Oak Park Apartments

My roommate and I lived here for several years. The location is great, especially if you study/work at UT Austin, and Hyde Park is a great neighborhood, but that's pretty much the only thing this property has going for it. In our years here, there was near-constant construction that interrupted our sleep and work regularly. They shut off the water about once a week for repairs that never seem to hold. Some of the local management staff is great, but since the property is run by a huge company... they can get away with treating tenants as disposable. We have had several maintenance issues that kept needing repairs because Rainier would not fix the underlying problems. Rainier uses one maintenance team for multiple properties, so we often had to wait an unacceptable amount of time for urgent repairs, if they are completed at all. Overall, prices are competitive for this neighborhood of Austin at this time, but recommend looking elsewhere if you can. Lee mas

I go to UT, so this place was a pretty great option for both commute time and cost. I liked its location a lot as there's an HEB close-by, it's right in front of a bus stop to get to UT, etc. I lived in the newer renovated apartment, so it was pretty nice to live in as a student. I didn't really have much complaints about this place, but the thing is, it is an old complex so there's the common things associated w/ it (e.g. constant maintenance). Overall, I would recommend living here just for... location and lower cost compared to other apts in the area. Lee mas

I lived here for a year. In that time, I have had multiple roach infestations, my AC leaked condensation into the bathroom soaking everything in the cabinets on hot days, and maintenance was perpetually incapable of fixing issues. For several weeks I had people climb onto my balcony every day to perform some maintenance task that seemed to consist of hammering boards into the railing, removing them, then reinstalling them, every day. They used a jackhammer once, for some reason.

The apartment... did not come with a microwave. The oven regularly would not go above 100°. Neighbors were loud at all hours, and homeless people lived in the garbage bins.

A few days before I moved out, they closed off 2/3rds of the parking lot for resurfacing, threatening to tow anyone at owner expense parked in the closed areas. This was not nearly enough space for all of the cars that were parked here daily.

The area has some nice restaurants and is decently close to downtown and the University. Find something else nearby. Lee mas

Honestly it’s not the worst student-catered housing imaginable, but that’s a very low bar. I dealt with a buzz saw right outside of my window eight hours a day for six months while trying to WFH, which was pretty insane and the reason I rated this 2 stars instead of 3. We also went multiple days each month with no water for 6+ hours in a day. But at least they’re trying to give the place a face lift?

I remember visiting my friends here in the early 2010s and thinking it was a pretty great place... for the price. It could probably still be great if they stopped renting and made serious renovations, but it appears new management believes overhaul renovations aren’t necessary because students will put up with poor quality housing for a good location.

This would probably be true, except they’re now charging double the rent they charged six years ago. It’s no longer worth dealing with the apartment’s many problems for the price you pay and location you get. There are much nicer and newer places even closer to campus/the highways that cost much less.

My advice: keep looking for now, but maybe come back if they ever make serious improvements. Lee mas

The people are nice, including the staff. The location is great, very walkable.

The bad: They frequently shut off water without warning. The affordable units are old. There's always some kind of construction going on.

Also, they advertise that they have a pool, but it's been closed for over a year with no sign of reopening. At first it was because of COVID, which is totally understandable. But now they claim it's because they're waiting on a permit from the city, but it's been months since... they started making that claim, and I no longer believe them. So if having a pool is something that would sway you, don't sign a lease here. Lee mas