Heights West End — Attraction in Houston

I've lived in the apartment complex for about 3 months now. The management office and the maintenance staff are great although I did have an unfortunate event and they lack environmental responsibility. When I moved in, the apartment had a strong dog odor from previous owner. They changed the carpet padding first (required to move all my furniture and have to find a place to stay while it dried) and the smell improved but was not gone, carpet was replaced on a 2nd try. It was very stressful and inconvenient as I could not properly move-in for about 2 weeks and was afraid they were not going to solve the issue and I had to live with a strong vet clinic smell. I hope that they learned from it and will do more thorough inspections before releasing apartments so this doesn't happen again. On the positive note, the management office was very responsive about the issue, just a freak-out day for me when they said they wouldn't replace the carpet until more staff came to confirm the odor but I understand some people don't have a strong sense of smell as others do.

In general I love the community, I feel very safe in the building no crime stories, the community is SPARKLING CLEAN. I see reviews complaining about parking but it's no big deal honestly, I've only had to park on the roof level if I come home super late and elevators are so quick so it's seriously not a problem. The construction materials of the apartments are top quality and the location is just awesome.

The reason why I don't give this property a 5-star review is because of their lack of environmental responsibility. I used to live in The District at Washington (close by) that uses the same Valet Trash company service and recycling was included in our $25 monthly charge, same charge as HWE. I asked Heights West End management why is recycling not allowed when their own trashcans indicate blue bags are available for recycling. They said they were going to look into whether I could purchase the blue bags myself and still get recycling as it is the same company that picks up trash around the neighborhood, or look at their contract. They said they’ve been looking at recycling for a while, but according to other residents they’ve said that story for a long time. I never heard back with an answer. Instead, for a while, I went go to the hallway every night and spoke to every trash picker that came to our building and asked them the personal favor to please recycle my trash with along with other communities. They said they would but who knows if they really do. I also see other residents who also purchase the recycling bags and like me, do the job of washing every package before separating into separate bags. One would hope your efforts are actually useful to the environment but there’s no guarantee they’re recycling as there’s no contract. Honestly, its 2019, we are facing climate change and live in a super-modern city and the complex is in a trendy modern area of town. You would think the community would actually use your $25 charge for something, to actually separate your trash as most every other apartment community in Houston Metro provides recycling. I’ve attached a picture of how much of my weekly trash is REAL trash (small white) and how much could be recycled. Multiply by the hundreds of units in the community. Being a good management company is not only about the service, also about community responsibility. There should be accommodations for people that are environmental friendly and for those who don’t care. I will still try to convince the trash pickers and do my part every week or will drive with my trash to my previous community; hopefully at some point the management...

I have lived in this apartment for about 4 years.

I do not want to make this an angry post. I just want it to help the next person when they decide to live here.

Maintenance team is pretty helpful. In the beginning it used to take a couple of days for them to respond. Now, they will come within 24H. AC at one point went out and then they would fix it and it broke again this kept happening over the course of about 4 days. A little annoying because no one was explaining what was happening. In the end it got fixed.

The front office is really bad about answering phone calls. Anytime my phone call is actually picked up by the front office i’m impressed. Voicemails do not get returned. When sending emails go ahead and CC the company so someone reluctantly answers your email. Consider certified mail if wanting to send actual mail.

Homeless people are going to do what they do. They are around the area if you decide you're going to walk to the gym or grocery store or wherever. They are cool and don’t bother you. I can’t speak for those who live on the first floor if they bother them.

The doors to the property around the perimeter are either broken or working. By broken you can open the door without a FOB. This is a daily thing. The gate to the property works pretty regularly now. However, I am never surprised when the gate does not work for about 2 weeks.

DO NOT MOVE INTO an apartment that is in a hallway with a trash chute. They smell so bad. The hallways sometimes have pee or poop cause owners don’t clean after their pets.

