The Hillcrest Apartments

Starting with Cons, because they shouldn't be overlooked:

-- Utilities --
- Radiators are unbearably hot in the winter, and the tenant has no control. Even with windows open throughout the winter, our apartment was consistently over 80 degrees day and night. Despite claims to have addressed it, management doesn't appear motivated to find a solution. Likely because the tenants have the privilege of covering the enormous gas bills.
- Water and sewer bills nearly doubled in the summer. The tenants... pay for the water used by the complex's thirsty sprinkler system.
- $25/mo for valet trash service, which is not optional. On top of a $35 waste bill.
- Frequent water shut-offs varying from an hour, to as long as 12 hours. From Aug 5 thru Dec 11, there were 9 water shut-offs.
- Steep CAM charges for common areas that are mostly neglected. It's unclear what these charges go towards, outside of mowing the lawns.

-- Cleanliness --
- Stairwells are carpeted and are very rarely vacuumed. Let alone steamed. I can't remember the last time our hallway was cleaned.
- Laundry room is consistently filthy, and the machines aren't regularly cleaned. Often filled with dog hair.
- There's a "picnic bench" behind the main building that seems to be intended as a common space, but it's quite literally a trash pit.
- The radiators in the apartments are covered by grates that make them impossible to clean. Ours are covered in a thick layer of dust that appears to be older than me.

-- Security --
- There were two fires in the span of a few months this spring/summer. No alarm went off in the building, and no effort was made to reach out to tenants during or after either fire.
- The garages and dumpsters are commonly inhabited by trespassers. We've come home several times to trespassers just sitting in the stairwell.

-- Amenities --
- None to speak of.


Pros:
- Close to downtown
- Friendly maintenance staff
- Spacious
- Recent renovations look nice, but were cheaply done and not comprehensive as it relates to the apartment as a whole. Windows and floors are rotting. The closer you get the worse it looks. Not surprised by how quickly this Pro turned into a Con... Our experience here in a nutshell.

I doubt any of this will be addressed any time soon. Scroll down to reviews from the past 3+years, and you'll see the same issues being surfaced. Likely followed by a cookie-cutter reply from the owner. Lee mas

I love the place and location, and there are still many things for improvement. Any time I request maintenance, I don't hear from them weeks until I call. The excuses are - we are short on people. Well, at least let me know you saw my request, please. It is called being polite! Second - stairways are always dirty. They say they are cleaned every week, which is not true at all. I was hoping they to be extra clean during the pandemic, but no - lots of dust, dirty carpets, and garbage. I see that... every day walking from or to my apartment. I would do it myself, but I pay them for doing that! Dog poop is everywhere. Stairways in the backyard are even worse! This is disgusting! Garbage is not taking every day many many times, and cockroaches are happy! Internet connection is ridiculous! I've got Google fiber letters so many times, but I can't do it, because of management having a contract with Comcast. If you will not change it, I am going to submit a petition. Lee mas

We had the worst possible experience at the Hillcrest. Not only did we pay almost $300 a month on utilities (for the heat we couldn’t even control), we got robbed not once. Not twice. BUT 3 TIMES. We bought a garage space after the first break into our car, and one month later someone had come, cut our lock to our garage, and slashed up my convertible top, and vandalized my car!!! We asked for higher security of any kind, and they said they couldn’t do anything. It was absolutely absurd. There... were countless other horror stories from our neighbors, and there was never any action taken. There are homeless people EVERYWHERE. There was always someone sleeping in the dumpsters, with legit CRACK pipes in there hands. IM NOT KIDDING. The lack of security ALONE should prevent you from living here. Not to mention the unbearable heat that you can never turn off in the winter, or when they decide to turn it off for weeks at a time, the unbearable cold. They are constantly turning off the water, with very little notice. We also had issues with cockroaches. All and all, please stay safe and pick somewhere else to live. Lee mas

Unfortunately, the Hillcrest has declined with the new ownership's lack of spending the money needed to renovate these old, beautiful apartments. I have been living here for four years and over the last year I have experienced countless days without hot water- sometimes weeks- and the heaters have not been coming on as temperatures drop into the thirties. Management is uncooperative, indifferent, and makes excuses for the broken utilities rather than fixing them. Management has also been... untruthful about repairs, saying that we received a new boiler when in fact we never did. I used to love this apartment, but sadly it has become unlivable. Lee mas

I signed the lease because the units were newly renovated and with the convenient location and 9' foot ceilings it seemed like a dream. But my first weekend after moving in I had major water damage in my kitchen, during the summer we had multiple weekends without hot water, I've killed two cockroaches and 4 mice and now that the temperature is dropping down into the 20's at night, there are nights without heat. Three just this week!