experience with West Village apartments in Durham? (sublets, rental)

[losadair]

Does anyone have direct experience renting at West Village apartments? We've been trying to set up a 2BR apartment there and are having no luck....not sure if the rental office is particularly disorganized, if openings are scarce generally, or what. We have good credit/references, all our paperwork turned in etc, but can't seem to get a call back or a straight story about availability. The agent responded once to my calls/emails and apologized for "having your file on my desk for two weeks and just not getting to it," promised to call back in two days if I'd send her a reminder email, which I did...and then nothing. Very strange for a salesperson. I've responded to some ads about sublets with the option to take sign my own lease at the end, but no luck there either; in fact only one person even called me back.

If you rent there and have advice, please reply or send me a private message. I loved the apartments, and the location is definitely my first choice, but soon we will need to decide whether to wait it out with them or try other options. Wondering if I've had bad luck, or if this is how things go there. Any insights would help...thanks!

[Bull City Rising]

Originally Posted by losadair

Does anyone have direct experience renting at West Village apartments? We've been trying to set up a 2BR apartment there and are having no luck....not sure if the rental office is particularly disorganized, if openings are scarce generally, or what. We have good credit/references, all our paperwork turned in etc, but can't seem to get a call back or a straight story about availability. The agent responded once to my calls/emails and apologized for "having your file on my desk for two weeks and just not getting to it," promised to call back in two days if I'd send her a reminder email, which I did...and then nothing. Very strange for a salesperson. I've responded to some ads about sublets with the option to take sign my own lease at the end, but no luck there either; in fact only one person even called me back.

If you rent there and have advice, please reply or send me a private message. I loved the apartments, and the location is definitely my first choice, but soon we will need to decide whether to wait it out with them or try other options. Wondering if I've had bad luck, or if this is how things go there. Any insights would help...thanks!

The apartments themselves, particularly the Phase II units (south of Morgan St.), are very popular and have long wait lists. That said, the new owners of the complex recently changed management companies -- from what I understand it was an old crew out one day, new crew in the next affair... and I think it happened in the last 2-3 weeks. Or so I heard from a good friend who lives in the complex.

Not making excuses, but that came to mind from your story. Good luck! There aren't a lot of great comps to West Village; American Tobacco apartments and Golden Belt come to mind, as does Station Nine and, more undergraduate-ey and strip mall-ey, Lofts at Lakeview. The new Circle Ninth Street would be an option in a year or so but is currently a whole in the ground (and is admittedly less urban than West Village.) Good luck!

[losadair]

Thanks for the reply...yeah, the staff mentioned a recent management change. I guess we should have applied earlier, but I thought early March would be plenty of time for summer. Perhaps we'll need to try another place if there's no news this week.

We checked out Golden Belt when we visited last month - my husband (an artist) is applying for a spot in the lovely studios there. My life requires being out at odd hours and although I much prefer real, diverse neighborhoods, the Golden Belt area is still a little too "transitional" for me to feel OK living there and walking alone at night...also, holy cow, no closet space! I love the fancy amenities and layouts at Lofts at Lakeview but that's a ridiculous leap in the other, manufactured-suburb direction. West Village seems like the perfect middle ground, right?

At some point we'll just pick something, and I guess if we dislike it we can change next year. I expect that we'll rent a house in the longer term, but that seems easier to organize when you're already living locally.

This moving thing'll drive ya nuts! If anyone knows the magic words at West Village, please let me know

[peperoberto]

Last I checked (a few months ago), West Village had a 9-month or so wait list. Good luck, though.

I'm with BCR, you may want to check out Station 9 as a last-minute alternate. Near 9th Street, so it's still two blocks from some bars and restaurants, but it is a bit farther from Downtown. Really popular with the med students and law students, and there's a bus stop that heads to the hospital and west campus right behind it, if you're going to be headed to Duke often.

[losadair]

Good news (maybe)...we applied for an open 2BR at American Tobacco in the Old Bull building. Involves some compromises (potentially annoying parking, and unit has carpet and lower level of fancy-ness) but seems to meet our basic criteria, timeline is perfect, rent's cheaper, and the manager was helpful and organized.

