Empirian At Steele Park

Idk what ppl are tripping, I like my place, they have been nothing but helpfull to me… I work nights and its quiet. Besides for the garners one day of the week :)… I can deal with it ^^ overall good place to live

I’ll start with the good – the actual unit themselves are very nice, especially compared to most of the complexes near the downtown area, and the prices were fair (I signed a lease in the summer of 2011 so I’m not sure what current rates are). We have the large 2 bedroom and it doesn’t feel cramped like most apartments. The location is close to a light rail stop (Central & Indian School) and across the street from Steele Indian Park which holds a lot of great local events & even has a dog park. Great pools and the gym is ok.
Now with the bad. The management here is completely unhelpful. They actually changed management a few months ago but from what I have experienced they are no more helpful than the last.
The previous management never did an actual walk-​through with us, just had us fill out the form and drop it off. They never gave us the key to our patio storage and we still do not have it (we tried 2 – 3 times to inquire and just gave up after that). They would take weeks to complete maintenance orders (simple or complicated), obviously a sign of bad management. It even took them months to get us copies of the gate keys.
Right as they switched over management there was for some reason a large pool of white paint in one of the parking garage spots. My toddler almost slipped in it, getting paint all over herself and I. I spoke to someone now under the new management and they said they would look into it. Who knows if they did.
It seems they’ve tried to employ «fun» things with
and a meet & greet with management staff. I feel as though they should have improved their basic customer service and maintenance before even thinking about those things. They sent out a letter for Fourth of July stating that they would be providing security for our parking garage and to ensure no reserved spots would be taken by event attendees. The park holds a large fireworks event, so there is a lot of traffic. Well as we pull in we see the hired security and think «Awesome!» but we pull in to our space and there is someone in it! So I don’t know what kind of process the management relayed to this hired security but it was obviously not thought through. The security let us know that they could tow, but we would need the tow card – which they ALSO NEVER GAVE US. They also promised the top floor of the garage would be reserved and blocked off for residents to bring chairs and watch the show. They didn’t come through on that either. There were tons of cars parked and even more that were still trying to drive through the loads of pedestrians (including children) making it very dangerous.
They scheduled the apartment above me to be turned over on an early Saturday morning with the banging and noise continuing well on into the afternoon. After calling in and asking why they would do this on a weekend the explanation was «well if they don’t do it today the people can’t move in.» Which to my reaction is great, what about the people who pay and already live here?! You mean to tell me they couldn’t schedule themselves correctly and move it 2 days to a Monday? Another mis-​management of their maintenance scheduling.
Other issues include overflowing garbage that’s right inside the garage, pigeon/​cat/​dog waste, big security gate breaks often (defeating the ‘security’) part. When it rains you can just smell all the dog and cat pee. I love animals – but they should really work on controlling this issue. They could probably benefit from working with a shelter or a trap-​neuter-​return organization for all the stray cats. They could also pay more attention to which residents are not cleaning up after their pets. There are several areas in the complex and in the garage as well that are caked with pigeon feces.
I know this is long and I probably sounds like a grump, but just don’t want anyone to be sold alone on the units aesthetics like I was. I think «The Station» just down the street might be owned by the same company? I’ve been there and its SO much cleaner and nice – but I think that’s because they cater to a higher price point, sadly.
Also – I had ignored the bad reviews I found online of this place, big mistake.

PROS:
Newer style complex.
Security alarm in every unit.
Full size washer and dryer in unit.
Gated garage.
Crown molding.
Attractive floor-​plans.
CONS:
GARBAGE — Dumpster overflowing into the garage with trash. Garbage all over the garage and side walks. I’ve seen a full size, half eaten bag of popcorn thrown on the ground with popcorn spilled everywhere. Recently had a Wal-​Mart bag with shit in it near my front door. I promptly kicked it to the floor below. I mean, how does this happen? These are not small garbage items. A bag of microwave popcorn? Are you kidding me? I actually think it’s kinda funny now. I look forward to seeing what absurd garbage item I will find next. Just this morning I found cotton swab type strands near my car. At first I thought it was a tampon but it wasn’t. I have no idea what it was. Classic.
Conclusion? Trashy people leaving trash in a somewhat attractively newer complex.