Cortland Peachtree Battle — Local services in Atlanta

This review will be lengthy, but I'll keep it as concise as I can ('TL;DR' at the end if you're short on time).

Lived here for little over 2 months and I'll say Cortland does a nice job managing this property from what it once was. That said, I'm giving CPB a 5-star rating, w/several caveats to take note of...

AMENITIES: Can't speak too much on these, as the only amenity I really use is the fitness center/gym, but my experience with that has been great. Good range of equipment & an overall nice space that I frequent multiple times in a week

PEST CONTROL: Since moving in, I've seen two roaches in my unit after coming back from being away (i.e. - for a weekend)—both dead. Like many others, I don't care to see any type of roach, but at least they were dead...

I called maintenance to take preventative measures for pests and they sprayed my unit down (very quick, only takes about 5 minutes); since then, I haven't seen any bugs at all, in my unit or anywhere else here.

MAINTENANCE: Speaking of maintenance, this is where one of the caveats I mentioned earlier comes up.

In my experience, they're very responsive & do a good job of handling any issues I've had so far; a nitpick I have is that they'll enter my unit when I'm not there, despite me telling them not to do so in my requests (or at the very least that they should call me if they HAVE to, which they also haven't done). Another thing is while they do their job well, they're not too conscious of cleanliness, either

If this bothers you, do what I did and buy an indoor camera.

BUILDING & PARKING: The building itself is another small caveat; elevators have been unreliable recently & they tend to go down every other week. This caveat isn't as much of an issue for me since mgmt. is responsive & resolves it quickly, usually within 1-2 days.

The parking garage's gates have also gone down on rare occasion, but this doesn't happen as much & property mgmt. is responsive here as well. The parking garage is nice and clean with plenty of available parking spots you can use without having to worry about being towed.

SAFETY: Now this is the last caveat but it's also become the biggest (in light of recent news).

Generally, the building is very safe and you'd have to use Cortland's app to even access the elevator/parking garage (the main lobby/leasing office stays open during working hours).

However, as you might know, there was an incident early this morning (6/12) of the the fire alarm being tripped, due to a man (who apparently didn't live here) being KILLED on apartment grounds in a domestic dispute. My question is, if he doesn't live here, how was he even able to access the building in the first place?

This could be more of an issue w/tenants rather than the apartment itself since I've seen people leave doors propped open and occasionally tailgating me through the parking gate (which mgmt. constantly reminds us not to do).

Overall, I'm not too phased by the event. I spoke with another tenant who's lived here for +3 years & she says this is the first time anything like this has happened in her time here. I myself have had a pleasant experience living here—not only is the building (generally) safe, but the surroundings are a nice walking area and conveniently located across a shopping plaza.

Anyway, to summarize:

PROS: Convenient location, peaceful/walkable surroundings Unit is very nice and has no major issues, mostly the same with the building (sans elevators) Reliable parking Maintenance is responsive (in my experience) Management does a good job communicating about updates/rent/building upkeep Having an app where you can do all your apt. needs (e.g. - pay rent, put in maint. requests) is super convenient

CONS: Safety can be a little questionable (again, this is more of a tenant issue than a management one) Elevators constantly going down can be a nuisance Ongoing renovations means some amenities are constantly unavailable Maint. likes to enter your unit when you're not there

5-stars for now, with some caveats to...

I've had a less than satisfactory experience with this building. There seems to be a consistent pattern of overcharging each month, with extra charges exceeding $200 sometimes. Moreover, the actual rent is considerably higher than what is advertised on their website. The hallways frequently emit a strong odor due to what appears to be improper trash management. Noise levels are consistently high, and the frequent triggering of alarms contributes to this issue. I often find myself being subjected to an array of additional charges each month, necessitating frequent calls for explanations. This month, they charged me an extra $200 due to what they called my 'failure to submit a vacate notice' (I DIDIN'T GET A NOTICE). Some of the front office staff display unprofessional behavior and can come across as rude. There have been instances where the leasing office was left unattended, posing potential issues in case of emergencies. For instance, one day a staff member was absent until after the firefighters had arrived. Furthermore, if you request them to hold onto an item to give to a friend, they decline.

