Of my experience living in Austin, this is by far the least recommended property on my list. We moved in while it was still privately owned, the fact that it was a small management company was part of the draw to the property. Once it changed ownership, it seemed to change rather quickly.

Back then it seemed to be more of a location for young professionals and families, very personable staff, and considerate residents. Over the past several years the quality has declined in customer service and general atmosphere. Recently it seems to be geared more toward filling occupancy than retaining relations with the tenants. The noise after-hours went from almost no disturbances to hearing drunken revelers stumbling in and fighting in the parking lot on weeknights at 2-3am on a regular basis. Seeing people pee in the bushes outside my building and setting off fireworks in the parking lot at 1AM on a separate occasion. One of my long-time neighbors experienced theft on several occasions from outside of her apartment and stated that she received a sarcastic and rude response when she reported the incidents to the office.

The office staff used to be one of the selling points for the property that convinced me to sign, now they are one of the primary reasons that I decided to move. Every instance that I experienced in the office personally or saw in their interactions with other tenants showed the staff to be extremely defensive, stand-offish and condescending. This is the first property where I felt the staff believed it should be a privilege for the tenant to live there, rather than the staff feeling privileged that the tenant resides there. They seem to have forgotten that even though they act as representatives of the owner the tenants are still customers and should be treated with respect and not contempt.

Maintenance staff is pretty good, remnants of the old staff that were always pretty nice and did a decent job of fixing anything broken and general upkeep. Physically the apartments still are pretty good, but I expect that quality to decline, given the increase in disturbances and the fact that I'm pretty sure more of the same goes on inside the apartments as I witnessed outside.

If you feel the staff is doing a great job, more power to you. I believe in different priorities with a management group than making sure I have cold coffee in the morning once every 2 months and a 101X Party at the pool. In 2 years I expect this property to be another College Park Apartments.

Take this review with a grain of salt. Under the old mgmt group I'd give this place a 4.5 out of 5, after the last several years I think I'm being generous with the ratings given. Love the area, GHV was a half mile commute to work, plenty of shopping and restaurants in walking distance. The issues were so severe that I felt no other choice than to leave the property as I knew the situation would not improve any time soon.

User Responses
From: rthymn8	Date: 09/01/2006
Are you even talking about the right property? That is not at all what Great Hills Village is like.

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