Retreat at The Flatirons

UPDATE 3: maintenance entered my unit without letting me know. I came home to a form on my counter saying they needed to check on something. UNACCEPTABLE!!! To receive zero notice that people were going to be in my home makes me beyond angry. I have pets that needed to be sectioned off. I have valuables that I would have locked away. I am disgusted that this happened.
Also, cigarettes from the second and third floor balconies absolutely litter those of us on the first floor. Intentional or not, every patio is covered in cigarettes.
UPDATE2: since my last review, it has snowed twice & the new management have completely changed their snow removal procedure. The lots are plowed & the walkways are all cleared in a timely manner.
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: The conditions reguarding snow removal have not improved under new management. If anything, things have gotten worse. No one is overseeing maintenance. I called to ask about the walkway in front of my unit and the leasing office said they have no contact with the workers who are clearing snow but if she happens to see someone walk by she’ll ask about my unit. Believe me when I say it is NOT just my building. Hardly any of the walkways have been cleared. Instead the snow has been packed down by people attempting to walk their dogs. There is a nice strip of cleared sidewalk that I saw, but the snow blower used piled it into a high mountain, essentially snowing in 3 units. I can’t take it anymore, I had to bust out my shovel to make a path for my dog.
Whoever is in charge of plowing the parking lots did the absolute minimum. As a result, residents who have been digging their cars out have been piling the snow in the paths of cars that are still buried, adding extra work for everyone.
It is the responsibility of this complex to provide a safe living environment for its residents. It is not safe here right now.

It’s interesting that management can find the time to use model apartments here as backdrops for their side photography business, yet appear unable to manage any simple maintenance issue without multiple reminders (read: once every two weeks — I try not to be a jerk).
Case in point: a simple leak that took maintenance 2 ½ months from start to finish to repair. A new leak that was reported 3 months ago, and brushed off as not a real issue, now actively leaks water from the ceiling. Maintenance and the office staff were informed a week and a half ago — no repairs yet, no surprise there.
Don’t be fooled by the pretty clubhouse either. Every other apartment I have lived in has established a well-​decorated and fun clubhouse for residents to use/​host gatherings/​hang out in. This one closes at 5pm, when the office staff leave. Locked down like Fort Knox. So, unless you want to go play a game of pool at 2pm (and be photographed doing it, and likely have that photo shared on their social media pages), don’t believe for a second that you’ll be able to take advantage of the «gorgeous lobby space» at all.
I try to like this place, but the ineptitude prevents that entirely.

Just signed my second lease and still love it here. Great amenities, the apartments are beautiful, and the leasing office is great. I work from home so I’m constantly here (including getting a daily free coffee from the Starbucks machine in the office), and in my opinion the negative reviews are blown out of proportion.
I have no issues with neighbor noise and have certainly never heard the people below me or next door. It’s true the gates are often not working, but I prefer them stuck open. Not sure why we need a gated community in the middle of fields in Broomfield. Like someone else said, statistically speaking it’s more likely any crime will come from within the complex. Regarding inspections, the complex is brand new and there are obviously going to be multiple post-​build contractor inspections. Pretty sure that’s why rental specials are offered during build out.
The parking complaints are somewhat legit, but not to the extent people make it out to be. Bottom line, if you come home regularly after 9pm, you should rent a garage to ensure you always have parking near your unit. No one is getting towed unless they’re not displaying their parking permit.
Long story short, people usually only review apartments when they want to complain about something. The vast majority of people here are extremely happy and I’m one of those.

I’ve lived here since May 2014 when the complex was still under construction. When I first moved in it was one of the best experiences but after about 8 months things started to change. The leasing office staff changed and the compassion for the residents changed. The grills have been broken for over a year now. The pool was emptied for over a week during the peak time in the summer. They are constantly «inspecting» apartments when your not home and you pay the price of a nice house to live here. I’m not usually one to complain but for the amount of money you pay to live in a place like this you expect all of the amenities to be avalible and they’re not. Last thing… The parking situation. Parking is limited and even the parking outside is monitored by a tow company. Your better off not having your friend over with the risk of them being towed. Even my roommate was towed because her car wasn’t close enough to the curb although her pass was displayed; no warnings given just straight towing. There are places like this just as nice and less money I would suggest look elsewhere.

