Strata

I absolutely love living here and it’s by far the nicest complex I’ve ever lived in! There’s plenty of natural light, tall ceilings, modern finishes and most importantly my closet is HUGE. If you are looking for a new place that’s nice, affordable and within walking distance to bars and restaurants I highly recommend The Strata. Go see Layla or Viktoriya in the leasing office. They were so nice and made my moving process super easy!

I’ll start with the good: This complex has the nicest finishings of any apartment complex within a 10 mile radius for the price point (hand scraped wood floors, undermount sinks, granite counter tops, 14 foot ceilings, spa-​like bathrooms and ENORMOUS closets). The location is also pretty stellar, rooftop, pool and commons areas are beautifully furnished/​decorated and you feel like you’re in a resort. The management and facilities staff is very friendly and helpful as well. That’s where it ends…
THE BAD: Where do I start??? HORRIBLE CONSTRUCTION! Things are always breaking (gates to the garage, key fob entries, pool closures, rooftop patio closures, ELEVATORS, plumbing leaks, cabinets breaking, etc.) I also either have elephant trainers living above me or the insulation soundproofing (which is a must for apartment construction) here is non-​existent. Seems like there is a new issue every week. I can’t dust my apartment ENOUGH. There’s something up with how the AC was installed or something. I’ve never seen so much dust accumulate in my life. You can dust your whole apartment and an hour later, another layer is there. I truly feel for the management here as they inherited this Money Pit along with all of the issues which they have no control over.
If you’re looking for a great location and a nice apartment, this is your spot. Just be willing to overlook some major construction issues as you never know what is going to go next.

I was very disappointed in numerous things that went wrong or weren’t up to par for the amount of rent I was paying at Strata. The elevators were constantly broken, key fobs and locks weren’t secure, the parking was unfair and often frustrating, trash left in the stairwells for lengthy periods of time, the garage doors being broken and opened to the street, and the alarm system going off in the middle of the night were constant frustrations we experienced throughout the year of us living there. The staff is very rude and demeaning towards the residents, seen personally and from an outsiders standpoint. Also, when we moved out they claimed to have sent an invoice of «damage» that we had to pay for then threatened to turn us into small claims within 24 hours when we never received a notice in the first place. The carpeting in one room needed replaced but they replaced both rooms and charged us for two even though one room could’ve just been cleaned. I think this place is entirely way too expensive for the quality of the building and amenities it offers. The fire pit and TV’s rarely worked and the wifi in the workout room never worked. I lived there a year, and while the pool and the location were nice, I’ve found a much nicer place at a reasonable price not too far away.

