Capitol at Stonebriar — Local services in Frisco

Capital Stonebriar was at one time a borderline "luxury" property, but it's changed hands and the current Equity Lords have allowed it to decline precipitously.

Foremost, the on-site property managers are leveraged with other properties and it's a coin toss whether someone who can answer questions or make decisions is on site – not that the decisions made are of use or quality or to anyone's satisfaction other than the property holding company.

You can expect a great deal of dysfunction at the property.   For a Frisco property, it's astonishing how often both the parking lot gates are broken.   One wonders if the slow moving repair is meant to generate revenue with their towing partner.   The parking lot gates aren't the only access features to be regularly broken.    Doors with badge access are regularly broken either by tenants or non-tenants.   This breakage is intentional, not accidental.   The property is effectively wide open to the world 24 x 7.  Vehicle break-ins happen in the parking structure and the front office become apologists for the property holder, stating that access points and video monitoring aren't for security.   Gunfire and EMS responses to drug overdoes have been observed at this property from non-tenants.  Check the Frisco crime maps when you make a decision.   Another side effect of easy access due to poor gate maintenance is that outside parties regularly dump large items in the East dumpsters.

A second major dysfunction is the annual breaking and repair of the fire sprinkler systems.   Of late, they've gone to flushing out those fire suppression water lines before freezes.   This hasn't prevented apartment flooding once the freeze is over and the water turned back on.  Anticipate this, make sure you have a low deductible for your renter insurance if you like your possessions, because the property holder only pays for band-aids over and over and over.   Of note, the design of the East building, which seems like it was phoned-in and tacked-on after the completion of the West building, didn't account for Texas weather.   The open hallways create wind tunnels.   The door returns on all the fire doors have been broken for years.   How this property passes fire code inspections is a mystery.   Also of note, the freezes have killed many of the trees which rather than replace, the property holder has opted to pour over with concrete.

The money you spend here isn't spent on maintenance and upkeep.   Hallway cleaning has been abandoned.   You'll see solid and liquid pet waste regularly.   Yet, regardless of how good a tenant you are, your leases will increase without explanation.   They do not care to keep your custom.   Their go-to response to any negotiation is effectively "you'll stay because moving is such a pain."   The only money they've spent is to redo the leasing office entryway.   Their choice of black paint and neon was a downgrade to the previous design and more appropriate for a seedy bar.   Again, it makes one question the decision making of the property holder and front office staff.

This isn't the fault of the property, but the land holder to the North frequently plants and abandons their crop.   They will bring in tractors under the cover of night and plant or spray pesticide.   The farmer never irrigates because the crop is intended to generate a loss and the field is a fire hazard during drier seasons.

Also for your information,  consider your security deposit a fee.   You could hire a contractor to completely refurbish your apartment, do a walk-through with a property manager, and receive a glowing move-out report ... but you will never see your deposit again.  The irony is that they require near direct access to your bank and/or lines of credit, but their checks will get lost in the mail.  Or they'll lose your move-out report.   Or, or, or.

It was my experience to be pandered to and placated for reasonable needs, but little or no action taken on them.   More than once I was lied to with a bold face.   Take advantage of the resident portal to...

Definitely the worst apartment complex I have ever lived in, especially after the interaction I just had with the office over the many issues I've had since I moved in. Starting from the beginning, I happened to tour the apartments a week or so before the management was switched, after viewing several apartment complexes, this community and specifically the management seemed genuinely nice people. After touring several communities in the area, I settled on this one because of a few factors like open floor plan and gigabit fiber internet, etc. Little did I know that the management was in transition, when I contacted the community via email with some basic questions, I got zero response for weeks.

When I came in to talk about signing the lease, I was given higher rent rates and less of a bonus offer, I had this in writing but she claimed that it had been too long (I was trying to contact them but they had not responded.) She said they were cheaper than the previous management company, but this wasn't true. I also later discovered that they had a better bonus offer than what was given to me. This should have been enough of a red flag but this particular apartment checked off all the boxes that I was looking for, and in hindsight I believe I made the wrong choice, especially since it is the most expensive apartment that I looked at.

Ok, so I made my choice, and I had confidence that the management company would figure everything out and get things operating smoothly again by the time I moved in. I was so wrong about this, here comes moving day, more than a month later and it seems like nothing was on-boarded properly. I didn't have a mailbox key for weeks, they didn't put me into the package system (took over a week to find a package that went missing, nobody thought to look under the previous tenant's name). They have this virtual doorbell system called ButterflyMX, as of today (8 months later), I have yet to be put into this system despite sending multiple emails requesting it.

