Gables West Ave

Moved in in mid March and have had to endure no a/​c, repair to a/​c every other day or so flooding from our patio doors and windows. So if you are thinking of moving in DON’T! SAVE YOURSELF THE COST AND FRUSTRATION OF A COMPLEX WITH NON RESPONSIVE MANAGEMENT INCLUDING CORPORATE. THEY WILL NOT FIX WHAT NEEDS TO BE TAKEN CARE OF PERIOD! AND IF YOUR WRITE TO A MANAGER OR THEIR CORPORATE OFFICE THEY COULDN’T GIVE A CRAP! i am writing this review sitting in near 80 degree inside while it is 90 degrees outside. Our a/​c has not operated properly since we moved in (and actually were told by maintenance that it was not working in the fall BEFORE WE EVER MOVED IN), we have put in service request every time and they come and vacuum or tinker with it and say it is fixed only for it stop working within the day and we are left sleeping or sitting in a very warm apartment waiting for them to come fix it AGAIN! So let me tell you about our patio doors and windows that flood our apartment very time we get a South blowing rain storm.
We notified them of a defective patio and the gap around it, asked for the to repair it and they tell us that «There is a plan to replace the doors». We requested in be expedited and nothing. We have had two storms that have pushed water under all patio doors and water dripping from the patio windows. What a piece of carp complex that cannot even take care of their properties. Local management is non responsive and writing to corporate gets absolutely nothing. I will move just as soon as I possibly can, Don’t waste your money with this un-​maintained property. Find some place newer and more interested in their tenants needs and problems.

Talia at the concierge desk is amazing! She has gone above and beyond to help me and make my move in as smooth as possible. Thank you Talia!

We have lived at Gables West Ave for 6 months and terminated our lease early. The location is nice, you can walk to many restaurants, bars and grocery stores. Here are the reasons why we moved out:
While we were touring their property last summer, we were not informed about the pool area and outdoor space closing. We were just told, that the BBQ area will be renovated for a small amount of time during the winter, which was fine for us. However, when we moved in in September 2015 the pool area was closed indefinitely. Although there have been a few nice days during fall, we could not use that space, but still paid full price rent for our 2bed/​2bath corner unit in Building A. We asked frequently about the progress and were told different things by various Staff members, including the property manager Ms. Bond. The answers ranged from beginning of 2016 to spring break (promised by Ms. Bond herself). Well guess what, no progress whatsoever. They blamed everything on the weather, although it has been particular dry until the recent flooding.
I agree with the previous reviewer, the fire alarms are a big problem and they are ear damaging. And if you lost hearing ability once you will never get it back. We kept ear plugs and noise canceling headphones next to our bed, so we could at least make it out without loosing hearing ability. Please consider this especially if you have kids and dogs.
Regarding the parking garage, the doors were not closing for weeks of a time. So anybody could enter. After several complaints, Ms. Bond put «guards» to the garage doors, who were there only a minimal amount of time, and if there playing with their phones. On top of that the entry door from the parking garage on floor 4 nearby the elevator was not locking. So basically open door for everyone and since there is retail and restaurants, the risk of crime increases. Go figure. I complained once again to the staff and Ms. Bond with no result or actions, she stated that the technician checked it and it was working. Well it was not. I then dragged Peter upstairs and he looked at it and finally got maintenance to repair it. Took just almost two weeks with open doors. They are not able to respond to severe security issues.
Many people have dogs in this apartment complex, which is fine, but for our liking it was a little much. Some dogs pee from the balconies so if you are unlucky and you are underneath it you might have some unexpected yellow rain. Also sometimes dog waste occurred in the hallways.
The apartment we lived in was nice and we would not have moved out, if we would not have encountered so many problems with the management/​maintenance of buildings and security. If they would deliver what is promised, be more responsive in problem solving, we would not have mind paying a high rent.
Finally we decided to move out after putting up with this for 6 months. We are busy and too tired to constantly deal with this. So we went downstairs and gave notice. If you terminate your lease early there is a penalty so we decided not to charity Gables West Ave any longer and decided to use their transfer to a different Gables Property for a fee. While discussing all those issues, Ms. Bond refused to waive the fee although they did not provide the amenities and security as promised on their website and flyer. This would have been at least an adequate gesture to the customer. She just said «if it is not in the contract, you don’t have a right of a pool or gated garage entry». We also mentioned the increased risk of crime etc. but she was quite hostile and again promised a big pool opening very soon to persuade us to stay. We just paid the fee and left. However, I wrote a letter to their headquarters to complain. It is ridiculous.
We now live in a different Gables apartment, which is nicer, newer and bigger for a little less money. So far the management here is much better. It is a buyers market currently, you can do much better than West Ave and I suggest not to move there. They lie to your face, are not able to solve problems and charge too much money. They just don’t care.
You will do yourself a favor, if you rent somewhere else. If you still decide that is the place for you, be advised to photograph and note any defects of the apartment whatsoever, so they will not nickel and dime you when you move out at some point.

