I lived in Southgate for 3 years, in both the studio and the large one bedroom.

Pros: Garage parking, close to campus, large closets, laundry in-unit, on bus route, secure, most utilities included.

I had no issue with the actual apts. They did not use high quality materials everywhere, so even in my new apt. the cabinets were warped, but I'm just renting so I don't care. (Even though 2 years ago they had a team go through all the apts. and list all of the construction problems. Said that the doors weren't properly fitted into the doorways and many things were crooked. I am assuming Southgate did the survey in order recover costs from the contracting company.) The concrete walls meant that I NEVER heard my neighbors IN thier apts. The doors let a lot of sound through, so people having a normal convo can be heard through the door easily. This is a problem if you are in a studio, in the one bedroom I could close the bedroom door and block out the hallway noise. The cleaning and maintenence crew keep the grounds clean. There is construction, but I knew that going in and they limit construction to normal working hours, so no 6 am jackhammers. (9 am is a reasonable time for noise, so if you are trying to sleep until noon, get earmuffs)

Cons: Front office staff. Some people are helpful, but others are not. They would send me lease violations saying that my dog pooped in the hall (I don't have a dog) or that my grill needed to be moved off the balcony(I don't have a grill. I also recieved notices from accounting saying that I owed them money when I didn't. I spoke with Keffney and Ashley (I think)and they were able to get these problems fixed. They went through MULTIPLE managers while I was there, as well as leasing staff. This meant tenant-staff relations changed A LOT. No one remembers you, and almost everyone is new, and this can cause a lot of problems. For the most part you can only speak with a leasing agent, and they have little athority to make any desicions. They won't give you a phone number for accounting, management, etc. So by the time you speak with some one upstairs, you are REALLY frustrated. The office is also rather unorganized. They called me to tell me that they had mixed up/misplaced leases and they wanted to know who was living in my apt. now (They though I was the previous tenant who moved away a year earlier.) and wondered if I new the name of the person a few doors down. When I moved up to a larger apt. They had me sign one lease, only to find out some one else signed the lease, later they had me sign another lease to another apt. I paid my deposit, etc. on my new apt. Waited a month to move into my new apt. I was told that the tenants in that apt. weren't leaving, and that I would have to look for a 3rd apt. So in short, I had to sign 3 leases on 3 apts before they found one that was really available. Painful dealing with the leasing agents during the process, much better when I spoke with management (even though it took a month before I could see/ speak with them.) When I moved out I had many more problems with one leasing agent in particular. We often had to go around her to get anything done. I often did get the feeling that the staff regarded the tenants as spoiled (as one reviewer put it) or that nothing was thier fault. They need to recognize problems sooner and try to help displeased tenants asap.

User Responses
From: mrbrown2195	Date: 07/01/2008
This sounds more like the Southgate I knew and loved.
From: kbrow45	Date: 07/03/2008
dude they're not going to give u a lease violation if u didnt do anything...im sure they just accidentally posted that to ur door, were u ultimatley charged for anything? it sucks that u had probs with the staff i guess ur talking about the old staff. fyi - they sell those things that u can put at the base of the door to keep out wind, noise, etc....
From: akdrenter	Date: 07/07/2008
The only thing I want to respond to is the construction. They do not start at 9 a.m. Trust me, I live RIGHT next to the construction. It sounds like they are constructin in my bedroom. They start at 6 a.m. and several times, to pour the concrete, they had to start between 3 and 4 a.m. If you live in Tower IV you are living in a construction zone.They also do construction on Saturday again starting at 6 a.m. The staff has done what they can, its not there fault, but I did not want anyone to read this and think that the construction is not a problem. If you are thinking of moving in just be sure to rent away from the construction. You do not pay over a $1,000. a month in rent to be told to wear ear plugs. I feel that I should be free to sleep to a reasonable hour, open my windows and sit on my pourch without being disturbed by construction noise and/or workers at my back door.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/08/2008
I could be wrong about the construction times, I left SG about 2 months ago, when construction first began. Then it was a daytime only activity. My response to Kbrow, the lease violoation mix-ups just show how unorganized the staff is, and with the exception of 2 people, the new staff is the most frustrating group I have had to put up with.

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