Mark at West Midtown — Local services in Atlanta

Living in this place seemed convenient, until it wasn't. A month into moving, I was appalled to endure criminal incidents (2 deaths by shooting in open spaces). Add next; a swarm of pool parties attracting guests (100?) ghetto "P Diddy" creme de la creme types you see on tv. Right under your eyes. Complains after complaints caused residents to initiate talks, sharing their panic with mgt; I began searching for a better living situation from the onset.

I waited for a prompt completion of the lease, wishing for peace of mind for the next 11 months. The property being featured in the ATL evening news (!!) was a sufficient trigger for the business to invest in security personnel a month or two later. I would say, a guard is present on most nights. Do I feel better about a fully masked person standing with a rifle in my living environment? Not at all.

The system to maintain the building's upkeep is unclear but I guess - it suits the milenials who mostly reside at this complex. Trash in the stairways & parking garage has been a constant experience of mine, as neighbors leaving overflowing trash bins in hallways. Addressing the issue by emails, photos or in person never changed the status quo. They say "they'd fine the resident." But imposing their rules didn't help. Trash I saw daily near my unit got resolved when that problematic neighbor left. If a comfortable, professional space is what you are seeking, skip this facility.

My unit had only five (5) minutes of hot water running. I addressed mgt on multiple occasions. Building maintenance responded: "your water tank is this big" (mimicking the size of a small-size bucket with his hands). Ok... I guess... fix it? For the length of the lease never have I enjoyed a bath in my unit on building 2 facing the pool.

Soon after, unprofessional, rude, loud, low lives neighbors, screaming at 2:30am (domestic violence?) in the unit above mine, moved in. At times a dog showed up (when I explained, mgt stated my upstairs neighbors didn't have pets on their lease) however, reality had a dog barking for HOURS ( ? neglected) another impossible issue to resolve.. I provided video recording as requested, and during personal visits to Damon's office and discussions with his colleagues they asked me to call security guard on call after hours, when noises occur.(??) ( I, the resident, asked for help; To my view, management was NOT proactive and left me to deal.)

One recent Sunday late night, with little patience left in me for the poor pet that has been barking for 3 hours straight, I left a detailed message in the after-business hours vm. A few moments later a "dude" with no proper identification showed up at my door. It was late. Man: "open, I can't hear you" (I really didn't have anything to add to my message.What did he need to see me for?) I learned he was a new security guard trying to find the source of the noise). Needless to say I didn't open the door to a stranger; I was already wearing my sleep wear. Unprofessional? Inconsiderate? I received a quick Monday morning note from community mgt. The email said, issue wasn't resolved.. as "I wasn't available." In psychology we call this manipulation, distorted reality.

Pool? hang with hookah smokers and liquor drinking folks.

For short persons like I am, the property internal design is inconvenient. The too high cabinets are hard to reach, the bathtub is extremely tall to get into; Valet trash? Rarely does it get picked up. Yet, $25 valet fee is religiously incurred. A plus there are the modern appliances of good quality; all complex units are a smart house.

Following a year of stress, unpleasant, vulgar neighbors and trashy surroundings, I finally slept an entire night in my new place with ZERO interruptions. Lastly, residents are incurred $10 extra, monthly. Why? Mgt has to secure residents will pay the rent (can't be blamed for worrying). In addition to renters insurance, each resident must sign up to "Jetty." Positive reviews below share tour experiences. I had a lovely tour experience once upon a...

Two weeks since the updated post below and the fitness room is still 83 degrees. No improvement in cleanliness either. In addition to trash, there was even broken down furniture left in a parking spot for days. I’ve contacted three levels of management.

Update (one year later): Poorly maintained and dirty. I've been reporting issues with the fitness center AC for weeks and the "attempts" to fix were almost non existent, and even though I made it clear it wasn't just a thermostat issue, replacing the thermostat was their latest action. It was hotter today than ever. I've also had to report multiple machines not working properly (not a surplus of them) and empty wipes (and now installed so that you can't get to them?). That's just the fitness room. The halls are still incredibly dirty. They rarely even blow them off with a leaf blower, much less actually clean them. The upstairs common areas on a Saturday and Sunday are often full of trash and the same for the parking deck. Those might be partly due to residents, but if the complex keeps them open 24/7, then they should maintain them. I take my shoes off when I walk into my apt, so I've gotten beyond the dirty halls, etc., but I pay for the fitness amenities and expect them to be usable. I could go on, but you the point. Unfortunately, I took the lazy route and didn't want to move twice while searching for a house (regret).

