$1460 / 2br - Urban 2 Bedroom Loft at The Lofts at Rio Salado

 Yes It will cost you more than $1500 a month to live here with the Assholes at The Lofts at Rio Salado

That price is for the smallest 2 bedroom you have ever seen.  The outside of the building is dilapidated and not taken care of well.  It seems that the new management puts less emphasis on how nice the grounds are and whether or not the fountains are functioning or the gates are opening and closing to get in and out of the property.    It seems their only concern is to fill up those apartments by any means necessary kinda like what they did to us when they lied to us and said that there was approximately 900 sq feet of livable space.  "Livable Space" to these assholes means that your 200 square foot brick patio that people spit on and throw their cigarettes all over is "Livable Space"

Yes that is pretty insulting and to find that out after moving in kinda sucks.  When bringing it to their attention they will argue that the patio is livable space even though I cannot put my bed on it and sleep there and then they will tell you that you knew what the size was prior to moving in regardless of how many sq ft we told you it was.  Even using the reasoning well you had said it was almost 1000 ft and I had thought I could handle that but actually getting into it and then finding out it is only 700 sq feet well that is just not right.  Ya they dont care.

What is even more insulting is that their ratings on Yelp are not accurate.  In fact when you go to the Yelp website you will see all kinds of 5 star ratings which I cant believe are true so I looked into it a bit more.

I was extremely surprised to see so many satisfied customers that I began to think something was up.  If you look closer the people making the 5 star comments have very few reviews that they have done, very few friends, just appear to be unbelievable.  Then if you look closer and scroll further down now you see what they dont want you to see the  17 other reviews that are not currently recommended that's where you get down to the real deal.  The links are greyed out so you don't see it.  You have to look for it.  Pretty scary the way that Yelp runs their rating systems.  I tried to put an honest review on there and Yelp deleted it.  Why would they delete an honest review?  Why are they burying all the reviews complaining of the reality there at the Lofts?  Yelp review

The Lofts at Rio Salado Residents Get Trashy

Since the Alliance company took over back in March of 2013 The Lofts at Rio Salado has been falling apart very quickly

I would imagine because the management does not follow up on multiple complaints nor do they return multiple phone calls and messages EVER

The apartment outside my door puts their garbage outside in the hallway on a daily basis.  I started calling the office to complain weeks prior to these pictures being taken.  In fact I started taking the pictures as a daily diary to prove that the office was making no attempt to correct the situation

Each one of these pictures is a whole new day of garbage just chilling in the hallway

I specifically called them on each of these days and even asked if its ok to have a bed frame outside your door for a week and they said no its not ok

As you can see it really is o.k. and if you are lazy this is where you want to live because you can get away with whatever you like.  Rules?  What rules?  Who gives a shit about your rules bitch!

Oh see here its still o.k.!!! 

I was hoping that note on the door was a letter to clean up your fucking trash but no.  No such luck, it was an advertisement.

Now they are adding the water bottles to their heap that they stole from the next door neighbor while they were out of town for a couple months.  Before Alliance stepped in nobody had water bottles out their front door but somehow one person started it off and then it blew up around here and everyone started having water bottles outside their front door.  I called to complain about that and you will see why below but they told me oh we cant control that.  Why was the management company prior to you able to control that and you cant?  WTF?

This is what people think of Alliance.  They do not give a shit! Oh and look at that, the apartment # is included on top of the trash box so management would know exactly who they should fine if they ever attempted to do their jobs but lucky for the dude in 135 that will NEVER happen!

See that door in the back.  Can you see the sign that says GARBAGE?  I see it but apparently the ASSHOLES around here cannot READ!

As you can see in the picture above someone else that lives here was annoyed by all those water bottles so they started to line them up in the hallways.  This went on for over a month before anyone did anything

Below you see managements idiotic attempt at providing a "Valued Living Experience" at the Lofts at Rio Salado

 

So instead of sending out letters and fining ASSHOLES for being filthy pigs, instead they believe they should provide a "Valued Living Experience" that we have to pay for none the less.  

The letter says when you sign your new lease you will be charged a minimal fee for this stupid service for lazy ASSHOLES that cant take their garbage another 50 steps to the trash bins

This was a really nice way of saying screw you by the tenants at The Lofts at Rio Salado.  The door to the garbage is literally less than 10 steps away.  The last management company put out threats that if anyone was caught leaving garbage they would be fined.  Guess what???  Nobody arbitrarily left garbage anywhere back then. 

