Grayson at Columbia

Do not, and I mean seriously, do not live here. I have been here for 2 LONG years. Throughout my roomates and I's time, we have placed over 40 maintenance tickets (this does not include the amount of emergency calls placed in the middle of the nights, or the time we had to call 911 because smoke was filling the apartment). From claims of "finding it in the budget" to "there is nothing wrong with said appliance", we have had to replace just about every single thing in here. The door and windows… don't fully seal, actually you can see through cracks in the door and hear the wind due to how thin it is. We've gone through 3 different stacked washer/dryers and gained a fresh hole in the wall when they proceeded to drop the whole unit into it. Our HVAC- awful. It's been anywhere from 42-88 degrees, and I'm talkin sustained amounts of time. Like weeks before it would even be looked at. Additionally, our roof has been leaking for months. We've had to put in various tickets for this individually, and magically, everytime a company comes to look at it, they report "no structural damage". Tell that to the puddle of water on the floor and the massive crack in the ceiling. Let's not forget about where I mentioned calling 911. This was because of an issue with our HVAC that we tried to have to look at, but were told nothing was wrong. Upon arrival of firefighters, we were told that our extinguisher was too small for our house and expired, as well as that none of our fire alarm batteries had ever been changed (I'm talkin the OG batteries still in there). If this hasn't prompted you to not live here, I don't know what will. Best of luck. Read More

WHEN LOOKING TO MOVE HERE, READ THE REVIEWS FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVE ACTUALLY LIVED AT GRAYSON FOR LONGER THAN A SEMESTER!
I would give zero stars if I could.When moving in, you’ll notice that the place is not in great condition. Things will be broken, the paint job will be terrible, and the place will likely not be cleaned. You’re probably going to make a maintenance request for repairs, and then you will wait and wait for something to be done. Maintenance will come, but they might as well have… just stayed at home because nothing will really be fixed. You basically have to deal with it until it’s time to move out unless you are able to convince someone that has no idea what kind of establishment this is to sublease from you. By the time you do move out, you will be charged an absurd amount to pay for “damages”. Whatever they can find to charge you with, they will. Regardless of whether you leave the place better than you received it. They give you the option to dispute the charges, but good luck trying to get a response from them. If you are able to get a response, I can promise you it won’t be a good or reasonable one. Simply because the management is the worst I have ever dealt with. I’m not sure if they just don’t know what they’re doing or if they’re too lazy to do anything. I have never had to make as many complaints as I have living here. Don’t forget about the amount you will have to pay monthly for utilities because they use a company out of Texas, and you’re actually paying for more than you’re using. I would think twice before deciding to live here. Don’t make the same mistake that I did, the “cute” houses are not worth the trouble. Read More

When I first moved in, there was an especially bad heat wave that came through and when I contacted the emergency helpline, we were not guaranteed help when our AC broke and it was up to 90 degrees on a whole floor. When they did finally come, they left a hole in our ceiling that they didn’t fix for over 2 months, and when they did it was a very scrappy job where all they did was patch it, but never bothered covering or repainting it, so the damage was clearly visible. Maintenance was also very… unresponsive to work requests we made, telling us the same thing over and over again: maintenance will do whatever whenever. After our AC broke down again and we made more maintenance requests to get it fixed because it was way above what it was supposed to be set at, our request had gone on for so long that they canceled it and never ended up working on our AC. Then, when inspectors came in to check out the apartment, they essentially told us our entire apartment was in terrible shape, and Grayson knowingly leased the apartment to us anyways without fixing anything. When I first moved in as well, there was a lot of damage that had already been done that management had never bothered to fix or even hide: an entire floor board taped down, a microwave that sat on a sagging shelf and ended up hitting one of my roommates in the face, extensive damage to the front door (a lot of scratches), there was terrible water pressure through the whole house, and the sinks and tubs in our apartment as a whole were clogged ever since we moved in. I couldnt use my shower for 5 days when I first moved in, which again took place during a bad heat wave. The roads here are also half destroyed, and I am genuinely surprised I haven’t gotten a flat tire because the numerous holes in the parking lot can be a full foot deep and three feet long, so these potholes are huge and they have never done anything to fix it. There is also always construction going on, and when I say always I mean it has been nonstop since I moved in. It’s very annoying because the construction can disturb my sleep schedule, and it is never timed to be done appropriately during breaks or over the summer when there are less people on the premises. After the initial signing of the lease, when it came closer to the day of move-in, Grayson sent out numerous fees with no explanation as to what they were for, and were also never mentioned in the lease, which really makes it seem like they were money grabbing. Read More

If you live well, you learn well, and if you live here at the Cottages, you indeed live well. This is not just a cliché as far as the Cottages of Columbia is concerned, it’s a fact. As new resident in Columbia, Missouri, I do not see the abode as just an apartment but a home because of the adequacy, effectiveness, and manageability of the amenities and facilities ranging from its strategic location, state-of-the-art 24-hour fitness center, quiet study lounge, upgraded 24-hour computer lounge… with printers, resort-style swimming pool, barbeque grills and outdoor fire places, sand volleyball court, sufficient parking space, spacious rooms, full size washers/dryer, & community events to mention a few.

One of the great features of the apartment is its security, with courtesy patrol officers, badge-operated entrance gates, after hours on-call staff with no report of theft at least within the period I have been staying here. This is fantastic! I cannot but also talk about its 24/7 maintenance, it’s highly reliable responding quickly to complaints, and alerting residents of safety issues that may arise; that reminds me of a day my AC wasn’t working late at night, I called and it got fixed within shortest time I could ever imagine. Kudos to the staffs, who are always available, reachable and approachable, I have scheduled appointment with the Manager on several occasions with ease. I receive a message immediately I have a package, I enjoy their timely operations.

Nevertheless, I strongly believe there is always room for improvement. Being a campus environment, my first suggestion from my experience with co-residents is that, there is need for the management to be more strategic in the roommates matching, perhaps getting adequate statistics of the roommates to effectively determine who can live together. Another important factor is the internet facility, although, this is inclusive in the rent but I suggest the management look into providing a fast internet facility because there are times of the day when the internet is just too slow. Lastly, I suggest flexibility in the lease term, perhaps allowing six months contracts rather than one year, considering the statistics of the nature of the residents, who are basically students and young professionals like myself.

With these suggestions put into effect alongside its already outstanding operations and amenities, I believe the Cottages of Columbia will be heaven on earth.

Kayode S. Elepe (Columbia, MO) Read More