Melissa F.
Yelp
I moved to the Metal Works building in the summer of 2013 after relocating to Columbus from Denver for work. I have lived in a fair share of apartments over the years and must say, this is the WORST property management company. I understand that when you rent, you have to deal with certain inconveniences such as thin walls and barking dogs but those were not my most serious complaints. I'll gladly list them out for those of you who are considering a move here. If you want to skip the essay below, my honest opinion is, if you like to party and don't care about having a management company taking care of you or taking pride in their property, don't care about being inconvenienced by loud neighbors or construction, and have a fairly large budget for rent, then the Metal Works may be a good fit. For me, I want to trust that my property management cares about me and makes an effort to add value.
PRO: Walking distance to Short North.
PRO: Basic cable is included in rent.
PRO: The rooftop patio is a fun place to have drinks as it had a great view of downtown.
CON: I live on the top floor so I have 17 foot ceilings. The windows here are so poorly insulated, I had ice freezing inside the house all winter. I am pretty conservative with my thermostat settings (69 in the winter and 72-74 in the summer). My power bills are consistently over $200/month. Not a property management issue, but just a serious thing to consider. Your advertised rent will be several hundred more than you anticipated when you consider all the other expenses.
CON: Our neighbor had a bed bug infestation and a pretty serious one at that. I had a friend from out of town spend the night and she got bit several times. We found one of the bugs had made it into our place from under the wall. The property manager, who is extremely defensive and unresponsive, actually threatened me saying they would pay for an exterminator to come out but if we told anyone, they would hold us financially responsible.
CON: There is one line of communication for residents. Don't try to call. Your calls will always go to voice mail and your only point of contact won't return them. I called twice and left messages about getting a W/D in my unit and when I followed up for the third time with email, I got an excuse that their phones have been down. Interesting, your phones have been down for a month? How do you do business with no phone? I won't dwell on how late the W/D unit was actually delivered...Our neighbor downstairs has had some recurring issues with water leaking into his unit. They don't care about the seriousness of that situation either. Their negligence is grounds for terminating a lease.
CON: The property is advertised as being "pet-friendly." They have a couple dog stations where you can dispose of poo bags but they won't supply the bags for you. I have finished concrete floors so I know the dogs won't be damaging that. What is my pet rent covering exactly? Since we're talking about the property, I must say it is always in a state of disrepair. The pedestrian gate has been busted since we moved in. A neighbor brought that to the attention of the property management company and they said that security is "advertised" in the lease, but not guaranteed. I want these loopholes for my personal life! The elevator is broken once a week which isn't really a huge deal for me since I like taking the stairs but when you are moving heavy furniture, it gets to be an issue. There is a neighbor that lets their dog use the stairwell as a toilet and the property management didn't seem too concerned about that. Also the BBQ graveyard in the parking lot is a joke. If that's what they are advertising as the "communal courtyard" on the website, someone should be fired. A couple of shabby picnic tables in a corner of a parking lot with 6 rusty grills does not a courtyard make.
CON: There is minimal storage. Not even a medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Very hard to keep your place looking organized when you don't have a single closet or pantry with a door and everything is exposed. Probably a good fit for a single guy who doesn't have a million shoes and make-up. It's been a struggle keeping myself organized here.
CON: There is a gym although the equipment is not cared for. The treadmills are rusted out. I workout elsewhere.
PRO: Emergency maintenance requests are addressed expeditiously. I had the heat go out on one of the freezing days we had last winter where the temp was -25F with wind chill. I turned on the oven when I got home from work to try heat the place while waiting on maintenance. He came within 1.5 hours.
CON: No covered parking.
CON: No parcel acceptance.
CON: Not all the windows have screens so you if you want some fresh air, opening a window may not be the best idea unless you want the mosquitos to come in for a visit.
That's the rundown of my year here. I promptly signed a lease elsewhere.