Sawyer Heights Lofts Luxury Apartments

Current Resident 844669

Resident • 2008 - 2009

Parking Problems

The worst aspect of the apartments is the parking situation. As mentioned below, the parking lot is too small. Only one car can fit around each turn of the parking garage, making it very dangerous. Also, the parking lot cannot handle the number of residents per floor, meaning that a large number of people are assigned a parking spot on a different (probably higher) floor than where they live (the apartment has 6 floors of parking and only 4 residential floors). I know this because I have to park two floors above my apartment, which takes extra time to get in and out of the parking lot, I have to wait on a very slow elevator that is often broken, and I get more chances to be hit by a car going up and down the garage. The apartment complex has installed mirrors that do not help, and are about to construct speed bumps in the parking lot. I propose that the apartment complex stop assigning parking spaces, which will be safer and more convenient to all residents. Safety would increase because drivers would no longer rush to their designated parking space, but would slow down near their apartment and look for an open space. Convenience would increase because the office would no longer need to assign parking spaces on higher floors, and residents would be able to take advantage of empty spaces when other residents are out of town or away from their apartments. This also is logical because the parking garage is never full, and there are always empty spaces on my floor. As for the noise, the trains are loud. I haven't ever heard the people next to me, below me, or above me, but maybe I am lucky. I don't live on I-10, so that isn't a problem. My main complaint is the noise that echoes from the courtyards because you can hear exactly what someone is saying when they use a normal voice level. Also, the doors to the hallways do not seal correctly or they are made of cheap material because you can hear people in the hallways, the opening and closing of doors, and you can tell what TV show someone is watching just by walking by their apartment. The building is very safe, and the grounds are maintained well. The pool is nice, the reflection pond is nice, but the meditation garden is basically just a couple of chairs under a tent and some water fountains. The construction looks very nice and new. However, the materials used are pretty cheap. Lot's of closet space and storage. However, if I would have hung my towels on the only towel rack in my bathroom, they would have been hanging in toilet water. So I don't have a towel rack that is usable. Also, the opening of various doors in my bathroom, closet, bedroom, and washroom was designed very poorly. You can't open one without having to close all of the others. Our apartment also has a built in desk, but it is across from the washroom, which has large doors that prevent us from having a chair at the desk and/or using the desk for its intended purpose (it is used for storage now). The staff and maintenance are great. I would live here again, but it would be in another unit, and the current parking situation would have to be changed. The problems I listed above are not complaints, and I am writing this review to help prospective tenants know what to look for when considering Sawyer Heights.

Current Resident 305236

Resident • 2008 - 2009

Hallways...Noise...Bad Gym...Too many dogs...Bad Garage =not the best place

1) According to the security officer more than 80% of the residents (500 units) have a dog/cat...I live in the 4th floor and they pooped twice already in front of my door...they are everywhere...Management needs to do a better job distributing the amount of apartmens available for pets...I am ok with dogs/cats but some people have dogs 80 lbs&up (waaay to big for an apt). 2) They will tell you that double panel windows will take care of I-10 noise (I was dumb enough to believe them)...I am new in Houston and visited the property on a Saturday morning (low traffic)...visit the apartment complex weekdays from 4-6 pm and you will have an idea of what I am talking about. 3) Hallways have carpet floors and are in pretty bad shape...it does not make sense to have carpet hallways when you have more than 80% of the residents with pets...concrete floors will be a much cleaner and better way to keep the hallways clean. 4) Parking garage is bad...I was hitted almost twice because of the up&down traffic... 5) I already found lofts in much better areas in the range of $900-1000...same sq.ft, brand new units, better appliances... 6) The gym is lame...for the amount of rent we pay...not enought machines...However, if you are a "mom" yoga fan...they have a fantastic room for that... 7) Traffic in fron of the aparment is increasing exponentially (Target, Petsmart, Staples, Chilis, Wachovia, Freebirds...great things) 8) Surrounding areas are not that safe... I am planning to move out of this complex as soon as my leasing contract expires. It looks very nice...but just look again and you will see that is not worth it.

Current Resident 209163

Resident • 2008 - 2009

Welcome to the property of DOGS

The most precise name for this place should be ''Sawyer Heights Dogs''. Dogs are literally winding everywhere in this complex; in the foyer, library, latte lounge, billiards room, elevators,... Some residents and management are just ignorant that dogs sh** and pee all over the place with no respect to people who are not ''pet fans''! It's hard to get in the elevator without meeting a guy with 3 big dogs nagging you. Pee spots are everywhere on the carpets of the complex hallways. Why don't they split the complex into two sections one for people with pets and the other is pet-free? Is it that hard? I'm sure many will prefer this situation. One morning, I saw a guy coming into the latte lounge with his dog from outside walk with the dog and right to the coffee machine! Did he wash his hands before operating the machine? And how can dogs be allowed inside the latte lounge? I will never get a cup of coffee from that machine after this... just disgusting. If you don't mind living with all types and sizes of dogs and their sh**, then move to this place.

longate

Resident • 2008 - 2009

DO NOT MOVE HERE

There are much better places... keep looking! Management is a JOKE, place is surrounded by great places to eat and shop... BUT GETTING IN AND OUT OF THE APARTMENT IS sometimes hard and scary, traffic is horrible! Also the place is falling apart, if you take a tour notice the small things like the dirty carpet and scuffed up concrete floors. I am so glad my lease is up in a month!