Moving out soon and couldn’t be more excited! It’s a beautiful property with good amenities, but the place is not welcoming. You can hear EVERY single noise from the people above you or below you. Might have been my fault for picking a middle unit, but these are new. I just assumed they would be built better. You could hear every foot step and any significant movement would shake the lights and walls.
Parking: What a nightmare now that they implemented the parking pass system. It think it’s smart for residents only to be able to park inside the gates, but to have the permits on the street as well is absolutely ridiculous. If you have a guest over, you have to get to the leasing office in time to get a visitor pass otherwise you have to check the gym after hours. There are never passes in there, and they tow like crazy!
Management: Everyone is very friendly when you are in the front office, so I was glad for that. However, they are constantly having to enter the apartments. I think they’ve entered my place at least 5 times since June. They entered when I was on vacation, and I came home to the lights left on. I was the first person in my apartment when I moved in, and I noticed a few things that didn’t seem finished… like the weather stripping under the doors. I told them within the first few weeks, and it still hasn’t been fixed. 1 year later.
The prices of this place are going through the roof, because they are trying to keep up with what is around it. They are NOT worth what this place has to offer. We are starting a family, and the quoted us $ 1900 for a 2 bedroom. We found a town home with a yard a few blocks away for $ 1400. Look somewhere else.

So glad to be out. One of the staff let it slip that 15 people moved out of the complex on the same day we did. My wife is a former manager of a cleaning company and is quite anal about cleanliness and the condition of our living space. Upon moving out, we did a walk through with Jess, who informed us that everything looked perfect, aside for the 4 – 5 lightbulbs that were out (yes, they charge you for lightbulbs). We took photos and asked for two weeks to get her assessment in writing. Both Jess and Nyssa avoided phone calls and ignored our emails for two weeks. Finally, we get an email from Jess saying they were keeping a large portion of our deposit because a few days after our walkthrough, they realized that the carpet needed to be replaced due to «pet stains in the padding.» Unfortunately, that logic is backward. Pet stains don’t magically appear in padding, but not carpet. The fact of the matter is that due to the low grade carpet installed, there was a significant wear pattern in the bedroom from where we walked from room to room. I can see how this would not show well to new tenants and their only course of action was to charge us for an completely fabricated issue. The staff used to be decent, but after a solid year of people complaining and the laundry list of issues in the complex, I can see why the level of service and competence has gone downhill. We have caught both Jess and Nyssa in lies about everything from checkouts to office hours to gate problems and the pool. It’s a never ended narrative on how they can spin things into a positive light for the residents. The constant apartment checks are just the icing on the cake.
My favorite part of any interaction with the staff was Jess yelling about Unilocal saying that their rating is so low because they don’t pay Unilocal for the positive ones.

Only live here if don’t value your privacy, as «maintenance» will be coming through your apartment every couple weeks while you’re at work. Oh, you have pets that are scared of strangers? Too bad, landlords will be coming in all the time regardless. They’ll give you some ridiculous reason like «to take measurements» and «to inspect» and «to check garage.» It’s really fun spending hours prepping for apartment inspections every couple weeks. It’s basically what I imagine prison to be like, certainly not a «luxury» apartment complex.
I guess it also takes more than one year to install a gate too. Those things can be tricky. One year sounds about right for a gate install.
Office hours are 9am-​5pm, so good luck picking up any packages you might receive during the week.
They’re currently trying to sell the complex as well. Best of luck to the new owners.

Was told last at the fire pit from some guys that know the office staff well the retreat is for sale which is why we have inspections at least once a month — can anyone confirm this? Tried to post on the facebook page at the Retreat but all comments have to be approved before being posted.
I’m still waiting on repairs to be done that are over 2 months old.
Also — why is the pool closed indefinite during the summer?