I've read complaints from a couple years back about roof leaks and maintenance issues, and ongoing construction...appears the building has changed owners/management after bankruptcy at some point? We'll have a look and ask questions when we visit (hopefully the end of this week), but if anyone has the inside scoop let me know.

Thanks peperoberto and Bull City Rising, y'all have given me very useful information several times now! Anything else I should know?

***added - BTW, I remembered that I have contact information for someone who actually lives at West Village. He confirms what BCR said about the recent management change, and it sounds like things are a bit of a mess over there - management staff were replaced with all new people overnight, and since then my contact says he's been "irked by the poor communication, disorganization, and tenant services changes that have been happening with no notice." At least it's not just me feeling irked

[losadair]

Quick update...I've completely had it with West Village. After driving me crazy for a month by ignoring my calls and giving me conflicting information on the occasions when they answered, they called today to say that have an apartment available for us in Phase II on May 27. Or, oh wait, May 31st. No...no, actually it's June 6th....she thinks. She'll call me back in an hour (but didn't, and the phone rolled over to after-hours voice mail two hours before their closing time).

We're set up to rent at American Tobacco. It's a nice apartment at a reasonable price, and we really want to be downtown, so we're going for it. The manager there has been awesome. Wish us luck

[jp23]

Hey I too am looking to rent in the downtown durham area. I'm just at the beginning of my search, but I was wondering if you successfully moved in to the American Tobacco apartments? I was wondering how they were, or if you have any other apartment suggestions in the area. --Thanks!

[crl0901]

I've lived there for about 2 months now and I absolutely love it. Yes, the decor is a little less modern looking and the appliances are basic (although I do love the Bosch stacked washer/dryer), but the apartment itself is comfortable, extremely roomy and rent really isn't that bad considering where you're located. I love the convenience to downtown. Downtown bars and Brightleaf are walkable, you'll need a bike or a cab to get to 9th st. There's the American Tobacco trail which is great for running/biking. Bulls games throughout the year, shows at the DPAC, great food all around and there's events on the lawn under the water tower throughout the summer. Everyone I've met in the complex seems very friendly and the staff/management is on-point. For example, I called about my AC unit's drip pan leaking at around 3pm. Before I got home at 5pm, the issue was resolved and there was a maintenance sheet on the counter with the fixes that were made. Very professional and timely.

The only weak spot in the apartment are the windows. They're extremely drafty and they block zero noise from the outside, so expect to hear crowds pass after a DPAC show, hear trains come by or hear the maintenance crew taking out the garbage at night. It really hasn't been an issue though, it's mostly white noise to me. They're also planning on building a basketball court under the coal shed. I'm am less than enthused about this, to say the least, but I'll reserve judgement until after it's built and I get an idea of what kind of noise goes along with it.

[losadair]

jp23, we did move into the American Tobacco apartments (Old Bull building) and love it - plus our apartment is $300-$500/month cheaper than the units West Village offered us. I agree 100% with the above post about the advantages and disadvantages. The management (Greystar) has been fantastic, and I quickly concluded that I value a well-maintained apartment, clear communication, clean common areas, and a perfect location much more than I value granite countertops or the most fashionable appliances. Our two minor maintenance issues were addressed within a couple hours, and everything in our place works all the time.

We are on the ground floor facing the train tracks, so we get the full effect of the blaring train horns and passing buses...the beautiful old windows are thin enough to allow us to hear even the conversations of passing pedestrians...but I'm not bothered by noise and quickly got used to the urban sounds. (If you need perfect quiet to sleep, the noise could be a deal-breaker though). It's just the windows that let sound in; I never hear anything from neighbors because the walls are quite thick.

Our apartment is very cool, with 20-foot ceilings and some exposed brick, duct work, etc - not a cookie-cutter place. The price seems fair. I walk or bike almost everywhere now, and my husband and I can both catch the free Bull City Connector bus to work/school just a block and a half from our door. There are three great bakeries within a couple minutes' walk, but luckily there are also four exercise places - two Y branches, CrossFit, and a yoga studio I would definitely recommend the building if you're interested in being downtown; PM me if you have questions.