Normandie court is a mixed bag - some people living here have great experiences and some have horrible ones. With more than 1400 units there's a lot of variability - in apartment condition, views, noise, etc. While there are a lot of nice apartments here there are also a lot of awful ones, and it often takes a few weeks to realize what you have. So, be very careful when you look at apartments here because a lot of them have serious problems. The worst thing about Normandie Court is its management. Yes, they really are that bad. Everyone in the building complains about them. They are always looking for ways to charge you $$ and they are extremely unhelpful when you bring any sort of concern to their attention. Especially bad is management's hours: M-F 9-5, and some departments (billing) actually close at 3PM! So if you work during the day, good luck finding time to talk to management. Here are a list of other annoying things about this place:

The official policy of pets is under 25 pounds, but this rule is completely overlooked. My neighbor has two big dogs which are probably 50 pounds each.

The laundry room is incredibly overpriced ($2.10 for washers and $2.10 for dryers). The machines themselves are pretty small and don't even have softener dispensers. Plus the room is managed by an outside company so if a machine eats your money you have to call an 800 number during business hours and request a check mailed to you. I should also mention the room gets very crowded on weekends so if you're not there when the dryer is done it's likely someone will take your stuff out.

The A/C is manually controlled - there's no thermostat so don't think you'll be able to come home to a cool apt without leaving it on all day. Think on/off. And it seems to be a pretty inefficient system because, for a 1br unit, using the A/C will jack your electric bill up $150/month.

Management is very difficult with moving- you are not allowed to move anything after 4PM, no exceptions. And you have to get management's approval to move anything large - furniture, mattress, etc. Being that the management office is only open 9-5 M-F this can prove to be a very annoying policy. Imagine buying some furniture on the weekend...you would not even be allowed to take it up to your apartment!

The gym hours suck - they close at 6PM on the weekends. Not only that, but you have to pay for the gym and it's not cheap. It's roughly $700 for a year if you pay in advance. And they won't even be nice enough to give you guest passes - that's $16 a pop if you want to bring a friend on the weekend.

Bike storage - $100/year.

That's all I can say for now. So can you see why I won't be renewing my lease'

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/03/2009
This review is spot on. Also do not forget their new policy of charging you $25 to use the spare key you must provide to the doormen (who are also worthless).
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/08/2009
Well, like you say there's a lot of variability. I have lived here more than 3 years. Yes, management stinks. They cannot be bothered about much except charging you for everything. However, the rest of the building staff are great, and sometimes fabulously helpful. I rarely have to deal with management so my esperience is pretty good. The few times I have needed maintenance they have been there without a problem. Moving stuff is certainly a problem, but small stuff I never have an issue with and big stuff I arrange anyway. The laundry room is a mess, for sure, and overpriced. My A/C certainly has a thermostat. The fan is on/off, but the compressor is not. Anyway, why would you run it all day - apartments are small so they cool down. Sorry, but there are some problems with this building, but that's not one of them.
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/13/2009
I agree with the anonymous statement above. Although management is really rude and lacks comassion, at times it works to your advantage- for example, if a maintenance request is not being completed in a timely manor (which is rare) going to Julie will get it done in about 5 seconds because of the completely horrific way she speaks to the maintenance staff to get things done for a tenant. As far as the doormen, I think the statement above calling them worthless is completely out of line. They work very hard to deal with very difficult, demanding people in this building . Imagine having only 3 people working at one time to deal with 3 full buildings of apartments on a weekend all calling for stupid requests- not only are they helping in the lobby with luggage, groceries etc but they are answering the calls for maintenance and creating work orders as well. Don't knock them until you look at what they deal with on a daily basis, not to mention how horribly they can be treated by management at times.
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/29/2009
I agree with a lot of what was said above. I've lived here almost 3 years and the management is THE WORST. They don't return phone calls, they don't respond to emails and they find any way possible to charge you more money for unnecessary stuff. I will be moving out after this lease because it's not worth dealing with Julie. However, the doormen are 99% of the time awesome. They're very friendly and helpful. But because of the management they're very adherent to all "rules". They're so afraid to get fired it's really sad. I was not allowed to bring a flattened box in through the lobby, I was made to go through the plaza. really?!? I've had mostly good experiences with the maintenence and never had any mice or roaches. The common areas are well kept and I appreciate the fresh flowers in the lobby and the well tended landscaping. The laundry room is a disaster because there's not nearly enough of those over priced machines that are actually working on a regular basis. Oh, and about the gym...I think you can only get 6 or 12 month memberships. So if you're like me and don't want to commit to that or just want to be able to use the sundeck and pool during the summer...not a chance. And the $16 guest fee is crazy when you consider how much it costs to be a member to begin with.
From: Relative123	Date: 09/19/2009
"you have to pay for the gym and it's not cheap. It's roughly $700 for a year if you pay in advance" Why does my relative pay $600 a year for the gym? You people need to get together and make sure you're all charged the same for everything!

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