If you want to pay Brooklyn prices for a Newark standard of living in Houston, then Gables West Avenue is where you want to be.
The apartments themselves are nice, and the location is great. The management company is the worst I ever have experienced anywhere: beef-​witted, incompetent, and deeply dishonest. I’ve lived in a half-​dozen large U.S. cities (Austin, New York, Washington) and have never experienced anything as bad. At a certain point, stupidity shades into hostility, and Gables West Ave, and property manager Rebecca Bond in particular, apparently are intent on exploring that point.
The entirety of the outdoor amenities (pool, deck, etc.) have been closed since I moved here — open zero days. Nothing about repairs was said when I was touring the building or (more to the point) signing my lease; when I moved in, I was told that the repairs under way (which do not actually seem to be under way; more on that in a bit) would take a few weeks. A few months later, the situation remains unchanged.
A few other reviewers have mentioned the extraordinary fire alarms, which go off regularly when there are no fires and which are loud enough to be heard, distinctly, more than half a mile away. (Yes, I checked — what do you do when you’ve been awakened by air-​raid klaxons at 4 a.m.?) One just went off a few minutes ago, which is why I am up and writing this review. The last time around, the management swore that «an investigation» was being conducted and that information «will be forthcoming.» No such thing has happened, of course. And that was entirely predictable: Last time around, I spoke with the fire department personnel dispatched to the complex, who informed me that these false alarms are a regular occurrence, a result of the management’s refusal or inability to properly maintain and manage the alarm system.
That’s something you’ll want to think about, especially if you have children.
Much of the gym equipment is nonfunctional. For example, the television screens attached to the treadmills mostly were not working when last we checked a week or so ago. Again, the management was informed, again, they promised that something would be done, again, no sign that anything actually has happened.
On the day I moved in, a few months back, I informed Peter (can’t recall his last name) in the management office that the front door to my building was broken and would not lock, leaving the elevator lobby unsecured. This isn’t the worst neighborhood in Houston, to be sure, but there is crime and there are vagrants, and expecting the front door to lock isn’t exactly an unreasonable request. Months later, the lock was still broken when I checked a few hours ago. I’ve reported this several times; last time around, Peter said that it would be fixed «if I have to go do it myself.» I guess something came up, for two months.
Other, smaller items inside the apartment do not work, and requests for repairs (again, made the day I moved in, and repeated since) have so far produced no results. Insects have started to appear in the bathrooms.
I suppose I should mentioned that the parking security gates also stop working from time to time, meaning that you cannot access your parking space. I went to the front desk to alert them about this, and they refused to do anything to open the gates. «Just park somewhere else,» despite being locked out of the garage and there being no other residential parking. The cow-​eyed stare from the staffer told me more or less everything I needed to know.
I put this into a complaint for Bond a while back, and her response was: If you don’t like it, move. Never mind that thousands of dollars spent on household relocation, the trouble and expense of finding a new place, etc. That’s their response. Bond said that she had attempted to telephone me on several occasions to discuss the matter, but no record of her calling exists. I share that only as an example of the maddening dishonesty that one must endure from these people, who are the sort of lowlifes who give commercial landlords a worse name even than they deserve.
My experience suggests than when a company operating a multi-​million-​dollar complex can’t manage a $ 50 lock repair, it is in financial trouble. I do not know whether that is the case with the managers of Gables West Ave, but I do rather hope it is the case. Not because I wish them ill (though I do, intensely, at this point) but because the complex itself is basically nice and located in an area that I like very much; it isn’t the building, but the management, that is the problem. Short of some radical development, I don’t think I’ll be staying, though, and I cannot recommend that you do, either, especially at these prices, which can get you quite a nice place in this part of Houston, with any luck one that is managed by people who don’t hate their customers and who have IQs higher than those of not-​especially-​bright tomatoes.