Theres a New Sheriff in Town at The Lofts at Rio Salado

So you might think this is a good thing.  We got a letter that a new Sheriff was in town going by the name of Alliance at the Lofts at Rio Salado.  Since they took over only 1 month ago I have noticed that this place is falling apart all of a sudden.

People are putting their garbage out and leaving it in front of their doors.  One person does it and then suddenly several people start doing it.   Another neighbor is now leaving 3 water bottles outside their door.  I noticed that a couple more people followed suit.  Also the rules state that we can't have anything hanging over balcony for instance no towels etc and I would imagine that is because it would make this place look like a barrio.  In fact I called management and left them a message 7 days ago about how the renters here have no fear since the new management has taken over and I would like them to do something about 4 different apartments.  The girl on the phone that came from Alliance said well we only just took it over a little more than a month ago and these things take time.  I lived here almost an entire year before they took over and  nobody put bottles and garbage outside their front door.  If they did they would get a letter from management and it would stop immediately because that is what you do when you are a property management company.

When I didnt get a return call after the first day I called and got another person on the phone.  Explained to her the garbage, the bottles, the noise, etc. and I asked her to specifically do something about 4 apartment #'s.  I had never called prior to this complaining about several apartments.  My complaint has always been with the upstairs inconsiderate jerk so I dont understand why they didnt call me back again.  So I wait another couple days before I call a 3rd time.  This time I am obviously pissed and just happen to be looking out my window at this.   

Is this a joke?

I end up telling this new person the whole story and complain about the garbage, the bottles, the noise, the no call back, the raising my rent $50 per month etc.  She tells me someone will call me back within 24-48 hours.  I wait for days nobody calls back.  I can tell that they did not take me seriously because well obviously no call but also 7 days after repeated complaints of garbage and bottles I come home to this today.  I am so relentless I left them another message!

Security Security There is NO Security at the Lofts

My husband and I moved in the end of June.   We didn't think the noise levels were bad at all.  In fact we thought someone had done such a good job constructing this building because we never heard our neighbors on top or beside us.  We didnt realize that June is their slow season and we were one of very few residents in the building at that time.

As soon as August arrived so did all the partying, drinking, puking, beer pong playing ASU students.  All of a sudden its like bombs are going off over our head as well as tiny little land mines each time the gate crashes closed.  You would think that people would have some decency and common courtesy when its 3:30 a.m. but around here its the opposite.  Its like a nightly, daily, by the minute contest on who can smash that gate so loud that it will jar you from a sound sleep and then they giggle and garble a few drunk grunts and its over until 9 p.m. when all the morons wake up and it starts back up again.

Security you ask?  Security at the Lofts?  There was some when we first arrived but it didn't last long for some reason.  I would hear the guy making his rounds every night at first.  While taking the dog out we could count on seeing one of the security guards but now a days I see nothing but young drunks and only hear crickets.  Its been months since I have heard the chirp of a security officers walkie talkie. 

No Apologies at the Lofts at Rio Salado

After the discovery that the neighbors upstairs actually did have wood floors and that we were not crazy all these months the Lofts at Rio Salado management told me they would get back to me.  This time it was another employee not Andrew so my chances were greater that I really would hear something back this time.

I did hear back same day.  They said they offered to install carpet in the neighbors apartment but the he refused.  I mean duh of course he did.  I would have too.  Thats not right you rent me a wood floor apartment and now I have to endure all this drama and you want to replace it with carpet?  Seriously?  Now thats crazy! 

Since he refused they told me that I can move to another apartment in the complex at my expense or that I would be let out of my lease with no penalty.  I thought about that for a bit and even entertained the possibility and walked over to The W6 to check them out.  After thinking about it for a day I figured that it would cost them money to move me from one place to another because they would have to clean my place take it off the market etc so basically it would end up costing both of us.  I didnt make any mistakes so I cant imagine why I would have to pay for their mistakes.  I made a proposal to reduce my rent by half for the remaining 4 months.  I thought half was a good starting place and it sounded reasonable to me based on how much it might cost them/me etc.  I was told that management would have to call their management and get back to me. 

