I lived here between 2017 when it was under different ownership and the original name was 18…read moreNineeteen. I was the first resident to inhabit UNIT 1207 when everything was pristine and there weren't a lot of students in Building 1.
One thing that I really liked about this apartment was the readily availability to the Tazo Hot tea machine that they had in the lobby. I grew incredibly in love with the hibiscus flavor that I craved while I sat in class.
However, I made the mistake of moving to an area and not being very familiar with the newly gentrified place. I say this to mention the troubles I had to put up with for a year. I shared my first college apartment with my sister (parents' choice) and the back end of the apartment was nestled in an impoverished area across the street from some low-income Section 8 units.
There was this bench that sat on the apartment property right below my unit's window and every single night, the homeless people in proximity would sit there, drink alcohol, curse at each other, eat, and fight a lot to the point that the cops were called on them frequently. I complained numerous times since it was a nuisance. This obviously was their home before this apartment complex was built.
Each time I complained to apartment management at the time, nothing was done. This got to the point that if they didn't remove the bench, that I would move out because the noise was loud and I was losing sleep knowing that I was a full-time student. I guess the first-floor unit below me complained too and they eventually moved the bench to where the Walmart is.
Once that situation cleared up, I had to deal with "whose ever idea was to put carpet in enclosed spaces such as hallways" especially allowing college students to own pets wasn't using their brains. It didn't matter how many notices the apartment staff put out to clean up after your pet and even going the length of cleaning up the carpet.
The carpet still had a stank odor that was unpleasant when walking to and from destinations. I will say that there were some more firsts that I had to deal with at this property. This is the first apartment I lived in where I was forced to learn how to parallel park and my mum taught me.
Since building 1 wasn't nearly anywhere close to the parking garage was building 2; you are included in street parking. I would always park on Glenna Goodacre or the side with the low-income apartments as it was convenient to where my unit was.
The bus is a hit or miss; especially after midnight it was a huge hit and imagine studying all day long in the library only to have to walk 2-4 miles back to your apartment. (depending on if you can get a Lime scooter, or just opt to walk). I would have to suffer those times and even in the mornings, the bus would be so packed with other students that you would have to stand for the whole duration of the trip back to campus.
It was at this apartment, that I met my first tea buddy named Martin. Martin and loved drinking hot tea. We would trade teas and rate them together. We rode the same bus where we first met. He was a cool guy.
For a whole six months, it felt as if apartment management was non-existent and for the most part, they were. Then, out of nowhere, that's when Park East company out of Chicago, IL took over management. The owner of Park East is this African guy who seems to not know how to crack a smile stick in the mud kind of guy; however, the rest of his crew were down-to-earth and cool people. The overweight white lady in the office used to give my sister and my roommate a hard time, but she never messed with me. The black guy with glasses was always so cool. He almost wanted to be a college student again and would play pool with my friends and me sometimes.
The unit was pretty standard and cookie-cutter generic looking like most newly constructed homes. The couches that they put in every unit are ridiculously uncomfortable. You can't plop on it and I wouldn't recommend sleeping on it or you'll wake up with pains. I will say that I did have a lot of fun at Park East.
In Easter 2018, my friends and I hosted a pool party (since we all weren't going home for the holiday). We had gotten permission to reserve the pool for ourselves and started grilling. The party started quiet, but of course, everyone saw how much fun we were having that they just had to join and that's when the party got lit. I had a lot of fun that whole day. I did things that I never experienced in my life.
As time went on, I went through my fair share of roommates (the ones that don't clean, the racist ones, the annoying ones who steal your food, and the ones who bring their boyfriends over for "one-night", but he's moved in under the radar). What was the ultimate downfall of this apartment complex and what made me move out was the rent changes and the increase in electricity charges that weren't adding up to the usage. I felt like it was shady business dealings.