Arabelle Riverwalk — Local services in Tampa

Ruined move -in weekend and unnecessary towing expense due to lack of communication and poor management. Imust start off by saying that Danielle has been quite responsive in the times that I’ve had to reach out to her. It is a beautiful property and has much potential for its location and amenities. However, There continues to be things that make me regret signing up for this lease. And most likely will be our last with this property. I wish I would’ve read more of these reviews before we signed the lease for this apartment. There seems to be an ongoing issue with the overall management. Shortly after moving in, there was a clog in the drain lines in the apartment, which caused everything to drain extremely slowly. This took over three weeks to get resolved. it’s some point there was an issue with a paddleboard that was being stored on the patio area outside but inside the gated area for the apartment. This don’t make sense as if you look around the building there are numerous balconies with things stored on them, including bicycles, other surfboards or paddle boards, etc.. There was apparently a complaint several times about noise from their apartment. Well, yes, I can understand that it is possible they were. They are not the type to be repeatedly disrespectful to other tenants. It would appear there was not an appropriate investigation as to what the issue was. I realize now that I should have been more skeptical when we first signed on and started receiving emails about disabled cars needing the room removed from the parking garage. Upon arrival I did not, any disabled vehicles that appeared anywhere in the garage nor did it seem to be overly crowded. My son received the parking registration sticker and placed it in his windshield as required. The first five months there were no issues with the several times we came to move in furniture and other things into the apartment. We parked in the guest area without any issue. We return after summer vacation, and my son happened to run out to the car to grab a water bottle just before midnight the night before I was to fly out the next morning He noticed the car was gone. We brought stuff in from the car but did not move it as he is on the first floor. We did park in the guest area. Once again, his registration permit number is clearly in the windshield as required. Apparently the management team has asked the towing company to tow all cars in the guest parking lot that are not guest registered cars even if they are registered as residence. If my son had not gone to the car for his water bottle. I would’ve missed my flight the next day. In addition to the extreme late night inconvenience this has cost us almost $500. We have already reach out to legal council as there seems to be a number of residents feeling wronged in this paring situation. After reading numerous reviews it’s very clear that this is being mismanaged in this handled for the parking situation. There was literally were four cars in the guest area level we park the night this occurred. Upon arrival at the impound lot turns out there are numerous other residence that have been towed none of us have received email expressing there would be increased enforcement. Upon returning from the impound lot, it was extremely difficult to find parking in the approved areas. This is an inconvenience to residence that live below the third floor as you have to carry your stuff, quite the distance. One of the advantages of being on the first floor would be that you do not have to carry your groceries and such as far. additionally, I have come to find out that the management company is now charging for people to park in the guest area by the hour or by the overnight stay that may not be staying in the apartment complex. This apparently includes restaurants in the local area, this seems to be an effort to generate revenue in designated areas that should be available to accommodate the residence of the building. I must note that it is not an inexpensive and residents should be treated expect better for the...

I'm sad to say I'm returning to my original review of Arabelle Riverwalk to post updates and reduce my rating to 2-stars. This complex was formerly known as Manor Riverwalk and I originally gave this place 5-stars on signing my lease. Unfortunately, I had to delete my original review so I could fit all of my updates/grievances.

I resided here for almost three years, and in the beginning, my experience was amazing. This continued to be the case until 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began in the spring. It was at this point that residents started to deface the building and treat the complex extremely poorly, in what I assumed to be a retaliation against the leasing office for implementing COVID-19 precautions throughout the complex. Manor Riverwalk attempted to do all they could to combat these issues, but things slowly continued to deteriorate. The college students on-site were notorious for leaving common areas completely trashed, treating other residents with disrespect, and defying complex rules and regulations.

Ownership changed in 2022 to Bainbridge Properties and the complex's name changed. I didn’t feel as though things were particularly well-managed under the previous ownership before they stepped-out, as it was clear that issues began under the previous management. However, after Bainbridge took over, I saw a HUGE decline in the quality of the leasing office staff. Let's talk about my experience specifically before I moved out (within the last few months). I was in a position where I had to break my lease because I was moving out of Tampa, FL altogether. MULTIPLE leasing office staff told me I would still get a pro-rate for the days I would not be present in my apartment through the month after my move-out date. When it came to move-out, another leasing agent totally negated this report and told me I would not get a pro-rate. Did I end up with a pro-rate? No. God forbid these people should all be on the same page in terms of lease break rules + regs. Additionally, my unit was rented relatively quickly after I moved out (per their website). I can deduce that this was because I took great care of the place & they didn't need to do much to turn it over after I left. Still, it took over ten weeks for me to receive any return on my deposit. The reason? They mailed the check to the apartment I moved OUT OF, even though I gave a forwarding address multiple times. Did I receive the full deposit amount back on receiving this check? Nope. This place will pursue any opportunity to take your money. Another relevant example: I paid $500 for my dog on his move-in. I was told when I moved out that I wouldn't get this back because it was a "fee" not a "deposit." Every other place I've lived never had an up-front pet "fee" outside of the monthly fee, there was always a larger deposit that I got back at move-out if the place was in pristine condition on leaving. Not at Arabelle Riverwalk.

