Detailed review
From:
HeyJebbo
Date posted:
1/29/2008
Years at this apartment:
2006
-
2008
1 response
I have been a resident here for two years, from January 2006 to January 2008. I've been in various apartments from age 18 to (now) 35, and I find detailed reviews on sites like this helpful. I hope you find this helpful.
Location
I think the main reason to rent here is the location; it was for me. You have gate access through the sister property (The Gael) to Central Market, which is by most all accounts the best high-end grocery store in Houston (it services wealthy River Oaks, just to the north). The apartments are also walking distance to Highland Village, which has fancy shops (Anthropologie, Crate and Barrel, PF Changs etc), a Starbucks, Rice Epicurian (another nice grocery), and a CVS/Walgreens (don't recall which). To the south, you are a couple blocks from an Edwards 23-screen cinema and several okay restaurants (chinese, thai, middle eastern, veggie, chipotle, etc). A 3-screen arthouse cinema in greenway, and the galleria mall, are both also walkable, but are a good 20-30 minutes by foot. You can drive to a Target on San Felipe using Westcreek Lane without hitting the 610 traffic.
To the immediate west, between Westheimer and Richmond, all the little old houses are getting torn down and replaced with McMansions (some of which are, to be fair, quite striking). The property values here are skyrocketing, and I think is driving up rent. Basically River Oaks is encroaching south, and the area is getting more fashionable.
Other apartments are available further west towards 610, and are cheaper, but you get more traffic/road noise. 610 is about 3 minutes drive west, and 59 is about 3 minutes drive (or less) south. My morning commute north on 610 to 290 (Northwest loop) wasn't bad, most morning traffic goes the other way (counter-clockwise). 15-20 minutes at 7:30am, 20-25 coming back at 5pm-ish.
Facilities
This location is surprisingly quiet. If you like people watching you'll be bored stiff. Essex Lane is a very quiet little side road, no real through traffic, and the facility itself generally seems either peaceful or dead, depending on your taste. The parking is ample, at least on ground floor (3 floors of apartments with 2 floors of parking). I never had to park more than 5-6 spots away from my entrance. It is gated parking. When I had guests (rare), I was told they could park inside, just park away from the main building out of courtesy. There were no guest tags or spots (besides 5 by the leasing office which closes at 6pm). The gate says there is towing of unauthorized cars, but I never saw this, nor any need for it.
Safety-wise, the quiet street and nice tone of the area made me feel completely safe walking at night. Lots of people jog in the small residential area to the west, mothers with strollers, etc. Inside the residence the trees and crammed-in high apartments make things a little on the dark side in places, but I never felt the least unsafe (though for the record I'm a 6' guy)
There is a gym and a pool, both a bit small but fine. There is also a business center - never used it - and something new called the "Click Cafe" which required $25-35, so I never saw it. The mail area had a large bin to dispose of junk mail, a common but not universal feature of flats I've stayed in.
Inside
My ground floor 1-bedroom 750 sq ft flat ($920, now $1020) had a patio which looked out onto a very little "courtyard". It's small for the building height, making it a bit on the dark/damp side for my taste. I didn't enjoy sitting out on the courtyard-facing patio, and rarely saw others do this. Outward-facing balconies seemed better.
The flats are old inside compared to most. Gael I think was newer but pricier. The provided microwave in my flat was tiny so I disconnected and provided my own. The garden tub was the best I've had, and I loved the bathroom in general. The kitchen was tiny but I rarely cooked. If I did it would have been claustrophobic.
It's hard to comment on construction. I was ground floor, and rarely heard any noises, but I think it is a quiet crowd here. We did have one college age group that would occasionally have parties on Saturday nights that were sometime noisy, but that was noise traveling through air across a small courtyard, rather than walls/floors.
Staff
Maintenance requests are made at the office and were prompt and well executed. No complaints. Had some plumbing problems (leaky pipe under sink in kitchen, bathroom), but sorted out well. No complaints.
The office staff are a bit standoffish. They are certainly never rude, but have a very formal feel that seems a bit like intruding on the cool kids lunch table in high school. Again not rude, but I have stayed at more expensive apartments where people made an effort to at least seem very friendly, and you bought it, and that's certainly not the case here. More politely and efficiently civil, if occasionally a little haughty.
They do not sign for packages that require signature, which was an issue for me but would not be for most folks. I assume this is because they do not have a secure location to store packages. I never had anything go missing nor heard of such.
Overall/Conclusion
I've told my friends that if you stay here compared to other places in the general area, you are probably paying $150-200 premium for the easy access to nice stuff, and being in Highland Village. For me personally it was exceptionally nice to have walking access directly to the front door of Central Market... wonderful. And in spring/fall walking around Highland Village to see an exotic car show in the parking lot, or a Smart Car demonstration, or walking to the movies... it's nice. But you are paying more for it, no doubt, and the actual build quality of the apartments and friendliness of the staff do not reflect this.
I'm moving to the Rice Village area to try something new, but if I were back in this area, I would consider renting here again as the extra money is not an issue for me.
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