Halstead Merrimack — Local services in Merrimack

Halstead Merrimack- a place where they truly do not have their tenants best interests at heart. I lived there for just under one year.

During this time, there were multiple things that made me not want to renew my lease.

For one- they do not screen dogs for temperament appropriately. My dog was attacked by another dog when we were exiting our building. At the time, I did not realize my dog was injured but once we got inside I found her abdomen to have a deep wound. This resulted in an expensive trip to the vet to have her wound glued & antibiotics.

When brought to the leasing offices attention they stated that they reviewed the security tapes and their response was that these types of events "are inevitable". They refused to provide me with the contact details of the other owner. They did however say they could give my information to the other owner and if he wished to reach out to me it would be up to him.

I wish I could say this was the only time my dog was attacked in the complex but she has had other dogs try to bite her in the dog park on site. Safety issue was not handled with any care by their team.

Instead of clustering maintenance for apartments, Halstead enters your apartment every 1-2 months for a different reason. Massively inconvenient

I moved out of my apartment earlier than my lease end date (due to availability of my new apartment). I gave ample notice as required by my lease, cleaned the apartment upon move out, turned in my keys, & left everything immaculate.

My lease at Halstead was set to end 08/07/2023. I moved out on 07/15/2023. At this time, I had my electricity transferred to my new apartment. When I left the apartment, everything was turned off (only the fridge and microwave remained plugged in).

The lease stipulates that if a tenant moves out earlier than their lease that they are financially responsible to pay utilities & rent until the unit can be occupied by another or their lease term comes to an end.

Halstead made no effort to rent out my apartment after my early move out. This allowed them to collect an additional pro-rated rent of $532 for 7 days in August.

On August 15th I reached out to the leasing office to inquire when I would receive my security deposit back. In response, they attached a confusing move-out statement with final charges applied to my account. They reported that they closed the account on 08/07/2023 (my official move-out date) and informed me that my check was being sent from their accounting department located in MD for the amount of $138.76.

I left the apartment in great condition so I was confused when the majority of my deposit was not being refunded. I asked to see an itemized list of the charges. In response, "we did not charge you for any damages to the apartment you left it in good condition. If you look at the move out statement, the charges that came out of your security deposit were the final water/sewer utilities and vacant utility recovery fees. It looks like you ended your electric account with Eversource account earlier than your move-out date of 08/07/23, so you were charged up until then as you were responsible for the utilities up until the end of your notice period"

When questioned about a $298 charge for electric for the dates of 07/15/23-08/07/23- I was told that it was the "usage that is being charged from Eversource from the date the electric was disconnected" then I was asked "did you leave your lights or air on when you moved out? We did not start the move-out process of the apartment until after you move-out date of 08/07/2023"

When I called Eversource I was urged to ask for a copy of the bill. The leasing office said they would have to call eversource. They did + advised that the bill for the end of July (after move out) was $93 (still high compared to my normal usage)

"in good faith" they are refunding the rest of my security deposit. However, the fact remains that they lied about the charges & about entering my apartment before my official lease end. They hope to take advantage of their "residents". Do...

BLUF: (Staff/Maintenance Crew are great / Building quality BAD really bad, AVOID AT ALL COSTS!) Experienced in building 5 & 4

After living here the initial perceptions quickly fade and you find out the complex is painfully avg possibly below avg, everything cheaply maintained/built, and it falls short of its luxury claims. Lots of little things add up overtime, but if you can deal with them you might be happy here. I'm not, I merely tolerate it here as moving is a bigger inconvenience.

Lots of concerns of mold and particulates in the air as my wife and I have never been sicker since moving here. To make matters worse, the construction after the flooding has left us dusting drywall dust daily. We cannot continue to live here like this, but we are being held hostage by our lease.

LETS GET INTO IT!

THE BAD: Fit and finish Initial quality is deceiving, much of the things such as the granite truly are a nice touch touch, but in terms of the fit and finish of most the touch points in the apt are not great. It could be anecdotal, but from my experience after living in two different buildings I have found that their are gaps in the flooring, massive cracks in the walls (due to the building shifting), moisture issues in the bathroom, uneven doors, CHEAP appliances, cheap A/C units. The quality of materials fall short of the claimed luxury title. Insufficient insulation in general, every closet facing the exterior of the building is always incredibly hot and humid.

