I've lived here for 8 months, when I was looking for places to live I came to this site and noticed a lot of bad reviews from prior years that almost turned me away. Decided to show up for an open-house and get a tour of the building and some sample apartments. Moved in 2 weeks later.
Overall Impression:
I've been satisfied with my time here. It leaves a little to be desired on finishing touches and quality of appliances/fixtures, but for the price I'm paying I can't really complain all that much. The only real complaint I have is the outer windows which were the originals for the building.
Positives:
-Price for the size of the apartment, and the neighborhood is extremely reasonable. Comparisons to other apartment complexes considered. Quality of the apartments is up and down depending on which complex you go to, but overall I think 55 of the Park has a decent balance of price for quality/size.
-Location location location. Across from the park, near restaurants, bars, the XL Center. Extremely easy access to both I-91 and I-84.
-Granite countertops are pleasing to the eye, easy to clean.
-Maintenance guy is extremely helpful if you can find him. He's around from 8-5 I think, and generally will be found cleaning something somewhere.
-Packages are all signed for at the front desk and if you don't pick them up they will drop them off in your apartment for you.
-Moving in was a decently easy process with the loading dock. They will reserve an elevator for you and provide large carts to move your stuff around.
-Laundry on each floor, with brand new washers and dryers installed last week.
Negatives:
-Finishing touches seem rushed for a "luxury" apartment building.
-The fixtures and cabinetry are much more on the low end of the spectrum, again...only a problem if you're really looking for a "luxury" apartment building as they advertise to be.
-Old windows which can be difficult to open and close by yourself depending on your height/level of strength, and depending on which apartment you get. It's a crapshoot, basically. They are thin, heavy, and allow for streetnoise and air leaks. The noise isn't an issue for me, I'm used to the urban environment and would go crazy if it was too quiet.
-Building is limited to Comcast only cable. No option to use AT&T for their Fiber Optic service...if you hate Comcast this might put you off.
-One washer and one dryer on each floor seems a bit ridiculous for a building with this many units...
-Building management is hard to contact. Phone number provided only goes to a voicemail box, including the emergency line. When you move in make sure you get every number possible (office/cell) for building management employees.
Other notes:
Parking isn't run by building management, but by an outside vendor called LAZ Parking. The attendants for the most part are nice and move cars around if you are blocked in. There isn't much as far as snow removal is concerned, so be prepared to clean off your car, and dig it out of the snow yourself the next morning. They're recently increased night security so there are less break-ins. I haven't heard of any break-ins to cars in the lot since the first month I moved in (June 08).

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/11/2009
how was electricity set up for this apartment? i called cl-p and they said that the apartment is only set up for the owner of the entire building, does the building bill you???
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/11/2009
I believe CL-P bills to Energy Management Systems as one bill for the building. Then EMS takes care of the individual apartment billing like any utility company does, by doing meter readings for each apartment. You pay EMS rather than CL-P. I never had any problems with incorrect meter readings or being over-charged. But be prepared to have them not send you bills for 2 months, and then give you a bill on that third month for the balance of the 3 months total.

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