Archstone at MacArthur

Absolutely horrible service community. This page pretty much explains it ALL:
Don’t let the decent looking pool/​club house area fool you. Once they have your signature on the contract, it’s all downhill from there. There are some good folks that work in the office, but a majority are terrible and like their company, they don’t care about the tenants, just the company’s bottom line. After several incidents that caused major concerns for safety including a neighbor firing a gun and multiple issues where our garage door was broken into, the company didn’t fix the issues, they still enforced an early termination fee, even though they were in default of the lease.
Be careful residents! Don’t miss this video showing how simple it is for the garages to be broken into. We discovered this after multiple incidents where we came home to find our garage door wide open and the office claimed they didn’t open it and they are the «only ones with the key to unlock it»
Demand that they fix this and get your maintenance request IN WRITING. They are very good and trying to keep everything that could get them in trouble off any paper trail. Get it in writing so if they don’t fix yours like they didn’t fix ours, they are in default of the contract.
It ended up costing us over $ 4,500 to terminate the lease and move out despite the fact that it was their fault for breaking the lease where it states «If we fail to act in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 31.1, and our failure results in a condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of any Resident, you may claim that we are in default of this Lease.»
It would have probably cost us just as much to take them to court, so we are just dealing with it and living with the fact that we lost $ 4,500 to this disgusting company, but at least we wanted to take the time to inform the rest of the public so that our loss might help save others from the same poor treatment.
That website posted at the top really shows it all, but check out other review sites as well:

Honest and Useful review
Pros:
–Prompt and competent maintenance
–Extended office hours so available after work
–Grounds nicely landscaped and kept clean
–Dog friendly
–Nice gym and pool, although we never used them much
–All apartments have their own separate ground floor entrance doors. This helps in getting rid of one of the ugly features of most apartment buildings: the outside access stairways.
Cons:
–Really showing its age. Don’t make the mistake I did, and judge a potential apartment by the look of the main office, gym, pool, and the model unit. The model is not lived in, and has not been turned over 20 times. A lot of paint on the walls and ceilings, big tubs that are no longer in style but more importantly can’t be used now because they later went to smaller hot water heaters during the energy savings craze, also now you’re stuck with a narrow shower stall in the master bathroom; wood fireplaces that are no longer in style and that most won’t use but take up one of your 3 living room walls; kitchen and bathroom countertops are old and refinished, and you can tell they’ve been refinished; downstairs carpeting in many units which is no longer a standard because it’s just impossible to keep clean under normal use, but you’ll get charged for dirty carpeting when you move out.
–The shopping and restaurant selection is indeed excellent on MacArthur (Note: very heavy traffic during work week commute times and lunch). But what I really wish I’d have known is, there are A LOT of apartments in the immediate area (drive around a little, look at a satellite image), and many of them nearby are lower priced. As a result, there are vehicle break-​ins around the immediate area, and yes even robberies on streets such as Hidden Ridge, Meadow Creek, and Macarthur right outside the complex gate, which is where we go for walks. Look at
and in warmer weather I’ve seen 2 to 4 aggravated robberies per month! So with a lot of the lower cost apartments close by comes the criminal element. The police concur. I know, politically incorrect to say but reality. Yes I wish I’d known this beforehand. I paid $ 2,000 per month, which is a lot for an apartment complex regardless of how many bedrooms. I could buy a house for that. The least I expect is to not have to worry about assault and robbery.
Complaints:
–Your 1-​year lease comes up for renewal, and bam! The rent goes up 10−15%, $ 200 to $ 400 per month, after just 1 year. Anyone know of a 15% inflation rate? Archstone (Avalon owns them, a big corporation it appears) states that they go by supply and demand in the area. Ok, so if they think they can get $ 200 to $ 400 per month more for your apartment after you’ve been there only 1 year, because of the demand, they’re just going to say to you «take it or leave it»? Knowing you’d have to move your family and property after only 1 year? Wow, talk about heartless. In my view, a very dishonest business practice. They know it’s not easy for a family to move, and you’ll probably just pay it. So beware of the rent appearing «reasonable». They will raise it above anything justified by inflation, as soon as your first year’s lease comes up for renewal.
–Due to its age, there is CONSTANT construction repair going on all around the complex. And I mean constant. You’ll have to see out your windows, or walk by every day dumpsters and portajohns for months, you’ll have to listen to jackhammers, you’ll be woken up to the sounds of hammering and talking and yelling workers, the water is constantly being interrupted for repairs. It gets old, having your peace constantly broken by all of this, when you’re paying a lot of money for what’s your home.
Recommendation:
For a 1-​bedroom at $ 1,000 I’d maybe consider it if I were a single guy, for the convenience of the location (not if you’re a single lady, planning on any walking or jogging outside the complex). But for a 2-​bedroom at $ 1,500+ or a 3-​bedroom at $ 2,000+? No way. Not enough return for that much money. There are newer and nicer places in other nearby areas, still close enough to all the shopping and restaurants, without all the lower end apartments in the neighborhood. For example Las Colinas Urban Center. Yes, they’re usually a few hundred dollars more, but if Archstone is going to raise your rent a few hundred dollars after your first year, why not go right off with the nicer, newer areas?

