Marq 31 — Attraction in Houston

I have been living at Marq31 for the past 3.5 years. I rate the property based on 1. Staff, 2. Community, 3. Pricing The leasing staff are good and very polite and helpful, and past managers and directors put residents first before prospective residents. For the most part, my experience with the staff was ok, except recently with Kelly Gaskin, the new Community Director. In the name of the "corporation and its investors," Kelly has given me multiple conflicting rent increases with no justification other than market pricing as of today for increases to match those. To make matters worse, when I ask for the rationale for the rent increases, time and time again, she provides misleading answers. Perhaps she gets points with the corporate if she forces residents into unreasonable increases and dismisses residents as uninformed and uneducated. She will not like you if you question her irrational logic. However, in the past, when I had an issue and the leasing office staff would not be available or a similar situation would arise, CWS corporate was very responsive and would step in to resolve the issue. On this matter, I have yet to hear back from them.

If you live in an apartment, you expect to deal with noise and some neighbour disturbance, but I had issues beyond normal not being able to sleep before 3:30 am, and sometimes 5:00 am. This went on for about six months before the tenant moved out. But, again, minimal to no action from the community managers encourage such behaviours. The first couple of years residing at Marq31 was a pleasant experience until things dramatically changed by putting the occupancy rate first before the community and residents. Safety will be your primary concern, and numerous property crimes that were the direct result of security oversight by the office – theft of my brand new motorcycle and a hit and run of my mother's car that was parked on the premises, which involved a resident that the office absolutely did nothing.

Fair pricing and the gym was the only encouraging factor to consider living there. However, I signed a 15-month lease in January 2021. To my surprise, however, I received a Lease Renewal Letter ("LRL") on October 27, 2021. According to the LRL, a 14-month term renewal rate had a $76 increase. I informed the office that the increased amount was reasonable, but the LRL was premature, as my lease term was nearly five months away. For practical and internal purposes that I still do not understand, the office sent me a new lease with the same term date (March 25, 2022) for the same rate. Earlier this month – only two months after the October LRL that attempted to increase my rent by $76 – I received another LRL. However, the 15-month lease renewal rate per this LRL was A $230 increase from my current rent – A 15% increase. The new increase is more than triple the increased amount of the LRL I received only two months earlier. The increase was so shocking that I reached out to Kelly to ensure that the numbers were accurate. I had an in-person meeting with Kelly a week later. Kelly informed me that the $230 rent increase was accurate but that it was also justified because "units with similar floor plans are priced higher than what I pay. Furthermore, Kelly insisted that she was offering me the best renewal rates possible. Despite the fact that she had offered a lower rate only two months earlier, she could not give me a lower rate now because rates are determined by layers of investors, management, and corporate. Finally, as the sole remedy to my concerns, Kelly offered "a complimentary housekeeping and carpet cleaning service" – I don't even have carpet! According to the CWS website and Apartments.com, the exact floor plan (A3-J) stands listed as $50 less than her best offering price, with new residents receiving a one-time $300 discount. It is hard to believe that any property offers better pricing for new residents and not for frequent renewer residents. The current rent increase on top of all these issues makes staying a costly and...

Updated review 10/24 Third year living here and I will say that I renewed my lease only because Darlin has been a MAJOR ASSET in running Marq 31. Since I’ve been here she has corrected the delivery issues, on top of maintenance getting their task done effectively, has installed more cameras in the garages (not to say we don’t need more) , the office staff has remained the same (no turn over) since she has been here. I have also gotten more involved w our community at Marq31. Sure there are MANY improvements that still need to be made but I’m afraid if we just don’t start to act and work like a community any and every place we try to go and rent will have these exact type of problems. It is NOT a bad place to live and I never expressed that down below, needs work? YES but for the location and the fact we have a very attentive and considerate manager and team NOW does wonders, it really makes a difference to us long term tenants. Some of these reviews are misleading, some just leave them to leave them and some leave them for no other reason than them just needing to buy their own home.