10 Things I hate about Strata
1. I was one of the first residents there and since it was under construction still, there were some issues, but the biggest issues started when the new management/​owners took over. It is interesting because I see they are now doing damage control since the resident have started complaining on Unilocal.
2. My apartment was broken into while I was out of town (during the two and half week period that the security gates were not functioning) and the management did absolutely nothing other than let me out of my lease upon my request, which I do appreciate. They didn’t even call me, I had to call them several times. I called the maintenance guy to fix the door because the office was closed, he said he would fix it «first thing in the morning», nope. So I went to office, they knew nothing about the break in and I asked for the door to be fixed again. Nothing. I called two more times and they finally sent someone out around 5 PM the following day to replace the deadbolt. They did not however ever fix the door frame, which was broken. I moved out two weeks later and it still had not been fixed. They offered no help when I asked if they would check their security cameras for suspicious persons or ask residents if they had seen anything suspicious or send out an email communication to residents alerting them. They said, «That is what your detective is for». Apparently they are not at all concerned about the safety of their residents or their property. They also told my neighbors that the person that broke in was someone I knew and they shouldn’t be worried and I probably posted on social media somewhere that I was going to be out of town. All false, and also very insulting.
3.The week following the break in, while the fabs were still broken, there were two men walking around inside the interior hallways of the apartments at 7 at night with a duffel bag claiming to be movers and when the security officer started questioning them they took off down the street. The security guard told the manager, who said, «Don’t worry about it». I talked to the management office about it the next day and all she had to say was, «Oh, I didn’t know about that.» Amazingly the fabs were fixed the next day after not working for over two weeks.
4. The 24 hour security officer is either not there or can’t be found. The week before I was broken into, I was walking my dog early in the morning and two men came running out of the building, one with a stolen fire extinguisher, they yelled and threatened me for looking at them. I called the after-​hours line to alert the «24 hour» security guard and they informed me that they could not find the security guard because there wasn’t one there. Only after the break in AND several other residents complaininging did they bring back the 24 hour security guard patrol. I suspect that if there were a security guard at the time of the break in that the criminals may have been seen leaving the apartment with over $ 60K worth of electronics, heirloom jewelry and other items or they might have been scared away or not broken into the apartment in the first place.
5. The dog poop. This is fault of the residents being lazy, but it did take them 9 months to install receptacles. Regardless, the management does not maintain the property and pick it up or enforce picking up the poop.
6. The trash. The trash chutes are always full and overflowing.
7. The garage gate is always broken, so it just stays open most of the time. So anyone has access to your car and the rest of the community since the security fabs are always broken.
8. They put bike locks on all but one of the entrances (there are 4) to the pool. This means you have to walk all the way around the property to get to the pool or grill. It also means in case of emergency, you are SOL. They have a full time security guard at the pool every weekend, which I understand, but they are more concerned with how many guests you have at the pool and if you have glass than the safety of the community as the security guard for the community could never be found.
9. Noise. Many of the residents (not all) are loud and disrespectful. People running down the halls all hours of the night yelling. One weekend someone vomited on my patio from a balcony above. It took the maintenance several days to come clean it up.
10. Even before the break in I was eager for my lease to end and move out, I was so tired of dealing with all the issues and the incompetent management. Overall the management was pretty useless and could not be bothered with the complaints and concerns of their residents. They just like to plead ignorance and do nothing or blame it on the previous owners.

Great location and management

We just re-​signed at this location. The truth is the building was built poorly with the original owners, and the current management who purchased it had no idea how bad it was. The building was not built with proper lightning rod protection, so when the storms hit the power would go out. The building was built with a faulty fire alarm, so for a few weeks the alarms would be almost constant.
However, none of this has occurred in the last 3 months, all of the problems have been addressed and I have no complaints at this point. The walls are extremely insulated, where we can barely hear our neighbors even when they’re blaring music. All issues are addressed quickly with an extremely friendly staff.
You’ll pay a bit more for this apartment in the area than a few others, but there’s a reason we stayed as it’s worth it.

I’ve been living at Strata since April 2014 and a neighbor was telling me about the posts on Unilocal and how off base they were. Firstly, my opinion is most of the people that have posted on here would not be happy at any apartment since you occasionally hear noise and occasionally encounter things like broken elevators, tvs etc that are beyond your control to fix. I on the other hand am grateful for the alert response from the management to fix these types of issues. Every maintenance request I put in is responded too within 24 hours and I always get a cute note about how much they enjoyed playing with my dog during their time in my apartment. The office management is polite and responds quickly to emails; for example today they went out of their way to get my dogs patio bed that blew onto a neighbors porch for me. Not only is the office staff friendly they hold what seems like weekly happy hours onsite and organized a really fun mic night in November. If you are looking for an apartment that has amazing amenities (resort pool, hardwood floors, high ceilings) this is a great apartment!

if you’re thinking about moving here DON’T!!! have been here since April, and has progressively gone down hill. Common areas are always dirty. Fabs, never work, I’ve seen the gates to the parking garage close on 2 cars. They have changed billing companies, multiple times, and each time jack up the convince fee to pay online. counting the days until my lease is up. for the price they charge you can find a lot nicer place, in this same neighborhood. I feel violated every month when i pay for this over priced apartment.