Current Resident 625741

Resident • 2008 - 2009

Move anywhere but here....

This place is run by a management group that does not care about their residents one bit. The office staff is really nice and helpful but they are limited to the unreasonable and rude corporate office they work for... The property looks nice but paint, fancy signs and a few shrubs will do that. Lights are out in the parking garage, dog feces in the hallways, and overall subpar construction is just a few of the things here. Parking is assigned, which is good if you only have one car. If you have a one bedroom, you get one space, and you must park your second car at the top of the parking garage (six floors later) and the elevators don t work. We suffered hurricane damage and while they did accommodate us, thanks to one of the managers, they used our electricity to rehab the apartment and stuck us with the bill for $350 when our normal bill is usually $140. Don t rent on the first floor as it was already flooded and the place is not even a year old. Some people never got there apartments fixed. I dont even have to mention the noise from the trains, freeway, and the card board flooring between each level. Just fair warning .Look somewhere else if you want high end luxury living and service. I would not recommend anyone live here if that is what you want. Good Luck Apartment Hunting.

Current Resident 223235

Resident • 2007 - 2008

LOUD.

I chose this place because I wanted to live near the city. But this apartment makes me think I am. It's loud no matter what time of day due to the foot traffic outside and blaring trains that rip through your windows at ALL hours. Even 4 AM. It's pretty ridiculous- there's even one passing now, just honking away at midnight. The warehouses and parking lot are just as loud all night long. The parking garage means you HAVE to have insurance. I swear I am going to get hit sometime during my lease time here. You can't fit two cars going both ways- but they make you try. I have seen quite a few apartments on the first floor gutted due to flooding - I'd watch out for that. Definitely take advantage of the amenities because otherwise it's a waste of rent money. Quality is nice- just the windows could be thicker. You could hear a whisper outdoors through these things. I do like my apartment, but I am beyond sick of the trains keeping me up all night. I bet it's great for extremely heavy sleepers or people with more tolerance, but needless to say I will not be renewing my lease in a few months.

HoustonApartments

Resident • 2008

Great Place to Live

This place has an amazing Location, right off of I-10. Easy access to the freeways! The pool is super nice as well... I am an apartment locator, you cant beat this place for the price, i should know! If you need help finding an apartment please contact me: Email: brianlemer@yahoo.com Website: http://www.my-houston-apartment.com

Current Resident 44549

Resident • 2008

pretty property... bad excuses

i have lived on the property since before it was finished being built. I love the property and the units and the view of downtown. It is a wonderful place to live. i love the girls in the office; however during the hurricane, another manager was brought in and the building was in chaos. it was clear that the morale in the office was lowered which, in turn, was reflected to the tenants. not to mention, she made up rules as she went along here. we have been allowed to park our cars in fron of the bulding since i moved in... all of a sudden we are in violation of our lease agreement? I would like someone, anyone, to show me where in the lease it says we cannot park there. where are the no parking signs?? the curb isnt even striped to say we cant park there. we are not in violation of the lease... we are in violation of a particular management opinion. I DO enjoy living here.... but it is a high stress situation.... the girls in the office do their best but it is difficult for everyone when management puts everything under a microscope.... if it aint broke - dont fix it.

Current Resident 217498

Resident • 2008

DONT MOVE HERE!!! A resident of this place tried to break into my apartment and mgmt won't do ANYTHING!!!

DO NOT MOVE HERE. THE MANAGEMENT IS TERRIBLE. I'VE LIVED HERE FOR 6 MONTHS AND I'VE HAD TO CALL THE ANSWERING SERVICE 9 TIMES TO ADDRESS COMPLAINTS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. AS A 26 YEAR OLD SINGLE GIRL, THIS IS NOT A SAFE PLACE TO LIVE. MANAGEMENT HASN'T TAKEN CARE OF THE PROBLEM AT ALL. GETTING LAWYERS INVOLVED TO TRY AND BREAK MY LEASE, AS THE LEASING OFFICE WOULDN'T GRANT ME THIS REQUEST... ( EVEN AFTER MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR TRIED TO BREAK INTO MY APARTMENT AT 2AM )

Current Resident 116312

Resident • 2008

The rent is excessively HIGH

This place is nice, but the very high rent makes it go down the list of other places I've seen. As others said, the garrage is cheaply designed. Two ways run thru the same gate, putting cars enetering and exiting face to face, without any precautions. People drive in the garrage crazily without any consideration to the opposite traffic. This is very obvious if you park on the very top and want to go up and down everyday. Staff is cool, Niki and Stephani makes all they can to pacify residents. But construction errors in the garrage can't be fixed by anyone now. Apt layouts are good, but noise is high for those facing I-10! Do NOT rent any of these apts. Security guys are friendly and doing their job. I wouldn't recommend this complex because you could rent a better ''designed'' place for the same rent amount.

