I and my college buddy roommate have just been approved for a ground floor 2 bedroom apartment (model D) at Renaissance Terrace (on Azalea Drive) and will be moving in this summer. We did some serious research and I can say without hesitation that the various Renaissance apartment properties offer very good accommodations for a reasonable rent. (Disregard my ratings for Noise and Maintenance, since I don't yet have the experience of living here yet.)

There are 3 separate properties managed by the rental office on Lisa Place - Renaissance Manor (on Lisa Place), Renaissance Terrace (Azalea Drive), and Mae Brook at Renaissance (not sure of the street name). They are similar in terms of apartment layouts, retns, and age of the property. There is also the Glen at Renaissance, which has it's own rental office. The Glen is the newest and the most expensive, but it also includes an attached garage, which is nice.

These comments are from my recent experience renting the 2Br/2Ba at Renaissance Terrace.

Office Staff - First off, I am very surprised by some negative comments expressed toward the rental office. I dealt with Lana and Marina and found them to be nice, straightforward and helpful. I guess if you treat others nicely, they reflect your behavior back to you. So if you have problems with them, look in the mirror and clean up your act. Lana in particular was very helpful - I am moving in from out of state and she was great working with my schedule and starting the application process over the phone.

Parking - The amount of parking spaces that are reasonably near your particular building will vary, but there is plenty of parking on the complex grounds. I could see, however, where you might need to double park if you are unloading lots of groceries or such to be right in front of your building, then find a parking spot somewhere nearby, but I doubt you will be inconvenienced by parking issues. By the way, I checked out the age and condition of vehicles in the parking lot as a proxy for the types of neighbors I will encounter. To a car, they were in good shape and clean, some showy and sporty, some just your regular car. To me, if people take good care of their cars, they will probably take reasonable care of their apartment.

Apartment Condition - We got access to the actual unit we will be renting (always a must). Very impressed with the space, the cleanliness, and the workmanship in general. I heard from my upstairs soon-to-be-neighbor that he had some initial problems with a leaking window, but the landlord got it fixed in a reasonable time. The shades are pretty cheap, though. Semi-opaque and the roller assembly is not a bar that goes through the shade but rather two pretty flimsy cardboard inserts. We'll see. Other than that though, the apartment is in great shape. We particularly like the "D" layout because the bedrooms are on separate sides of the living space. The 2nd bedroom is about 1/3 smaller than the Master, but the 10-foot-wide closet is ample. Both bedrooms have their own, separate bathroom with full tub/shower. We also like the two entrances - nice safety feature.

Grounds - Georgeous! Granted, I was here in the spring and everything was lush and green and the flowering crabs were in full majesty. But this is modern, relatively new, clean and in good shape. This is part of the overall Renaissance development, which includes not only several apartment complexes but also townhouses/condominiums that are owned by the residents, as well as single family homes. There is also a great shopping center in the development - you don't need travel on Route 130. There is a ShopRite, an Ace Hardware, Hollywood Video, Beverage Store, Hair Cuttery, a grill-type restaurant, a Japanese restaurant and several other stores, plus a bank. Very, very convenient. You can walk to the ShopRite from Renaissance Manor (but not my place).

Neighbors - I met my upstairs neighbor and he was open and friendly. Loves it here, as I'm sure anyone would.

Final comment - I snagged the last apartment among the 3 properties that was available for the summer. That alone should tell you all you need to know about the desirability of the Renaissance apartment complexes.

User Responses
From: rutgersgradstudent	Date: 06/03/2008
Can someone tell me what heat/gas is for a month??? Thanks
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/12/2008
Winter - $250 Spring - $125 Summer - yet to be seen

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