We moved into a 2BR, 2 bath apartment in the new building (7100 Belle Fontaine Blvd) at Middleton Ridge in August 2014. Construction had finished the month before and we were the first renters to live in our unit. Our first experience as new residents was having an electrical problem in our unit, which caused some of the outlets to not work. This was mainly reserved to our bedroom and the hallway outside our bedroom. We promptly called about this, and an electrician came out to fix the electrical box in about 2 days. We also immediately noticed that our unit had a fruit fly infestation, which we found odd, because, again, we were the first people to reside there. Possibly the construction workers had been keeping food out in our unit, attracting the fruit flies? There were dead fruit flies all over in the fridge and freezer, and it took us 6 weeks to finally gain control of the situation using special traps, never leaving any dishes or food out, and taking out the trash multiple times per day. We called Management about this, but our problem was never addressed and no solutions were offered. This was in the month of August and September, so we were never really able to open our windows for fear of more fruit flies coming in. Because we never opened the windows the first few weeks, when I went to try opening them towards the end of summer, I noticed that the windows were misaligned, and it was nearly impossible to close and latch them, once they had been opened. This was worse on one wall of our unit (which contained 3 sets of windows), than on the other wall which faces a different direction. I am not a builder by any means, but my conclusion was that the building was not level, because the windows were so clearly off kilter. I was never able to successfully close and latch the windows myself, I always had to have my husband muscle the windows closed. This meant we weren't able to use the windows much, but it also meant that in the winter, the seal on the windows was not good, and it was freezing near them, especially in my 2 year old's room, where ice formed on the windows on the inside and it was so cold we needed to hang blankets over the window and move her bed away from the window. Again, I contacted Management, and someone did promptly come out that same day to inspect the window. He said the windows were of poor quality, and that they could ask the builder to replace it, but it wouldn't happen until Spring. The apartment offered to pay for a plastic sheet window kit to cover the window in the meantime.
We also were disappointed with the cheap construction and quality of the finishes in our apartment. The carpet began coming up at the seams during our first week living there, and has been coming off the floor in some of the corners, exposing the wood underneath. There is a problem with leaking in the shower in the second bathroom, which has damaged the wall surrounding the shower. I called about this about 3 weeks ago, and was told that other units have the same issue, but no one ever came out to look at it, so I will be calling again. The elevator has been broken at least 10 times during the 6 months we have lived here, sometimes for nearly a week at a time, which means walking up 2 flights of stairs and opening 4 different doors, due to the design of the stairwells. Try doing this with groceries and a 2 year old who wants to be carried! All units are given a maximum of one underground parking spot, even the 2 bedroom units, so we had to keep one car outside, and sometimes there were few or no surface parking spots available for that car. I have never once observed anyone maintaining or cleaning the interior of the building. The landscaping outside is usually well tended to, but there is old sidewalk salt, debris and wrappers which have sat on the floors in the hallways of the building for weeks or more. I have seen a cleaning person drive up to the building twice, but never saw her at work, and have never heard a vacuum running in the halls, and I'm home most of the time. The icing on the cake for us was nightmare neighbors, including one next door who constantly blasted music, video games at all hours of the day/night (with a powerful subwoofer which shook our unit), and a family below us who complained about our 2 year old running, and then started chain smoking in the bathroom directly below ours, which caused smoke to come up through the bathroom fan into our bathroom. The smoke smell has been going on for weeks now. I have made at least 3 verbal complaints to Management, with no results, and will be submitting a complaint in writing. The smoke is making me sick and I'm worried about my daughter breathing it in. A friend suggested taping a plastic bag around the fan, which we will be doing, but for the amount of rent (nearly $1400/month) we pay, and considering these are supposed to be non-smoking units, I don't think we should have to do this. All in all, I am extremely disappointed with my read more