The next day I get a very cold phone call from Andrew at the Lofts.  He says I understand you were given two options 1 to move and 2 to be let out of your lease and that you asked for a discount on your rent.  I said yes.  He said well my manager and I are both in agreement that there will be no discount to your rent but you can exercise those two other options.  I felt myself instantly come to a boil.  I wanted to rip his face off but, instead I just hung up on him.  I could tell that I would get nowhere and that this guy is just a waste of space. 

Now that Andrew has pissed off both my husband and I we decided to get a little more serious about W6 and possibly leave.  Thats a whole other story what happened there which I might talk about in a future post but we decided why should we leave?  We were there first and for months before the upstairs asshole came along.  We were not the idiots that installed a wood floor above.  We are not the cause of all these noise complaints.  Why is the asshole being favored and not warned or asked to shut his face up?  Why should we be out even $1 or inconvenienced in any way? 

So now I am so pissed I cant see straight.  Mostly because of the attitude I got and the lack of apology from anyone.  Its almost like oh well they have wood floors so now you have to deal with this drama and we are out see ya!!!!  I ended up calling them again complaining about the noise and got someone new on the phone.  I told her all about what an ass munch Andrew was and how pissed off I was that he didnt even have the decency to apologize.  I mean 1 for calling me crazy, there was no wood floor, and I couldnt possibly hear all the things I am complaining about for months.  I should have heard some kind of an I am sorry come out of his stupid face but no I hear nothing like that so I told the new person I am going to make a blog about this B. S. and I am going to put it all out there.  I told her in fact all I am going to do is just tell the truth.  Its incredibly stupid of them not to offer me some kind of concession or counter my offer in anyway because it would cost them a lot more in lost business with an unhappy customer writing a blog than it would to shut me up by discounting my rent.  I told Andrew the exact same thing but Andrew is a piece of shit employee that doesnt care about his bottom line because he gets a paycheck.  What a piece of work that idiot is. 

The next morning after my rant to the girl in the office about the idiot that had no apology and how I was going to start a blog guess who shows up at my door unannounced.  Andrew and he was there to offer an apology.  OK so now you really woke up the beast in me first thing in the a.m. you are at my door with some bullshit apology a day late and a dollar short for what??  Nothing really just to try and be professional I guess?  That was it too he only wanted to apologize because the girl told him how pissed I was that he hadnt and that I would be publishing a blog about the whole drama.  It was lame and I told him dont show up here and inconvenience us any further with your inability to do your job properly.  Its too late I already published the blog dumb ass.

Be Careful What You Wish For at The Lofts at Rio Salado

Be careful what you wish for at the Lofts at Rio Salado because that noisy neighbor just might move out and then guess what?....an even noisier neighbor just might move in. 

That is exactly what happened to us.  The new neighbor was by far much more disturbing.  Just when you think it couldn't get worse it does.  Isn't it funny how that works?  My lovely new neighbor that blasts his music shaking our apartment down below says that he never plays his music out loud he ALWAYS wears head phones.  Isn't that weird how his head phones shake the hell out of my apartment?  Those are some really good head phones I would like to get a pair.





His girlfriend that is there every single day and night walks around with her high heels on even though I started calling every single day to complain about the heels stomping overhead.  How do I know that she wears heels you ask?  I can hear her footsteps that sound like hammers walking all through the apartment.  I can follow her footsteps as if someone is overhead banging away.  When friends and family are over their mouths literally fall open when the noise above begins.  Its really that bad.  You would think they would take off their shoes after the multiple knocks at the door from security and or management or maybe get some kind of clue but no they never took the hint and its like the bitch (girlfriend that is never there ya right) refuses to remove her damn shoes.  What a simple fix just take off your flipping shoes and try to be respectful of the people down below.

It also sounded as if they were moving their furniture every single day.  I literally tried to ignore it for a couple months and only because I figured they just moved in, give them some time to settle in and it should all be over soon but noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo the moving of furniture has never ever stopped its been months and the  banging hammers clanging in my ear are happening right now as I type this.  It is so bad that my husband and I are stressed out and fighting about it almost daily now.

