Stella Apartments Uptown

I’ve been living at Stella for almost a year, and until now I was fairly satisfied with my experience. Unfortunately, what happened recently completely changed my opinion. Parking is a nightmare here. There are countless spots marked “reserved” that no one ever seems to actually reserve. I parked in one of those spots, only to wake up for work the next day and find my car gone — towed. When I called the towing company that was listed in the email, they couldn’t even locate my car. After wasting more time, I found out there’s actually another vendor the apartment has hired to tow vehicles. Apparently, multiple companies patrol the property looking for cars to tow. To make it worse, the spot I was parked in wasn’t even assigned to a resident. Instead of leaving a simple warning note or addressing the issue with residents fairly, management seems more focused on making money off towing fees. It feels like predatory practices rather than resident care. On top of that, the timing is suspicious. Ever since the “renovations” with the new flooring and carpet, this place has started to feel more and more money-hungry. Rent is high, fees keep creeping up, and now residents can’t even park without worrying about being targeted. It’s extremely unprofessional that the leasing office doesn’t clearly communicate towing policies or even which company they’ve hired. The lack of transparency shows they don’t care about the people who actually live here. What could have been a decent living experience has now left me with a bitter taste. Between poor parking policies, hidden vendors, unnecessary towing, and a management team that seems more concerned with profits than residents, I would not recommend Stella Apartments to anyone looking for a place to live.

This has been the worst living experience I’ve ever had. The elevators are constantly out of service, which is a major inconvenience for everyone. As someone who travels frequently for work, I've had to carry heavy bags up and down five flights of stairs more times than I can count. The parking garage is always flooded, even when it hasn’t rained for weeks, making the already limited parking even worse. After being forced to park outside, my car was hit. Trash bins are constantly overflowing, and walking through the mailroom or to the gym is unbearable due to the overwhelming stench. The overall maintenance of the building is unacceptable. The stairwells, which I have to use regularly because the elevators rarely work, are filled with trash, bugs, and spiders. To make matters worse, my A/C has broken down multiple times, and during one instance, the entire side of my floor was struggling to get help. Despite numerous complaints, management, particularly Lauren Hightower, kept assuring us they were "working on it," with no real progress. Don’t be misled by the recent positive reviews—they were written in exchange for a "prize." The manager, Lauren Hightower, doesn’t answer any phone calls or emails. She will ignore them for weeks on end, if you need anything you have to go hunt her down. On top of everything, I frequently receive work-related packages addressed to different names. After nearly a year of living here, Lauren Hightower suddenly decided to reject all of my packages without warning. When I went to clarify and provide verbal authorization for my work deliveries, she gave me a cold, almost spiteful look and smugly informed me that every package for my apartment will continue to be turned away, as if she took pleasure in the situation. Needless to say, for the first time in all my years of renting, I broke my lease here and cannot wait to get out of this nightmare of a building and management.

I strongly advise against living here. The building has numerous problems: elevators frequently break down, the parking garage is often flooded with no available spaces for residents or visitors, and the trash room is consistently overflowing, leading to horrible smells in the hallways on every floor. The pool is poorly situated in a shaded area (and broken), and maintenance requests are handled sluggishly. Lauren Hightower from the office is unhelpful, and Simpson Property Management is unreliable. Additionally, there are power outages caused by the building’s equipment. Be aware that they also offer incentives for positive reviews, as shown in the attached photos.