The Melrose Apartments — Local services in Berry Hill

BE WARY of all the five star reviews that say basically the exact same thing. The Melrose contracts with Vivint each year and hosts a large group of their employees, who turn the apartment complex into a frat house for several months. Each person leaving a recent glowing review also has glowing reviews for vivint in their history; clearly they have been incentivized to leave positive reviews.

I have lived here for nearly three years and it is progressively and rapidly getting worse. These five star reviews are incredibly suspicious.

I would give this place zero stars if I could. If you’re looking for somewhere safe and well-maintained/value communicative and competent apartment managers, The Melrose is not the place for you.

SAFETY- I’ve lived here for nearly three years and the entrance gates (which are opened with a fob) have been stuck wide open for most of the time I’ve lived here. It’s always a surprise on the rare occasion they’re actually closed. In January 2025, most of the cars in the parking lot had their windows broken out overnight. The gate was broken at the time and remained broken for weeks after. It was fixed and immediately broke again. There have been several incidents of car break ins since I’ve lived here, and nothing has been done to improve security. The gates are currently broken/open, doors to buildings are left propped open, and the elevators work without a fob. Anyone can access the buildings at any time.

Half of my deliveries are left on the ground somewhere or left in the huge mess of a package room and promptly get stolen. I recently had a $200 package get stolen 10 minutes after delivery. I contacted management to ask if there are security cameras/if they can send out an email to see if someone picked it up by mistake. They never responded.

FLOODING! It lightly rained recently and I came home to water in my living room, and a saturated rug and couch. The wall is soft and crumbly, baseboards are coming off, and there is mold growing. I had an inspection over a week ago, at which time I showed them the issue and they took pics. No one has been in touch since, nor have they come to assess the damage. It is supposed to storm this weekend and I anticipate further damage to my belongings and the walls.

My kitchen sink has had nearly no pressure for over a week as well. It was brought to their attention at the same time as the other issue. No one has come out or been in touch. I am filling a tea kettle in the BATH TUB to do my dishes.

Management is a joke. I believe there is a new manager (Jonita?), who I spoke with today regarding the issues above. She was rude, dismissive, spoke over me, and wouldn’t let me talk. When she allowed me to ask a question, I was told that they didn’t come out for my water pressure because it was a metro-wide issue last week and was resolved. I reported this problem during my inspection which was before the widespread water issue, and it has been ongoing. They just assumed it was fixed without checking.

I asked what I can do to mitigate water damage to my apartment and belongings when it storms this weekend. She said it shouldn’t be happening since the gutters in the courtyard were redone a few months ago. The water damage I showed during my inspection was very recent, and more water entered my apartment this weekend. I asked again what I can do to protect my belongings and she said she will “have to see it with her own eyes” first. I have sent multiple pics of the damage and where the water is entering my apartment.

I know that many other tenants have issues with flooding, mold, and termites and have fought for months for a resolution.

The buildings themselves are gross. Trash/beer cans/etc are left on the floors of the hallways. There is no security, and the leasing office is staffed by people that truly don’t care.

The only thing I like about the Melrose is the pool. That alone is not worth paying $1650 to live in a moldy, disgusting apartment. The maintenance guy is super cool, responsive, and knowledgeable too. I truly...

Living at The Melrose has been deeply disappointing, and I feel compelled to share my experience to help others make an informed decision. While the property is conveniently located & more budget-friendly, its management and safety concerns leave much to be desired.

One of my primary concerns has been the lack of consistent security. The complex has multiple gates intended to limit car traffic and ensure only residents have access, but in my seven months here, I have yet to see all three gates functioning properly at the same time.

In particular, Building 8—on 8th Avenue South near Regions Bank and the Vanderbilt Clinic—has been a constant source of stress. Two doors on the first floor that lead to key areas like the gym, mailroom, and elevators remained broken for 3-4 months. Despite my repeated requests to the leasing office and property management group (Cottonwood), it took months and escalating the issue to the property manager for both doors to finally be fixed.

The pet park is poorly maintained, with mud, and patchy grass will leave your furry friend dirty and honestly, just isn't worth the struggle of cleaning them up. There is a pretty nice pet spa in building 8 which I have heard positive feedback on. Mainly there are wood chips, and rocks on the property that are replacing what should be grassy, pet-friendly areas. Pet waste is often left unaddressed, making the property unappealing for pet owners. While I don’t own a pet, the lack of upkeep is concerning.

