632 MLK Apartments

Stenz Management has recently taken over managing this community, hired a new property manager, maintenance tech & they're doing a wonderful job! The property manager is on top off her job & communicates well with the tenants. Maintenance & the property manager address any maintenance issues promptly and work diligently to get service completed in a timely manager. The building definitely feels safe & secure, the improvements are making a great difference!

Like others, I lived here for over a year because of the convenience of living downtown and near my place of work. The review by "Objectively, No." is all true. Though I don't know all too much about the security deposit because I am not moving out yet because not able to break my lease/hassle of finding someone to sublet. I will update the review if something happens with the security deposit whenever I can move out of this property.

PROS:
1) All of the gates took a long time to fix, but they... have been fixed and there has been no complaints. False fire alarms have also stopped. No more nights freezing outside while waiting for maintenance to fix it. No idea if this will be a long term fix.
2) Electricity bill is fairly low, even during winter months.
3) It's downtown and you can walk/bike to all the main areas for night life. Far enough from the rowdiness, but still fair amount of people come through since it is on a main intersection (Indiana Ave/West street).
4) Secure because of controlled access. Burglaries have also stopped probably cause theres always a patrol car in the lot.
5)used to have students in med/dental/grad school and professionals but most people have moved out and/or currently moving out.

CONS:
1) Small common areas. Gym, rooftop terrace, and media room are resident ONLY and SMALL space. First come first serve, likely someone always is in there and its cramped when you try to join. I've sent a notice a couple of times about machines not working, not having any wipes to wipe down machines, and the broken door on the media room. No response. This was during the time there was change of property manager.Still I followed up twice about this. If email changed, they should have told us. Amenities are closed 10pm.
2) Thin walls. You can hear traffic no matter which side of the complex you live. I can also hear my neighbors voices/speaker phones through the walls and nightly activities. Invest in some ear plugs. Yikes.
3) Ventilation is BAD. You can smell cigarettes/whatever your neighbors are cooking up for dinner in the hallways. Plan on cooking? Best to leave all your windows open.

There are better downtown options in the same/less price range. Don't be in a rush like me. Lee mas

Was a renter for 2.5 years in this property:

PROS:
Relatively new, regular cleaning available for communal spaces, basic appliances included, near IU campus, close to IU shuttle stop, close to fast food places, key fob entry within building premises, common areas are nice and usable, close enough to Mass Ave to bike/uber but far enough to avoid the busy scene on weekends, renters are mostly students in med/dental/graduate school, and some yuppies-- generally a more mature demographic, allows... dogs (you will encounter dogs at one point in the elevator, your choice if you want to be on it or take the stairs)

CONS:
1. Repeated break ins: Several and repeated episodes where bikes were stolen, cars within the "gated" parking garage had items stolen and car windows smashed. Management supposedly "acted" on it by increasing height of the fence and whatever else, but at that time, the property had already been broken into about 4x. Not sure about how effective the fence is either.

2. Gates were generally NOT working: Garage gate took over 7 months to repair with the cars and tenants within the property more vulnerable to outside threats. Property blamed the gate vendor, but they could have just changed the gate altogether rather than putting everyone at risk for that long. That's over half a year! Back entry gate for many times did not need a fob to get in as it was not working.

3. Security deposit: At the end of the lease I was deducted over $200 for the following charges: Carpet---my unit only had hardwood floors. Drip pans--- i hardly used my stove, like 2x a month, and even then I changed all of the drip pans to brand new ones, disposal---was in good working condition when I left. Reached out to property manager several times, left voice messages, and emails. Has not responded. Until now.

4. Fire alarm: Takes over an hour for the person in charge to have the alarm shut off. Fire department would come promptly and confirm a false alarm and would leave, while all tenants are out in the snow waiting for the person to shut off the alarm. Good that the alarm works though.

I had to stay there for that long only because I signed a 2.5 year lease with them and I would be penalized if I broke the contract. They were initially promising but it just went down hill 4 months into it.

All in all, I will NOT recommend this rental property. Lee mas

I lived at 632 MLK for 2 years while in graduate school. I chose to live here for the convenience of living downtown. The first year went okay; other than a super noisy upstairs neighbor. I contacted the management company several times and it never got resolved until that neighbor moved out. The second year was much worse. There were a few midnight fire alarms (which took an excessive amount of time to resolve) as well as a lack of secured parking. I paid extra for secured parking, but the gate... was broken for almost 6 months total. I asked for a reimbursement due to unmet expectations of secured parking, but was not given anything to compensate me for a lack of security. There were also times that the hallways, and even my apartment (due to ventilation), reeked of smoke (marijuana and cigarette). I reported this to the management, but was told residents are allowed to smoke cigarettes on their balconies (which are directly below each other).

Even with these issues, I would recommend (and have) living at 632 MLK, just know that the cost of rent does not equal awesome management.

Positives: I never had any issues with bugs and my electric bill was always really low. Lee mas

The rent is as much as a luxury apartment, but service is not as good.
Pros:
New apartments
Close to IUPUI
A small apartment community
Close to grocery store

Cons:
Frequent crimes like bike theft and breaking in off cars. (The garage gates seem to be broken more often then it should be)
Frequent false fire alarms which is annoying and often goes on at night. Also they take too long to turn it off.
Gym closes by 10
Apt can be noisy sometimes
Appliances are not the best quality and breaks down... often. Usually they charge a free for fixing it. Lee mas