If you?ve surfed this site, you?ll see plenty of complaints from tenants in another complex owned by Pinnacle Realty (Gentry?s Walk). This is no coincidence at all. Pinnacle also has another poorly managed and poorly maintained complex just down the road from Gentry?s Walk that goes by the name of Venterra@Water?s Edge, or the apartment formerly known as The Marquis. Though the experience wasn?t nearly as nightmarish as what the folks at Gentry?s Walk are experiencing, I found myself counting the months and days until my lease expired after only a one week stay. The shabby conditions and atmosphere, poor service, and the horrendous track record of Pinnacle should send warning flags to any potential rentors.

The exterior looks like it was designed decades ago by a brain damaged chimp. The parking area surrounds the complex, with an entrance and exit gates on each side of the management office. Here?s the kicker: the parking lot is one-way. So if you?re not fortunate enough to live near the entrance gate or the exit gate wasn?t left open, you?ll have to go full circle around the complex to get to your place which would otherwise take only a few seconds to get to. Also, the layout of the complex means you?ll either likely get a view of other apartment buildings in the complex, the view of high-beam headlights from the parking lot at 2 a.m., or the view of the lovely pool (moat) they have.

To compliment the drab buildings, you also get a disgusting pool and waste-filled, trash-filled, grounds. The fresh smell of dog crap and garbage left in front of inconsiderate tenants? doors often fills the air. As for the pool, it isn?t really a pool. Think of it as a moat. It?s a long, narrow channel that stretches through the heart of the complex. Instead of the blue water you?re accustomed to in many sanitary pools, the water is green. The pool doesn?t look clean at all, and I wouldn?t recommend jumping in there unless all your shots are up to date.

The units themselves looked like they haven?t been maintained by our crack staff team. In fact, you tend to wonder when the last time anything in the unit was renovated. The floor in the kitchen cupboard had large cracks in it with dirt in them. A foul stench often reeked in the unit, and no amount of shampooing and deodorizing completely rid the unit of the smell. Of course any fourth-rate apartment complex wouldn?t be complete without pests. Roaches and ants aren?t just problems, they?re residents. I didn?t go a single day without having to break out the can of Raid. Also, the unit I lived in appeared to have a flooding problem from when the previous tenant lived there, which resulted in mold and mildew buildup that ate away at the baseboards.

In spite of my complaints, the problems were either never fully addressed or they were addressed after several days of arm-twisting and teeth-pulling. In fact, don?t expect any fast, friendly, and useful help from the staff at all. They're incompetent, ignorant, and rude. I had a problem with a leaky A/C unit that didn?t get any response for days. I had to remind them several times before they broke down and did their job. Just days before I moved out, the A/C leaked once again. I also had a problem with an upstairs water heater leaking into my bedroom. True to form, the staff waited until I had to remind them on the third try to fix the leak, which took nearly a week for them to address and fix. In the meantime, I had to literally move by bed to the other side of the bedroom so I wouldn?t be rained on by the leaky water heater while asleep.

When you do decide you?ve had enough of the place and move out, prepare for the asinine treatment, as if it was your fault that you?re leaving because the place and their staff suck.

In the interest of fairness, there are a couple of positives to the complex: it?s in a somewhat convenient location and it?s cheap, aside from the fact that the friendly bunch at the office were generous enough to offer me a new lease with an increase in my rent even after all the problems.

In spite of these "positives", you can surely find a convenient and much better place to live in Austin if you search hard enough. As for the low rent, I?ve learned from this that money isn?t everything and you often get what you pay for.

Having to endure this complex for a very long 9 months, I?ve learned 3 tips for apartment hunting in Austin:

1. Beware of apartment complexes that don?t offer short-term leases (6 months or less).

2. Beware of apartments that have undergone recent name changes.

3. Beware of apartment complexes managed by Pinnacle Realty.

With all that mind, my recommendation is to avoid Marquis/Venterra altogether.

User Responses
From: messedover	Date: 05/30/2006
I agree 100% I wish I would've read this post before I signed!

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