Mansion At Bala

Oct 2nd, 2021

This has been the most exhausting, disappointing, and appalling resident experience. One star is too much. I've observed Mansion at Bala from afar since its inception. I was drawn to the aesthetics: amazing windows, great square footage, high ceilings, beautiful crown molding, and oversized garden tub. Most importantly, the advertisement of "gated community, gate attendant, and controlled access" are what really sold me. Who doesn't want to feel safe? Although a pool wasn't a must-have, the online photos of the pool and exterior grounds were very appealing. Unfortunately, nothing is at all what it appears. I love my apartment and happy to say the maintenance team is great. Other than that, this place is shamefully, grossly, and wilfully neglected. *Unsafe- long history of break-ins, home invasion, and aggravated assault. Five occurred between February ‘21 and July 21. Another just occurred on 10/1. *Controlled Access- doesn’t exist *Vagrants observed freely entering the property and camping out. *Gate attendants- useless (sleep, not in the booth, on their phones) *Sinks separating from countertops. Being held together by wood slabs and visible caulking. *Cheap, shoddy construction- no insulation (freezing during winter months). Extremely thin walls and floors *No upkeep- dead plants and uncontrolled weeds throughout the exterior *Pool- filthy and rarely open. Opened 3 weeks this summer *Fitness Center- broken and dated equipment *Package Service- hundreds of boxes all over the unsupervised Community Room where anyone off the street can access. Searching for your package is a scavenger hunt. *Filthy interior trash rooms, trash throughout the parking garage, dirty stairwells *Outside dumpsters reflect conditions in impoverished communities with little to no resources *Irresponsible pet owners- dog urine and feces in the building, garage, and parking lot *Management- couldn’t care less about the resident experience. Ignores residents emails and concerns. The disrespect is unnerving. Be aware of the "bait and switch" practice many have attested to experiencing. If you express interest in a particular unit, get it in writing before paying your application fee. Ensure you see the unit promised to you well in advance and request confirmation from the leasing office that your unit is in move-in condition. There is also a very high resident turnover here due to dissatisfaction with the resident experience. Add to that, high staff turnover as well. Recently, three leasing office staff and one maintenance staff resigned in a 2-week period. The constant pleas for improvement fall on deaf ears. Considering the reviews reflect these issues have been ongoing over the years, irrespective of who the property manager is, it's quite evident these issues are a result of the company culture and not just on-site management. While prospective tenants may feel the square footage, free parking, and other "amenities" are great for the price compared to competing properties, keep in mind - you get what you pay for. If you make the decision to move here, just know you'll be paying a premium rate only to get the proverbial middle finger in response.#profitoverpeople
Oct 13th, 2021

This building is not safe. It's a terrible shame that MaB is being so poorly managed. The apartments are beautiful and spacious with great amenities, but there is one glaring flaw that the leasing office will not tell you about until it's too late. Over the last 4 months there have been multiple break-ins including one aggravated assault. The most recent one was today. The management refuses to spend the money or take even the most basic steps to secure the premises. I will happily update this review to 5 stars when the following items have been addressed: 1. External and stairwell lights are burned out all over the place, these need to be fixed ASAP. 2. All external doors must require a key or fob to gain entry. This includes the doors in the garage, it is too easy to get past the main entrance. 3. Security cameras should be installed in the garage and stairwells. 4. Replace the broken countertop in my bathroom (the granite was cracked and on the floor when we moved in) 5. The package room is a horrifying pile of 100s of boxes on what is supposed to be a pool table in the "community center." Find a secure organized place for us to pickup packages. It truly breaks my heart to see such a great building with beautiful apartments go to waste because Winther Investments has decided to not spend a dime on running this building in a secure way.
Oct 3rd, 2021

Winther Investments does not care about this property, and the safety of the tenants. My husband and I moved in here after careful consideration, and the leasing office made it seem like it was a great place to live. But as the weeks went by, it has become clear that they are not the kind of welcoming place we'd thought. They failed to mention to us that over the past 6 months, there have been not 1, not 2, but SIX break-ins/ burglaries, and 1 aggravated assault. The latest break-in happened *yesterday*, Oct 1, 2021. I thought that the property manager would immediately jump into action, as having the tenants afraid to leave their apartments is a very bad look. I thought they would take swift steps to secure the currently-unlocked doors throughout the complex, including the ones in the garage (there are still several unlocked entryways that anybody - random strangers - can easily enter buildings through). Putting on key fob locks on these doors would solve this so easily... I'm confused why nothing has been done for months. Attached is the letter from the current manager that notifies tenants to go purchase our own security systems, even though with the *premium rent prices* they're charging, they could easily install cameras in the garage, stairwells, and hallways. It really isn't a huge task to do this, so again I'm confused why the owner/ managers here do not care about the consistent burglaries. Security is the bare minimum, which they are failing at. But on top of that there are many other red flags that should deter you from renting here: 1. Flooded hallways after long rains. Water is pooling in certain hallways, and there are some 1st floor apartments having flooding issues. Water damage is not something to take lightly, so I'm surprised nothing has been done. 2. Package room is a complete mess. They've turned the "lounge" area (in the leasing office) into a makeshift package room, which requires tenants to dig through piles and piles of boxes around a pool table to find our mail. There are boxes there that have been sitting in disarray for months. 3. Irresponsible dog owners leave their dog's poop out in the yard, in the grass, in the fenced dog area, in the garage, everywhere. Although this is obviously not the property's fault, there should be plenty of signs and doggy bags (the 1 bag dispenser in the yard is always empty) to encourage these dog-owners to pick up after their dogs. Security cameras would also help with this. Overall I'm just really confused as to why they'd advertise themselves as a luxury rental building, but then leave the property to become run-down and easily burglarized?? There are simple things that could be done to alleviate these pain points, especially the recurring break-in problem, and yet... I'd be happy to update this review if anything does change, but based on what I've seen so far, this is not a good place to renew a lease.
Oct 2nd, 2021

Update 8/26/21: I was supposed to move in tomorrow and never heard from management until this afternoon. Neil Mitchell, the community manager, sent an email asking me to sign my lease and review and sign several other policy documents. I laughed out loud. I cannot believe Neil actually thought I would move in after their complete lack of communication during the last few weeks. I read the negative reviews about this complex, but still applied for an apartment because Vyneeka was pretty responsive. BIG MISTAKE! I received my approval letter in July 2021, but asked three times when.I would sign my lease. The time frame kept changing, from one month before my move in date to two weeks before. As I approached the two week mark, I called the office and had to leave a message. I expressed my concern about not having a signed lease and no one called me back. How does this place stay in business? More importantly, how does the current management still have their jobs? Now, I'm back to the drawing board and looking at other rental options.
Aug 28th, 2021