Georgia Heights — Local services in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

First off, several of the recent 5-star reviews are from staff members here.

I want to preface with some positives - because this is a controlled-access building I always feel very safe here. Parking is available under the building or across the street, and the pass can be used for guests if needed, which is nice. I’ve never seen a single roach.. I'm going into my second year living here & it’s about a five-minute walk to the law school which is a huge blessing for a student without a car. This is truly one of the best options for living downtown but there is a LOT of room for improvement here

Full-time staff in general has been pretty hit-or-miss as far as getting consistent answers - sometimes I'll talk to two different people and get two different answers. Overall, they are efficient with communication and speedy with maintenance - during weekday office hours - though needs are minimal as the complex is mostly clean, well-maintained, and free of bugs.

However, carpets in the hallway are regularly very dirty and are only vacuumed about once a week. The concrete on the stairwells on the lower floors is covered in dog urine puddles in spots and has become very smelly. When I moved in I had to have the couch replaced in my unit because when I lifted the cushions to vacuum it was covered in cat hair and smelled of cat urine, and there are cat scratches on the faux hardwood and on one of the vents.

The units are TINY (around 600-700sq ft), but they are furnished nicely and generally quiet (last year I never heard a peep from my neighbors). However, noise from the hallways, outside, and upstairs neighbors are problematic depending where in the building you live, and I currently have a neighbor whose marijuana smells permeate my apartment and the hallway a few times a week, which I’ve notified the apartment of.

The floors are hard as a rock. There doesn’t seem to be any subfloor underneath the finishings so walking around the unit barefoot for more than about half an hour gets pretty uncomfortable.

The units are not very soundproof, either so if you can afford the extra monthly fee for a top floor unit, absolutely go for it. I’ve been woken up several times by the sound of my neighbors closing doors, walking around, washing laundry, dropping things, or even turning on their showers. Sometimes the sound seems like it goes all night. Last semester I contacted management about this because my upstairs neighbor was regularly waking me up between 4-5am. After saying they could not do anything unless one of their employees came into my room and heard the sounds themselves (which involved me calling the after hours number and having to let staff into my unit at odd hours), I eventually recorded what I was hearing for two weeks and played my recordings for the office staff. At this point, they acknowledged the sounds I was hearing were excessive and claimed to have contacted my upstairs neighbor. After no change, I ended up getting in touch with this neighbor myself. He was very cordial, and I learned that at no point at GH contacted him like they claimed to have after stringing me along for almost a month.

When I moved in my couch had to be replaced because there was cat hair all over the cushions, and there are scratches in the flooring and on the walls in a few spots. This year I have observed dog urine puddles in the stairwells and in the parking decks on more than one occasion. They recently announced that ad of Fall 2020, they are “going pet friendly,” another downside as they were one of the only complexes in Athens to not allow pets. These tiny units are no place for animals.

Subleasing in the summer is a challenge because of the high pricepoint and strict move-out dates, so don't rely on that option when budgeting.

If you are willing to handle all the minor annoyances I addressed while shelling out $1,000+ a month and are looking for somewhere downtown that's newer, relatively quiet and clean, and bug-free, this is a...