Parking I’m guessing the building has leased a lot more units since I moved in because parking is getting a little harder. I did use to live at an apartment where if you lived on the third floor and didn't make it home around 6pm go ahead and drive up to the 5/6th floor because there isn't anything for you. Here, you can probably find one the next floor up or down. Rarely do I have to go all the way up. If you have a rental car park in visitor parking because it is getting towed in about 30 minutes after you park it. I’m really lucky and have gotten towed multiple times. When they switch parking information make sure you pay attention and update it. They will tow your car eventually.

Amenities The gym is nice. The coffee machine was moved out of the shared space and into the office so now you can only get it during office hours. There used to be a printer you could pay for don’t know what happened to that. I cant speak for that. The lockers are wild. Not so much an apartment problem as it is a delivery problem. They just leave stuff laying around from time to time. Occasionally they leave it in front of your door.

PROS I stayed here for so long due to its location. The ride shares are cheap! You’re in a central location. Last minute grocery items are a walk away. Pretty decent restaurants that are walking distance. You can get to memorial park quickly. I10 and I45 are right there.

IMPORTANT the apartment itself does not flood. We lose power when the transformer across the street breaks. During the ICE storm, lost power for a small amount of time, less than 4 hours. Still had hot water. The tornado that took power away for several days. This complex had power.

Overall, without being ugly the multiple different managements of this complex have all been really poor. Which is very sad because this is a great location and I would assume draws a lot of great people!

Texas apartment Association https://www.taa.org/renters/#links

These links can help you with resources...

What's happened to Heights West End? It used to be a vibrant and well-maintained community, perfectly situated in the heights. However, in the few years I’ve been here, I've observed a noticeable decline.

My hunch is that the owners (Mosaic Residential) aren't willing to invest in this place anymore and just want money, it's a shame. While the maintenance team has seen some improvement with new staff, they lack essential supplies like refrigerator filters. I had to buy one myself because, despite three requests, they didn’t have any and I don’t think they plan to order any. I also had to purchase my own fire extinguisher, even though the Texas property code mandates they should be readily available throughout the building. Strangely, management took everyone's extinguishers two months ago for an inspection and never returned them.

The grounds are no longer well-kept; landscaping, flowers, hedges, yards, and hallways frequently look unkempt. DONT GET ME STARTED ON THESE GNATS!!!!!! It was absolutely horrendous this year with gnat infestations. Please believe these bad reviews because none of them are lying. Many of the entry doors are broken, and the garage gate is almost always open. The dog wash inside the garage has become a joke, filled with trash. In the summer I found a homeless person hanging out in the stairwell and my neighbor has seen some at the pool and clubroom; which is also a joke. None of the stuff works in there (TV, games, coffee etc.) ALL BROKEN AND PROBABLY NEVER WILL BE FIXED. The gym will make your skin itch, it’s dark and dingy.

Parking is a mess with abandoned, dusty, broken-down cars occupying valuable spaces and trash strewn about. There are too many unoccupied and overpriced reserved spaces. 10 on the first level behind the gate is complete overkill and they are always empty. The pool, once a great place to hang out, has been marred by complaints and threats from the office this year. Literally there was a letter sent out chastising residents like children and threats of locking it up so no one can use it. They don’t even clean and maintain the grills, your food will definitely be charred because of all of the gunk that’s been built up over time. There's no sense of community anymore—no resident events, food trucks, or parties.

This property has cycled through an entire office staff a few times. Some favorites have moved to other properties and are sorely missed. While the new team does a commendable job in the office when engaged… The new manager, Yolanda, isn't very pleasant. When she's around, she doesn’t speak and always seems to have a chip on her shoulder. Hopefully, she can find a good balance and start enjoying her job instead of coming off as Miss Trunchbull. No one likes a sourpuss!

I won’t be renewing my lease when it ends in a few months and probably won’t be recommending anyone to live here unless this property steps it up x 10. Owners, if you're reading this, you don’t have to respond with some fluffy lie saying you’ll address any of this unless you’re going to actually do it. Anyone reading these reviews can see it’s a pattern that hasn’t changed. Stop seeing everyone as dollar signs and create a community where people genuinely...