I TYPICALLY DONT LEAVE REVIEWS BUT FELT THIS WAS NECESSARY.
I lived at the Bluestone Lofts for about two years. It's a decent place to live in terms of convenience and amenities. However, that is overshadowed by management practices. They will try every possible way to get another dollar out of you.
First, the rent is overpriced for Duluth, MN. I had a 2 bedroom for ~$1700. There is an early submission policy within the lease. That means, even though the lease is over on August 15, you are expected to move out of your apartment 10 days earlier. But you are still expected to pay half the months rent. Someone like me would be expected to pay $850 to live in the apartment for five days, August 1-August 5. The Bluestone uses these days to turn over the apartment. Most other apartments would absorb the cost of not having anyone renting for those few days but not the Bluestone. They choose to put that cost on the tenant. Some may have been surprised when it was time for them to move out. But I will say that it is clearly stated in the lease. They are not deceiving you, But it's still grimy.
Secondly, you have to pay $125 from your deposit for cleaning the apartment after you move out. Mind you, there is a ridiculously extensive list of things that you are expected to clean "immaculately" when your lease is over. Part of this $125 is to clean the carpet and touch up paint. Now, if you are one tenant in a 4 bedroom apt, that would be $125 per person. $500 to clean a four bedroom apartment after move out seems ridiculous.
Thirdly, if you should move out before your lease expires, you need to get a substitution, (another tenant to take over the lease) and they will help you with this to some degree. But this comes with a substitution fee of $500. Fee for what is my question? $500 to fill out a piece of paper that one person is taking over the lease of another?? It can't possibly be to clean the apartment because they will be taking $125 from the deposit!? I believe this is an arbitrary number that they came up with to get more money. I don't recall this provision being in the lease but when it comes time for substitution, this will be something you will be made aware of. It would seem more realistic to have a lease break penalty, like two months rent owed. Life comes with unexpected changes. You could sign a lease on day one and get a new job a month later. But you're expected to pay the rent until the lease is over unless you find a substitution, whether you are living there or not. It's obvious that this management company wants to have continuous cash flow at all times.
The Bluestone staff and management is average. Management from two years ago seemed more customer friendly and willing to help. There seems to be a lot of turnover with staff, so what does that tell you. Before I moved out, they always seem to be shorthanded.
If anything goes wrong with your apartment, the lease essentially states that you have to pay to fix/replace it. If you happen to get rodents or roaches, even if they come from another apartment, you're expected to pay for fumigation. While I was there, I DID NOT see any rodents or roaches so I'm not saying that they have this problem. But these are the kinds of things mentioned in the lease.
There are a lot of good reviews on Facebook but I don't know how truthful they are. I say this because at least once during my stay at the Bluestone, there was a raffle for a prize if you placed a review on Facebook or Google or something. The raffle did not specify that it had to be a positive review but I don't expect that people who are trying to win a raffle will leave a negative review.
The new lease starts on August 15. But they are approaching you about renewing your lease by December. So let's say you move in Aug 15, 2016. By Dec '16, they are asking you about renewing your lease for the following year. This would mean that you would have to make a decision in Dec. 2016 about whether you are willing to stay until Aug 2018. Most normal apartments would expect you to give notice two months before your lease is over.
It's not all bad and I could go on but I don't want this review to be too long. I do believe the novelty of the Bluestone lofts is wearing off. I saw a lot more raffles and gift cards to entice people to renew their lease. There was even a raffle for one year rent free. These are things I had not noticed when I initially moved there. Now, it seems like they're putting in more effort to retain tenants. This is probably partly due to the fact that there are new apartments popping up here and there in Duluth. The Bluestone will have to stop treating their tenants like "profit centers" as someone else stated if they intend to remain relevant.
Make sure to read the lease thoroughly as it is pretty extensive.
Pros. Convenient, amenities like gym, pool, resident activities, occasional breakfast. But I honestly could've done without these things. read more