I am a current resident of Design Place and to say it's a terrible place to live is an understatement.
Lets start with the location. 54th and Biscayne is not the place you want to be no matter what time of the day. Although the community is "gated" you never get the feeling you are truly safe, and to go outside those walls without being armed is not a wise decision.
But lets talk about what Design Place can control. Those in charge do very little to help you when you ask, and they avoid you at all costs. Frank Leonor is the main Landlord and he does whatever he can to make sure he doesn't have to talk to you. I tried to make numerous appointments to speak with him about a major termite problem and he blew me off time and time again. Even when he said we could talk, he never showed up and never gave a phone call to let me know he was not coming.
The situation lasted five weeks, and the apartment was not livable. Thousand of termites swarmed our apartment and when it came time for compensation from Frank, he only gave a small portion of the rent as compensation. Never once offered to help ... only after pursing his assistance every day for so long did he finally give in to SOMETHING, but barely anything.
The appliances are all from 1921, as the stove is Gas and never works properly. The A/C unit is located in the living room and does not reach the bedrooms. Your electric Bill can be as high as $200 in Summer months, and that's if you run the A/C most of the time with no other appliances on.
You frequently get Roaches, Worms and Lizards in addition to the termite problem the apartments have. The floors are cheap carpet, and the bar in our apartment is not even finished! When we moved in, the outlets were all wired improperly so the Bathroom switch turned on the Kitchen light and vice-verse.
The Laundry Room is a Disaster, located at the far end for us of the complex. So disgusting it is, that sometimes I hold my nose when doing the laundry. I think it gets cleaned every leap year, but you might want to ask Frank about that (Good luck getting a hold of him!)
All in all, if I had to rate Design Place on a Scale of 1 to 10, I gladly give it a 0. We were stupid to move in so fast, and am hoping that those who read this do not make the same mistake we did.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/24/2009
i must rethink about a move there
From: Plshelpme	Date: 07/22/2009
Do you happen to know what the # of the Corporate office is or what the name of the corporate office is? They refuse to give this information and I desperately need it!
From: DesignPlaceBad	Date: 07/26/2009
Sorry ... no idea. If you can MOVE OUT NOW!!!!!

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