Eighteen25 Downtown — Local services in Houston

This review is based solely on my experience so far being a resident of Eighteen25. Keep in mind, I have only lived here for about 5 days.

First impressions are everything. And to be quite honest, I have been really disappointed so far with mostly everything especially the lack of follow through on behalf of the leasing office.

Being a resident of a luxury apartment complex such as eighteen25, you would expect their standards to be high. And that is far from the truth. You would expect your unit to be "move-in" ready on the first day your lease is suppose to begin. That is also far from the truth. You would think that paying a premium price for rent the apartment complex would ensure that any issues with the resident gets solved immediately. Also far from the truth.

Before I begin to talk about my move in experience, I want to talk about the complex in itself. There are a lot of tenants that bring their loud friends at night and starting yelling throughout the halls when others are trying to sleep at 11PM (Apparently there are two courtesy officers, but it appears they don't do much to stop the loud screaming). The elevators tend to constantly be out of service, leaving only one in use. The wait for an elevator can span anywhere from 5-7 mins to get to your residence. I feel like there are random people that just walk into the building without being an actual tenant. There are a lot of homeless roaming around the building especially during the evening time. It makes the complex in itself feel very unsafe.

Now onto my move in experience - On the first day that I moved here, I noticed several items in the unit that was either very far from clean or just incomplete. The unit that I was given seemed like someone just moved out the day before. For example, the unit counter tops along with the cabinets were dirty and greasy. The stove was in even worst condition. It looked like someone did not clean the stove in about 3 months. I pulled out all of the appliances and it was full of pet hair and food stuck to the floor. A portion behind the bathroom door was not even painted. Maintenance tape was found on different doors. And just dust in general was everywhere.

I told the office about my concerns with the unit, and they were quick to say they would send out a cleaner the following day to ensure everything was back in order. I was content with their response. The following day, I return to the unit to only find out the cleaner they sent to the unit made the unit even dirtier and left a dirty mop smell throughout the floors. And guess what? I spoke again to the leasing office again and in return they said they would have a "new cleaner perform a detailed cleaned."

Fast forward to today. The unit is still not in a clean condition. LOL.

Also, I put a work order for a cabinet that the outter plastic/laminate is ripping apart. And guess what? They marked it complete on the work order when in reality its not.

My whole point of this review is to make you aware that you should not expect a "move-in ready" unit.

And if you got this far in reading my review... Yes, I am...

Update: ELIZABETH! She’s the person who cleans the entire building, 7 days a week, and it’s no easy feat (building location and amenities are great but some neighbors don’t always do their fair share of clean up). Shout out to Elizabeth and the entire maintenance team (Manny and Rafael and co.) for being timely and keeping the property operating well and looking good. Thank you!!

Bottom line: I’m pleased with this choice—Eighteen25 is a great place to live, work from home, and play downtown. But, there is major room for improvement on move-in and resident customer service, (probably related to how new the property and processes are).

Ok, the good before the bad:

Pros: My initial visit and tour was great. I worked with apartment locator, Katy To, and the main leasing agent Stephanie to learn about the property and start my application process. I was sold! Weeks later, Darryl worked incredibly hard to make my move-in happen. He was attentive and went the extra mile to work through the kinks*. I appreciated his responsiveness to email, his attention to detail, and his willingness to problem solve. He literally saved the day and won these 4 stars. Lauren was also really helpful taking care of all the unresolved move-in issues I had. My unit on the sixth floor has a beautiful view of downtown and is new, clean, modern, well built, and quiet. I chose a smaller unit and the light filled room, alongside gorgeous appliances and concrete floors gives a spacious, cozy feel. The building location and amenities are incredible. I’ve used the gym, enjoyed the rooftop pool, and signed up for the personal concierge so far— all easy to use and high quality experiences. I love being within walking distance of all things downtown. Hearing the Sacred Heart chimes are a bonus. (The emergency sirens are also a constant but hey, it’s downtown).

Room for improvement: After my intitial visit, communication from the leasing office was virtually nonexistent. Perhaps this is because the building isn’t full yet and there are new property kinks* It just felt like everything fell through the cracks the moment I left the office. The answering service is inefficient for getting questions answered; the process for application acceptance isn’t transparent; and there is no future resident/new resident orientation, for lack of a better word. After several calls and messages, I had to ask the apartment locator to physically go to the office to confirm my application and have them send me a lease, generate a pro-rated rent payment, etc. Having not heard anything for a few weeks, I wasn’t even sure I was good to go until a few days before my move in. Part of the context was that I had a pending trip abroad planned and the entire process with the leasing office was way more frustrating and time consuming than it had to be.

At one point, I seriously questioned whether I was making a mistake and if the application process was indicative of the living experience. It is not.

Thank goodness living here so far is much better than...

To whom it may concern,

I am currently a resident at 1825 Downtown "Luxury Living" Apartments. However, for the last year, I have not received any luxury service. When I submit a maintenance request, it takes a week or more to get completed, if I'm lucky. If the apartment staff knows that I am not home during the time due to traveling, they will tell you the request was completed but never actually do it knowing you can't necessarily check. To fix this, one might say to contact the building team management correct...that is what I thought as well, but for the last year of my three-year stay here (after the property was sold and management changed). Office management does not have the time to speak to you in person along with watching the phone ring if they know the number (I peeked around a corner and called during non busy time frames and saw them literally see my number and watch it ring.)

These are just my recent experiences: Other issues are below.

If you don't check the current rent rate when up for a renewal, they will charge you more than 200 dollars monthly than they would charge a new renter without promotions. We have fire drills randomly during the night that occur around 3:00 am. The best part is that you have to evacuate and stand outside until about 30 minutes after the fire department gives the all-clear. Management will not shut the alarm off until then. You will pay an extra $39.00 a month for a concierge service that we do not have. And you will have to find your packages when delivered due to no notifications by management (because an actual concierge does not exist) and the "lockers" never having any room. It is an app that is someone you task with errands and nothing about it is convenient. Elevators/Gate garages don't work for 2 to 4 weeks at a time, and you will be told we need to order parts, so use the other ones. WATCH OUT for homeless people slipping past the gates or going through the cars in the visitors section!

I could complain for for hours about how bad this establishment is after the switching of management companies, including having to fix the resident's AC's for over 8 months now with open holes in the hallway ceiling that may leak water like a Super 8 hotel. The staff has a high turnaround time and it's evident as to why!

DO NOT LIVE HERE! I attempted to give this place an opportunity, especially because the pandemic occurred and moving out wasn't an easy task to take on during such a time. Nonetheless, I will absolutely be moving after this lease as the management is no where near as effective as it was...