The Allison Condominiums
  (formerly Scottsdale Desert Shadows Apartments)

This Place Is Pretty Bad From: -Anonymous- Date posted: 3/16/2006 Years at this apartment: 2003 - 2006   I have lived here for a few years and this place is pretty bad. When Desert Shadows changed management to the current one, things went from bad to worse. They re-arranged parking spots so tenants had to park far away from their buildings claiming that it would fix the parking problem. It didn't, as people still park in other people's spots including ours. The manager of the complex doesn't seem to know her job too well and seems to spend more time smoking than helping the residents. Most of the time when I drive up to get my mail she is standing outside smoking or talking to someone. When you have a complaint she seems pretty unconcerned as does her staff. The maintenance is terrible and getting them to fix anything is a pain. Often times when they do show up they do such a lousy job that they end up having to come back several times. Last year this place was supposed to go condo and we ended up getting notices on our door claiming they had to inspect the apartments but would not tell us why. This has happened several times in the past 6 months. Apparently, the complex was supposed to be sold and thus the inspections but we have heard rumors that the deal fell through. Trying to get a straight answer from the management has been tough. I have heard many residents moved because of the supposed conversions probably because they felt they were being pushed out. We have heard they are allowing residents to get long term leases again because of the condo deal falling through, however the price in rent is being raised considerably, about $100 or more. That is much more than we can afford to pay. I guess they care more about the money than the residents. Today we got a notice on our door giving us 48 hours notice that they need to access our apartment for another inspection but still the management does not list why. What kind of people are running this place' It almost seems like they are giving us residents notices in order to have an excuse to access our apartments in order to look for something. We were not the only one who got a notice today for inspection. It seems a little strange considering a few months ago they had one. Kids still run around this complex riding their bikes on the sidewalks requiring other residents to have to step out of the way. They also leave their bikes in the middle of the walkways for someone to trip over them. Management doesn't seem to care even though we've complained. Our neighbors are often noisy and the police have been here to deal with complaints. Apparently the management takes no action to deal with trouble or loud residents. The neighbor next door to us seems to blast his stereo late at night causing us to lose a bit of sleep. I have to wonder what is next with this place' Things seem to fall apart. The dishwasher is terrible and doesn't really clean our dishes too well. The dishwasher, dryer and even our stove/oven are pretty old. Nothing seems to work well at all. Apparently they are too cheap to replace anything here. The place is pretty poor power wise. Our power bill seems pretty high for a place this size. We know people who own homes that are much bigger than our apartment and their power bill is a bit lower. Obviously this place was poorly constructed and the insilation is terrible. Our power bill is very high in the summer as well as the winter. It would be cool if the managemet company that owns this place cleans house and gets rid of the current management to better qualified people. If you are looking to rent here run away as fast as you can and look elsewhere. The only pluses about this place is the area is halfway decent to live in but that is about it.

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.

Pets Not Accepted: Should You Sneak Your Cat or Dog In Anyway? - Sep 29    Apartment Move-In Inspection Tips - Sep 22    How to Get Rid of Mice, Part 2 - Sep 15    Decorating from Smart Garage Sale Purchases - Sep 08    When Your Apartment is a Cell Phone Dead Zone - Sep 01    10 Things Smart Renters Know About Apartment Hunting    How to Break Your Lease Legally