Gables Citywalk — Local services in Houston

I lived at this property for one lease term. The price and the location is by far the most appealing about this property. My relationship with the staff was pleasant if I omit the manager. Alexandria Alamo is by far the most difficult leasing manager I have ever dealt with in regards to renting an apartment. Luxury living attitude without the budget to back it up is how this place is wrapped up. Be careful when choosing to live on the third floor level as the framing is constructed out of wood and you will have to walk like a cat otherwise a noise complaint letter will be sent your way. The third floor is by far the most affordable of all the floor plan’s but your electricity bill will even it out. The windows are not sealed and are outdated so your a.c will run all day. I’m paying about 7.2 per kilowatt and my bills has ran up to $220 as of May 2024. Black out curtains do not work.

Parking is very limited. Be careful parking in the back. Residents have been mugged. I have been met with constant emails and letter harassment from the manager about any issue. Straight up accusations of smoking in my porch area. Be careful when dealing with the manager. It can get personal with her. Everything is by “the policy” which in my opinion dulls critical thinking. This is only when it’s convenient for her.

One of the biggest problems here was the trash container. They have this company they claim picks up trash between 7 to 9pm. This is not the case. They have some teenagers roaming about dragging bags from the third floor making a mess. The “policy” dictates that the residents can only have their container out for trash pick as early as 6:30pm on the days the trash company services the property. Everyday for the past three months I have walked past my neighbors front doors as I go to work at 6:40am to 7:10 am to see that they have not picked up their container just to come back at 4:49pm and see their container still outside and full, again. I never see them tagged with violations. I am pretty sure because these fees would be in the hundreds every month for them to just not care. I however get a letter the next day god forbid I forgot my container outside or some other thing happened. The pictures I post have the date stamp of when I took the pictures.

Oh, and this is to show how the office does not come up to run a check. My entire walkway is a mess of leaking trash fluid. They make it seem like it’s up to the resident to tell on their neighbor. I just don’t work that way.

Also, if you put your container out at 7pm and the trash has not been picked up by 9pm you cannot leave your trash out of the container so you may yet again use your container for new trash. That will ring you up another violation. The office will offer you another container for a fee. One to leave next to your door or store in your home I suppose.

Pool rules: 1 resident equals two visitors. This rule is yet another one the office places on certain individuals as I’ve witnessed through the summer.

Update July 2 2024: I have been emailed a fee of 560 some dollars for a deep cleaning I am responsible for that I signed up when leasing here. As most other properties, this was not the case as I left my place clean. Having to deep clean or repaint is not my responsibility. You apply these fees in your rent. Not after the fact. Gables recovery has been emailed to see about this and they haven’t updated me on my emails.

Update May 2025 I have yet to get a clear answer as to what amount I owe. The super duper deep cleaning they did and a couple of 1/4 hole repairs or the carpet cleaning that the property did. The issue here is that the property is charging me one part while the rent app is charging me...

Overall, Gables Citywalk is a great place to live. As with any apartment building, it does have some quirks, but nothing that prevents this from being a nice place to live.

First, to address the ‘elephant in the reviews’, guest parking is a bit tricky here. There are only a few reserved spots for guests and they tend to fill up quickly. Otherwise your guests have to find parking on the street. Considering that only half of the reserved spots even have cars and the rest sit empty, this is pretty lame. However, there is a considerable amount of signage saying that violators will be towed, so you should be well aware of the consequences of parking in the wrong spot. All spots are also painted designating who is allowed to park there. It seems as though one person had this happen to them, and called on 20 of their friends to review bomb this place. This is pretty ridiculous, given how much you are warned, as well as the apartment complex still being a great place to live.

