Elan Uptown Luxury Apartments

UPDATE: I’ve had a bad experience moving out of Élan. First, I was given no move-​out instructions. I had to call and hope somebody answered the phone (where do they go? there is never anybody at the phase I front desk) to tell me what I needed to do to move out. Second, I tried scheduling a walk-​through with the maintenance man to insure there were no new damages to my unit (this is the procedure they told me to follow). I couldn’t get ahold of the maintenance man (called, e-​mailed). So I eventually gave up and just filled out the form myself at the front desk when I turned my keys in. Now, two weeks later I have $ 300 in charges on my account. Luckily, Matt (assistant manager) was great and walked me through the charges over the phone. One of the largest charges was for something I already reported on my move-​in checklist, and he had the charge waived. But wow, I didn’t know moving out of an apartment could be such a hassle. Glad to be done with this place!

There’s a lot to like about Élan. It’s new, the location is awesome, and the fact that it’s made up of 3 buildings means there are a lot of amenities. The people that live there are generally really cool (including some minor celebrities and athletes). If Élan was advertised a regular apartment with your average rent rates, I’d probably give it 4 or 5 stars. However, it markets itself as «luxury» and charges among the highest rents you’ll find in the city. Because of that, my critique is a lot more critical than an average, lower rent apartment building. First off, there were some issues with signing my lease. Élan didn’t want to honor their promotion of month and half free even though I had yet to sign the lease. I won’t go into details but it wasn’t the best experience.
On move-​in day, despite holding my apartment 60 days in advance, there was no one there to help me fill out my papers or show me around the place as promised. After a while, I found another leasing agent that quickly helped me sign my papers but I was given no tour or anything. The move-​in check I gave them was never even cashed. Once I finally got to my apartment, it was obvious they hadn’t done the final cleaning they had promised. When putting away my dishes, there was drywall dust in many of my cabinets and one of my fridge doors had a crack in it. No one had lived in my unit before.
After move-​in, I haven’t had too many issues but living in the west building «Phase 2» is sort of like being the red-​headed stepchild. There’s no concierge in the building unlike the other buildings. Until last week, you had to cross the street to get your packages which they luckily fixed by putting in an automated machine. Also, someone scratched their name into one of the elevator walls and it’s been there for weeks. Lastly, guest parking is in the center building across the street. According to the concierge, in order for me to let someone in guest parking, I have to cross the street, take the elevator down to the parking lot, and press the button to open the garage door. Then, I have to walk them back over when they want to leave. I can’t believe in 2015, that a «luxury» apartment wouldn’t have a better way to do this. If you can buzz someone into the front door, why can’t you buzz them into the garage?
Overall, Élan isn’t horrible but there are many things it could improve on. It’s a nice building despite some minor fit and finish issues. Élan is worth a look if you want to move to Uptown and can afford the rates.

I am utterly disappointed with how the property’s management has gone down hill since I started living here two years ago. They are unresponsive and don’t seem to care about the tenants that live here. I would not recommend this properly if you want someone to respond to your emails or your concerns.
The units and amenities are great, however, they don’t out weigh the poor management.

Not impressed. Thin walls cheaply made. Burn and turn their tenants. Kinda Ticky-​tacky.

Moved in a month ago. Besides all the screaming kids in the pools and the filthy parking garage the place is great! If you are okay with a car wash every week and loud kids by the pool on the weekends then this place is for you! Beautiful units and really nice amenities.

I moved in a couple months ago with my girlfriend and my dog into a 1^st floor apartment with a patio. While the rent is a bit spendy, it is well worth it. The amenities are excellent and the staff is great to work with. We have only had a handful of random issues and all of them were resolved very quickly (burnt out bulb, etc.).
All in all I would refer a friend to Élan and I believe if you use the name of someone that lives there as a referral you get one month free rent! We did that and it was awesome. Feel free to use my name Jimmy F. and 120 to get your referral bonus! If you want to know more you can always send me a message!

