On the day I signed my lease, I was asked to leave a review, so here's my experience at the Carlton…read morewhere I pay $2,000 a month for a renovated unit in under 4100 characters.
On move-in day, I noticed various issues: brown marks on the trim throughout the unit from the stain applied to the floors, dirty and unpainted windows, unresponsive thermostat, faulty washer, slow bathroom sink drain, unfinished bedroom closets, broken blinds, and more. Not the best first impression, but I was hopeful. Over my first weekend the lights would sometimes flicker, I discovered there's only one port in the entire unit for the internet router and it's at the far end of the unit in the bedroom, dust and wood shavings poured from the microwave vent on its first use, and the smell of the stain on the floors was almost overwhelming. I sent management an email on Sunday highlighting what I enjoyed about the property and made note of all the issues I've listed so far.
The problems persisted after multiple maintenance visits. The most significant issue was the non-functional in-unit laundry, the sole feature of the renovated unit. By this point it had been a week and other than now having paint on my floor not much had changed. I followed up with management and included photos of the unit. I also requested a rent reduction until the laundry was fixed and even offered to finish the painting myself. Management sent over a bottle of paint and a brush. I attempted some painting myself but encountered further issues with the unit, including the kitchen sink leaking water next to an outlet and the stacked laundry units tipping over after one of maintenance's attempts at getting it started. When I took a photo of the laundry unit after it fell out of the closet onto the floor and showed it to management in-person, I overheard maintenance on the phone joking about how, "they're supposed to do that" and "it's just gravity." I personally did not find these jokes funny or appropriate considering the safety risk that it could have been to me or my dog.
After escalating the situation to the regional manager, an inspection was finally conducted. They repeatedly praised maintenance for their work and provided a variety of explanations for why the unit is the way that it is, but promised me that this was not the norm for JCM and that the issues would be resolved asap. Two maintenance visits later and other than spray painted windows and fixed sinks the unit was mostly the same. After the second maintenance visit I watched a live feed from my security camera as management entered my unit with a member of maintenance and bad-mouthing me in my own living room. I sent videos to upper management of the state of my unit after the "completed" repairs, and I was told it's unfortunate I still feel underwhelmed about my apartment. They offered to send maintenance back again if I marked where I wanted them to paint with tape but warned that the next inspection would be the last.
In the end, I decided to drop the matter as I could no longer afford to take more time off work to accommodate their schedule. 18 days into my lease and I finally now have a functioning washing machine, yet management has repeatedly ignored my request to adjust the first 17 days of my lease without it. In my opinion, if even the most basic inspection was done prior to my move-in date all of these issues could have easily been resolved in the weeks between my application being approved and signing the lease. I highly do not recommend The Carlton or any JCM managed properties. The buildings are old, management is unprofessional, and the half-finished paint job tells me they do not perform even the most basic of inspections and maintenance before leasing out units for $2,000.
I can only give this property two stars. One for a roof, running water, electricity, and basic kitchen appliances. And one for the dog park.