The Strawberry Apartments

I read some bad reviews, but then heard they had a new management company. It is true, and everything went smoothly. The property is nice and I don't have any issues. AC and washer and dryer is a big plus!

The management is unreliable and unreachable. Don't stay here ever..

Older property that has been remodeled, has a cozy feel and is close to campus.

Here's a list of some(NOT ALL) of my issues while living at the Strawberry:

Electric Bill: If you are not careful, you could easily use 40 KWH a DAY here in the winter(which is more than the average home). This is due to everything using electricity. You have an electric heater(3.5KWH, EXPENSIVE!!!) rather than a gas heater, along with an electric water heater. There are also electric heating coils in the ceiling which aren't worth touching because they are terribly inefficient. We bought a... small 1500 watt space heater and just move it from room to room to save some power, which has helped a bit- but you sacrifice a warm home.

Hot Water: The electric water heater is in the kitchen under the counter, looks terrible. It is also tiny. You also pay for it in your power bill :). I like to take hot showers and the longest the hot water will last is like 8 minutes. That leaves no hot water for anyone else, it then takes over an hour to get hot again. If someone has been doing dishes recently then the hot water will last even less time.

Kitchen: You have to be there to experience how bad the kitchen is. The cabinets are probably as old a byui itself, and their "renovation" looks like it was done by a bunch of middle schoolers with a paint brush. Everything is painted over with white, besides for the insides of the cabinets which really show the age of the place. The white paint is chipping off which makes it look worse. The cabinet doors and drawers are crooked, and overall in terrible condition. The insides of the cabinets are terrifying. The kitchen is just jank.

Bathroom: I haven't seen anything like the shower before. There are no shelves or anything, the walls are not tile or plastic, just tan walls in the shower. The shower sealant is all cracked. The tub is old was super dirty when we moved in. Everything in the whole apartment was dirty when we moved in. There was also extensive water damage on the ceiling. The Bathroom vanity is so small. No place to store anything in the bathroom, besides for a tiny area under the sink. Everything feels kid sized.

Poor Insulation: The place gets cold very very fast. It is due to poor insulation and cold drafts that come up from beneath the baseboards and around the windows. It is just a super old place. Your desperate heating efforts will reflect on your power bill. Read More

Summary
My family and neighbors hated living at The Strawberry. Regular flooding, expensive heating/cooling, expensive utilities due to poor wiring, slow internet, no ventilation, constant humid/dusty/molding continued a toxic environment. Do not live here. Look elsewhere if you can help it.

Context
My family lived at The Strawberry for ONE YEAR in a basement apt. The building was labeled as “renovated,” which mainly meant poorly repainted walls and poorly installed appliances and windows. We... and other neighbors signed leases without knowing renovations were incomplete. Online photos we looked at were inaccurate when we arrived. Befriending neighbors revealed they too had near equal problems and MANY moved out quickly.

The UGLY
Persistent MOLD existed in the apt underneath the floorboards and in the walls were caused by regular FLOODING (4 times) from broken sprinklers aimed at bedroom windows and also snow and rain leaking water through the cracks in the windows and between the walls and floor. Management’s attempts to fix this failed multiple times.
EXPENSIVE heating/cooling - Coils in the ceiling heated the apt at usually $150-$200 per month during the winter. We switched to the AC window unit exclusively which cost between $80-$120 a month for heat. Summer Cooling: $60-$80 cost. Uninsulated windows and open cracks around the AC leak cold air (Bad for winter).
EXPENSIVE electric bill - Power bills reported electric waste somewhere in the walls due to improper wiring we couldn’t find. We could have nearly everything turned off (except for the fridge, water heater, and oven) and the bill reports were almost always more than $80.
INACCURATE Online photos
DRUGS: Strangers/residents regularly smoked weed and other drugs on the property, despite Legacy’s email notification to stop it.

The BAD:
No ventilation + dust buildup despite cleaning all floors and surfaces daily.
Constant bugs (spiders and centipedes)
Child sized shower and Vanity
Unlevel floor throughout unit.
Slow Wifi
Stairway cleanliness is regularly dirtied by lawn care services. Not cleaned by management. Immense dirt buildup.

THE GOOD:
We loved the ward and Bishop. Free parking with no car limit.

Management Review:
We liked Legacy Management for trying to fix problems quickly, but many problems simply couldn’t be fixed, such as the presence of mold. It is Legacy’s mistake to manage this property. They, however, always answered our calls and work orders were done relatively quickly. Read More