The James — Local services in Madison

WORTH THE READ:

The James, like many other apartment complexes, has its ups and downs. Pros:

Let’s start with the positives. The front desk staff is helpful almost all the time—especially James and Carly, who I’ve interacted with the most. The maintenance manager (not sure of his name) seems like an open and honest person who does his best to address issues promptly. Things do break fairly often, but they get fixed quickly. The other staff members, including the night security team, are reasonable and seem to genuinely try to make the James a decent place to live, despite its challenges.

Cons: The main issue lies with how American Campus Communities (ACC)—the company overseeing the James and many other student housing developments across the U.S.—conducts its business.

At the start of the leasing period, they heavily pressure students—especially freshmen, who are often panicked about securing housing early—to sign leases. In the past two years, they’ve had to discount rent by about $200–$250 per month around January/February because the initial prices were too high, and they couldn’t fill many of the floor plans.

The building itself is also showing its age. Built around 2016–2017, you wouldn’t expect a building less than 10 years old to feel worn down, but it’s clear the construction was rushed. Appliances break down, and the toilets feel cheap. Common areas like the gym, sauna, pool, and grill are also not well-maintained.

Another downside is that you don’t get to see your specific floor plan before signing. They have one large demo unit on the 12th floor that makes the apartment look spacious, but in reality, the rooms you end up with can be much smaller. Some rooms don’t even have windows! While you do get a $50 rent discount for a windowless room in a unit compared to your roommates, this isn’t disclosed clearly enough before signing the lease.

The elevators are also a frequent problem—they get stuck so often that I’ve started to recognize the firefighters who come to rescue people from them.

Also, when you sign a lease at the James, you don’t sign for a specific room, unit, or even for specific roommates. Technically, they can place you in a room with people you didn’t intend to live with, even if you signed up for the same floor plan. Although I have not seen this happen before, it's still a possibility.

ACC will also try to nickel-and-dime you wherever possible: a $300 re-let fee, a $250 admin fee at the start of your lease, and more. Honestly, you’re probably better off at newer developments like the Verve or Oliv for the price.

Additionally, ACC doesn’t charge “rent” in the traditional sense. Instead, they take a large lump sum and divide it into 12 installments, which you pay during your time at the James. This creates an issue where you’re paying full price for August, but you can only move in during the last week of the month—unless, of course, you pay for their ridiculously overpriced $500 early move-in pass, which may allow you to move in mid-August. One more thing to be aware of: ACC doesn’t charge a security deposit. On the surface, this might seem like a good thing, but it actually strips you of the legal protections that a security deposit gives you under Wisconsin tenant law. For example, without a security deposit, the James isn’t obligated to provide explanations for damage fees or return anything within a certain time period. This leaves them free to charge whatever they want for “damages,” with no clear explanation—just a final charge on your community portal.

If you’re set on living at the James, I’d recommend waiting for the rates to drop between December and March, since they’re more likely to fill up now that newer buildings like the Verve and Oliv exist. The James isn’t the worst place to live, but there are definitely better options out there—especially if you look past the artificial sense of scarcity that ACC...

I have lived at the James since January 2018 (sublet). The only reason I renewed my lease was to avoid having the hassle of moving out. As my lease is coming to an end, I feel it is fair to share my experience. Overall, the place is a conveniently located place, and you're really only paying an outrageous amount for the location and some amenities. It's not the best place for someone that likes their peace and quiet...since it's a noisy place to live.

Pros amenities (study lounge, gym, steam room, pool) pet friendly security fob wifi included in unit w/d furnished nice location Me'Rhanda is great. She is very responsive and gets back to your emails in a very timely fashion!

