I lived at Crescent Village for just shy of 5 years in the smallest size unit available in the complex, a 436 sq/ft studio with an 80 pound dog, and never felt at a lack of space or options due to the wonderful design and neighborhood.
Crescent Village Apartments are one of the few complexes in Eugene that bill themselves as luxury apartments. The unites are very nice, all with very clean and contemporary designs using open concept for living/dining/kitchen spaces, vaulted ceilings, granite counter tops, and a nice mix of wood laminate and quality carpet. Overall the designs are very neutral without being bland, making it very livable. Units include washer, drier, Heat/AC units, dishwasher, range-hood microwaves, as well as the typical cooking range and refrigerator. While not particularly fancy, all appliances were quite nice and worked well.
When adding in the pet-friendly nature of the complex, it is an excellent choice.
Other Pros:
The complex is nicely placed for access to both Eugene and Springfield from the north. Coburg and Gateway are excellent feeder routes into either town, and freeway access is easy with I-5 and Beltline only a few minutes away.
The first floor commercial spaces make eating out convenient as well, Mezza Luna Pizza and Izumi (Americanized Sushi/Asian-Japanese) are great, and Pho the Good Times (Thai) received good reviews from friends.
The building itself is fairly secure with units requiring access via locked doors (opened with key-fobs), and mailboxes are also located inside the entryway making mail-pick up an easy part of the routine.
The faculty keep the building very clean (despite the best efforts of some tenants, see cons below), and each floor has a dedicated trash and recycling room making waste and recycling very easy.
And while many may assume as much, you can't always be sure that a building will have an elevator. Crescent Village does, making moving in (or out) and any other large object hauling you may need to do easier.
The stairs-wells are also nice, with a wide, easy construction and well lit.
Cons:
This is where the five-star review is reduced to a three unfortunately.
First off, Crescent Village as a business model values obtaining your money first and foremost as the priority, so many of their policies and practices regarding move-in and rent are focused on that.
Rather than a pro-rated first month, you will be expected to pay a full month rent at the beginning. They will then pro-rate your second month.
Late fees are also extremely non-negotiable and regardless of online system issues or office times, if your rent payment is not received by the end of business on the 4th of every month (yes, 4th, not 5th) you will be charged at least an additional $100.
They limit leases to 12-months, and take aggressive steps to keep you from going to a month-to-month rent scenario, promising to raise your monthly rent by over $100/month if you go off-lease, including large 'adjustments' to your base rent. As an example for my unit, as one of the smallest/least expensive of the facility, when my lease was ending Jan 2016, I was offered a lease renewal increasing my monthly rent from $829/mo to $949/month, or alternatively a month-to-month of $1029/mo. For a 439 sq/ft studio.
Another serious negative is that this complex is a huge magnet for a certain class of college student. While the facility is fairly removed from the University, many of the richer out-of-state college student parents find the facility very attractive due to the noted 'secure' design from above. Expect a good volume of "spoiled white rich kid" neighbors who don't know or care how to live in a community environment in good faith.
Neighbor noise. Now, the construction is very good so there really isn't much, if any noise bleed from neighboring units. But a side-effect of this, or some other aspect of the construction, is that pressure/contact noise is amplified and takes a booming quality. Wall, cabinet, or door banging in upper units are very loud and invasive in lower units. Stomping is oppressive. And while this would be true in any connected wall environment, Crescent Village's construction somehow amplifies this beyond normal, with the ceiling almost acting like a drum-skin.
If you combine the previous two complaints into a single upstairs neighbor, your unit can quickly become an uninhabitable nightmare, and I was in-fact forced to move out and live with relatives for the last four months of my lease due to some particularly aggressively noisy tenants, wasting over $2000 without compensation.
The Take Away:
Renting at Crescent Village is a gamble. While the setup is sweet and attractive, the buy-in is steep, and you won't know if you're going to 'win' until it's too late.
Your best recommendation would be to find out the most you can about your upstairs neighbor, or rent on the top floor. See if you can visit in the event or a weekend. Or rent elsewhere. read more