The area surrounding The Melrose adds to the discomfort. While the property can’t control its location, the high foot traffic from the adjacent McDonald’s, bus stop, and other businesses has led to incidents of non-residents lingering or even sleeping in the parking garage. There have been gun-related issues at the Melrose Billard as I was eating dinner outside. Although I’ve personally contacted emergency services to assist individuals on site in need, it’s troubling that the property management group personally told me that they were aware and described one of the individuals as "aggressive" but has not taken sufficient action to prevent repetitive lingering people on the property.

The leasing office’s communication and responsiveness have been underwhelming. The self-guided tours seem to reflect their lack of interest in providing a welcoming experience for prospective residents. Additionally, I struggled to feel heard when raising my concerns, often needing to follow up multiple times over the course of several months or escalate issues to see progress.

There was a fire alarm related incident where residents were left outside in cold temperatures for nearly 4 hours as the emergency phone number was not being answered. A resident had the personal phone number of the property manager, Mindy, and the residents finally received some support. It is troubling to know that if there is actually an emergency, it will be challenging to receive support from the complex in a timely manner. Residents left, slept in their cars, or faced the blaring alarms until they could be turned off in the early morning hours.

While I appreciate the efforts to eventually resolve some of the concerns, it shouldn’t take months of persistence—or emotional unrest—to address basic safety and maintenance issues. I cannot recommend The Melrose and will not be renewing my lease.

If you’re considering living here, I encourage you to weigh your options carefully. There are better-managed properties that prioritize safety, cleanliness, and their residents' peace of mind.

It's worth mentioning that there are leasing agent groups on social media where members reportedly use burner accounts to post overly positive reviews to counteract negative feedback about their properties. If you notice a sudden influx of glowing reviews after this one, take them with a grain of salt—they might be more about damage control than genuine resident...

A lot of promises and few deliveries.

Back in June, I moved into their third building with the promise of great amenties and a secure apartment, but what came after that was headaches and frat parties. At first, we were charged for our first-month rent even though we were not supposed to be charged for the first month, which began my almost weekly trips to the leasing office for issues. (Before going further, the leasing staff is excellent and friendly, which prevents this from being a 1-star review. They fielded all of my inquiries with grace if not resolutions.) While they are friendly, like mentioned before, nothing is ever resolved. Additionally, it took over two months to get a second key fob for the amenities and my mail, so I had to split the usage of our one fob with my roommate. Now for the amenties, and why I am writing this, nothing is maintained or enforced. The pool is great when there isn’t a mass of Chads who don’t live in the building are swimming and spilling drinks into it. The pool is suppose to require wristbands and not allow alcoholic beverages, but here I am watching people play beer pong in the middle of the pool and littering everywhere.

Speaking of littering, ever wake up to go work in the morning and find a mattress on your door? I hadn’t until I moved here. How about two whole pizzas laying in the hallway, random water cooler, or just plain trash? This happens almost every other week, and it may be due to the fact that are building can be entered by anyone. Since I have moved in there as been no gate on the garage, which is instantly filled by non-residents every Friday and Saturday night or Sunday morning because of people heading to the Sutler for drinks or brunch. None of the building’s electronic locks work, so just anyone can head right into the building as it is consequently open to the public. Additionally, for a long while the trash shoot was unusable due to recycling being stacked to the ceiling.

In short; The Melrose would be amazing if they were able to enforce the rules already in place, even and especially on holidays. I know other buildings do this. Second and most essentially, please make the building and parking secure. I am tired of seeing strangers in the building and watching them leave trash behind or park in resident spaces.

On a last, last note: our apartment was not cleaned before we moved in as promised, and there was mounds of drywall in our sliding door which made it not close all the way. (We had to clean it out ourselves.) There are many promises but very slow (or none at all) follow-through at the Melrose.

Update (9/3/18 5:00 PM CT): Not joking here, but right after writing this review my key fob stopped working, so tomorrow morning I’ll need to get it replaced down at the office.

Update 2 (9/4/18 1:30 PM CT): Elevator is down again in our new building. Additionally, the pool was closed today because of glass and beer caps left in the pool and pool area. Last note; woke up at 1:00 AM CT to screaming & banging in the hallway due to our neighbors getting into a fight. What ever was going on was intense because they were throwing stuff out of their balcony door. What a time...