Alsander GNV — Local services in Gainesville

The developer of this property was very unprepared and unorganized. The move-in date was delayed by two weeks. After two extra weeks, you would think the property would be cleaned and fully prepared for move-in. My brother moved-in a week after the delayed move-in date and the property still looks like it was under construction. The hallways were filthy and full of drywall dust, which should have been cleaned well before the move-in date. The first thing I saw in the hallway walking to the apartment was a live roach crawling around. My brother is in a four-bedroom apartment, when we walked in, his bedroom door was wide open. You would think it would be shut, locked, and sanitized with this whole COVID-19 mess.

The condition of his room was not what I expected. There were a couple of nails and miscellaneous items in the room that the construction crew had left behind. The closet carpet was not tacked down. Furthermore, there was only one shelve in the closet and it was at waist height, which made it useless. When asked about it with management, they stated that the other shelve had to be taken down due to fire hazard in relation to the closet light. They stated that the other shelve will be put back in once they figure out how to do it in manner that would not violate code. You would think this sort of stuff should have been sorted out when this whole complex was designed and during construction. In the bathroom, when I turned on the light I was searching for another light switch because it was so dimmed. There wasn't even a light over the shower. In the renderings, it showed a well-lit bathroom with a light over the shower. Unfortunately, that was not reflected in the final product. The light was basically a night light for the bathroom. I inquire management about this and they told me that they had numerous complaints about it and so was trying to figure what to do about it. Another element in the bathroom that I found to be rather unthoughtful and says a lot about whoever designed the bathroom was the placement of the towel bar. The bar was hung about a foot above the toilet, which made it utterly useless because you can't hang a towel to dry if its touching the toilet. What made it worse was that there was plenty of wall space on the opposite wall to hang the towel bar. When asked about this to management, they stated there was nothing they could do because that was the intended design. They also stated that we could put in our own towel bar if we wanted to. Whoever designed the bathroom did not correctly utilize the space they had. Not only was the towel bar hung in the most inconvenient place, it wasn't even level, that shows a lot about the attention to detail and quality of construction by the builder, or lack thereof. Back in the bedroom, the placement of the Ethernet port was poorly thought out as well. It was no where near where the desk was located. Furthermore, it wasn't even working. When it comes to storage in the bathroom and bedroom, it was inadequate. They could have added shelves above the toilet, like in the renderings, to provide more storage but they didn't. In the bedroom, there was two dresser, which provided a total of only four small drawers. There was no storage in the desk or bed. They could have a least had desks with drawers in it. You might as well bring your own furniture to provide storage if you are planning on bringing a lot of stuff.

Overall, the apartment complex was not what I expected. The developers did not allocate extra time for unexpected problems. As a result, the move-in date was delayed. Even so, the building was not fully complete on the delayed move-in date. The renderings of the apartment complex was not fully reflected in the final product. You can see where the developers decided to be cheap in the building of the complex. For example, the renderings of the building around the pool area shows the building painted orange and blue. However, the final product is all plain-looking with one color. Who knows, maybe it is not done yet and they will...

I would strongly advise any prospective residents against living here. Most of the positive reviews are due to management incentivizing good reviews for prizes.

My roommates and I have had serious issues with the management for over a year now. When re-signing last year the property manager, Nicole, lied to our faces about what the market rate was and told us that ours was more expensive than what our roomate was offered because we filled out the renewal form a few hours after she did. However, a newer member of the staff provided us with a rate sheet that stated the market price (and price being advertised to new residents signing at the exact same time) was below what we, as 3rd year residents, were being offered. We were then able to get the 'lower' price, which is still much more expensive than our roommate's rate and what we were paying last year, and were told that if we didn't sign by 5pm that day that our rate would increase even more. Nicole in particular is extremely unprofessional, nasty, and condescending, but we have also experienced other staff members being rude.

Parking is a whole other issue, with the prices going up $60 in one year (despite almost the entire 1st floor being reserved for staff and certain residents.) As other reviews have stated, the management does not honor previous correspondence, and we had to fight tooth and nail for weeks to receive the rate of $65 that we had filled out a form agreeing to. The office finally told us that they would give us $65 (and had to sign by 5pm that day to get it) but there was "nothing they could do" to provide us with a lower rate even though we have lived here for years. They then offered parking at a much lower rate to new residents only months later.

The amenities are filthy most of the time and wipes aren't provided in the gym to wipe down equipment. The side doors have been broken since I have lived here (over 2 years), and when management is asked about it they provide the same response about the parts being ordered. Residents on the side of the building have to walk all the way around to enter their apartment so many prop open the doors to avoid this inconvenience. Instead of addressing the concerns of the residents, management chooses to send a rude email chastising their grown adult residents.

We have also known residents who have had BLACK MOLD in their apartment, and the management tried to blame them for the issue and force them to sign an agreement to pay for the damages. Maintenance has even told us that this apartment is built very poorly so the lack of AC and the water leaks in certain rooms are inevitable. The operations of this apartment are extremely suspicious, with management telling people that they will be overcharged for parking/rent but will be reimbursed with gift cards through a third party website.

When other residents have taken to the Instagram account of Aslander (Liv+) to express their concerns, their comments are deleted and never given any response. My roommates and I have been trying to contact corporate for a year now to no avail; the number listed on the management company (Peakmade) website takes you to an automated voicemail every single time and doesn't ever get...

(As others have mentioned, many of the 5 star reviews can be attributed to the fact that Alsander will provide incentives for residents who give 5 star reviews)

Gainesville student housing is infamously known to be extremely predatory towards students, as they are well aware that they are dealing with people living on their own for the first time and use that to their advantage.

Alsander is probably the worst of the worst though. When I first signed in 2023, it was called Liv+, they quickly rebranded to Alsander to distance themselves from the horrible reviews, but with no actual effort to correct their shortcomings.

Here are some amazing things you can experience at this wonderful complex:

The trash chute being overfilled and thus, people piling their trash bags within the trash rooms, every week.

There used to be a trash can on every floor of the parking garage, which would also become overfilled. Instead of taking out the trash more frequently, they chose to remove all trash cans in the garage. The garage parking for a car is $100 mind you.

I had an issue for the entire year with my upstairs neighbor stomping around past midnight, every night. Alsander informed me to contact the security company they hired, who did nothing and the problem persisted. I talked with the front office at least 4x regarding the same issue, and their last recommendation was to email the leasing agent, who proceeded to never respond to my email.

Alsander flaunts their amenities, unfortunately, close to none of them work properly and/or are not taken care of at all

You need a physical parking pass from the front office for any guests, so good luck if you realize you want to have friends over and it's past 6pm (they used to close at 7pm also). Also, near the end of my lease, I was informed that people are only allowed ONE parking pass per day, regardless of how many people are in the unit.

You can almost guarantee that one elevator, be it one of the two in the lobby or the elevator in the parking garage is out of service, at any time. I remember seeing someone uses crutches have to go down the staircase.

They will do everything in their power to not give you your security deposit back, no matter how clean and tidy you left your apartment at move out

There is so much more nonsense this apartment complex has done over the two years I lived there. I will say, most of the college students who are in the leasing office are kind, but they lack any real power other than writing a parking pass and doing apartment tours.

Do yourself a favor and look for somewhere else to live, unless you enjoy horrible management and...