Moved in end of May and I absolutely love it here. Jimmy, Sumer, Luke — absolutely outstanding. This is what really separates Élan from the rest. Their attention and service for their residents is unprecedented. On top of that, the amenities are phenomenal. Beautiful rooftop view of Minneapolis, where I like to go to enjoy the sunset, and meet fellow residents. The Sky Lounge also has an amazing grill, wet bar, fire pit and is attached to the Sky Lounge. In the lounge they have a bumper pool table, nice big couch with a big TV. So great. The 24 hour gym is a huge plus too. It’s not as big as some of the others, but it definitely isn’t the smallest. Everything I could possibly need to workout is right there. The gym also has a lot of big windows and gets ample natural light. The direct access to the greenway via the parking garage is another great amenity.
The outdoor pool area is also great. Very nice size pool, not the biggest and no diving, but who needs to dive anyways? Here you can find lounge chairs, high top bar tables with stools, regular low top tables with chairs, another great grill, fireplace and a fire pit with ample seating, then another covered area with outdoor couches.
The club room, which is right next to the pool and is accessible by the pool, has a very large TV, with other smaller TVs above the large galley style kitchen. There are microwaves, warming ovens, a sink, fridge/​freezer to use, with plenty of counter space to prepare food for the grill or have people over. I rented out the club room for a business networking event and I heard nothing but great feedback. The room capacity is 123 people and people were also able to sit outside at the pool area. For our event, we had +150 people throughout the night. At one point it was pretty packed and got a little hot, but by no means was it uncomfortableElan was very helpful with getting things up and running and offered to help in any way they could. Aside from my event, there have been multiple resident events. The two that really stick out were the pool party/​BBQ — catered by Divine Swine (fantastic) and a wine and sushi night where they brought in a sushi chef from Fuji Ya. Not only was the sushi great, but it was a great opportunity to meet and mingle with fellow residents.
Each unit has a nice size balcony with granite counter tops and hardwood floor. Nice appliances too — dishwasher, big sinks, fridge with water and ice. Vending machines on every floor (that accept credit cards — haven’t decided if this is a good thing or bad thing for me personally). Our unit specific unit is a 1 bed/​1 bath, with an island kitchen, his and her sink — not sure if this is marble or granite, but it’s beautiful. Great tub/​shower, lots of closet space. No one believes me when I tell them it’s only 806 sq ft. The use of space is incredible. The property is managed by Greystar, which is a huge nation wide company, thus they have more resources than many of the other local apartments, and it really showcases that all around.
At the time we signed out lease, we got a really good deal. Not only was it significantly nicer than all the other apartments in the uptown area, it was cheaper. Many of the other apartments we toured may have been bigger in square footage, but you would never guess it. You can really see where the others cut corners, where Élan spared no expense. I have friends that live in a few other competing apartments within a few blocks and as soon as they saw Élan, they were not happy because it was so much nicer and better all around — and those friends were paying as much or more than we are. Once their lease is up, they will most likely move into Élan.
The building two of three next door is now open and leasing, which I haven’t seen/​toured yet, but I can’t wait to see the bigger and better gym/​yoga studio, then the new pool looks really cool. The third building is set to open in July 2015, which is rumored to have larger, town home style units, that may end up being available for purchase, but I can’t confirm that yet — only rumors. When it is all said and done, there will be roughly 600 units, over three blocks, making it more than double the size of any other uptown complex (building one is between colfax and dupont, building two is between dupont and emerson, then building three is between emerson and fremont — all located on the north side of the greenway). The great thing about having multiple buildings is that you can use the amenities at each one — like the bigger gym with the yoga studio in building two, but each one also has a pool, which is nice and you don’t have to worry about it getting too crowed — I haven’t had any issues with the pool area even being remotely crowed.
I could go on and on, and I may be partially biased. but take a tour for yourself and see what it is all about. If your experience was anything short of spectacular, definitely let me know because I am hard-​pressed to find anything that I don’t like.

Great apartment with excellent staff. Jimmy and Travis do an excellent job at the front office.