The apartment had been lived in before, and the previous tenant was definitely a smoker with kids. I could smell the smoke in the master bedroom/closet area, and the other room had stiff carpet (suggesting spills had occurred there and they didn't clean it well). The bathtub had scratches all over the bottom, probably from toys, and other small issues like the blinds being broken, etc. Months go by and the external doors were still not functioning and the closest elevator goes out for 2 months, this is a particular concern because I chose the apartment location due to it's proximity to the elevator.

The appliances are cheap and don't work well (mostly makes odd noises/louder than most that I've had before), but specifically the dryer wasn't working (still not working after requesting it be fixed multiple times), refrigerator doors and ice dispenser issues, the kitchen sink doesn't drain well (the maintenance told me that this was due to the small/cheap garbage disposal but they didn't fix it), flickering lights in the closets (they said it was fine, but it continued), shower door doesn't stay closed due to magnet falling out, ceiling fans wobble and make noise (only 2/3) which have a single incandescent bulb that doesn't produce enough light for the rooms (especially in the office where I need it, replacing these with smart LEDs had helped but still not sufficient.)

Fast forward to today, I had long given up and planned on moving out at the end of my lease term, but this week I discovered a leak during the most recent storm, my living room had a pool of water. I informed the office and reminded them of the numerous issues I was still having, she seemed unconcerned and didn't even put it into the system until I came back two days later to ask why no one came out or given a status. Her attitude was very poor, and in general, I know many of my neighbors feel the same way about the community as I do (we get to talk during the fire alarms).

If this is supposed to be a luxury community, it doesn't...

The apartment layout, amenities, location, and atmosphere are great. I loved living here in my first apartment before moving to a larger unit. Despite taking videos of my unit before leaving, I only received ~$130/500 of my deposit back for alleged paint issues.

Unfortunately, I've had several issues since moving to the larger unit. Work orders have been slower to address and sometimes not addressed at all. The windows and balcony door have poor insulation, especially during high winds when noise is very clear. Additionally, construction began next door Mon-Fri from 7a-6p. My request to fix the insulation was met with maintenance saying I hadn’t closed my window properly, despite the safety latch being on so I ended up buying temporary insulation and fixing it myself. I also borrowed a neighbor’s ladder to change my light bulbs…

Now, those issues are manageable. What’s not is that Frisco recently had a bad storm causing parts of my bedroom ceiling to pool rainwater to my light and drip. That made me realize the water stains throughout the rest of my apartment were covered up by paint and not properly fixed. When I called in to the emergency hotline at 6:30a that day, Tuesday, it forwarded to voicemail indicating someone will come at 9a, the time when the office opens. I went to the front desk at 9a and talked to Marci, the most apathetic person I’ve ever met. She said she can’t do anything despite this being a "VERY SIMPLE FIX". Clearly not since she mentioned this happening to several other units here. I asked for an estimate of when a roofer can come by and she says she doesn’t know since it will rain the next two days and that the maintenance person will be in touch. She doesn’t attempt to contact anyone or write down my problem to forward to her supervisor. To make it worse, I was clearly stressed out, worried about potential mold and rainwater was dripping from my light all while she's smirking as I explained the situation.

Eventually the maintenance person came and I showed him the issue. What's worse, I had submitted a maintenance request TWO months prior for them to check that specific water stain on my bedroom ceiling and he claimed it was due to the dryer vent heating up and causing condensation. He also mentioned no one had fixed the caulking, so water was penetrating inside the vent, yet the work order was marked as completed.

I returned to the office on Friday to ask for an update about my ceiling and if I could extend my 60-day notice from next Monday to when it’s fixed. Marci called the maintenance supervisor, who didn’t know when it would be fixed and said the notice couldn’t be extended. Frustrated, I asked to speak to Kim, the manager, who hadn’t heard of my situation. She reassured me she would contact the roofers, prioritize the repair, and provide updates. She extended my 60-day notice "until the issue is addressed on Monday or Tuesday of next week" despite it ending then anyways.

Kim later called that day to say the roofers would come next Monday/Tuesday. When I asked for clarification, she says the 60-day notice ends when the roofers check the roof, not when it’s fixed.

Almost two weeks later and no updates from Kim. Today marks the third week so I called in to the front office. Luckily Jalen answered the phone and reassured me that the roofers fixed the issue a few weeks (?) ago. I remember there being a ladder in the middle of the hall for a few days so that “checks out”. No paint job STILL but Jalen resubmits a request for that. I really appreciate how patient he was and how he actually called back with answers for the questions he didn’t know. Honestly, amongst all the leasing agents, Jalen’s by far the most competent and considerate. He definitely played a part in me resigning.

2 months later and the bedroom ceiling's finally repainted. Shoutout to the maintenance guy for being understanding. Unfortunately the living room and kitchen's another request that'll probably take another month. At least...