Wow.
I have always considered myself a solid judge of character, with a pretty well-​honed bull s**t radar. Here I stand, deeply humbled by my complete inability to recognize the red flags of this «Luxury Community» before it was too late.
My partner and I moved away from the city, a). to save money; b). to enjoy the peace and quiet a «gated» community might offer; and, c). reap the benefits of a [seemingly] plentiful parking situation with top-​tier amenities to boot.
What a joke.
We were warmly courted throughout the entire process, up through signing the next year of our lives away at top-​dollar. Said courtship stopped, abruptly, when we had movers lined up for our move-​in date, only to find out the day before that the unit wouldn’t be ready for another 48 hours. We had to cancel and hire a totally different company at a higher rate, and «eat» the 50% deposit we paid to the first company. Okay, sometimes moving can be expensive. No biggie???
Move-​in day: we arrive, yet the over-​sized garage we’re over-​paying for also «isn’t ready,» so we were forced to move everything into the apartment (tools, camping gear, bicycles, and all) until we were given the «go ahead.» Of course, upon moving into our unit, it turns out it wasn’t the same floor plan we were shown and signed up for. Of course, we were told we could have the unit we wanted, but it would be on the 3^rd floor, cost more, and wouldn’t be available for another 6 – 8 weeks. Neat.
The first 8 months we were here, the entire development was under construction. It’s fine, we knew what we were getting into. At least they were kind enough to send out a community-​wide notice the days they were painting/​striping the asphalt. We were told to move our cars to avoid damage to personal property. Thanks! Yet, when the crews were in and out of our complex, hauling tractor shovel’s full of landscaping rock and weaving between parked cars? No word on that. I woke up one morning to the sound of heavy machinery outside our window, and the rear windshield of my car, completely shattered. One small rock.
The community continued to grow, along with our frustrations, especially with our back yard– A.K.A: the trash compactor for the entire complex, that’s violently filled every night from 9pm to midnight by the trash «valet» service we’re required to pay for, even though they do little more than strew and trample loose trash throughout our breezeway almost nightly, and fail to clean up.
The gates? One of the two has [literally] never functioned. It’s always just propped open. No signs of that changing, ever.
So, let’s talk criminal activity? Our mail room was broken into, and every last piece of mail for the entire community was stolen, save junk mail. The never-​functioning gate to our «gated community» was a clear homing beacon for one inspired identity thief, gathering confidential financial, medical, employment, etc. data for an entire community of seemingly well-​off individuals in one fell swoop.
More? Ok. The neighbors we share a wall with to the south fell «victim» to what appeared to be a large-​scale drug bust. This happened at 4:00am. I find it funny that another reviewer on here wasn’t able to «qualify» for residence here, yet… Well, you get the point.
Shoddy appliances, shoddy construction, shoddy management. This place seems to have been built with only short-​term success in mind.
And then … there’s the parking situation. I hesitate to even elaborate on it because it’s the running theme of all reviews here. Yet, I can’t be the lone holdout???
It finally dawned on me last night: after driving through every nook at the Retreat, scouring for parking in a torrential downpour, finding cars parked in fire lanes, handicapped spots, tandem spots, the leasing office, the parallel lanes outside the complex, the «overflow» lot to the north, and Terracina (our neighboring complex) … these aren’t people throwing parties. These aren’t people from other complexes. These are people who just wanted to get home and out of the rain on a random Wednesday night. People who were excited to sign a long-​term lease for a hip new «gated» luxury development, doing so completely under false pretense. People who have to sleep every night wondering if their cars are being ticketed, towed, or harmed in some way when parked far off-​site.
It’s basic math: there simply weren’t enough spots planned in this development to accommodate … residents. Or guests. Or staff. Nowhere near that, actually, and that’s even considering garages (which have long been rented-​out) and off-​site parking. It’s insulting, and their recent «solution» to the dilemma will only succeed in catching management with its pants down (the silver lining), when every last spot is occupied, parking passes visible, and easily 100 additional residents are still forced to park off-​site.
Guests? Please, that’s a thing of the past.
Do us a favor? Don’t even *think* of living here, folks. Just … don’t.

