The Nova Collective

We have lived here for 4 years. Midwest realty has owned this property until 2024. Focus Properties have owned this property since mid 2024. The new owners have made promises to update and make many improvements to the property. Unfortunately this was not the case. We were very excited to see this place turn into an impressive luxury apartment community. Instead we were forded to pay an increase rent ( which i can understand) but what I was not okay with was 3 pages full of ridiculous new... policies. We had to pay for a garage, which was included when we moved in. The price was not cheap. Another horrible policy was paying an additional fee for landscaping, which NO improvements has been made. My head always hit a tree branch walking into my building. Other fees were paying for water and heat, which was charged depending on use of the whole building. That is not fair if a tenant barely uses water and another tenant is not water conservative. Heat is on 24/7 where to the point the window is open during winter. I am very disappointed because rent should cover all these charges, not charged separately. Security deposit isn’t respected, we requested a receipt of charges and they did not provide that. I am extremely disappointed and i am hoping that my time to write this review can benefit future potential tenants and management can improve on their promises. Lee mas

- Laundry in these apartments is expensive in my opinion. It costs $2.00 for a wash, $1.75 for a dry.

- Extremely poor ventilation. The bathroom fans barely work & the stove fans just blow air back into the apartment, not actually vent it out of the building.

- Shared garbage dumpsters are continuously overflowing & garbage vs. recycling is consistently placed in the wrong dumpsters.

- Packages get stolen and there is no safe place to have things delivered. The office stopped accepting... packages in 2020 due to COVID-19.

- Management is hypocritical about many topics:
a) If you have a visitor park in the visitor parking & it snows, you/your visitor will be yelled at for not moving your car when the snow plows come through. HOWEVER: there is no set time when the plows will come through, and snow is RARELY removed from entrances to buildings before 7:45. Because snow removal is such an issue, you have to remove the snow on your own or trek through it (falling hazard), there are multiple times that the snow built up & our outside door wouldn't close (security hazard).
b) parking is NOT regulated at all. We all get stickers to say which spot you are in and MULTIPLE times for the same car I had to call and have it removed from my spot - not to mention the one-off times of at least 3 different vehicles. Additionally, Countryside STAFF has parked in my spot without letting me know. Maintenance has also parked in my spot when working on another unit without letting me know.
c) Quick to slap you with an eviction notice if your renter's insurance isn't up to date, or your rent is late by 1 day, but staff frequently are late to open the office or leave early without communication through the app/e-mail system.

- When you move out, expect petty charges removed from your security deposit. We requested to have our blinds replaced BEFORE we moved out, but were then charged for them upon moving out (they are extremely cheap blinds, where the slats break by barely touching them). They didn't bother to charge us for the broken cabinet handle.

- They go through a LOT of staff at this office. In my time of moving in to moving out, there were 3 office managers, and at least 5 turnovers in office staff.

- No thought given into placing smokers & non-smokers into the same building. Terrible smells in our shared hallways, & upon moving out, EVERYTHING has a smoke smell to it. They are making the entire property smoke free. Lee mas

We lived at Countryside for four years, and only moved because we bought a house. We had an excellent experience. Management & Maintenance was always very helpful and respectful, the outdoor pool is amazing in summer, and you can't beat having free heat! Our building was quiet and we had great neighbors. The location is super convenient, and we would highly recommend Countryside to anyone looking for an affordable, clean, easy place to rent in FDL.

They are very kind to you when trying to get you to sign a lease. Once you do, they turn their backs on you. I was told when I signed a lease if I had ANY problems with noisey neighbors let them know they would take care of it. They supposedly made a phone call and that's it. Now my family has to live with constant nose thru out the day and night. Can't even get a good night rest because of the loud banging noises from neighbor. I would never rent from them again or refer them to any of my... friends or family. Also, their gym is DISGUSTING. Smells like body oder and barely cleaned. So unsanitary. Oh and my other 2 friends who live here also have had many issues that management also ignores! Lee mas

These apartments are great for a first apartment. Low rent cost with limited utilities included, helps keep monthly payments low.