Onyx — Attraction in Urbana

I lived in One South for 5 months and it's just time to write this detailed review after experiencing a continuous mess of customer service. As an international student signing for this place from 7000 miles, I signed up for this place despite the negative reviews on appartmentfinder because the place is on the bus route and looked neat on pictures and because I received assurances from the customer service representative that management has changed now and things are better. However, after living it myself, I can tell you that staff and management are all nice before you sign the contract but once you sign, it's all game over for friendly service. Management does not care to listen or understand tenants problems; It's now all about taking more money from your pocket.

Prior to talking about the management and policy problems, I would like to acknowledge that, disregarding the maintenance issues that I had faced, the apartment itself is modestly fine. The in-unit laundry is new and very useful given that most providers in Urbana Champaign do not provide this facility. The kitchen has a cook, microwave and dishwasher. The TV is nicely positioned although the free networking that comes with it is not clear and pixelated. The hardwood-style floors feel more like plastic. Parking is freely available and bus runs every 10 minutes. However, the bed is for one person and is not comfortable with cheap stand. Now moving to management problems:

Problem No 1: Receiving the Key. You will have to find a place to live for two weeks until they give out the keys on August 22 with total disregard to university calendars. I had an official trip out of town on the day they distributed the keys; the management did not care to understand my situation as an international student who have nobody here and did not agree to give the key one day before although I promised not ask to move before that day. Their response? It's a policy!

Problem No 2: Address change without a notice. After receiving the "Welcome letter" with my address on it, I have shipped everything to that address internationally. When I received the key, the apartment assigned was changed without any prior notice nor an effort to try to fix it. Hear this: The manager told me that tenants before me moved two weeks earlier as part of "early movers!" I thought it's a policy that no one moves before August 22. Later on, I went and checked with the tenants in the apartment and they informed me that they actually just moved!! When I told the manager about it, she was like you shouldn't have asked them! What about my shipped items? It's not their problem off course

Problem No 3: Maintenance requests. When I moved in, I had 4 major issues including water leakage. Want it fixed? Wait for months because their response is "we have over 200 service requests and we have only 2 maintenance workers"

Problem No 4: Water-included myth! They discount $10 per bed off your bill but it ran to a minimum of $35 for me!

Problem No 5: Noise. Our apartment is located next to the basket ball field which a nightmare with all the ball bounces and laughter the whole night. Call Security? They can play and make noise until midnight!

Problem No 6: I had to get my own bed because their bed is too small and I had to figure out a place to store their bed because, according to their staff, they don't have any storage.

Problem No 7: Fees, fees and more fees. Lost your key? $30. You have to pay now for it! Need a 2nd safety key? Forget it. Forgot your key inside? Still need to get a replacement! Pay rent online? Hefty $10. Rent is due 3rd of the month, no exceptions - sms reminders every first of the month including New Year eve, late? 5%, for my apartment that's a $52. I needed assistance in January as banks closed for 3 days in my country -- Forget it, manager is in meeting when I called at 4:35pm!

Try this: call their number and click 1 (New Resident), they will response right-away; call again and click on 3 or 4 (Current Residents) and...

(This post has since been edited. This reflects my experience from 2011-2015.)

I lived here for several years, and honestly, there are some good things that are GREAT about this apartment, and other things that are very, very bad.

When I first moved in many moons ago, this was a very nice, quiet community of graduate students and young professionals, with a few undergrad and Parkland students peppered here and there. I emphasize the 'quiet' part - while there were times where people would be loud, it was infrequent. The gates worked more often than not, and they held things such as watching movies on the lawn. People played volleyball, and the tennis courts were lit until the wee hours of the morning. There were a numerous amount of trees in the courtyard, and the units were well-cared for.

For the money, and considering the then-quality of the apartments, it was a great place to stay. The apartments were large and airy, there were full-sized washers and dryers in the unit, and there were ice-makers, dishwashers and sizeable balconies. The bedrooms in the 2bed/2bath units were phenomenal. Being on a third floor unit, the vaulted ceilings made the apartment feel even more airy and open.

It has declined greatly since then.