I want to write and let you know of not only my concerns, but my struggles in dealing with my «home.» My boyfriend and I moved into a one BR/​one bath with a detached garage in July of 2014. I am not only excited to leave the Retreat, but I am 100% I would never live here again, nor will I recommend the Retreat to others looking for a living situation. First, upon signing our lease, we were signing on for a gated community, yet it seems even to this day we are not gated, which comes in handy during my DAILY parking dilemmas. The parking has been so bad we (as tenants AND garage owners) have had to park our second car– which the Retreat understood when we signed our lease in 2014 as a couple with two cars, considering the fact they allotted an extra space for a second lease signer on the rental. Weird that the Retreat allots an extra spot on the lease for an additional signature, yet never once understood the math it takes to have enough parking for even HALF the residents. Now, parking was happening, tenants we’re getting crafty and finding spots to park; then all the sudden we are told to park OUTSIDE the complex, even in the parking lot labeled «for Future Residents.» This is not only annoying, it’s MORE annoying that they only allow parking in those areas during «non-​leasing hours»; so a basic slap in the face for tenants working from home or that do not need to move their cars during the day. I kept telling myself, «just a few more months and you’re done here» and then the latest issue… those gates that have YET TO WORK in our GATED COMMUNITY allowed an intruder onto our premises long enough to STEAL MAIL (leaving only junk mail). This is an issue. I don’t know that a gate would have 100% kept an intruder out, but it would have helped, and had it been that we’d had some form of GATE during this process maybe they wouldn’t have targeted our community. They didn’t break into our neighboring apartments, why? Because THEY ARE GATED.
Now, just to let you know, we recently tried to speak to the leasing office regarding leaving our lease sooner, rather than later due to the issues this community has had/​caused for us; of course I was met with a list of fines I’d face if I were to terminate my leasing agreement before our listed termination date. With that, I am forced to live in a community that has no way of regulating parking, other than taking away ALL VISITOR parking inside our community, and a designated Luxury Gated Community lacking 100% in gates.
So I am held to my side of the agreement and the company I signed with is, in NO WAY, held to their side of the agreement.

Today we had someone break into our mail room. This means I now how to monitor my credit more than I usually do just in case someone wants to open a credit card under my name. The cops I spoke with were extremely friendly and I hope they find out who did this.
Considering this is not a gated community, but they say they are, anyone can come in and out when they want. I do not feel that they have lived up to their side of the deal. Play it smart, find elsewhere. Listen to the other reviews!

EDIT: Dropping my review down a star for a couple of reasons:
— The gate is still not working. We were told that they couldn’t fix it until the weather was warmer, but we’re now in May and still nothing. I saw someone there once a couple of weeks ago and got hopeful that they were repairing it, but that wasn’t the case.
— The mail room was broken into a couple of days ago and all mail aside from blatant junk (flyers) was taken. While this isn’t 100% the apartment complex’s fault, I’d like to think that a fully gated complex may have dissuaded the thief from committing this crime.
— It’s been months since the grills have worked properly. I’ve mentioned this to the office staff numerous times at this point and nothing has been done.
Retreat at the Flatirons is a decent place to live. I’ve seen better; I’ve seen worse.
PROS:
— Brand new complex. Shiny new appliances, modern interiors, tall ceilings (at least on the third floor).
— They have a great pool area. There’s a large swimming pool, a hot tub, two grills, and a fire pit for residents to use. Great place to entertain!
— Pet friendly! Although I don’t like their rules (dog must be 1 year old, under 50 or 60 pounds, and not one of their restricted breeds), the fact that they are so lenient with regard to most pets is great.
— Office staff are friendly and always willing to help. I know that a lot of the cons listed below are things that are completely out of their control. I think they do a great job at resolving the few issues they have power to address.
CONS:
— Parking is a nightmare. If you arrive home after 8PM, it’s highly likely that you will be forced to park OUTSIDE of the complex. If you are lucky enough to find a spot inside, it’s probably going to be as far away from your actual apartment as possible.
— The community is supposed to be gated, but one of the gates has literally never worked. The office said they were waiting for the installers to come back and finish up several months ago. They also attribute the parking issue (which residents are very vocal about) to the fact that this gate is not fixed.
— Poor construction. It seems that the complex couldn’t wait to finish building their units — evident by the fact that they were still finishing our unit (and painting our front door) when we arrived on move-​in day with a truck full of stuff to haul inside. The floor is coming up near the front door, and two large cracks (several feet long) have appeared on our walls.
— Like everyone else, they’re raising the rent for current residents who want to renew their leases.