Previous: This is a lengthy review, but I hope it will help others make an informed decision. I wish I had this information before I moved here. It’s important to note that the apartments were sold to a different management company and renamed about three weeks ago (after I had already decided to move here). Here is the list of issues since I moved in just a few days ago:

AC doesn’t work. I reported it to the leasing office around 3:00pm (Saturday) on the day of my move and they said it would be taken care of, but no one showed up. I called and left MANY messages for “urgent maintenance”, regular maintenance, the general number and emailed the leasing agent. I didn’t get a response from anyone and ended up sleeping in an 80 degree apartment. The next morning, I again called all numbers and emailed. 30 minutes later, I got a call from maintenance who said they would be there soon…they arrived ~2.5 hours later. They checked the unit, said they didn’t have the parts and “their” vendor was closed. I demanded they call a different company (many in Atlanta) and they refused. Maintenance said the manager was aware but he also refused to call me. Maintenance then brought a portable window unit and offered no other options. I’m my apartment two full days later still with this portable unit that can only cool the living room area to 77 degrees and cools NO other area of the apartment, so still trying to unpack and sleep in a near 80 degree apartment (I tried the unit in the bedroom the first night, but it was very loud, vibrates the floor, and cuts on an off, which woke me up repeatedly). It also tripped the breaker in the middle of the day and the lights dim when it turns on and off, so I don’t even know if it’s meant to be plugged into a standard outlet. They didn’t leave the manual, so I can’t confirm, but either it’s not meant for standard or there is another issue with the electrical. The elevator closest to my unit wasn’t working on move-in day, so we had to use an alternate elevator on the opposite side of the building. That increased moving time increased my cost and I was exhausted. By the way, the same elevator wasn’t working the day before when I came for the walkthrough and they assured it would be fixed before I was scheduled to move (clearly not). The hallways are covered in dirt and dust (floors, doors, everything). . There was black gunk (tar-like) markings all over the interior...

I love my actual apartment, and I would love to give this five stars. The finishes are great, it’s quiet (although I can hear my neighbor above me walking around, this is still an improvement over an apartment I used to live in). However, the service and response to issues has been absolutely horrendous. My refrigerator has not worked properly for the past month, I have put in two work requests and talked to people in the office 5 times, no one has fixed it. They give excuses that they only have one maintenance person, they tried to get into my apartment but couldn’t unlock the door (what??), or just don’t respond to the email and voicemails I leave.

The other issue is trash. We have valet trash service and there have been several weeks that so much trash has piled up outside it attracts flies and animals. Once they finally get to compacting it (after multiple days), there’s trash “juices” left all over the drive and brick wall that leaves a constant rotten smell for the apartment residents living near the dumpster.

We have had several break-ins since I moved in, and the complex has stated they now have 24-hour security, but haven’t seen signs of them. Hoping it’s true.

The service response quite frankly is terrible once you move in. Jamison, the leasing consultant was great while going through the application process and setting up the rent, but once you’ve moved in, it’s like the people running the office don’t care what happens.

I’ve tried reaching out to the regional manager as well, but have not received a response. Really disappointed in their customer service. I pay way too much money to not have issues addressed in a reasonable amount of time.

Update: 8-1-2019: I had to remove another star from my review.

Trash is frequently not picked up. We pay a valet trash fee monthly, yet our trash gets picked up maybe 50% of the time. I have set it out the past three nights and it hasn't been touched.

People treat the stairwells, public corridors and garage as their personal dumpster. There have been stabbings and shootings since my last review. If you ask what happened, they won't tell you, but just send a very vague email stating "they are aware of some criminal activity." People freely let others into the complex, after management has repeatedly asked not to let people in.

The elevators have broken numerous times lately. At one point, 2 of the 3 elevators weren't working for a week. They got them fixed, and now another one isn't working.

They did add additional security fencing to the courtyard; however, we're either locked in and can't get out, or the fence is left unlocked. Really kind of pointless in my mind. The smart thing to do would have been to add badge access to the gates, so residents could still enter and exit.

The final straw for me, though, was the reminder I received in my email about rent being due this morning. Literally the day rent is due; yet they know there is an issue with the services we pay for, and I called and left a voicemail this morning requesting a call back - which hasn't happened.

It's unfortunate a complex has to receive such bad reviews due to the lack of quality residents tarnishing its reputation, but at some point, you have to start being a bit more selective with the caliber of residents or you won't keep the good ones who keep their apartments clean, respect common space and pay their rent on time.

My lease is up in October, and I will not be renewing. I really had hoped things would improve, so I wouldn't have to move,...