The Connection at Lawrence Apartamentos

I lived at The Connection for 5 years (August 15, 2019 - July 31, 2024) and my review was far too long for any of the review platforms so its a bit truncated.

Unit Condition - Mine was totally clean and had no visible signs of molding, dirt or grime. Our AC went out for a couple summers, they replaced the outdoor condenser and it works now. They provided a window AC unit in the meantime. We had a small roof leak, they provided a fan to dry the area (though you do pay for the cost of... electricity).

Staff Entry - Staff/Contractors come in your unit quite a bit. Pest control, inspections, unit upgrades (require you to move your stuff mid-lease).

Amenities - There is a public bus stop on Ousdahl, use that. The pool closes sometimes, is usually open in summer. The gym on-site is good.

Internet - This is where 99% of my review that was too long was. They had Midco, switched to Pavlov Media in summer 2023. The internet was effectively down for 2 months (though they did technically 'provide' internet in this time, it wasn't useable) while they did the switch (that kept getting delayed). Pavlov internet goes out all the time, you are expected to talk to their support yourself. It sucks - likely was done to save money (or was force contracted on them) and is just an infinitely worse service than what they had with Midco. I did not renew because of this more than anything else. It's really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really bad.

Move Out - I got my security deposit back with no hassle, I returned the unit in reasonable condition but nothing too fancy.

Other Things:
- The gates never closed the 5 years I was there, didn't care because they are annoying when they do close. Allegedly they do close now.

- You have to sign your lease really far in advance (like 8 months) so plan ahead or you will probably lose your unit or good rates.

- You can hear your neighbors, I had some issues but not many over my time here.

- Maintenance guys are cool, they do good work. Its when they need to get contractors out that you are going to wait forever.

- The fire alarms are really picky and will go off if it gets a little too humid in the unit.

- They pay for internet and city at least for now (they have taken steps to reduce water usage, if they cannot do so enough they will likely pass it onto tenants).

- The leases are per room, which is very good.

- My experience seemed to start getting worse when the community manager changed from Maria to Haven. Lee mas

We received the room in deplorable condition. The carpet was a mess and the couch was sticky among other issues. The stay was okay, but moving out was a nightmare. If you decide to live here DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. The connection will try whatever they can to take your deposit. Everyone who lived in this complex talked to me about this issue when they tried to move out as well. Everyone who lived here had some kind of issue with being charged a ridiculous amount for moving out. Also had some... workers come in without notice a few times. Highly recommend finding a different place to live. Lee mas

This complex has the absolute worst management I've ever experienced. The apartments are filthy, torn down and in an overall terrible state at move in. At our unit we were more than 5 months without AC as management refused to fix it for us at the time because it was "too expensive for them" and "the weather wasn't so hot anyways". Now at the time of move out they are trying to charge over 800 dollars in damage charges in an attempt to renovate the apartment at the expense of the residents, with... charges as ridiculous as wiping dust off a table... The pool is often closed on the short period of the year in which is open, and the student shuttle hasn't worked in almost two years. They will also post charges in your account without any notification and afterwards try to charge late fees on top of that. Overall a terrible experience with regard to dealing with management. Lee mas

I can't completely blame the Connection for the trash and dog poop all over the grounds as the vast majority of it comes from the other residents, but very rarely did I see a trashcan in the public areas that was not overflowing. The landscaping itself was however very nice as landscapers come pretty frequently to plant new flowers and lay down fresh mulch.

The noise levels are okay. I only woke a couple times to drunken yelling in the parking lots and residents with chipped mufflers and... blaring music. This is to be expected at an apartment complex in a college town though.

BUT, when it comes to moving out they will charge you as much as they possibly can to keep your security deposit. On my security deposit statement, they charged me thirty whole dollars to "clean [my] bedroom door"? How could they possibly spend $30 cleaning a door that wasn't dirty? I had already greased the hinges and everything myself so I have no clue why they could possibly be charging me that much. This was just ONE thing on my security deposit statement that didn't make sense though. They also charged me for an entirely new paint job in the kitchen, which was already covered in dirt and grease stains when my roommates and I moved in. There was grease on the ceiling and light fixtures in the kitchen when we moved in! Needless to say, we left it better than it was when we got the apartment and still lost our whole security deposit and then some.

The icing on the cake is that when I went to officially move out and give the office back my keys, they told me that since I turned them in the afternoon on my moveout date I either had to pay a late fee of two months worth of rent OR I could "lose them" and pay $180 on my security deposit later. Now mind you, I was never told that keys had to be turned in before noon on the moveout day so I assumed any time during office hours would have been fine.

TL;DR: They will squeeze every penny out of the security deposit that you give them so they can keep it all. (Literally every penny. The amount I owe after factoring in the deposit is $225.01 exactly.)

P.S. Fun fact! The gates only ever close during showing times and have never once worked properly! This does not count as a gated community, and don't let them convince you otherwise! Lee mas

The workers and management here feed off of young people who can be mislead. Going in knowing these things I was still mislead. My roommate and I went in and signed to a specific room and unit AND building, however according to our lease none of that was documented. They promote the units that you won't actually be placed into and don't tell you until weeks after you've signed. I asked for a copy of my lease to be sent over to my father to read over before signing and they agreed to do that and... sent a completely different document without my knowledge. Very disappointed. Very frustrated. Lee mas