Can’t say that I would recommend this place.
Jessica and the new staff have tried to make things better, but as a resident. I just feel that there are entirely too many issues. Elevators, fobs, door locks etc are constantly breaking. The previous owners, JLB, must have installed a lightning rod on the top of the building because we have been hit by lightning 3 times (apparently) causing all of the electrical components to go out. It’s a pretty frustrating excuse to hear when you noticed that the gates had been stuck open before the lightning ever happened. Broken door fobs as well.
When I signed my lease in March, I was promised assigned parking. That never happened. As you can see in a previous review, management said that residents should stay tuned for assigned parking updates. That was a month ago. Still no word. Disclaimer: if you are looking to go to Capitol Pub or Henderson Tap House, feel free to park in our covered parking. Many already do. I’ll continue to park on the uncovered roof.
All of the awesome TV setups that you see in the pictures? Chances are that they won’t work. If they do, they will play channels like ESPN News instead of ESPN. As of a few weeks ago, the rooftop patio TVs haven’t been working for months. When they did, you would get horrible resolution and aspect ratio (which viewers are unable to fix based on the way the TVs are setup). It was one of the main selling points for me — to have a nice setup on the roof as I am a 4^th floor resident. It has been a major letdown.
For better or worse, the pool has a security guard with a resident list. There is a limit on the number of people you can have with you. They lock all gates entering the pool just to make sure you walk through the front and check in. I am not a huge pool partier myself, but if you live here and want to get people together to have a few drinks and have fun, consider somewhere else.
Be careful if you live near the rooftop patio because there is a guy that likes to sing kumbaya all night with his friends… and by kumbaya i mean songs like Wonderwall over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. Surely it wouldn’t be an issue at night based on the fact that the patio is locked down at night but, oh wait… security hasn’t been enforcing that. If the door is locked, residents will just jump on the roof and hop right on over. Waiting for the day the roof caves in on them because it doesn’t sound stable at all.
Let’s see… what else. Forced trash valet fee. Residents having furniture stolen on the first floor patios. No notification of package delivery to the front office. USPS mail delivery is also surprisingly horrific (mail going in the wrong mailbox to many residents etc). That names a few. There are other issues that I’m sure the other reviewers will identify.
The place has perks, don’t get me wrong. Location is great. Pool is nice. Granite countertops and stainless steel appliances… but that might by the end of the list.
If you’re going to pay $ 1268 for a 600 sq ft 1br apartment (not including water/​utilities), choose elsewhere.

Management responded quickly and maintenance is great.

I want to love living here because the location is great and the staff are nice. There are some major deal breakers that just happen over and over again. I’ve been here less than 3 months and every single time we have a mild storm everything breaks. Elevators, fobs, garage doors, cable and internet boxes get fried, etc. Every single time. It takes forever to get fixed and twice I’ve come home at night and been locked out of the building entirely.
Next is the noise level/​general demeanor of the people here. It gets pretty loud all night on the weekend which is fine (I’m in my mid twenties and can be loud too!), but also on the week nights! If you are an adult with a real job you should look elsewhere. Also the building gets pretty trashed on the weekend. There was a group of wasted girls screaming and running down the halls banging on each door. So this is more of a college community… There is also usually dog pee/​poo in the hallways and stairwells so watch your step.
Lastly the parking situation isn’t great. If you come home past a certain time you will probably not find a spot near your apartment.
I am still hoping this will improve but my neighbors just moved out for these same reasons! Staff, building itself, and location is great.

So — since my review I have switched units and while the transfer process was quite less than easy — I will say that the new manager in the office — Jessica Helal — has been outstanding. Had I gone through her the whole time — I wouldn’t have had the mess I went through just to transfer units. Building A is a much better building to live in than building B. It seems quieter and cleaner. The reviews about dog urine and feces in the hallway, well, that’s normal in most all apartment complexes. People are lazy. And ignorant. And care nothing for their surroundings. Just imagine their living space. I was at Camden Belmont for over a year and it happened there too. It is not uncommon to find that kind of mess in the hallways. Just shake your head at the lazy people that allow it to happen and are too lazy to clean up after their pet. Those people are gross. That said — thank you Jessica for all your help and I hope it continues to get better at Strata.

