if we didn't have to pay a mandatory monthly fee), dirty hallways/stairs that smell weird with questionable stains, and moving is hard because they don't have carts like many other places do.

All in all, not horrible, but I probably won't renew my lease. That fire alarm will ruin your life: online interviews, classes, exams, sleep, and your hearing. Until they fix it (unlikely), please don't live here if you value...