I have lived in archstone for 5 months and still love living here. Beautiful and very quiet complex. Very comfortable. Love the town home feel. The only thing I wish my apartment has is a downstairs half bathroom for guests.

Nice decent place to live in this area and its adjacent to DART. Except that the gates remain broken weeks together, the area seemed pretty safe. I used to come home at very odd hours and I never felt scared. Yeah SWAT teams have been here. But there have been reports of violent burglaries in nearby apartments. Atleast police shows up here to keep the place safe!
Maintainence usually took very less turn around time. Staff is responsive usually and talk politely.
The walls are so damn good, I never heard a thing from my neighbors or the street. I loved the carpets and town house set up. The rent is high for this area but it does have its perks. Nice patio with storage, storage in garage, big bath, walkin closets are not easy to find everywhere!
I loved my apt but I moved to a different city. Will definitely consider this one if I ever come back.

After almost 2 years here, there’s been tons of turnover with staff, friendly faces and caring personalities are hardly there anymore. The gate is broken every few months, water disruptions are just as common of an occurrence. While the complex is full of dog poop bags, a few residents refuse to pick up after their dogs.
About the SWAT team: it was my next door neighbor. There was an incident where I was awaken at around 3am one night from a woman screaming «give me back my keys» and sobbing. Eventually she got her keys and drove off but the whole thing scared me, not to mention I was home alone. I debated on calling the police but figured it could have been a drunk driving situation and ended up telling the apt management about it a few days later. That was March and the SWAT team thing happened in May, same apartment… To be honest, I’ve never felt safe since… It’s pretty traumatic when you encounter a team of heavily armed law enforcement agents. It’s the second time I’ve had this experience, neither times had nothing to do with me :-(
Around Sept 2013, my friends dropped me off after a night out and I had a police escort home because the police were on a manhunt in the middle of the night!
The rent increases are pretty insane… I know I moved from CA but I never expected CA prices to follow me. Not worth the price, especially with everything they put you through. Also, USPS is totally worthless with dealing with the office, they usually withhold my packages because the office is closed at the time of delivery and I can’t always take the time off to pick them up, in which case, USPS has sends my packages back to the sender. Also, their resident platform sucks, it NEVER takes my signature on documents, so irritating, I’ve had to sign the form multiple times and hope it goes through before any more price increases from that error. The resident events aren’t anything special, it feels like complementary breakfast waffles at a motel.
Currently, they’ve ripped up the entire side of the complex and because of the crew needed, they’ve shut down 2 out of 3 lanes on Hidden Rdg. It takes a whole light cycle to get down the street. It’s an annoyance but stuff like this happens all the time. I feel like my apartment (baseboards, moldings, bathroom laminate) is held together with caulk. Not to forget, the neighbor who slams their gate every single time they walk in & out of their apartment, scares my pets and wakes me up.