Love the complainers here. Like toddlers focusing in on the minutiae and completely losing sight of the bigger picture. This is a brand new (still being built) facility, loaded with amenities and tons of square footage at rock bottom prices. The staff is always able to help and completely accessible via email or phone. They are professional problems.
Case in point: My puppy needed to do some late night «business» yesterday at 2 AM. It had just finished snowing 10 inches and to my surprise there was a full on team hard at work shoveling the sidewalks and roadways so that all of us commuters could easily whisk away to work at 6 AM. Hats off you to Retreat at the Flatirons.

6 months later… the second gate is still not up and working. Not even closed. Also looks like after the snow hits, no one shovels! Parking is a nightmare. If you get home after 8, there’s no spots left.
If this is luxury… You can have it back.

If you are reading this while looking for an apartment in the area, I would honestly stir clear of the RETREAT AT FLATIRONS. Yes they are new and they will rush you into giving the deposit like they did us. and tell you, you should clear but wow what a surprise I did not listen to the other reviews here, they declined us. As it turns out there was an identity mix up and the report was incorrect and we should not have been denied, but after the way they handled us I prefer to go somewhere else. I found them to be extremely offensive as if I were some criminal which I have never had any issues. These people are insulting and apparently have no idea how to read credit reports.
I wished I listened to the other reviews and while I was there I heard the leasing agent trying to pacify another angry applicant regarding a denial of their application. Hello all the signs were there, I should leave. FYI the deposit takes 30 – 60 days to get back.
If you have any issues on your report even from 10 years ago don’t bother wasting your money, it should come as no surprise that the complex is mostly empty because they deny people on just late payments and minor reason. I just secured a car loan no problem.
Just go to AMLI or Catania, I was approved and treated fairly at Catania and live there now. I love their business center which this place is lacking.
This place is a waste of time and money. STAY AWAY!

Methinks not… indeed! I can not believe the unprofessionalism of this company. I went there and liked the apartment complex but ended up extremely disappointed in the administrative aspects including the manager, Michelle. I applied for a unit and put down a large security deposit. She subsequently informed me that they had to deny my application. I understand that they have their standards and even their explanation of why I was denied. What I found annoying is that it took me many, many phone calls (some of which were not returned!) and many, many days to receive a refund of my deposit of hundred of dollars. 83 days to be exact! I find this unacceptable for a business to behave this way. One hand did not know what the other hand was doing. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this place.

RUN don’t WALK! If you like the bait and switch routine — move on in. Where to begin… Clubhouse is useless as it closes with business hours. Not enough parking for all residents and they are not even close to implementing resolution. As a matter of fact they raised the garage prices during this dilemma they created… way to gouge your residents. This is NOT a gated community… in Sept we will have been here 1.5 years and it has not been gated the entire time. The mail room was broken into over the weekend. Poor landscape planning as all of the grass is dead from dog urine.
The office personnel is trained to not apologize for anything. Word is the owners are bankrupt and have been trying to sell since late 2014. So the raising of rent to residents who are re signing their leases makes perfect sense! Took them a month to track down a desperate howling dog in our building and then another week to do something about it.
Can not wait to get out of here in Sept.