Now that that is out of the way, I will mention some of my favorite aspects of living here as briefly as possible. The apartments are very clean, reasonably new, and well priced for the square footage and area. The pool and gym amenities are also pretty great! The residents that I have met are very nice, and seem to comprise a nice blend of families and young adults / students. Despite what some other reviewers say, the staff is also very nice and helpful. The apartment is very quiet given the closeness to a somewhat major road. The only noise I can sometimes hear when in the apartment is my AC unit, which anyone in Houston is probably used to. The fact that the entire community is gated is also a very nice plus, and I feel very safe living here. Houston is a notoriously car centric and anti-pedestrian place, yet the community still manages to be walkable which is a miracle. Whole Foods, Trader Joes, two bus stops, a few nice restaurants, and more are within walking distance.

Now to mention some of the negatives: the fact that rent is listed at a price of X, but many miscellaneous charges are tacked on (about $100ish for trash, water, sewage, etc, as well as the mandatory Fetch service) is a little annoying, but pretty standard behavior. Fetch itself isn’t as bad as other reviewers may claim, packages will usually come a few hours after they arrive at the shipping address, and only very rarely arrive the next day. No elevators is also kind of a bummer, but I knew that going in. The worst thing about living here is my upstairs neighbor, who stomps pretty loudly which annoys me, but that could easily happen anywhere and is not really Gables’ fault. All of these things are minor nitpicks, I only include them so you know I’m being honest lol.

Other notes: I have not had to deal with maintenance yet, but I hear they are quick, responsive, and overall a nice experience. I have also not had any issues with bugs, and the complex has never flooded.

Overall, I really do love this community. I have lived in 2 other apartments and this is easily my favorite. It is a shame so many other reviewers gave 1 star; overall I think this place deserves at least a 4.5. Given my experience, I have no reservations giving Gables Citywalk 5 stars. If somehow any of this changes in the future, I will do my best to update this review. -...

I've lived here for about 2 years and am updating my review to share my experiences living here.

UPDATE: Around 8:15 PM today (08/07/24) I witnessed a homeless person in the pool near the entrance gate urinating in the pool. Now I can't blame them for wanting to cool off, but the urination and public indecency was not cool. I walked around and then came back to see them gather their things and walk out the entrance gate. The entrance gate has been broken and left open for weeks for reference.

UPDATE: It's been 31 days since Hurricane Beryl hit and water rapidly leaked in through all of the windows in my apartment which were never properly sealed. There has been mold/mildew, damage to the carpet, and damage to my walls which have all remained unfixed. One of the maintenance workers was very kind and documented all of the damage the same week the hurricane hit, but they have not fixed anything yet. They had one window guy come out, but he was told incorrect information and did not fix all of the windows but one. They also had a carpet guy come out and tear up some of the padding and leave a blower fan (which didn't make sense considering I didn't have power for the entire week) and the fan was just left in my apartment to this day with no replacement carpet padding.

UPDATE: It took awhile for the eviction process to go through, but management was very helpful and tapped every resource available to evict the residents, for which I am very thankful. The health issues I have faced as result of the fume exposure has unfortunately contributed towards persistent and ongoing symptoms, so my only wish is that management had allowed me to stay in a different unit when I had requested such.

I will update this review should the situation be resolved. I have been a resident for 7 months. During this time, I have been exposed to VOC fumes on several occasions, causing me to have a severe allergic reaction (I have documented trips to the clinic detailing the allergy), and resulting in an inhabitable apartment and missing days from work. I have also had to report an attempted break-in. Overall, I have had to call authorities 3 times and have 3 recorded police reports documenting each occasion. All occasions are due to my neighbors dangerously mishandling spray countertop epoxy in an enclosed space without ventilation (and against terms of the lease) as well as attempting to break into my apartment while severely intoxicated/incapacitated. I have recorded evidence of all events and have reported all evidence to the police. Despite the repeated occurrences, nothing has been done by Gables Citywalk management to get these people evicted. I have even learned that the former residents who resided in my unit prior to my lease had filed the exact same complaint regarding VOC fumes and having a similar physiological response. My apartment has been rendered unhabitable on several occasions (during which I have still had to pay rent) and I have repetitively, and currently, felt unsafe and exposed to a hazardous living...