Friends;

I want to take a moment and share with you my experience living at Heritage at Park Row. Many of the negative reviews you may read - are most likely from folks who were trouble makers at Heritage - and most likely failed to pay their rent on time.

My wife and I were good tenants. We paid our rent on time each and every month - we paid our bills on time each and every month. I have lived at Heritage for nearly 2.5 years. I have seen and experienced the recent changes (being sold by JTS to South Hampton).

History:

My wife and I lived at Heritage at Park Row for nearly 2.5yrs. This was not the first luxury apartment we lived in - but I must say, it was one of the nicer ones - not just the amentias - but the staff, neighbors and the friends we made at Heritage made a huge difference! We didn't feel folks were Snobby or Snooty - - so-to-speak (as we had experienced at other luxury properties we resided in over the years - many of the neighbors would keep to themselves or not even bother coming down and getting to know one another)

We moved in 2007 when the property was still owned by JTS. At the time of our move-in - - - the Manager was Carrie, the Assistant Manger was Lisa Like, Leasing was Kim O. and the Head Maintenance was Rafael.

My wife and I rented a 3 bedroom unit w/attached Garage. We were located in a nice culd-a-sac type unit. Which was great for us - since we had an 18month old (at the time of move-in - he is now 3).

The unit was great! Our rent was below market rate considering we resided in the energy corridor. Anyone who knows anything about the Houston Area - you must know residing in the Energy Corridor (West Houston - NOT KATY) - a 3 Bedroom Luxury Apartment Unit can run as little at $1200 to $2400/month. Basically you are paying for the privilege of living in the area.

We never had any issues with our unit (under JTS). If there was a problem - I would report it and it would be taken care of the next day.

Immediately upon move in a few things we noticed about the property & staff

- tons of pool parties; parties were thrown by the office staff - encouraged residents to participate and get to know your neighbor. It brought a sense of community; my wife and I made tons of new friends (parents w/other kids too!). Heritage did a great job maintaining the pool, the patio furniture - pool grounds - etc.. It s very warm and inviting! By the way - the HOT TUB is very relaxing when the weather is much cooler!

-there is a play area on property (which is another reason as to why we moved in) - many times throughout the week, my son and I would walkover to the part - it was well kept and cleaned - we had many play dates there!

-Gym - now I will admit the work out facility is in need of new equipment - other luxury complexes I have resided in - did a great job keeping the equipment fresh and new - Heritage has struggled with this. They have recently remolded the Gym - but failed to update the equipment. I would say the equipment is about 10 years old.

-Convenience - this was another attraction; my wife and I enjoyed being off I-10. We loved being able to jump on I-10 and get where we need to go without fighting local street traffic - you won't see this on Park Row or at Highway 6 & I-10. Since the I-10 expansion completed it flows even better!

-Office Staff: my wife and I were blown away by the friendliness - and the willingness of the staff to make us feel "at home". Both Lisa and Carrie were willing to do whatever it took to make us feel like Heritage was our home. After living there for 6 months I began referring friends and family to this complex and they moved in. Lisa was always friendly and compassionate to our needs. At the parties - so very friendly and very likeable. The same for Carrie and Kim O.

Changes at Heritage after the Sale to South Hampton:

Last year JTS decided to sell Heritage @ Park Row to South Hampton. My wife and I were hesitant about renewing our lease last fall. Why' Well to be honest, we have seen this before - when a property is sold to a new owner - generally things go south quickly; this was one of the reasons as to why we moved from our last apartment to Heritage (back in 2007).

I don't recall the exact timing - but I would say after about 30-90 days - after the sale - my wife and I started noticing change - and it was not change for the good.

- First they fired Carrie - not sure why - I thought she did a great job running the property and to my understanding she was the property manager for 8 years (I think, it may have been 6)

- Then they brought in this manager named Kim Bush - don't get me started on Kim Bush - needless to say she was so incompetent it were not for Lisa Like - my wife and I would not have renewed our lease in Fall 2008. Lisa Like and Kim Orgeron (Leasing) were the backbone of the office & ran the property after Carrie was fired! They ran the property - if you ask me.

- next they fired Rafael - a very hard worker (if you ask me) - every time I looked around - that guy was hustling and working his ass off. Every time I had a work order on my Unit - Rafael would not send one of his guys, he himself would come take care of my unit - even if it was just changing A/C filter.

