I lived here for 5 years. I saw my fair share of changes over the years and they were never for the…read morebetter.
When I moved in, each unit had an assigned parking covered spot, as nearly all apartments do. After they built the tower building, they got rid of assigned parking, so it became a total free-for-all. They don't even have the option to purchase a reserved spot. It was nearly impossible at times to find a parking spot if you got home after 6 PM. Many neighbors own multiple cars, including ones that are not driven regularly (project cars and antiques), so they just sit in covered spaces 24/7. I reported this to management multiple times and nothing was ever done about it. Not only does the parking lot look like a junkyard, but it's unsafe late at night to have to park so far away and walk home. As a single woman with only one car, this was immensely frustrating. There are also plenty of residents that do not park their cars in their garages. Nothing is done to enforce this, so yet another parking space is taken away from those without garages.
Very little is done for residents once they've moved in. Outdoor windows are never cleaned, carpets are never cleaned, and amenities are taken away with no notice or discount. The pool was closed for most of the summer last year. After complaining to management, another couple and I were able to get access to another Ovation community's pool closeby, but they were not happy to have us there and we could only go during business hours as they had to let us in, usually waiting more than 30 minutes for them to finish "cleaning the pool" at any hour of the day. Because you have to go through the pool to get to the gym and package lockers, these were also closed after hours with packages trapped inside. I can't even tell you how many times I explained to them that I worked during their business hours and wouldn't be able to workout or retrieve my packages. No solution was ever given for the packages, but I was able to get access to the gym in the high-rise building that they keep inaccessible from the other community residents. These gyms are so much nicer than the clubhouse gym.
In the rest of the community, appliances and finishes are old, and you get the typical patchy, stark white paint job of many apartments from this era.
The people they've employed in the office over the years have really been a mixed bag, and management has changed several times. The others that have worked in the front desk have never been knowledgeable. For a while, they had one that hardly spoke English and could not answer a question directly to save her life, an older lady with exclusively incorrect information, etc. I won't name them, of course, but I'm sure management is aware of just how incompetent these people are.
I would also note that over the time I lived here, I came home multiple times to the entire complex taped off by the police and management never acknowledged it once, even after residents had to read about something awful happening in the news. I didn't often feel unsafe living here, but I didn't love knowing that if something did happen, management would likely ignore it.
The actual layout of the apartment is great and cozy. I was in a one bedroom all upstairs unit that had amazing natural light thanks to a sort-of steeple over the dining room. It was very spacious for a one bedroom, but had absolutely no storage other than the closet that the washer/dryer is in and the bedroom closet. I know that all downstairs units have a closet where the stairs would be, but upstairs units don't have any equivalent. That was really my only complaint about my apartment layout. The bedroom closet is large, but you have to lose some of it to store household things.
Maintenance requests were always dealt with quickly and efficiently, and the maintenance guys were always friendly. I never felt unsafe having them in my apartment whether I was home or not.
I always found pricing to be relatively fair and on-trend with similar complexes in the area. Rent went up every year that I lived here, but I never felt I was being robbed. The move in and move out process were both smooth, other than a scammy "redecorating" fee they slap you with.
Overall, I would have recommended living here five years ago. When I first moved in, it was the perfect apartment, but now, it's clear that, to Ovation, you're just an income source and they don't care about your experience, convenience, or schedule at all. I don't say any of this to be negative, but I hope they are open to feedback.