CF1286

Resident • 2008

It is a pleasure to live here!

Sawyer Heights is definanetly a community stepped in excellence and quality. Ranging from the staff to the elegant detail noticed throughtout the community. Here you will be sure to find an office staff with friendly smile and excellent service, and the maintence crew is always quick to assist anyone, while continuing to maintain the property. Oh lets not forget the convience of all the amenities located within this desirable neighbor hood; such as the fitness room, billards, library, clubhouse, reflection pond, meditation garden, sparkling pool, and much much more. Parking, yes it is assigned, I must admitt at first I was not happy with my parking spot, after observing the strategies used to assign these spaces I understood and now im more than happy. The security on site is very friendly and ready to assist anyone at anytime. I too had a slight noise issue, however I only had this noise issue when my upstairs neighbors had like ten visitors and they were all storming throughtout the apartment at once. On that note noise is not an issue for me with my neighbors, I to lived by interstate ten and the the windows are double pain, very little noise can be hard, although I transferred to the downtown side not due to noise or any community problem.

Current Resident 426736

Resident • 2008

Good and Bad

The apartments are really nice and the complex is nice as well. We love the floorplan, the high ceilings, and the modern decor. The rent is prety high. They could have atleast painted the walls for that price! The gym is a bit small for how large the complex is. The apartments are well done, its just the everyday inconveniences that are annoying. The parking garage is terribly designed. The turns are dangerous, you can't see if anyone is coming because there is a concrete wall. They put up mirrors, but they are small, so I can never really see anything. Your parking is assigned which also sucks. One bedroom apartments only get one, so the other person has to park on the sixth floor. The only reason I can think of why they did that is because the parking garage is small and they thought it would atleast reserve a spot for the resident. But what about the vacant apartments and residents out of town? Those spots are just wasted. You may have to park far from your apartment and walk by a ton of open spots right by the door. It's really annoying and you are reminded of it everytime you are carrying groceries. The other bad thing is that there is only one enter/exit gate. What if that gate doesn't work? That happened at my last complex, but luckily there were two exits. In an emergency, it could be a problem. If you do decide to live here, get a fourth floor apartment. You can definitely hear the people above you. We hear our neighbors walking and slamming cabinet doors. It's really annoying. You would think with new construction, that problem would be solved. We've felt pretty safe so far. There isn't much around the complex except the target, so you don't really have any randoms walking around. I didn't know about the motorcycle, that must have been before we moved in. But to say it's the residents job, is crazy! Why do we have the random security officers walking around? We are paying them, they should help prevent those things! Another thing that's been a little inconvenient, is the distance to the closest grocery store. Target is great to have right there, but if you need fresh foods you need to go to the grocery. The closest I've found is in Post Oaks, maybe I haven't found the closest. It's about a ten minute drive. I'm used to a three minute drive. I would recommend the apartments, only if you got it on the fourth floor and a good deal.

Current Resident 438743

Resident • 2008

NOT RECOMMENDED

This place, although recently built, is not worth staying at due to the high rent level versus what you get. Parking: The garage is terriblly designed in a way that only 1 gate/1 way is available for both exiting and entering. This means, cars entering (going up) and exiting (coming down) always meet inside the dark garage, making it a dangerous way, no matter how you slow down, and imposing a high possibility of accidents. I don't know what will happen when the garage gets full and packed. But for sure, there is no way to overcome this design, even when mirrors are used to show if a car is coming. Security: Last month, to our surprise, a motorcycle was stolen from the garage. At that point, the remote gates were not installed. However, what was funny was the letter from management to residents saying that ''Security is not the property's responsibility; it is the resident's!''. I can imagine that poor resident's frustration. May be each resident should hire his/her own security guy! Noise: This complex is literally on I-10, so the noise level is horrible. I live in a one-bedroom apartment that faces I-10 for $1100 a month; it is horrible. I doubt they installed bouble-glass windows to reduce the noise. It feels like as if no windows were there. I don't know about apartments facing the other sides. But for sure, their rent is more than $1100. Construction: The complex looks fine, apartment layouts are good. However, noise level of I-10 is high due to cheap construction materials. Overall: Not recommended for what you pay is not what you get. What you expect is not what you meet. I'm out of there once my contract expires.