Defacement of the property continued after Bainbridge took over (one example - several fire extinguishers were once found on the front lawn of the property), and door knobs on entrance/exit doors were frequently missing or broken throughout the community, to the point that it would be impossible to open some doors (probably a huge fire hazard, but no one in the building seemed to care much about this). Also make note, people LOVE to leave dog s---t all over the place here. As a dog owner myself, not sure what's so difficult about picking up after your animal.

I could go on, but Google is preventing me from writing more. It is my great hope that this place improves, as it started out so lovely when I came here in 2019.

[Note: I loved my apartment itself throughout the time I resided here. Per the photos & videos I’ve included, you can see why. There were great views of the Hillsborough River from my balcony (which also acted as a front row seat to evening coastal sunsets and local events like Gasparilla) and the size of the space was excellent for a studio. This is why I’m giving two stars...

I want to start my review by stating that some of my comments might be "first world problems", but considering Manor Riverwalk advertises themselfes as a luxury apartment building, I believe certain things are exceptable to complain about (especially because of how much we pay). I also initially wanted to give a more thorough review, but Google is limiting my characters, so here is a abbreviated version.

Lying- It seems that I have been lied to multiple times since my initial visit, to now. First off, when I was touring the building, I was promised that I would receive a parking space on the floor that I lived on. This was completly false. I live on the second floor, which is one of the worst parking situations to be in. Because a third of the spaces of the first floor are non existent (the loading dock takes up a third of the garage on the 2nd floor), we are already down a lot of spots. Also, because the 1st floor is only guest parking, the 2nd floor also has to have the 1st floor residents. Because of this, I am lucky to even get a spot on the 4th floor. I wouldn't be super mad about this, if I had no been explicitly told I would receive a spot on my floor (and yes, that is fraud and illegal). The leasing agent also told me that the rooms were close to sound proof, and because of the "all concrete" construction, we would not hear our neighbors at all. This is completly untrue. If my neighbor sneezes I can hear it. I actually had a good laugh with my girlfriend while she was over, because as we were watching The Office, my neighbors also turned on The Office. Also, as some have mentioned, certain accomodations promised are actually not included in the rent.

A/C- My A/C broke close to when I moved in, and after filing my service request, the issue was not resolved for multiple days. I tried calling the building multiple times to have them send someone, but because there are 10 phone numbers for the building, I wasn't sure which one to call (I was explicitly told that some of the numbers didn't work, but that makes me wonder why they don't remove some?). I also don't get why there is no page on our leasing website that has the direct numbers for all essential services (manager, leading agents, maintence, etc.). Anyways, to get back to the point, I even spoke to my leasing agent who said they would send someone up that evening, but never did. I spent the entire weekend without A/C while the temperatures were 80+ degrees. I was extremly uncomfortable in my own apartment, which isn't acceptable. I tried to contact the manager who seemed to brush me off, and give in my opinion a half-a** apology.

Parking- Beyond not being able to park where promised, the garage is also disgusting and will get your car completly filthly within 2-5 days of getting it washed. I spoke with the assistant manager this weekend, who claimed it has been professionally cleaned 3 times with another company coming to clean it soon. I have only seen it cleaned 1 time, but maybe it was cleaned before that. The only problem I have, is that I actually saw them pressure washing it the last time it was done, and noticed they were only washing the floor and not the ceiling. This makes no sense to me, as the ceiling is what makes the cars and floor dirty. (included picture of my car 3 days after a wash)

Trash- Frequently, I have to leave my trash next to the trash chute, as the chute is full. I also spoke to the asssitant manager about the trash issue this weekend, but they diverted blame to the company that manages the trash. This entire thing wouldn't annoy me as much, if management didn't send multiple emails blaming the residents for this issue, when their poor management of the trash is what causes the issue. I also had to stop dropping trash down the chute on my floor, and go to the main floor, as they never fixed the fly issue that they said they would. We pay $20 a month for trash, and they can't pick it up more than what I suspect is twice a...