If you want to stay in a nice overpriced place in Athens, you have so many better options than this place. The main reason my dad pushed me to live here was for safety, but as I continue to live here I feel unsafe more and more every day. The staff will minimize, ignore, and not care about your complaints when they decide it’s not valid to them anymore. I’ve sent several complaints that they have now ignored about my upstairs neighbors. I’m sleep deprived throughout the whole week but the staff doesn’t care, instead I hear them talking behind my back. When some of my upstairs neighbors quite literally verbally and physically attacked me when I asked him to not pour beer on my furniture, the staff decided not to take any action until the accused party decided to deny the allegation. It’s gotten to a point where I didn’t feel safe enough to call the staff when one of my neighbors were trying to force their way into my apartment at 3am one night. I felt safer to call my boyfriend to handle the situation versus the staff because I felt that they would minimize and dismiss my complaints like they have time and time again throughout the time I’ve lived here. Certain staff members will police the group chat about you complaining, but then claim that they never said that and that they just want the group chat to be a happy environment (despite you having screenshots proving otherwise). Not all the staff is awful, but a lot of the stuff I have had to deal with because of certain staff members has not been the most amazing experience. If you want to pay an over price complex to feel safe, don’t use this one. They claim to have security that walks the floors, but if they did I don’t understand how they didn’t catch my neighbor trying to push his way into my apartment when I was trying to close the door on him. Heads up, homeless people will be in the stairwells of the apartment complex. Fire alarms have been going off in this building so often this semester to the point where I’m having hearing issues. This would’ve been ok if they consistently updated us about the situation, but they will only update you on the fire alarm situations if you all as a building complain. Also, the fire alarms will ring so often to the point where you will debate whether or not you believe it’s a real fire when they go off (giant safety concern). They don’t have enough money apparently to fix the elevators, but they have enough money to put new pool furniture in just in time for winter! Also, don’t expect them to find issues as important as you do. When a broken lamp that shined directly into my apartment was flashing so badly to the point where it was strobing inside my apartment, the staff told me they couldn’t do anything that day. Instead, certain staff members started making jokes about there being a rave inside my apartment unit. I wouldn’t call it a rave, I would call it suffering as it shined directly into my living room and bedroom where I sleep. Good thing my friend with epilepsy didn’t come over that night, she wouldn’t have thought a rave was fun. Honestly, there’s so much more I can go into. But, I don’t feel like writing a whole thesis paper. This place is overpriced, and there’s probably a lot of overpriced places in Athens. But I’m telling you, don’t spend your money at this overprice complex, it’s so not worth it. It’s getting to a point where I can tell the staff doesn’t take me seriously because they’re ignoring my complaints, so I’m gonna have to get other people, like my parents, involved sadly. There are so many better options, I am counting down the days till my lease is up. As for other staff members who have not been disrespectful to me and have been kind to me while I have lived here, thank you. Unfortunately, I haven’t had that many great experiences with most of the staff, but for those few of you who have been kind to me and actually listened, took me seriously me, and believed me, I...

The location of Georgia Heights is fantastic and is the main reason we chose it for our daughter. During the tour, everything looked great, so we signed a lease and my daughter and her roommate moved in. That's when we learned the truth about Georgia Heights. When things break, they don't get fixed. When complaints are made, they are ignored. And I'm not talking about minor inconveniences. The exterior doors (which are supposed to be locked at all times) have been unlocked for months. That means that homeless people are sleeping in the stairwells of a supposedly secure building. The gate to the private parking area (the area we pay a high price to use) was broken and left open for months. Not only were the tenants' spots taken up by whomever felt like using them (requiring tow trucks to be called daily), but the parking area became yet another part of the complex where the kids were in danger due to no security. Fire alarms go off at least once per week (most weeks several times) at all hours of the day and night. Not only have the kids living there grown so accustomed to the constant false alarms that a real fire would go ignored by many, but the thought of evacuating in the middle of the night and having to use the stairwells that are occupied by whomever feels like sleeping there is terrifying. To make matters worse, when the lack of security causes a problem that requires tenants to call the police, they are told that the police have no way to get inside the building unless the tenant comes to the door and opens it for them. How in the world is that helpful in an emergency situation??? The security and safety issues border on criminal, and are more than enough reason to NEVER allow your child to sign a lease here. If you add in the inconveniences caused by frequently broken elevators, weeks of no air conditioning in August, and all but useless staff who do nothing to solve any issues, Georgia Heights can only be considered the most expensive disaster of an apartment complex in Athens.

Edited to add Since posting this review, my daughter has been spoken to by management and I have received a long email from them. Both instances of communication were loaded with "it's not our fault" and/or "we do our best" and/or "I'm concerned about your review." The attitude offered both in person (to my daughter) and via email (to me) was less friendly and concerned than it was defensive. Honestly, they were far quicker, and took more time and effort, to respond to a negative review (to let us know why we really shouldn't be concerned about the problems mentioned) than they ever have responding to problems brought to them privately. That should tell you everything you need to know about this company.

2nd Edit In response to this review, the management put out a request for "positive reviews" yesterday. You'll notice several reviews, all posting within an hour of each other, (and several more shortly thereafter) extolling the virtues of the staff (two people in particular). PLEASE DON'T BELIEVE THE FAKE 5-STAR REVIEWS. Do not sign a lease at this apartment. You will absolutely...