San Riva at the Foothills

Nice apartments, but… From: -Anonymous- Date posted: 1/8/2006 Years at this apartment: 2005 - 2006   Think long and hard before plopping down up to a cool quarter million for one of these units. It is interesting to see that the company, Madison Development Group (who'), bought the complex for about 110k a unit. There asking, on the average, double that for each unit. All the units are pretty much as is. I have lived here (as a renter) since June, and these are very nice apartments. Nice location overlooking South Mountain and the Gila River Indian Reservation away from the hustle and bustle of Ahwatukee’s strip mall districts. When I heard they were going condo, I was very interested in buying a unit, until I saw the price. All Madison has done to these apartments is give the exterior a fresh coat of paint, and put some new fixtures in the units. The fixtures include a new garbage disposal, new kitchen faucets, and ugly track lighting (mine were installed upside-down) in the bathroom. But to their credit, Madison is replacing the cheap worn out carpet in vacant apartments with cheap new carpet. Other condo conversion in Ahwatukee are gutting their units, and letting new owners choose color schemes, cabinets, tile, etc. However, other then the items I mentioned, San Riva is doing nothing, just marking up the price they bought if for by 100%. There are multiple problems with the unit I currently rent. These problems have probably been around since they threw this place together back in 1999. My water in the kitchen is not connected properly, resulting in cold water going into my dishwasher. The new management solved this by replacing my dishwasher (and no they didn’t fix the cold water input). The shower also malfunctions when you adjust the cold water. There are burn marks and patches in my linoleum and carpet, something Madison will refuse to fix even if I bought the unit. Additionally the walls, floors and ceilings are ridiculously thin. I can hear every single step my upstairs neighbor makes, and it’s pretty clear that there is no insulation or sound proofing between the floors. The air conditioning is pretty poor, and rattles very loudly when operational. The windows a single pane and let in a ton of light, which results in high cooling costs during the long summer months. Beware of the sales agents. They use the same tactics as most run of the mill used car salesman. Make sure you ask them about the highway. For more information about the highway, visit SouthMountainFreeway.com. The highway will travel right by the southern part of the complex, possibly taking 100 units with it. (Please see the article http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/1115a and SouthMounainFreeway.com for more info). Once the highway comes in, it is sure to decrease the value of the property, making it harder to sell. They will probably try to tell you that the Freeway will go on the Indian land, miles south, but the Gila River ------- want no part of it. Most likely it will be built on top of Pecos road, and all the free land adjacent to it. For info, make sure to the Ahwatukee section of the Arizona Republic for more info (http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/). Another thing that bugged me about the sales staff was their willingness to tell me what my neighbors were doing about buying. The associate I spoke with often would tell me who was buying, and what unit they were going to buy. I am pretty sure this is a violation of Fair Housing, but they would say anything to get me to sign. I was also shocked to see the Condo Association Fee. For a two bedroom unit, it was well over 200 dollars a month. They will not tell you about the Foothills fee (on top of your Association) but it runs about 250 dollars a year. Add in taxes, maintenance, and its not looking good. I wouldn’t tell all to stay away. It might not be a bad deal for golfers looking for a winter home. But for barley out of college, single working guys such as myself, I would rather save my money. Ask every question you can think and do your homework before buying if you are that desperate for real-estate in Ahwatukee.

Recommended: NO Overall Rating

Parking: Maintenance: Construction: Noise:

Grounds: Safety: Office Staff:

I'm the author!

Lived here?

Disclaimer: No attempt has been made to verify or assure the accuracy of the claims made by the author of this opinion or responses. You must judge the truthfulness of any review and accept responsibility for your use of this information.

10 Things Smart Renters Know About Apartment Hunting    How to Break Your Lease Legally