Worst place I have ever lived! Been here nearly a year and I’m done with this place! The staff is rude, and snobbish especially Lorena. The place is ok but not worth the price. As soon as you sign the lease they really could care less about you. Rent goes up a ridiculous amount, countless fees. Major water issues sometimes they will shut off without telling you. They find MANY ways to inconvenience you and are not apologetic about it at all. Very disorganized they have sent me other people information through email, and have lost my paperwork. If you want to be ripped off, confidentiality to be broken, and taken advantage of move here! The only good thing is maintenance response.

This is the scariest place I have ever lived. There are cigarette boxes and other trash all over the place, dead trees, down trees, and dog crap all over. if you want to live with trash and the SWAT team you are home. Unless you like armed police and swat teams knocking down doors then don’t move here. Don’t believe it could possibly be this bad??? We the proof is in the photos! You can’t make this stuff up!
There are constant water problems! Water leaks causing mold, standing water and more and if you know anything about Texas… this means mosquitos. Be prepared to have your water shut off on you for days on end (which has already happened 3 times this year). Oh and don’t bother calling the front office about the water problems because they will belittle you and then take on average 3 weeks to begin addressing the problem.
Everyone else who posted comments about the rent being raised is right! They increased ours to a ridiculous amount as well.
Everyone else who posted that you won’t have enough hot water to even fill the bathtub are correct.
Everyone who posted about the front desk being the most incompetent, disrespectful, rude people in Texas are correct.
We didn’t believe the countless bad reviews and we assumed it was just people who were angry… however after dealing with incompetent front office people, no water, trees down for months, trash everywhere, water leaks, mold and then finally hearing gun fire in the front yard followed by the SWAT team (see photos) we realized this community is the worst place we have ever lived!

I’ve lived here for a year and the place is nice, but its not that updated. They charge you extra for stainless steel appliance, whereas other places in the area there’s no upcharege. They also increased my rent $ 300 and said it was the market price then a month later after I decided to move out they decreased it and the next person that moves in will pay less than I did for rent! This place is horrible and they don’t care if you are a good resident. Watch out… They will get you in and then increase your rate a ton. A few people told me this happened to them…$ 200 to 600 increases. I would never recommend this place to anyone!

Great location close to both downtown & Airport and office staff/​Dorothy are the best! Maintenance is also very responsive

A wonderful 3 year experience gone bad. After 3 years of living in this wonderful and well managed complex, we had the worst post move-​out experience ever and we have been renting in many States for several years.
The Management company known as Avalon Bay slammed us with a $ 541 charge claiming they needed to mend 10 window blinds. Needless to mention, the apartment and blinds were not new when we moved in. 10 blinds for an apartment occupied by 2 adults — we can understand 1 or 2 blinds needing repair, but 10. Then they charge $ 140 for power washing the carpets when we had this done twice a year every year using their own carpet cleaning company for $ 45.
If you dispute the charges they keep reminding you of how they will hand this case over to their collectors — they can say this several times in a single conversation without giving you a chance to tell them to review this.
So if you are checking in — photograph every blind, cabinet, tear, scratch, defect in the apartment and have it recorded. You may avoid the nasty surprise when you check out. They even told us that we had it easy at $ 541, since they did not have to paint the apartment or change the carpet.
Las Colinas has several apartment complexes — newer and nicer. So look around.

Checked the place out today, really nice area, outstanding apartments, but am looking to purchase a second home in Dallas, but super nice if I just want to rent for a while.
Very well thought out floor plans.

The living quarters for the most part are great and my neighbors are very friendly. I had an issue with my next door neighbor about 6 months ago with the noise level but thankfully they have moved out and a more civil neighbor has moved in. An excellent, safe place to live for singles and for families. There are plenty of open spaces to park for guests and the pool is really nice, as well as the workout area. They even have an indoor basketball court. I would say it is probably the nicest, most well-​kept apartment in that area. When you put in a service request they get to it and make sure it is taken care of within hours and then will let you know via email when your request is complete. Very different from most apartment maintenance.