I'll start with the good...

The location is great, but a little noisy. Before you get a place on the first floor, make sure the A/C units are not located right outside of your window like they are mine...it made for some frustrating nights of sleep until I got used to it.

The apartments are new, so they're in pretty good condition. New appliances and what not.

Alright I'm done with the good.

The bad...way overpriced. I had to rent in a hurry and an apartment locater found this one for me. I wish I had looked even down the street for a better price. West campus is expensive, but this place takes it to a new level.

Expect puke on your balcony/porch.

Expect to pay every single utility. Yes, believe it or not, Austin Investments does not even pay for trash pickup or water disposal! So on top of high rent, expect high utility bills.

Lighting is godawful.

Parking gets an "adequate" only because it's a garage. The garage design is absolutely terrible...I have some difficulty navigating the super tight turns with my small wagon. Car paint scraped on every corner gives me the impression that others have had a battle with it also. My roomates drive large trucks, and for them it's a nightmare. One simply cannot fit his truck in the parking spot assigned (the other uses all of one spot and part of the other), so he has to park on the roof...so much for covered parking.

Expect trash to be everywhere, even though you pay for it to be picked up. Red cups, etc. constantly riddled the area.

Crappy floorplans. Luckily, I got the big room in the "cheaper" 3/2, but my roomates rooms are both tiny. Fortunately for them, they have no hobbies other than playstation, and one does not even use a desk, so they had enough room. The living/dining area is set up terribly though. There is no good place to put the tv or a couch, so we've ended up watching my nice 30in tv from about 5 feet away. The problem is that the living room is long and narrow, with doors at both ends that you cannot block with a couch or tv. Keep that in mind if you have a tv larger than 10in, or expect more than 3 people to be able to watch tv at a time.

The area is sort of safe, but don't be out in the street at night. There have been breakins on the street, as well as fights, and just the other day a guy got hit by a truck, which promptly drove away, in keeping with the general "f*** you" attitude of west campus.

Walls are very thin. Luckily the neighbors on my side are some quiet engineers, but expect to hear every whisper from adjacent rooms. I've spent many long nights with pillows over my ears...

We're on the first floor, so we got a nice looking porch, but as it turns out it's really just a convenient place for people to puke/throw trash. There is a lock on the gate, but it's one of the dumbest things I've ever seen...a dead bolt lock on a barred gate...in case you haven't figured it out, you can just stick your hand through the bars and unlock it. There are no electrical outlets or a water faucet outside, so really don't expect to use your porch for anything but walking through.

Did I mention the management sucks' Craig Coffee, the evil mastermind behind Austin Investments, is one of the greediest SOB's I've ever seen. He really just does not care about his tenants. He's just happy to be making tons of money off of a bunch of rich kids, and me. Forget about 9 month leases; it's gotta be a year. Forget about maintenance for at least a week, and don't even bother leaving messages for Coffee. Just call him over and over again until he says he'll send someone, and then continue to call him until he does. We've only had a few minor problems, but Mr. Coffee apparently cannot even handle those few problems encountered in an almost brand new complex. Mr. Coffee will charge you for throwing your trash in the wrong trash can. Yes, that's what I said.

I haven't yet moved out, but I am expecting a stiff penalty for a few small scratches on the walls and bent blinds (idiot roomates), and possibly for dust behind the washer/dryer in my otherwise pristine apartment. That's just the way Coffee works.

The verdict: If you're a super rich young idiot who likes going to the gym and drinking beer, and your parents pay for anything and everything without exception, and you like terrible floor plans and everything else discussed above, and you don't have any pets, and you want to sell your soul to Austin Investments and Craig Coffee, 900 West 23rd (the lazy SOB could not even come up with a real name!!!) might be for you.

As for me, I'm moving North, where I can get a better floor plan with more space in a little bit older apartments with better maintenance at less than half the price.

User Responses
From: girlintheworld	Date: 07/25/2006
You said everything right... Craig Coffee is the ----- and I can't wait to move out!
From: Tisha14	Date: 01/25/2009
Yes it is crappy that you have to pay almost all the bills, but just thought other readers should know that trash is actually the one bill that IS included if I remember right.

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates