Lark Syracuse I Student Apartments

In general, the amenities are good. It’s very convenient to have the gym and printing services, I liked the budget provided for utilities and the washer/dryer in unit. Besides that though I found this wasn’t such a fantastic place for me for the following reasons:
The lease holds hidden fees including one for paying utilities through an outside provider, an unavoidable surcharge of $60 upfront plus a service fee.
The shuttles frequently are late or shut down with very little explanation… especially in winter. Better communication would’ve been appreciated since it was either the shuttle or driving to campus. (Not walking distance)
A $25 fee if the issued “shuttle pass” wasn’t turned in(an inch long piece of plastic given at movein) despite it never being required, mentioned or looked at by the shuttle drivers.
Trash everywhere- dumpsters frequently overflowing or just placed by the entrance. They removed the door trash can at one point and it still continued. Not necessarily their fault, but better upkeep would’ve been appreciated.
Cheap, uncomfortable furniture. Ex/ mattress was a plastic type material, plastic desk chair, easily scratched flooring, easily dirtied or chipped paint walls. The floors and walls seemed chosen to force you into damage fees at the end because it was so hard to avoid issues.
Security gates were advertised as providing safety despite not being closed once my entire time there (even when told it would be).
People in the same apartment with same amenities, setups, leases etc can be paying entirely different amounts just based on when they signed their lease. Earlier signing means generally paying around $100-200 more a month than others because Aspen does weird promotions to entice people in close to the deadline.
The quarterly inspections were uncomfortable with generally no indication when they’re completed despite specifically requesting them to leave a form. They have the right to do them but being given an entire week within which the five minute walk through could happen and not being told if it was done or not had me walking on eggshells to avoid being caught off guard in case they showed up.

In sum: the lease wasn’t forgiving, the facilities were cheap and easily marked up/damaged accidentally (i.e. hanging a picture would almost certainly peel the paint), and the security wasn’t really there. All in all felt like a much more expensive dorm building that could charge a hefty fee at move out if you’re not careful. Read More