I had made a complaint to Andrew the manager at The Lofts at Rio Salado months ago about the banging upstairs and the constant moving of furniture.  He asked if I were sure it was coming from the apartment above because it could have been someone adjacent etc.  I told him I was positive and he questioned what I was hearing and told me it was impossible to hear them moving furniture and walking etc because they had carpet.  Several other people in the office also told me the same thing that there was no way that it was them above me and that I must have been hearing others because they didnt have wood floors up there. 

 At this point I am almost questioning myself because they are all so adamant I am not hearing these things, its impossible, and the only way it could possibly be what I am describing is if there was a wood floor installed above but Andrew the manager said that is exactly the reason why we would never put a wood floor into an upstairs apartment.  He said he would check to make sure and get back to me several months ago and I never heard from him again.

The noise has been increasingly getting worse and after 17 phone calls to the office and 11 calls to security The lofts at Rio Salado management finally went up ti the apartment in question and asked if the girlfriend was there in her high heels ha ha sounds funny and during the inquisition they found she was tramping around in those damn hammers and that there were WOOD FLOORS!  You know the wood floors they would never install that Andrew was checking into months ago.  

A Disregard for Your Belongings

Shortly after the upstairs neighbor moved out the maintenance people moved in with their hammers and their heavy feet above our heads.  We listened to them banging it out for about a week.  It was pretty unbearable especially when working from home but my husband would calm me down and tell me to let it go it will all be over very soon.  Its pretty hard to have a business call as it is with all these airplanes flying overhead and flying very low.  The noise is just so intense and there is no break.  The planes are going by all day and all night.  You will not even experience 5 minutes of silence between planes at anytime of the day or night on any day of the year.  See video below for an example

My husband was right it was over after a week of the pounding and cleaning but not before the maintenance workers swept all of the debris onto our patio, my plants, chairs, and umbrella.  They threw buckets and buckets of dirty water over the balcony directly onto my clean fabric umbrella leaving it soiled.  I was pretty upset about their blatant disregard for our belongings that I called the office to complain.  They just said "oh sorry.  I will say something to them"  I of course never heard another thing about it and my umbrella is still soiled and not as nice as it was prior to the soiling.  Just another thing to remember them by I guess.  Thank the lord my lease is up soon!

The Tale of Two Buildings at the Lofts

The Lofts at Rio Salado have 2 buildings.  There is the main building where the office and most ammenities are located and then there is the E building where I reside which happens to be closest to the light rail.  The main building is the building that is very well taken care of.  Most things work for instance the hot tub has jets that turn on, the gates lock, the pool area is clean and free of rotting eggs etc.  The main building also has nice outdoor speakers in the pool area, a refridgerator, an ice maker, water features, an exercise room, and a theater inside the office.

The E building is a little bit neglected in comparison and I would imagine that is because its a little bit off the radar.  The pool isnt as nice but it does have nice trees around it which are wonderful for cutting the sun in the summer months but the hot tub doesnt work.  The jets dont turn on and there are no lovely outdoor speakers as there are at the main building.

We wanted to be near the light rail so we found the E building to be more convenient for that reason.  Its just too bad that its not as good as the main building and that may be something you would want to take into consideration when moving into the Lofts at Rio Salado.

Dodging Puke Bombs and Smashed Glass at The Lofts at Rio Salado

While taking my dog out to go potty I ran into puke all over the stairs and around the gate to get into the property.  I had to turn around and go elsewhere it was disgusting.

The next weekend someone had themselves a really good time smashing beer bottles all over the property.  There were also potted plants, fast food packages, and garbage thrown everywhere you looked.  The maintenance people cleaned it up but we are supposed to have security posted at this building so it never should have happened in the first place.  It took weeks to get rid of the broken glass that was everywhere.  We had to carry our dog out to the gate so that she didnt cut her feet.  Just annoying.

On another occasion we were at the pool and about to grill something for lunch but when we got to the grill/sink area there were rotting eggs in the sink.  It sat there for a few days before someone cleaned it up.

Planes, Trains, Lightrail, and Slamming Gates at The Lofts at Rio Salado

When you first move into a new place you have no idea what you are in for until you are there experiencing all of it. When I moved in to The Lofts at Rio Salado I was under the impression it was a nice quiet peaceful place to live.  Boy was I wrong!

Check out this video of planes flying overhead constantly all day all night as well as the gate slamming all hours of the day and night. 