I moved into Strata in Nov 2013 when it was half empty. I will be moving out in Dec 2014. Sadly, this is another good property that has gone downhill because of poor management. The new property manger loves to blame everything on the previous owner. I gave her the benefit of the doubt but after experiencing their lack of responsiveness, dismissive answers and what just feels like general incompetence, I think its time to go.
Renters love to vilify property mgt staff at the first inconvenience (i am also a landlord so i can relate) but when an entry gate has been broken for 3 straight weeks, when the elevator breaks down at least 1 weekend a month, when fire alarms repeatedly go off in the middle of the night forcing the entire building to evacuate without any explanation from mgt, when irresponsible pet owners consistently leave their pets on balconies barking across the courtyard sometimes until 1 AM, when after lodging complains with mgt in writing about dogs swimming in the pool and mgt failing to put up additional signs around pool or imposing fines on pet owners (not to mention draining the pool), when the courtesy officer never shows up to resolve issues e.g. teenagers in the pool blasting gangsta music at 9 PM with glass beer bottles in the pool but some how his tax payer footed Dallas PD truck is always parked in the garage, when a garbage bag full of trash is parked in a stairwell for more than a week… renters have the right to complain. If this property mgt staff worked for, they would be fired by now.
JLB clearly cut some corners in building the property but if a garage gate opens 400x a day of course it will break down at some point. Timely maintenance is something these people are not on top of and clearly lack experience in. They also cannot control unruly/​noisy tenants and irresponsible pet owners. Dogs run in the hall ways without leashes all the time, and some tenants don’t pick up after their dogs while other let them swim in the pool like it was their own backyard. If i am going to pay $ 1650 for 740 SF, and live in a «Luxury Building» then i will go to uptown or live in a property managed by staff trained in managing a luxury building. Thanks for the memories Strata.

I am an apartment locator and moved here when the property was first built and under original management of JLB. I loved the amenities, the finish outs, the location, and the staff; however, now that Simpson Group has taken over, this «luxury property» has gone down the drain. We experience noisy upstair neighbors, failure to resolve maintenance issues (our toilet in a 1 bedroom consistently did not work for over a month and we were told by one of the leasing agents to «buy a plunger»), there has been glass and dogs in the pool (which according to Dallas City laws the pool must be drained completely if either of those things happen), cell phone reception is extremely limited, security is extremely loose considering the «key fob accessible gates» are often left unlocked and the remote access garage is often left open for anybody to park.
I literally cannot wait to get out of my lease and move on. I no longer recommend this property to my clients just for the management alone.
I pay $ 1709 a month for ¹⁄₁ and I expect the amenities and resident/​management relationship to not only meet but exceed my expectations. Needless to say, that is not the case.
I have heard the leasing agents complain about the «f******* residents» for too long and I am waiting for this management group to start maintaining their end of our lease agreement.

I moved here from a city 4 hours away and I really like it here. Maybe I’m lucky and have quiet neighbors but I never hear anyone next door, above, or below me. Noise is a big concern for me which is why I wanted to move somewhere quiet. Although the pool can be loud during the weekend but that’s expected. I love the wood floors, my spacious bathroom and closet, and the kitchen. Deep sink, granite countertop, and lots of cabinet space. I haven’t had any issues requiring maintanence yet so keep your fingers crossed.
Previous reviewer hit the nail on the head about the property and its surroundings. Lots of bars and restaurants nearby, friendly neighbors who are mostly working professionals (doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, vets, etc), decent gym, and lots of dogs. Although I haven’t really seen anything on my floor, I’ve certainly heard it. I think my biggest complaint about this place is that you have to pay rent by check or direct bank withdrawl and their mailing system is screwed up. They don’t let you know if you have a package ready and threaten to send it back if you don’t pick it up soon.
Also, START ENFORCING THE ASSIGNED PARKING WHEN I SIGNED MY LEASE! I hate parking out in the hail and rain when there is someone parked in my spot.