Moisture/cooling/heating The buildings solution to many of the moisture problems is to have a fan running constantly in the bathrooms that you cannot control. Not only does this do nothing to control the moisture, I suspect this also attributes to the reduced ability to keep the apt warm/cool since it is pulling air out. As a result this means your A/C / Heater (which is already anemically under powered) will fail to keep up with your basic demands (during the summer I have yet to get my apt below 75 degrees on an 85 degree day). Also exposed fiber glass insultation in the between room vents was discovered

Moisture is out of control, we HAVE to run a dehumidifier 24/7 or we get booklice (tiny but harmless) and mildew. The avg humidity level in the apt during the summer is about 90% with out the dehumidifier (we pull about 4 gallons of water out of the air every day).

Electricity and Power Because of all the environmental control issues (humidity, Weak A/C & Heater, and constant ventilation) you can only assume that this greatly affects your power bill, since everything is working overtime and running constantly. DO NOT BE SURPRISED if your avg bill in the winter is upwards of an average of $400 like mine was in, while in the summer it is close to a $210 Avg. (Note I did call Eversource and my K/Wh avg is less than the previous tenant). All this said, because this is a hidden cost the front office wont disclose to you. Moreover, many of the issues and shortcomings are from the construction of the buildings, but the solutions to these issues are passed onto the tenant in terms of paying more for energy or out of pocket for humidity.

NOISE The walls are super thin especially the ceilings. You can hear every single footstep above you. idk if thats just my neighbors with heavy feet or that the buildings were cheaply built. I had to pull teeth to get the moving fees waived to a different unit, which I finally was able to do at my own expense. (it was that bad).

Neighboring businesses The next door hotel (extended stay) continues to have parties every weekend in the parking lots. Playing loud music and setting up party tents. This goes on from noon until 0200 every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I assume others are bothered by this or perhaps my apt is in the perfect spot to catch the bass of their speakers, but we can hear it all night long despite having ear plugs and a fan on. Since Merrimack doesnt have a noise ordnance, the police wont/cant do anything about this and neither will the leasing office since its not on...

5/26/23 Update to 3 year old review I posted when we first moved in to what was then “Residences at Executive Park”. After a change of management it was time to update. It's a beautiful property,no more new construction as there was back then. My mother lives with me & despite having 78 years of experience & having lived in some very nice single family homes her whole life she has never raved about a place as much as she does our place here. We love the large kitchen with center island, beautiful stone countertops and tons of storage. The master’s walk through closet space with large bath, stone counters, dual sinks and mirrors & bathroom closet is large for a home much less an apartment. There are little touches in design that are just smart. The pet spa (which is wonderful and has a shower head on a hose, deep sink with a ramp for little pups like mine, dryer and grooming table) or the clubhouse or grills, it's all the little things that impress me. smart lights that turn on when you open your door into the hall or go into the garage then shut off late to conserve energy. The package room off the lobby where our packages can be dropped off behind a key fob accessible door so they are safe. The pet area that has disposal bins and waste bags & the management is committed to keeping the area clean & free of waste Bicycle rack, beautiful outdoor grilling area with seating & relaxation area. The clubhouse has games, a beautiful fireplace, bar, seating area, cyber cafe. It would be a fantastic place to host a gathering. Even dog biscuits for furry visitors are there. *Key fobbed entry to the building & package area and well lit motion sensing led lighting and security cameras make us feel very secure here. *Electronic Guest directory panel that visitors can use to "buzz" your unit but it pushes to your cell instead of an annoying buzzer. Ample sticker parking so ensure there are spots close to the building and an optional garage which I'm using now and was keeping my motorcycle in as well. There's even optional storage units on the same floor you live on so we can walk down to our stuff without even needing to go outside. There's so much that you'll discover that I can't list. You'll find yourself saying "Oh, that's a smart idea!" It's like they anticipated what you'd need & built it. From soft close cabinets, numerous outlets including ethernet, in unit laundry, to having a dry cleaning pickup/drop off in the package room, it's just so smartly designed I find myself constantly impressed. The one thing I guess that would be a con on the pro/con list is probably just part of apartment living and that is noise insulation is not that good. You can hear conversation in the hall & we moved from the 2nd to 4th floor due to noise above us only to have those below us express concern even though we are older and don’t do anything that would cause excessive noise or host gatherings. I think overall, as or more important has been our experience with the property management. From the first day we stopped by to look & got the tour from to signing our lease & subsequent renewals or questions the team has been just incredible. The maintenance staff are available up to 24/7 and James & Fuat always show up quickly, are great at communicating (so we can manage our pets) & never leave you feeling like you’re bothering them in any way. They greet you around the property and are always working on maintaining, improving or fixing something. The office staff put out a monthly newsletter with useful information about property and local events & they really do care about creating a community of neighbors. Halstesd has taken over after the original builder finished building and renting and their expertise is on management & retention, not sales, & the difference is notable. It's not just a slogan, they want you to feel comfortable and stress free & I can't recommend the property enough. I am happy to talk to anyone who...