St Mary's Square North Apartments — Local services in Raleigh

For some reason within the past month, the reviews for 600 Saint Marys have been shifted over to the St Mary's Square North (800 Saint Marys) Google page. This review is for St Mary's Square North (800 Saint Marys).

Summary: Great location Awful sound-proofing for the worst living experience Office is understaffed Maintenance is professional and responsive

I lived here for a year and moved out a little over a month ago. The location is fantastic - right across the street from Fred Fletcher Park, and within walking distance of Glenwood South but far enough that drunken shenanigans don't (often) affect your living experience. My dog loved walking everywhere from the apartment (which is very dog-friendly). And the interior of the building and apartments is beautiful - very much a luxury building in that respect. The building is equipped with a remote entry system so you can let guests and yourself into the building via an app.

However, the building itself is extremely poorly constructed in terms of noise-proofing. Every step from my upstairs neighbors would cause my apartment to shake, and heaven forbid when they would drop things or work out or run around - I thought the ceiling would come down on my head. I could hear full-fledged conversations from my very mild-mannered neighbors next door. And my downstairs neighbors have complained about my dog running around during the occasional zoomies (sorry!). In the summer, expect to hear every wedding party that occurs in the park. Moreover, my unit faced into the courtyard, and I could hear every single conversation that anyone every had. This includes the conversations at 3 AM from the residents coming back from Glenwood South.

Also note that the leasing manager, while very nice and friendly, will only occasionally be at the front desk - do not expect a full-service concierge experience even during business hours, or a timely response to emails. There is someone from the office at the front desk only for a few hours on a couple of days a week. I think the office is severely understaffed, so not the fault of any individual employee. The resident events are nice and have really increased in quantity the last few months I was there.

Also some miscellaneous things to note: This building is right across the street from a high school, so expect heavy traffic during drop off/pick up and during games. The garage floods with heavy rain. I had to wade through about 8 inches of water to get to my car the last time I forgot to check the forecast and didn't move my car to a higher part of the garage. Also, the last time the secured exit for the garage broke, it took over a month for it to be repaired, meaning that the garage was accessible to the public freely (despite management's repeated emails during this time about car break-ins...

I am disheartened by the service or lack there of I experienced on 1/14/2023. I scheduled an appointment to view this property online. It was late on Friday night, possibly just after midnight. There was a 10 am slot available for Saturday. I scheduled it, received my confirmation etc. To make a long story short, when my boyfriend and I arrived, the man working in the office (forgot his name unfortunately but definitely remember his face) basically told me I needed to reschedule. I asked him what he meant? He said he has a 10:30 appointment scheduled. I said ok, well I have a 10 am. By this time it’s 10:05 am. He was extremely fidgety to the point he seemed stressed. It seemed as if he didn’t want to assist us. He rubbed his forehead almost like in a panic like he couldn’t remember his password. So, in today's world, you never want to assume certain things, but situations such as this put you in that mind frame, like oh ok, I see what’s going on. I’m leaving out a lot so this review isn’t too long. However, I plan on reaching out to their corporate office with full detail of what happened which I told him before I left the establishment. He stated that he would do a quick 25 minute tour after he first said I needed to reschedule and tried to debate if my appointment was even real. He even went so far as to say that he didn’t see my appointment when he left on the prior evening. That was the worst thing he could’ve ever said. When you have a site that operates 24 hrs a day, you expect updates right? I scheduled several viewings late Friday night, and guess what! Each of the other properties honored my viewing because the time was available when I booked it. This is TERRIBLE business! I booked a viewing of this property because of the great reviews saying nice things especially about the office staff. Maybe certain people get good service at St Mary’s Square Apartments. It was extremely awkward and uncomfortable. I’ll gladly take my money elsewhere.

Update 1/23/2023

My sincerest apologies for taking so long to update my review. I received a call on Monday 1/17/2023 regarding this matter. I greatly appreciate Gina taking time to place a call to me to address my concerns. Gina was pleasant and very...

(1) The very-very-good: The location of St. Mary's is fantastic. Having come from a metropolitan area, this apartment complex gave me the "city" feel I was looking for, while also being tucked away. Pricing of the apartments is favorable in comparison to other communities nearby, and the apartments are gorgeous: high ceilings, large windows, granite counters, stainless appliances (with full amenities), and beautiful courtyard and/or city views. I love the garage parking, and having a trash chute on each floor is a great community feature. Last but not least: the leasing and maintenance staff are top-notch; quite frankly the best I've encountered - and I am someone who has relocated/moved a lot. They're friendly and personable, helpful, responsive, and very professional. If you need something, they're on it and you will be satisfied with the outcome. (2) Now, for the not-as-good. I'm only mentioning this because I like to give a fair/balanced review. It doesn't downsize what I've said above, nor does it affect my overall rating/feeling about the community. You WILL hear your neighbors. More than I expected. Everything from alarm clocks and phones ringing, to random (and surprisingly clear) conversations about work and grocery shopping plans, to bathroom routine and sexual prowess. You'll really get to know your neighbor. And, if they smoke indoors, you'll smell it. Honestly, all of this comes with the territory in "apartment living", but I felt it worth mentioning since I lived in 2 different units during my stay there and found those things to be more noticeably prominent than I've experienced in my past. It's very possible that this was just a luck-of-the-draw neighbor situation. Depending on you and your preferences, none of this may not be problematic at all. It's also possible that the experience of these things could vary depending on floor plan as well as unit location within the building. Overall, I would recommend...