Union Chapel Hill — Local services in Chapel Hill

Don’t believe any of the good reviews as the union participates in a reward system for the residents exchanging a 5 star review for gift cards. This apartment complex is just terrible. Firstly, it’s terribly built with the wall paint peeling and everything breaking. In the year I’ve lived here our dishwasher has broken 3 times, our washer 2 times, our sink 1 time and on top of this my roommates and I have all had individual issues with our rooms. This however is not even the worst part. The worst part of living here is how incredibly invasive the maintenance system is run. The union has a team of maintenance that can be called when something is broken to fix it, which is very nice and handy, however most of the time they come into our apartment we have not put in a fix request and have had no warning. For example my apartment is at the very end of the hall and we have a extra door inside to some equipment thing or elevator access (I’m not completely sure) but one time I had just gotten out of the shower and had a towel wrapped around me, and of course because we were given no warning and I was not expecting 2 random men to come into my apartment, I went into the hallway to change my laundry. As I was doing this, I heard a loud knock and then without having anytime to respond, 2 maintenance men unlocked our door and entered. It was an EXTREME violation of privacy that is completely unacceptable. A similar situation happened again just a few days ago when the apartment apparently needed to preform inspections on all the fire sprinklers. This would not have been an issue however, we received no email of this or warning before 2 maintenance men entered apartment demanding to check the sprinklers in the common spaces and each of mine and my roommates closets, bathrooms and rooms. I had just gotten out of the shower and was getting dressed for work and all of a sudden I hear “MAINTENANCE” and they pounded on my bedroom door so hard I thought it was going to break and said they needed to come in and check the sprinklers in my room. I then replied “im getting changed for work, can you come back?” and they said “no we can’t we have to do it now” DEMANDING to check them right now and So I then told them they couldn’t come in today and they would have to come back. They were extremely rude about it and as they walked away I heard them say “I thought they sent a f@$king email. Idk why the f$&k people are like this.” This was really frustrating and angering as we had not received any email about it and it was really scary to have 2 men knocking on my bedroom door demanding to come in. So I emailed the union about it and they sent an email out 2 hours later but it was completely unacceptable to have this experience in the first place and makes me wonder how many times random people have been allowed access to my apartment and personal room in the first place…. Huge...

Here are my thoughts about Union. I will list pros and cons so you can make an informed decision that is right for you.

Cons: The biggest turn off would be the rent. About $1,000 per person for a 4b4b. Few utilities are covered in rent so also consider that. There are fees for small things (ex: $5 parcel service, $50 getting your keys to move in, $7 convenience fee if you pay your rent with a card). $350 application fee (I don’t think you get any of that back? Idk) I mean the fees do add up. It is expensive to live here. The walls are kind of thin if you live in a 4b4b TH fyi but it isn’t that bad where I live. Oh also the parking garage feels quite dangerous as people drive way too fast around the corners.

Pros: AMAZING amenities. This is why I moved here. I toured the place and fell in love. Union has an awesome gym, yoga room, peloton machines and a climbing machine, sauna, big pool, LOTS of study spaces (study space in the main entrance area as well as private study rooms in the residence hall areas. Study space was super important to me) They also have an espresso machine that’s free to use, a couple of arcade games, bocce ball, and a shuttle bus. I really liked how Union centered their apartment complex around resident wellness from a holistic approach. You can make your body healthy in a gym area that feels safe, private, and nice. Academic wellness is encouraged by all of the study spaces and they are very quiet and easy to focus in (plus if you get sleepy you can make an americano anytime !) and the Union staff constantly has resident events that make me feel comforted and like I’m being looked out for (similar to RA events at a dorm). I just feel so comfortable and at ease here.

Conclusion: In a pandemic, Union is the perfect ecosystem (for me). All of my needs are being met here. I actually love to come home to for once. And since I’m having virtual classes right now, I don’t have to leave Union since everything I need is right here. I lived in a different apartment in the past that cost nearly the same price (our neighbor cough cough) but the lack of amenities made if not worth it to me and I hated my bedroom there. I love my room at Union and the quality of the building is so much nicer than where I previously lived. It’s true that the rent is very high, but you have to weigh the costs/benefits. For me, it was worth it because Union has the things I value. And I’m enjoying living here. And I’m only paying $100 more per month than I was before. I think the increase in quality of life that Union gave me was more than that, so it was a good decision for me 😊

Tbh I don’t know why there are so many super negative reviews. I hope my review can help you make a decision that...

Oh, Union where do I begin? I recommend that all prospective renters read through this entire post. Union Chapel Hill is one of the cheapest-built apartments I have ever seen. It is the perfect model for corporate goal-oriented student housing, typical of a company like Greystar. It goes beyond typical corporate greed, even in student housing. The apartments are built in the cheapest imaginable way. You can see the studs on every single wall. The appliances are extremely cheap, requiring maintenance to be called frequently. The walls are extremely thin; you will be able to hear conversations from any room in your apartment, as well as virtually any noise from surrounding apartments. The cheap furniture is constantly falling apart from everyday use. The best way to envision Union is like ordering something off Wish or another Chinese wholesale website, looks good in the picture but is built in the cheapest way possible with every corner cut. Moving to apartment safety. Union has very few cameras and the doors with access control frequently do not close. Union has a history of car break-ins and has since hired someone to watch the parking lots, however, the break-ins continued after this. Additionally, the parking deck does not have cameras, and college drivers are notoriously prone to hitting parked cars. If your car is hit, you will receive no help from Union because they do not have cameras. If your car is broken into, you are also out of luck. Moving to the package center. I would not order anything very important to Union. Oftentimes, packages are not placed in a secure place, rather they are thrown on the ground near the package center, which is outside and does not have protected access. The pros of Union are the bus, study lounge, and pool. They are cool, but not worth $1400 especially when people from other apartment complexes use all of these for free and nothing is done. I would love to believe that Union has the potential to be a better apartment complex, but the only way that is if the price is considerably decreased. For context, many houses within similar distances are around $1000-$1400 a person, and Union is now pushing $1500 a person. Also, expect price increases every year at Union. It is very promising to see that students are finally catching on, and Union is being forced to do all of the promotions to lower rent. For the underpaid college students who work at Union/Greystar, this post is not directed at you. However, I would consider reflecting on your oppinions towards Greystar. Feel free to reply with any questions, I would love...