The Niche

After living here over a year, I can honestly say it has only gotten better! Our new maintenance supervisor is AMAZING! He has even come on weekends to fix little things! The manager, Jennifer is soooo amazing! She bends over backwards to make sure every resident feels special — from holiday parties, to Wine Down Wednesdays, to free breakfast tacos at the gate — She is THE BEST! She even unlocked the office after hours for me so I could get a package that was delivered there. I am so happy I chose the Niche!

My fiancé and I moved in when the property was undergoing new management in the summer of 2015. I should have listened to my gut when we were given a tour by a lady who could barely answer any of our general questions in regards to the property amenities and pricing, however I did not and it was a mistake. On the day we were to move in, my fiancé called me from our new apartment and asked, do I want the «good news or the bad news first?» At that time I was in my old apartment closing up heading over. I was excited for move in day and I honestly didn’t think anything was that bad. HOWEVER, when he had stepped into our new apartment at The Niche, the flooring and appliances were old and worn. We were promised a complete remodel of flooring and appliances and had put down the deposit weeks prior. (The main reason we chose this place). My fiancé and I then had to make the decision the day we stepped into our apartment whether or not we wanted to continue with the upgrades, even though we had no place to go and our stuff was already moved in. (We hired a moving service and couldn’t back down). Since we had already paid and the work was in progress, we decided to go ahead and have the flooring and appliances removed. The head of maintenance had just been fired, and a maintenance man at another apartment complex was called over to «quickly remove and replace appliances.» The poor man was overworked and standing water from the old dishwasher spilled all over as he attempted to take out the old and bring in the new. We waited a few days for the rest of the new appliances to come in. Back to the flooring… since we had already moved out of our old apartment and they were to be expecting us on our move in day we had nowhere to go and for two days our old wood flooring was ripped apart and new flooring put in. We had to move ALL of our items from room to room as flooring was being replaced. In addition, all of our items, clothing, and furniture were covered in dust. (Including my white cat who looked like a chimney sweeper) as a result of the dirt and grime. (Really…) It gets worse… Coming from out of town, we had no one to stay with while our place was being renovated. We were never given an apology until we confronted the manager, Jennifer, who was already aware of the issue and could have called to let us know it was NOT ready! But no… She assured us she would get us a hotel for the night. That never happened. When inquiring again a few months later about any compensation, Jennifer said she was able to only give us a gift card. Almost a year later, that still has yet to happen. We have been so patient, but as we are nearing the end of our lease I wanted to save others the trouble. I understand things happen and miscommunication can take place, especially under new management, HOWEVER this is not a matter of miscommunication. There are no excuses. We spent all of Fourth of July weekend cleaning our apartment from the mess of the construction that was supposed to take place PRIOR to move in. What a way to spend Fourth of July weekend, especially when your fiancé is active duty military and barely gets a day off! Imagine walking into your apartment that you just paid for together to find that it is a mess and not «move in ready.» Even after we spent all of fourth of July weekend cleaning, we ended up hiring a maid to assist as dust covered every inch of the apartment. I thought about serving Jennifer with the cleaning bill, but my fiancé told me to «be patient.» I have been and there has still not been any compensation. Management and maintenance has been an ongoing issue (it’s now nearing February 2016). When my fiancé went to submit a survey in regards to maintenance issues, it was supposed to be reviewed by a third party. Instead, it went straight to Jennifer. There was nothing confidential about it, but the fact that it went to the manager who has done nothing to help the issues is disappointing. Security is also an issue here. There have been multiple break-​ins and fights on property. Police are consistently in and out, but only when called. I have yet to see a security officer on property. The security gate has issues of its own. You can get in using multiple codes. They apparently changed the codes, but they were never completely changed. The height of the fence is also very small surrounding property. I will say that efforts have been made to make the property «community friendly,» such as «wind down wine night» on Wednesdays among other small gatherings. I think it is a nice gesture, but it’s still not worth it. Save yourself the trouble, especially if you are ready to settle down. I’d maybe choose this place if I was in college.

I came to SA from out of state hoping to look at an apartment at the Niche. I scheduled an appointment in advance, but when I got there it turned out that the person I had spoken with was a temp on the first day of her job. The office manager, Jennifer, assigned the temp to take me around even though she barely knew the property — this really demonstrated how little Jennifer cared about having desirable, high-​end clients who plan in advance. (I emphasize that this was not the temp’s fault — but a serious client should be taken seriously and shown around by someone familiar with the property). They had no 3 bedroom model to show, and Jennifer refused to show me her 3 bedroom unit even though I had requested a tour well in advance. The only unit I was shown was a 1 bedroom, which gave very little information as to what the real 3 bedroom space would feel like. The manager stated she had no idea I was coming (even though the temp spoke with her about it beforehand), but insisted that she was aware of everything that happened in her office.
It seems that this manager and her property does not have much forethought when it comes to booking new clientele, and are looking for people who just need to move in quickly (military, younger folks, etc). The property itself reflects this — a very underwhelming pool, small courtyard space, and shabby office management. If I was 20 years old, I might have been ok with it. But there are much better properties in the same neighborhood for the same price range, and I will be looking at those instead.