The rents have been raised, but while the rents have been raised, the quality of tenants has suffered tremendously. Where my neighbors were generally UIUC graduate students, young professionals, international students and a few students from Parkland, as they moved out, the riff-raff moved in. The complex was at odds with those who were students and trying to live their versus townies who were selling drugs and keeping up confusion and lots of noise in their units. There were many times where - even with a security presence, I did not feel safe - and Urbana Police was called to the complex several times a week. The volleyball courts were overgrown with weeds, the tennis court lights would be turned off earlier in the evening to 'discourage crime/loitering', and the gates never worked, so all variety of characters could enter the premises and leave.

Keep in mind, rents were being raised.

My option was to leave. While the rents are still somewhat affordable, the quality of the apartment complex is not worth the rise in rent, especially not when there are cheaper units out there that are in safer neighborhoods. It is not competitive with the newer units being built as long as it continues to have the problems that it does. No amount of free flat-screen TVs, in-unit washers and dryers or the like will matter if the apartment is not being well-maintained and when tenants can't be too sure that they won't have their cars rummaged through (which happened to me!), or have their apartment broken into. This apartment complex now houses those who were no longer able to sustain living at Nantucket Cove (formerly known as University Village/88 West), so they had to move elsewhere.

The management was alright with me because they knew who I was - and they knew my personality. I was an older, non-traditional student, while working, and I had standards that I expected to have met. They're very awesome about replacing keys, provided that you can fork over the money to do so. The people that work at the desk are at the very least friendly and willing to try, even if they have their hands tied due to upper level management.

As I lived on a third-floor unit, I did not have the issues with mold that many of the others had. The first floor units, however, considering their placement, would have very easily had issues with mold since they are so close to the ground, and when it floods, they're the ones that get hit.

If you are a student or a parent, please reconsider staying here and keep more options in mind. It is not worth...

Aug 22: Roach infested apartments! We moved my son into this complex yesterday. The apartment he was provided has a serious roach infestation. The roaches weren't just isolated to the kitchen area either, they are in his bedroom as well. The property manager (Nicole) is trying to force my son into staying on lease for the roach infested apartment. Parents.... this place is not looking out for ur kid's best interests. Kids should be focused on school, not dealing with a roach infested apartment. I told the property manager that if they can't find another 2 bedroom apartment then to cancel the lease but I'm being told that to cancel the lease., he would have to pay out the entire lease or he would need to find someone to sublease his apartment room. This place is complete BS. Update 8/22, just spoke with the property manager in person. She admitted that she wouldn't of accepted the property in the condition it was in but is only providing 2 options to terminate the lease; either pay the entire lease term amount or find someone to sub lease the apartment from him. Absolutely no accountability and provided no apologies. The property manager acted like she doesn’t really care about the situation and it was just too bad for him and he's gotta pay the full term of the lease to get outta the lease. She also lied about a property walk thru being performed prior to his move in. It wasn't performed, her co-worker came to the apartment and admited to him that a walk-thru hadn't been performed prior to him moving in. Truly unbelievable the lack of concern for tenants and property conditions. Plz ppl; let our horrible experience be lesson for anyone looking to reside at ONYX. This place obviously doesn't give a damn. AUG 26 update: After dropping off our son at the apartment on the 21st, we picked him back up on the 22nd and all of his belongings. We took him back to the apartment yesterday (AUG 25) along with minimal belongings since his classes started today. Roaches were still present. I added a few more pics. We also took matters into our own hands; bought some roach killer and placed them throughout the apartment since we have not heard anything about pest control coming to the property. This afternoon, my son was notifed that pest control will be coming to the property on Thursday. If you are a U of I student or a parent of a student and are experiencing issues with Onyx; U of I has set up the Champaign-Urbana Tenant Union and also student legal services that can help students with these problems. A few noteworthy items that I failed to mention in my original post: my son emailed Onyx Property staff the same night that he moved notifying them of the roach problem along with pictures. He never received an email response. Onyx staff member made a comment when they went to inspect my son's property; she stated that the roaches weren't a housekeeping issue, it was a building issue. Onyx staff are aware that the building my son's apartment is in has a roach infestation problem but when I confronted property management about the roach infestation, she adamantly denied that roaches were there. The bottom line here folks, if u wouldn't accept a roach infested apartment for yourself or your kids; then you shouldn't be forcing someone else's kid to stay in a roach infested apartment. Sep 10 update: Onyx was somehow able to have google remove my review and pics that showcased the extent of the roach infestation. I'm reposting my review. Instead of addressing tenant's concerns and taking accountability for their failures; Onyx is only interested in silencing...