The people here go out the gate slam bang crash, take the light rail down to Mill Ave get drunk and come back starting around 1 am crash bang slam, 2 am crash bang slam, screaming, etc. 3 am same thing, 4 am same thing, etc.  Forget leaving your windows open during nice weather if you want to get some sleep.   The security is never around when the drunks are out unless you call and hound them but then when they do finally come over they listen for 5 minutes hear nothing and leave and that was of course when the drunks took a 5 minute screaming break so then you will have to call security again at 3 am (real life scenario) and beg them to come back and spend some time patrolling when the drunks resume normal behavior.

This place is Not for Everyone

I did my homework prior to moving in here at The Lofts at Rio Salado.  I searched the internet asked friends etc.  I was a little nervous about moving into a place that was so close to the ASU Campus but I really fell in love with the area and had hoped the leasing agents at The Lofts were telling me the truth when they said the management had gone through a recent change and that they had made great improvements to the property. 

I did find a bit of negativity searching the internet but then again you never know if its just 1 or 2 pissed off people and also there was a limited amount of info available which is why I am writing this blog.  Hopefully others can make a more informed decision based on a true accounting of what is really going on here. 

Most of the info I found was just about a bunch of asshole college kids.  Drinking, partying, puking, etc.  In fact I asked the leasing agents what the ratio of students was and they lied big time and down played reality for me.  I understand that they really cant give you this information because that would be breaking some real estate discrimination laws but, they lied to me none the less and said there really werent that many students and there was quite a mix of people. 

Just so you know there is not quite a mix of people here.  There are primarily a bunch of young partying assholes that live here.  Most of these people have no respect for anyone including themselves and I guess that goes hand in hand with their age and stupidity factor.

Great Location but Renter Beware

I love Tempe Town Lake. Its definitely one of my favorite places here in the Valley but unfortunately Tempe is land locked and there is very little desirable real estate available near the lake. My husband and I looked at quite a few places prior to settling for The Lofts at Rio Salado but we were up against 20 people all trying to buy the same townhouse. We decided to throw in the towel and try renting an apartment where they were begging us to be tenants literally. We gave up certain luxuries that we were used to such as more space, rooms, garage, pool, etc. to move closer to the city, to be on the light rail, and to be right next to the lake.

The minute we came in to the office at The Lofts at Rio Salado to sign the lease they no longer cared. We were not given a copy of our rental agreement and when we had the nerve to ask for a copy we were given an excuse that the manager was not in and they would have to see it and approve it sign it whatever and until that time we could not have a copy. I said o.k. and went to see my new apartment that I was told was over 1000 ft of livable space. I did see the apartment prior to signing and it did seem very small but the leasing agent kept saying its 1000 sq ft. and based on that figure I decided I could do it. I would get rid of some things and downsize and I could make it work. I realized after I signed the paperwork that the place was several hundred feet smaller than what I was told. I called the office I was in tears because I felt it was so small and it felt strange to me. The leasing agent got angry and said you knew what you were getting. You saw it before hand. I said yes I know but it just didnt seem this small and you said it was over 1000 ft but I was just talking to someone else in the office that said it was around 700ft? She said oh well yes its over 1000ft of livable space meaning that your patio is included. I couldnt believe they had misrepresented the size by so much I was a little insulted by that comment so I said yes but I cant put my bed on the patio now can I? They dont care anymore. I signed. Who cares?

The leasing agent never gave me my parking space # so I was parking in someone's spot for a couple weeks. Luckily I didnt get towed but how would I know? Nobody told me what spot it was and I was not provided copy of lease. When I complained to office they said "well its on your lease". Oh you mean the lease that I did not get a copy of? O.k. I didnt know where my mail box was either and when I called and asked and said I was a little bit upset they didnt tell me these things I was told in so many words that the #'s on the mail box coincide with your apartment number but I didnt know that and it was weird how each office employee that I spoke with (3 different people) all had the same weird attitude about it. They kinda made me feel like I was dumb and I was the one who did something wrong.

I reported to management the day that I moved in that there were these long poles that appeared to be garbage from the closet. You know like the wood poles you would hang your clothes on. They were sitting in the planters outside my windows. I didnt like looking at the garbage and nobody did anything about it until I complained again maybe a 3rd time and finally Andrew the apartment manager had his maintenance people remove it. It only took about 5 months I guess I should be more patient.