Gables Park 17 - Dallas — Local services in Dallas

I’ve waited for about eight months to review this place since my husband and I moved out last summer. I wanted to have perspective on the experience before I had to say anything publicly.

We were delighted with the on-site staff and the nice things they did and said for us. We lived in one of the penthouse apartments, and so our square footage was good and our balcony view of Dallas was beautiful.

However, the apartment complex is deteriorating and is probably not worth the pricing that is being requested. We have found much nicer places to rent since, and have in fact been living in one of those with better satisfaction this year. The truth is, they never could keep the elevators working, not for 15 months. In a high-rise, this creates many delays for getting to and from your apartment, especially if you’re on the top floor! Everyone was extremely inconvenienced, though, and blame was always placed on the elevator company.

However, we spoke with many members of the elevator company team, who stated that the lack of air conditioning in the shafts actually destroyed elevator components, and that the facility would never be able to have functioning elevators for any length of time without changing our HVAC system. HVAC systems were being installed on the roof as we left the apartments, via helicopter! Very exciting, but it took them forever to try to hook them up. Even after they said they did so, the halls were still not adequately ventilated or cooled in the summer, and we can honestly say that it was like having outdoors in the halls around the apartments. This also increased our electric usage because we did not have proper insulation from the halls! After the HVAC was replaced, we were not there for the next winter, but prior to that the halls were extremely cold, same results.

Finally, our neighbors. There were many nice people that lived in the building, but we regularly had to fight multiple apartments and tenants on our floor, even on the penthouse floor, that smoked weed, which stunk up the halls. With the heat, it was even more unbearable. When we complained to management , they did not control the situation. It repeatedly happened, and we began not even making complaints because they had never done any good on the multiple times we had said something. I’m just not sure that they were keeping a handle on the rules, and even though the building is supposedly LEED certified and non-smoking, this was not enforced as far as I could tell anywhere.

The entire complex needs updating on finishes. They are dated, but you’ll see this when you tour. That does not mean they do not work, but they are very old. The floors especially were in bad shape, and while they put multiple layers of wax (on laminate floors!), trying to cover that up, we discovered what we lived there that they had really only done patchwork and that the floors were not in good shape.

Finally, the amenities were only partially open and functional during our visit there. Things would go up and down regularly, including the pool, and we were frustrated, even though the amenity spaces were quite pretty.

Would I recommend living here? I think the elevators were the biggest reason we decided we would move. It just was too much time effort and energy every day to fight this issue all the time. We would not return to this apartment complex, I think that Gables is really not investing in at the way they need to to keep it in shape. It’s sad, because the people who work there are truly very nice and do the very best they can with the limited resources their corporate governance provides. By the way, management keeps flipping there, I think that they get frustrated themselves.

There are many new apartments going up around Gables Park 17, and I’m hoping they will be in much better shape because living around Klyde Warren is actually a great location. If you read this far, you must be really interested in the apartment, best of luck to you and thanks again to the team on site who were so friendly at...

I lived at Gables Park 17 for two years (I signed three leases with them). At first, I really liked living there, but the more time that went by the more problems I noticed that became nonnegotiables for me and led to my moving out.

First, the block that the apartment building is on has NO grass. Instead, they have dirt and rocks surrounding the building which my dogs hated and made their paws dirty all the time. They do have a dog park in the resident parking garage, but it is disgusting and smells horrible.

The building has 4 elevators and a total of 28 floors including the parking levels. During my two years living there it was rare to have all 4 elevators working. Usually at least one or two would be out. During my last summer there, we were down to one elevator AND the AC was out in the lobby and elevator. In the mornings and evenings it would take ~ 20 minutes for the elevator to come when called. It was miserable. This was the case for 2 months and there was seemingly no urgency from Gables to get them fixed.

For the amenities, I really liked the pool, the concierge, and the artwork was unique. During the summer months, the pool never had enough chairs even though they have plenty of room to add more. The gym is slightly above average for an apartment gym, but the equipment is really old and the cables feel like they’ve never been greased. The apartments are also very outdated (they are 16+ years old) and are due for renovations, which they told me were happening soon the entire time I lived there. The maintenance staff is amazing and quick to help when you need it.

One of the biggest turn offs in my time living there was about a year and a half in when the leasing office decided to stop providing paper for the printer on the amenity level, as I work from home. One day I went downstairs to print something to find that there was no paper in the printer, and instead there was a sign in front of it saying BYOP (bring your own paper) which I think is just so tacky for an apartment complex that calls itself luxury, and has a concierge and penthouse floor.

When I moved out, it was after hours so I left my keys with the Concierge. I received my security deposit about a month later to find that they charged me $50 for a parking decal. I called the leasing office who said they couldn’t help me because I’m no longer a resident there and they directed me to Gables customer care team who refused to help reverse the charge. What’s so frustrating about this is that decal ripped when I tried to transfer it from my last car to my current car, and they aren’t even transferable from resident to resident so they wouldn’t even be able to give it to the next person who moved into my apartment even if I had turned it in. After calling Gables Park 17 my home for two years, it’s disappointing that this is the way you’re treated when you’re no longer a...

Being in this area…I feel safe. Generally, downtown Dallas is safer than most downtowns. But, this area feels much safer and has less activity. Not only is the Park 17 building very nice looking, but so are most of the surrounding buildings. It is a clean area to be in as well.

The style of the Gables Park 17 apartments is modern but sensible. There are some very attractive kitchens, living rooms and bath areas, complete with beautiful floors, sparkling appliances and other innovative features. They really get the modern feel right, but without going overboard or being “too” artistic. The apartment is very inviting and comfortable feeling. Perfect place for having a small party to impress.

I found the Gables Park 17 apartment had these Strengths: • Gorgeous Kitchens – The kitchen just didn’t have any weak spots. Pretty green subway backsplash tile. Plenty of cabinet space…PLENTY! Even glass front cabinets. Sooo nice! • Granite Countertops – They were thick and beautiful. • Hardwood Floors – Not only are they pretty, but they were the GROOVED kind. Not hand scraped, but close. (I wish the floors were a little lighter, because it would make things look bigger and more inviting.) • Patios/Balconies INCLUDED – And that is a big deal, because you have some fantastic views here. • PLENTY OF GLASS – All glass walls that look over Downtown and Uptown Dallas brighten up the apartment big time! • Newer appliances – Stainless steel appliances, and higher tier brands as well. They didn’t cut corners on this one. • Nice size Closets – These closets are large, love them! • Programmable Thermostat – This is a BIG deal! If you travel a lot or don’t work out of your apartment, would it be nice to have your thermostat adjust to make your utilities cheaper while you are gone? Only a few places in Uptown have this great feature, and Park 17 is one of the few. • Washer/dryer INCLUDED – very nice.

AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT: • No walk in showers – Not many people I know use a tub much. Instead, we love the walk in shower. The Gables Park 17 had the standard tub/shower combo, however. • No Gas – Really would like to have seen gas ovens here. Not that the oven was bad, it was nice. But, just not gas.

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