On my second year of living here and it’s honestly a very VERY inconvenient place to live. Staff used to be very attentive in the beginning now they’ve switched everyone in the office at least 4 times since I’ve lived here. Maintenance is definitely hit or miss on when they are attentive or not, the garage system is terrible- they thought it would be more convenient utilizing it through an app but say your phone is dead or not getting any service you have no way to get in but to piggy back into the garage. The garage as has had many incidents such as catalytic converters stolen, cars broken into or hit, or they just flat out steal your whole car. If you order frequently via Amazon or whatever other than USPS you have to deal w the awful service called fetch bc for some reason the office couldn’t figure out how to make it convenient for people to just access their packages from the package room. So essentially you’re double delivering your items- it’s false when they say you can get it same day bc at times there are no times available and you have to schedule the next day. I’ve had a minimum of 4 packages that have not been received or recovered from fetch and you can’t get a refund (at least from Amazon) bc they say they handed it directly to someone at fetch. The fetch system is just completely awful- I’m on the phone msging them tracking numbers, pictures, and more info on top of info for them to find my packages when they’ve said delivered to them and they are as well hit or miss when they respond.. I want to say it’s a decent place to live to but there are waaaaay too many inconveniences w living here and for the price we pay. Marq31 please do better. Hire a security guard that is on duty all the time- hell convert the dead space where the package lockers were and put a guard there or in the storage room you no longer use with a security guard you could also utilize them to retrieve our packages back at our apartment complex and sign out w them instead of this god...

I want to start by recognizing Markeesha in the leasing office, who has been nothing but kind and professional throughout this process. Unfortunately, her efforts cannot outweigh what has otherwise been an extremely disappointing and stressful move-in experience at Marq31.

From the day I received my keys, I have regretted my decision to move here. What should have been an exciting transition quickly turned into a source of frustration.

Major Issues Upon Move-In

(1) Air Conditioning: My AC was completely out the entire first week. On move-in day—in August, in Texas—the entire unit had to be replaced.

(2) Appliances & Damage: The refrigerator I was given was clearly not new (as claimed), scratched, and dirty. Replacing it left deep scratches across my floors and visible damage to the entryway.

(3) Washer/Dryer: Both smelled strongly of mildew and were wet when I moved in. I had to clean them myself twice before I could even do laundry.

(4) AT&T Router: The pre-installed router was damaged, forcing me to schedule a technician. The replacement doesn’t fit in the designated space and now takes up unnecessary room in my closet.

(5) Overall Condition: The unit was not properly prepared. Among many issues:

Carpet with an existing hole that was never replaced.

Broken dishwasher latch on soap dispenser that still does not function correctly.

Damaged and mismatched blinds on sliding glass door, with broken slats still awaiting repair.

Rusted vanity lights in both bathrooms - they were replaced when I asked but it still should not have been left that way.

Kitchen track light dangling out of its socket, sloppily “fixed” with caulk.

Moldy, filthy and broken drain covers on bathroom sinks.

Cabinet doors broken, water-damaged drawers painted over instead of repaired.

Visible paint overspray in multiple areas of the floor and cabinets.

Floors in poor condition with wax buildup, peeling, and scratches everywhere. I have brought this up to management and am waiting for a response if something can be done about it.

Strange musty odor that I had to buy a scent machine for to try to force the smell out along with a lot of cleaning.

(6) Bugs: On top of all this, I’ve encountered multiple large roaches in my unit, even after applying my own pest control.

The Bigger Picture - This property markets itself as a “luxury community,” yet the reality does not reflect that standard. The lack of quality control, attention to detail, and care for new residents is unacceptable—especially at the cost.

Final Thoughts - I sincerely hope the remainder of my lease improves, though I am not optimistic. If moving were not so costly and disruptive, I would already be gone. For anyone considering Marq31, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere. This has been one of the most stressful and disappointing experiences I’ve ever had...