Managed by: The Worthing Companies

These apartments are very nice on the outside - of course they are brand new and clean and located adjacent to parkland with a nice new Allen park just down the road. The landscaping is so so, of course pretty in the front but average elsewhere. It is a large complex.

It seems what they have going for them is the vast array of "luxury" resident services such as laundry service. Also a nice conference room, game room, pool area, and a little cafe area as well with kitchen.

You could say the resident services justifies the high cost of rent at The Heights at Allen Station, but the apartment units themselves are no great shakes. Sure the kitchen is beautiful with dark wood cabinetry and shiny granite countertops, but the rest of the apartments seemed average to me. The highest square foot 1-bed (A3 model, 924 square foot, $1060-$1105 market rent, $885-$920 on "special" reduced rent) has a boring boxy living room, but the separate dining room is kind of cool (small but unique).

The balconies are generally a bit tiny and so are the outdoor storage closets (these are VERY tiny). Bedrooms seemed a bit small to me with not much wallspace at all (not good for those with two or more dressers, etc.). Bathrooms seemed average and the 2nd bathroom I saw in the 2 Bedroom 2 Bath unit (model B2 1187 square feet, $1340-$1390 market rent, $1115-$1160 "special" reduced rent) was not even a garden (rounded) tub but rather was a smallish rectangular tub with average looking faucets. The countertops in the bathrooms looked a bit cheapy to me.

The area around these apartments is growing, as suburbs are ever expanding. Still, the feel is quiet and far out from town. There is still quite a bit of vacant land around the complex.

In the final analysis, it seems to me this apartment community (managed by The Worthing Companies) is trying to sell nice but average apartments in East Allen at downtown Dallas prices. For the "market rate" they are citing in their paperwork you could seriously get a loft apartment in uptown or downtown Dallas - or most certainly in ritzy West Plano or West Allen. But for their location they are charging way too much and they will likely be forced to lower their rates.

Also noteworthy:

Their requirement that you get renter's insurance before renting here. I never heard of an apartment community requiring that, but I guess it covers them in case of damage to your unit. Tack on another $10-$15 per month depending on your policy.

Rent at Heights at Allen Station is already high enough - but they state your income must be at least 3 times monthly MARKET rent. This is a critical distinction. Market rent is not the rent you pay - it is MUCH HIGHER, sort of like retail price vs. actual sales price. This means that if you want to rent the A3 924 square foot 1-bed unit your 3x income is based on $1060-$1105 rather than the "reduced rent" of $885-$920. Thus on the lower end you need to make $3180 per month in order to qualify which according to initial calculations equals out to over $40K per year. Now WHO is making that kind of money in East Allen' And WHO would be making that kind of money and living THERE instead of some place with a bit more action (like uptown/downtown Dallas)'

To end on a positive note, their website is very good (www.heightsallenstation.com).

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/12/2007
Seems to me you gave the place a glowing endorsement. What may be high priced to you might not be high priced to someone else.

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