On the history:

Mike and Marie were great, but Mike seemed to be the old owner's managing partner, with "whatever he wanted to do" authority. The new owner seems to be a big company, so I'm not surprised that Mike didn't stick around to be demoted to "submit your request to HQ" status.

At first, it seemed like the new company never managed a decent apartment complex before, and they had a lot of stupid problems. But they're learning fairly fast - the local staff seems to be getting quite capable, good at communicating, and very eager to please.

I've heard that the manager before Mike let things get really old and run-down. Mike seemed to have plenty of big/heavy upkeep projects going (repave parking lots, replace whole-building boilers and A/C's, etc.) to catch up. The new owner is almost tearing out and replacing basements "down to the dirt" to fix water/concrete/plumbing problems. I don't personally know of anything worse than a really musty storage room in my building's basement, but the new company spending big on major repairs right after buying seems like a good sign.


About the apartments:

I'm in one of the "modern" (older) buildings closer to Barton Dr. The buildings in the back half of the complex (newer and closer to the Traver Rd. entrance) are different age/layout/pricing.

Construction seems typical for good A^2 apartments of their age - nice brick exteriors, plenty of good & solid wood, metal frames on a few large doorwalls & windows, etc. None of the cheapo this, flimsy that, and paper-thin walls that get complaints in newer places.

"Old" does mean that not everything is in great shape, and each unit is a bit different. I've got *huge*, good quality, new fridge/stove/dishwasher, but the (new) disposal is a crap design. The original bathroom tile is good on the floor, but the tub & surround really needed resealing. Some of my wood doors need refinishing, and the floor creaks a lot. Be sure to look close at everything and ask for repairs & updates where it matters to you.

The free heat and A/C in the "Modern" units are powerful - my thermostat is usually set to OFF, though I'm on the top floor. The apartments are huge for a non-luxury complex, though I suspect the balconies are counted in the square footage. Laundry machines in the basement cost $1.00.

Residents seem to be mostly graduate students, foreign families, and such. There's extremly little noise beyond neighbors letting the lobby door slam - Mike had a "zero tolerance" noise policy; I don't know about the new owner.

Traver Knoll is in a nice non-student residential area with only an elementary school nearby, but lots of stuff within a quick couple miles - M-14, downtown, UM Medical Center, North Campus, Pfizer, shopping centers, parks, etc.

From experience and the A^2 Observer crime map, I suspect that meaningful crime doesn't happen here. There are squirrels, groundhogs, rabbits, skunks, raccoons, and other wildlife - when walking around at night, skunks and speeding drivers are my only safety concerns.

User Responses
From: plumberjohn	Date: 10/29/2005
a lot of the problems seem to be left over from the past owners and poor maintenance. the new managment and maintenance are trying to clean up a mess left behind
From: traverresident	Date: 01/21/2006
Discuss Traver Knoll http://groups.yahoo.com/group/traverknollresidents/

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