When reading comments on different apartment complexes, I see they are quite bipolar: half of the comments seem to be from disgruntled renters who seem to have a vendetta against the apartment: the other half the reviews are candy coated and seem to be designed to offset the disgruntled renters What I would like to give is a balanced review. The good and the bad about the Laurels:

My situation:
I lived in the "02" (East) complex, 4th floor, facing Zanker. I was the first renter for the apartment (you could still smell the newness of the rug).

The good:
Brand spanking new complex. Great facilities (business center, fitness room, pool, jacuzzi, lots of BBQ grills). Because of the prices, the other renters are working professionals which means settled down neighbors. The adequate soundproofing also helped. The staff was friendly, albeit often busy. The maintenance staff was helpful and friendly. The apartment is situated in North San Jose, near alot of tech firms...this made the neighborhood quiet on the weekends and after 7 pm.

The central heating and air ran well and no funny odors, as sometimes occurs in big systems.

Very close to a light rail station, and about a mile and half away from a shopping center which includes a Safeway (a previous poster said the Safeway supermarket was at least 30-45 minutes away...I walked there in 30 minutes once, but by car it took me 5-10 minutes, most of that time was wasted in the 5 mph parking lots or waiting for the traffic lights on 1st street to turn green).

The bad:
Staff turnover: When I agreed to move in, it was on short notice (2 weeks) and the place just opened. Upon arrival, I was told my leasing agent was no longer working with them and all of the agreements had to be renegotiated. Although this won't happen to you, the turnover is high: I only recognised 1 person (the community manager) as being there the whole 13 months I lived there.

Verbal agreements with staff: When I received my annual renewal notice, the minimum renewal was listed as 10 months, so I went down to the office to ask if I could get something a bit shorter. The two people at the renewal office said I could get a 7 month renewal option, but I would have to act by a specific date. I told them I would get back to them by that date. I did get back to them before that date, and told them I would take the terms of the 7 month lease. They told me it was no longer an option and I had to sign the 10 month lease. I was annoyed that they didn't hold to their word, and they knew that they just changed their agreement, but pretended the conversation never occurred.

Electronic directory at entrances: They could never get my name in the electronic door directory. I asked on no less than 3 occassions, but my name never showed up in the directory, so I would always have to walk down to the ground floor to let visitors in (rather than buzzing them in)

Mechanical glitches: The electronic vehicle gate for underground parking on the "02" side frequently broke down. You would have to use the vehicle entrance closest to the main office. Also, an elevator in the back occassionally malfunction, enough so that I got to know the man who came and fixed it on more than one occassion by name. I guess alot of this was because of the newness, and hopefully is in good working order when you read this.

Construction: They are building 2 more complexes across the street. It can get noisey at times, especially early in the day. The construction vehicles are a hassle to navigate around since the streets aren't wide enough for 2 vehicle lanes when one of them is a bulldozer.

Junk Mail Recycling: They don't have a recylcing bin near the mailboxes, so every other day, the trashcans near the mailboxes are overflowing with flyers, leaflets and junk mail.

Getting your deposit back: They do take out some very high fees, so you aren't going to get back much at all.

Summary
It was a nice place to live. Expensive, but if it wasn't, then it would attract less well behaved renters. The peace and quiet made it well worth it for me.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/13/2007
So weird...I was told by a leasing attendant that I could have a 6.5 month lease (special because of timing or something). When I looked at the lease with a different leaser, it said 7 months! I realize the difference is only 2 weeks, but when I asked about it, the guy just told me the first leasing agent was incorrect. I emailed that leasing agent about the discrepancy, and she never responded. So, because of other circumstances, 7 mos. turned out to be fine. It is just weird that they didn't do what they said they'd do.
From: biggeek	Date: 11/13/2008
The Irvine Company uses some kind of staggered lease equation with North Park designed to minimize the effect of people all moving out at the same time.

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