- grounds keeping also fell behind - I don't have all the details - but from my understanding when South Hampton took over they changed grounds keeping crew too - well when they hired this new crew during the Christmas Holidays of 2008 - this new crew KILLED - yes KILLED my outside holiday decorations. I was PISSED OFF! Of course Lisa - always did her best to try and calm me down and she stated time and time again she relayed my concerns to her VP (I think someone named Sonia). The grounds keeping crew not only killed my outside decorations - but they took it upon themselves to KILL MY BUSHES that blocked (which I enjoyed) my dining room window. Prior to cutting down my bushes, I would leave my dining room windows open at night when it was cool outside. The bushes provided that layer of security. You could not tell if my windows were opened. Once they were KILLDED - that all changed. I relayed my concern to the office - Lisa herself informed me they were not authorized to do that. (Lisa also said they killer her bushes too). And yes - for security reason - I made a choice NOT to open my windows (since I had a 1st floor unit).

-Social Events: These events were no longer run by the front office - it was now managed by a CARES team. I really didn't care for this CARES team. In my opinion - the 2 people running this CARES team were kind of "Creepy" (at first) - the other flaw too was - they had no kids - so some of these events they would setup - like MOVIE NIGHT - were not very KID friendly. Think about it - how many of us parents are going to take a 2yr old to a MOVIE night' C'mon - you and I both know kids have too much energy. Pool parties also stopped too. We have seen no pool parties this past spring or anything on the calendar for the summer.

Several Things I did like about the CARES Team:
- - they did send out a regular bi-weekly Community News Letter - KUDOS on that!
- - Saturday morning breakfast (which is kewl) but to be honest I never attended.
- - throughout the Christmas Holiday Season - the CARES team would also stay late at the Front Office so that you could collect your packages up to 8pm - which really helped me.

Office Hours Changed: This did bother me - they started closing the office at 5 or 5:30pm - vs. 6 or 6:30pm. I found it difficult to get my packages on a regular basis when this changed

New Property Manager: Kim Bush - what were they thinking' This woman seemed incoherent and off her rocker. If I left a maintenance request with her - it would never get relayed to the maintenance staffed. When I realized this - I made sure only to leave my requests with Kim O. or Lisa. The upgrades to my apartment were also handled by Kim Bush - yeah - let me just add - it took 9 months to get my mini-blinds (of course I wasn't really in a hurry) but I would pass by the office and remind Kim Bush and she would be like - hmmm let me order them... each and every time I asked her. Finally I asked Lisa - she was right on top of it - but then they fired Kim Bush and brought in another property manager this past spring - Shannon - so she took care of my blinds and was very apologetic.

Bottom-line folks - Heritage is changing - they are under new owners - it s not a bad place to live. If you are a family orientated person - I think, from my own personal experience, you will enjoy living here. If you are someone who doesn't know how to pay your bills on-time and are a chronic complainer - please move on - Heritage does not need residents like that.

It is a family orientates community. I wish I could say more about the NEW office staff, but I don't know them that well and my family and I moved out recently. We bought a house down the road from Heritage.

What I can tell you is this - Kim Orgeron is still there - she is FANTASTIC person with a great personality. She will work hard for you.

The new property manager, Shannon, I only new for a short time - she seems nice - with good intentions. However, it does concern me - since South Hampton took over - they have fired 2 Property Mangers (Carrie and Kim Bush)

Lisa Like - who is also a great Assistant Manager - fun to be around - and prior to my move out - lived on property and was always available to you - day or night - dedicated to your needs - is no longer their - she went on Maternity Leave - and from my understanding upon return - will no longer work at Heritage - she has been assigned to another property. Personally, although I no longer reside at Heritage - South Hampton has made a HUGE tragic mistake.

Given the fact South Hampton has thrown so many new changes to Heritage - I don't think they realized that both Lisa Like and Kim O. were the backbone of the office and the complex. I don't think they realized how much of an asset both Lisa and Kim are to the property and the company - not to mention the wealth knowledge both Lisa and Kim have when it comes to the residents. They are both so approachable. (Again, let me add, I only met the new property manager, Shannon and the new assistant manager for a very short time).

Many of the residents you will find at Heritage are folks who have been there for Years. I hope my review of the complex helps with your decision. Again, I only lived their for 2 years but the first 18 months were great. The last 6 months way too many changes but we would have stayed if we had not bought a house.

Cheers!

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/26/2009
wow you might as well right a book!!! and no those of us who left negative reviews did pay our bills and this is a stinky disgusting complex. and you think 1200 is cheap for a three bed room apartement? well ill tell you there is people paying 1100 and less for that unit so they ripped you off.
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/27/2009
You have to be kidding!!!! Lisa and Kim did nothing about my problem!! Rats running around in my ceiling at night. I moved 6 months ago, after living there for 3 years. I really think the board of health should be called about this problem. My rent was always paid on time, and usually one day early. So don't blame the complaints on people paying late.
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/09/2009
Objective comments and very detailed , originator of this thread. I lived here from 2001 to about 2003 when i lost my job during that recession. I thought about coming back this year but I could see from the outside while driving past on I-10 that it has changed. I even stopped by and spoke to the office staff , they are not as nice as the ones i dealt with in 2001 to 2003. I am now living in a nice place in Katy

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