I can always tell when the renter above me is using the bathroom because the sound insulation is nonexistent. My air conditioning unit was broken throughout the entire summer, which left me and my guests in 80-degree heat. The issue wasn't addressed until this year. The AC was malfunctioning, and rather than properly fixing it, they would only do a quick fix that lasted a few weeks before it broke again. As a result, the floors were often flooded with water while I had guests over.

Moreover, my unit faced the street where ongoing construction created unbearable noise. Even my AirPods' noise cancellation feature struggled to block out most of the noise. Consequently, I have resorted to sleeping with my AirPods on, playing high-volume background noise, just to get some sleep. Yet, even in these circumstances, they showed no courtesy in considering a tenant transfer due these conditions. I requested a transfer to another unit at the end of my lease, but they asked for a transfer fee. I found this unreasonable and argued, 'Who pays a transfer fee when their lease is about to end anyway?' It seemed illogical to pay a transfer fee for a new unit post-lease expiry. While I wouldn't mind paying a deposit, which is three to four times the cost of the transfer fee, I can't justify paying for something that doesn't make sense to me.

In summary, the living conditions here don't reflect the 'luxury living' image they portray, and it's certainly not worth the price. There are numerous other buildings in midtown offering great views and attractive deals, which stand in stark contrast to this place. This building lacks a good view compared to others (or at least my apartment) and has issues like unpleasant odors, malfunctioning elevators, and constantly broken gates. Alarms are frequently activated, even at night, adding to the discomfort. Some staff members at the leasing office exhibit rudeness. Aside from the leasing office itself, the guest house, and the common areas, there's really nothing luxurious...

I have experienced five corporate re-locations, so have had plenty of experience with apartment complexes in Atlanta, Washington, DC and Sacramento, CA and none have ever had the number of operational and management problems as The Haynes House. The location is great and the units are laid out well, but the living situation is horrible...you can do better in the Buckhead area.

1.) Bad Management: In July of this year a major a busted pipe on the 5th floor causing water damage in my unit (4th Floor) and every unit below mine. The damage required re-mediations (huge dryers and reconstruction of the wall) in my master closet and washer/dryer room. I was unable to use my master closet and W/D for nearly four weeks. I was told three times by management that compensation would be provided, both for the power required to run the industrial dryer for over a week and the lack of a availability of a huge portion of my apartment. I was told the decision would be coming from the regional manager, after two months I never heard back and the on-site manager that was working the issue is no longer here. I have still never heard from the property management company offering any compensation. I certainly understand that building problems happen, but have never experienced the lack of responsiveness to a tenet when they are unable to access a sizable portion of their unit for a month!

2.) Maintenance/Cleanliness It's not if, it's when there is a problem...something is broken nearly every day. Since I have lived here the gate has been broken multiple times, on two occasions the gate wouldn't open at all. When I first moved in things were different, but lately the unit has commonly had spills that are left for days. Additionally, this complex is overloaded with pets which contributes to a noisy and dirtier living environment.

3.) Visitor Parking and Access There are a total of 12 visitor parking spots and no additional options if the spaces are occupied. I was told in May, upon move in, that they were in the process of installing a call box at the parking gate, which would allow visitor access...as of January, this still has not happened.

4.) Packages Haynes House utilizes Parcel Pending for packages, therefore they are not personally received by the front office. To complicate it even further, the Front Office has no access to Parcel Pending. The system is great when it works, but I had a $100 package go missing and parcel pending shows a delivery date, they blame the front office and the front office blames parcel pending. The two sides don't communicate and Haynes House doesn't have access to the parcel boxes. It is a great system, until they boxes are filled (which happens often) and they are left on the floor of the package room with no monitoring by...