CONS thin walls (can always hear my neighbors music, doors closing, elevator dinging, and conversations people are having in the hallway). I have had to knock on my neighbors' doors and if they couldn't hear me, I had to go all the way down to the front desk and have security come up and tell them to turn the music down. Most of the security people are very responsive and come up right away, while there was one who literally said, "it's the weekend, so there's not much I can do about the noise". The walls are just extremely thin. I can hear the music from the 2nd floor porches (mind you I lived on the 7th floor) The windows have the worst insulation as well. There was a lot of condensation and then water would leak in. The windows are ALSO screen-less...so you can have your windows open but there's a ton of spiders and bugs that can get into your apartment. they'll do construction on the roof without even telling you and you hear a constant drilling noise, which is very annoying since they were drilling concrete! They gave NO heads up. packages can take forever to get logged they used to not charge for gas and then without even notifying us, they started charging for gas ( so be aware that the lease states that they can charge you and that your rent is subject to change) you can't get food or anything delivered to your door, you have to go all the way to the lobby to get it. Because they don't have an intercom system to buzz people in, your stuff might just sit outside. The elevators were okay, there's 3 for the west side and 2 for the east side of the building..but when one or two are broken, you're waiting like 15 minutes (better to just take the stairs). Not rent controlled...for the same apartment, my rent went from $1100 to $1209. They charged me utilities but then failed to email/notify me about the charges (so if you pay 1-2 months ahead for rent, the utilities get taken out of that balance) you're supposed to get wristbands for rooftop access for you and two guests.. I never got wristbands for the 2019-2020 lease year. I didn't use the pool ever so that was fine with me. wifi has gone out 3-4 times during my time here. One time, it was out for like a week! The bookkeeper seems to always be changing, I never know who to email with regards to financial matters. sometimes the gym would be out of wipes and disinfectant spray (I would just bring my own)

SUGGESTIONS get an intercom system so people can buzz people in/ have their food delivered to their door. insulation/soundproofing fix need to improve communication with residents need a new resident portal that tracks and keeps account for payments via checks and utilities.

COVID-19 response they closed off all amenities instead of picking up your packages, they put you on a list to have them delivered (I called and they told me they'd be delivered by the end of the day.. and I found out that my name was never even added to the list) no...

I wrote a review a month ago, but I'm editing it because significantly more problems have arose.

First of all, the high price for living here is NOT worth it AT ALL. It seems like every month there's a new charge. Previously, the water bill was quarterly. For 4 months of water, I was charged ~$15 which is fine. But now they changed it to adding $12/month for water, which doesn't add up. On top of that, it makes me slightly upset that a lot of my rent money is going towards these "events" that the building puts on (Super Bowl party, catering food for residents, even a Canada Goose giveaway...) Sure, these seem like nice offerings by the apartment but when you realize that that's what your money is going towards (and that they do things like this/spend all this money every week), it's pretty ridiculous.

Second, the management is so bad. I have had one of the higher-up seeming individuals be nice and helpful towards me once, but she was the only one. The head manager (I think) was so rude to my mom and I when we were asking a simple question and basically told me to my face that I was stupid...later to find out that the issue at hand was not my fault at all. Last week I went down to ask a question and the same rude manager overheard my conversation with the girl at the desk and was giving me a dirty look the entire time. It seems like the college students that work there are very nice and try to be as helpful as possible, but when it comes to the adults that work there they are anything but professional.

The building/appliances are just not in line with the price you pay to live there. The hallways/stairwells/elevators are always dirty and smell. My washing machine was broken before I ever even used it, and it took 3 weeks for it to be fixed. My dishwasher barely gets the job done. The ceiling is unfinished. The walls are paper thin - you can literally hear anything in your neighbor's apartment. One of the biggest issues recently is that the heat does not reach my bedroom. There's a good 10 degree difference between my kitchen and bedroom, and with it being in the negatives recently that's just unacceptable. Like someone previously wrote, the air filters are overdue for being changed, leaving people sick. I could literally go on and on.

Aside from my personal unit, many of the amenities that draw people into this building like the roof top pool, workout facility, sauna, etc are just not worth it and are out of order/dirty the majority of the time. They promise free printing in the study room but the printers don't work 99% of the time. During the summer, anyone can get up to the pool and it gets crowded very quickly with many people who don't live there. I think they should have a wristband policy or something for the pool to make it more fair for the people that are actually paying to use it.

Just please don't fall for the marketing ploys this company puts out!! Save yourself A LOT of time and money and live...