The Babcock

Having seen this building pre-renovation, let me just say they’ve done phenomenal. To look at the state this building was in 5 years ago and think about turning it into luxury apartments is crazy, but they’ve done.

The grounds are beautiful, the maintenance is prompt, and the amenities are nice (although could be more useful: like a petspa, sauna, coworking space instead of a lounge).

One piece that really shines bright has been my experience with the leasing office staff. They’ve always been… nothing but kind to me. I’ve had meaningful interactions with both Apple, and mainly Latoya. Both incredibly kind ladies who I love having in the office.

All these good things have to be coupled with realism, and unfortunately, this is not a perfect apartment. As with any historic renovations there are certain challenges. One of my biggest complaints is the lack of resident parking on the North wing side (near the ballpark). It’s hard to move a 150 year old building so there’s not much that can be done there. Another is the decision to use ventless dryers, which was probably done to preserve the exterior appearance of the building.

These minor annoyances are easy to look over considering the beautiful complex, terrific location, and kind leasing staff. I’d recommend taking a tour! Read More

The Babcock had my car towed by some sketchy third party towing company because my license plate tags were expired, and I then had to pay $315 to get it back. I got a notice on my car telling me that they were expired, but the notice did not tell me how long I would have to get new tags before they would tow me (they towed my car less than 48 hours later) or that I could pay the tax office for them online and put the receipt in my windshield (I was not made aware of this until AFTER my car was… towed and my husband called the company). The Babcock requires parking decals (which cost an extra $40 a month if you have more than one car) and I can understand needing to make sure cars parked at the building have these decals, but I don’t think it is any of the Babcock’s business whether my license plate tags are expired. If the Richland County or Columbia police departments want to ticket or tow me for having expired tags, I think they are capable of handling that. I also think I should note that my tags expired in September but my car was not towed until November, after my husband and I notified the Babcock in October that we would not be renewing our lease. In the future I hope the management can find the time to clearly communicate the parking and towing protocol to their residents so other people can avoid this situation. Thankfully my husband and I had a second car to go get mine out of the (again, incredibly sketchy) towing lot and we could afford the $315 (cash only, handed off to a random woman who pulled up in a personal car because this lot did not have an office or any kind of identifying signage that I could see) they charged, but not everyone has multiple cars or can just waste that much time and money. Read More

Very close to the law school, within a mile. Quiet community, unique, and a great place for pets. On-property dog park, walkable to city dog park, and no breed or size restrictions.

One year in and really wishing that I chose somewhere else to live. Beautiful building and grounds for sure. The management and overall value for your dollar is another thing entirely. In short, I have found management here to be cheap, lazy and incompetent. Oh and I just learned that spending $1800+ in rent will still require you to take regular trips to the laundromat due the odd choice of in-unit washer/dryer combo (washer too small, dryer is a "damp dry" ventless type used primarily in… EUROPE). By all means come visit the grounds and marvel at the beauty of the building's exterior but don't waste your hard earned money renting here. Read More