The physical existence of the apartment is nice -- it's new and sparkly, nice modern appliances.

My only real complaint in that department ist that there are no screens on the windows -- of any of the apartments -- which kind of precludes opening the windows. That sucks.

I think the apartments are nice -- but this is NOT a luxury apartment building. They don't provide any of the amenities beyond that which you can get at any apartment in the metro area (a small gym with limited hours and a pool). To me, luxury means continental breakfast, special concierge-type services, a security guard, etc... None of this stuff exists any longer at Highlands on Ponce. And the ATM access touted on the website -- I have no clue what that is.

My biggest complaints (as with most people) are about the security and the noise. There used to be a security officer on premises -- in the parking deck -- which was nice, considering I almost always have to park in the deck across the street. The noise from North Ave. (where the apt. faces) is understandable and really doesn't bother me. What does bother me is the Club Kid upstairs, who constantly stomps back and forth across his apartment like he's some sort of pacesetter in platforms. And the loudest noise of all' Yeah, that would be the building's FIRE ALARM -- which has gone off at least three times in the past month in the middle of the night -- for no reason. The first time, we actually went outside at 3:30 a.m. (you know, being tired sounds better than being burned alive). The fire dept. came after 10 minutes and checked the whole building -- reporting that there was no fire but that they had no key to turn off the alarm, which was behind a locked door. A call to the security officer/emergency number went unheeded for 30 minutes. I cannot explain in words how deafeningly loud this alarm is. I felt like my brain was hemmorhaging. When it happened again, I opened the window on North Ave and asked a guy walking by if he saw any smoke pouring from the building. When he said, "No..." -- we went back to bed. Then last week, it happened again -- and I opened the apartment door -- looked across the hall to another tenant doing the same thing. We shrugged our shoulders, went back into our apartments and prayed we weren't wrong about the false alarms. One day it's going to be the real thing and people are going to die -- but mgmt. doesn't seem concerned. They did have some people out checking the alarms IN the apts. on Thursday, so I hope that will be the end of the alarm problem.

My boyfriend's Jeep has been broken into at least twice -- change stolen and whatnot... another tenant said he often found homeless people sleeping inside the elevators in the winter (they get in through the parking gates, I guess, when people drive in). I understand that living in that neighborhood, you're going to encounter more crime than you do in Virginia Highlands -- but you know what, if this complex is going to charge $1100 for a one-bedroom, then they need to take steps to help ensure the safety of their tenants and their tenants' belongings! We will not be renewing in December. I'd rather pay less money and live somewhere that I feel safe walking to my car at 12:30 at night.

Overall, the place has the potential to be a really great apartment complex -- but it ain't there right now. And there are just too many choices in this city and in this renter's market to pay that kind of money for that place.

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