I had lived at Gables West Ave for 3-​years. It’s a really great location, walking distance to Whole Foods, and within 5-​minutes drive of everything worth doing or eating in Houston. I was new to Houston and worked offshore at the time and needed a safe place for my belongings, so I chose West Ave and paid their excessive rates. They do have a nice gym on the 7^th floor of Building A, so I justified paying their prices instead of getting a gym membership. I also justified the price by my commute time to work and the convenience of having a grocery store within walking distance. I was spending in the ballpark of around $ 1500-​$ 1600+ /​month for a 1-​bedroom apartment on the 6^th floor in Building B. *Side note, a fellow tenant had a similar 1-​bedroom for $ 2400. Yikes.
The fire alarm tended to go off quite consistently, like at least once a week, and it’s LOUD. I was working on a drilling rig during this period in my life, so I have a lot of experience with fire drills. West Ave’s fire alarm is at ear-​damaging levels, straight up! I also didn’t like how the upkeep of the apartment was poor. The trash chute is located in Building B, and it’s a far walk for most people. You will find a lot of people that leave trash all over the apartment hallways and let their dogs pee/​poop everywhere. They expected the West Ave cleaning staff to clean up after them. This has to do with the rich, entitled tenant culture, but at the same time, yeah, the trash chutes are too far.
One time upon entering the parking garage, a drunken person cut me off and gave me the finger. As I was driving up to the 6^th floor where my apartment was, the tenant thought I was maybe following him! I didn’t care about the finger; I just wanted to go home! So, when I parked, he got out of his car and pulled out a pocket knife. That was really scary, and I ran to their service elevator and escaped. Luckily, there were 3 people in the elevator, and they went to the front office with me to report this incident. The staff at West Ave knew who this tenant was and even showed me a copy of his Driver License to confirm it. I had even been in contact with the police, but all-​in-​all, nothing happened to the guy because it was just «hearsay,» as there was no video records of what happened. I guess I should have been stabbed to have evidence… or maybe West Ave should have better security?
When I was working offshore at one point, I received a renewal document for my apartment, and they had increased the rent price by a few hundred dollars. I was not ready to sign a new lease, but since I was not there, the Community Manager, Jordan Davis, forged my signature on a move-​out notice. I had caught him red-​handed, but they had already signed new documents to rent the apartment out to a new tenant! Although I was not ready to sign a new lease, it’s completely wrong to forge documents! Jordan was afraid I’d get my lawyer into this nonsense, so he offered me another 1-​bedroom apartment on the 7^th floor of Building A for $ 1550. They had actually screwed up the paperwork and wrote $ 1505 instead. That was a benefit for me, but it proves their sloppiness.
The final two years, I still encountered bizarre incidents. A murder occurred on the 4^th floor of Building B. You can read more about that here.
If you observe the security guards, they literally don’t do anything other than sit beside the pool and play on their cellphones. This is unfortunate as the price for these apartments are outrageous, and there are still a lot of break-​ins, especially in the parking garage. A van once entered behind a tenant and vandalized many vehicles inside including ours (keyed cars on all floors). They never caught them.
I had enough of this place, and when I was moving out, I informed one of their newer staff members about leaving. I had told her prior to the 3-​months of my lease ending, and she confirmed this with me in person. However, she never gave me the move-​out notice. All-​in-​all, this ended up being a disaster, and I had to spend another month’s rent to sort it out. Unacceptable. This is an honest review. Save your money, and look for a better, safer place to live. Gables West Ave is not it.
Pros:
–Location
–Nice gym
–Rooftop pool overlooking the city with BBQ Grills
–Dog park on 7^th floor
Cons:
–Expensive, and they will increase prices at exorbitant rates yearly
–Consistently new staff at their office, incompetent employees
–Security guards around the building sit around and play on their phones instead of do their work
–Fire alarm tends to go off weekly, and they’re incredibly LOUD
–A murder occurred in the 4^th floor hallway of Building B, and a knife was pulled on me in the parking garage
–Above a few bars, so there will be loud people yelling all hours of the night
–Entitled tenant culture expecting cleaning staff to pick up after them

This place is so awesome! I moved in in July and I could not be happier with my choice. There were people that complained about safety in some reviews, but I haven’t experienced anything negative or crime in general. I feel extremely safe here and the property is sooo nice! Also incredibly convenient

Maintenance, housekeeping and leasing office are great. However, the construction of the building is another story… If I was ranking the people who work at Gables West Ave, I would give 5-​stars. However, the fact the complex and several apartment units have had leaks since the May floods lowered my ranking. That said, the building has done an amazing job in addressing and remedying all identified issues so they become non-​issues in the future. It takes time but it does seem as they have been fixing issues the «right» way rather than taking the quick short-​term fix approach that doesn’t remedy the bigger problem.

I have lived in West Gables for a month and enjoyed my experience so far. The community is very friendly, and most important, the maintenance staff is very responsive!

So far so good at 10 months in!
At this time I’m actually transitioning into another unit in a different building and I have been pleased with the experience. Micah is amazing and has been a great help!
As far as previous complaints of crime and lack of security, rest assured that none of this has come to my attention in the entirety of my stay here. From what I understand is these incidents were isolated and I don’t expect it to occur again.
The property is always clean and the apartments are very comfortable. I would recommend to anyone moving to Houston and looking for peace of mind and a great location.

We absolutely LOVE everything about our new apartment/​complex. Gables West Ave is where it’s at! Thanks to the leasing office for helping to make our transition from NYC to Houston as easy as possible!

I appreciate management reaching out to me about my concerns. It is a nice change in communication effort. I still disagree with the change in the policy though since I moved in under the condition of hassle-​free maintenance being included and it was so for a few years… until they started charging for bulbs.

Moved last November. We had some some difficulties with leasing at the beginning, but after its resolved. So no we are enjoying staying over there. It’s safe location. Good amenities. Nice service.

All of the staff are friendly and helpful — from the leasing office to the front desk to the maintenance staff. The aparments are spacious with very nice finishings. I look forward to continuing to live here!

I have been here for almost a year and so far, everything has been more than perfect! I love all the activities and the Gables staff is always very helpful and attentive.

I am loving it here. It is my 3^rd year and I really don’t have any substantial complaints. The only thing is I wish sometimes the office staff were more friendly. but the front desk staff is AWESOME

I lived at Gables West Ave for 10 months and was disappointed that I had to leave for a work transfer. West Ave is a beautiful community with a great location. The West Ave staff really did a great job to keep the complex updated and to provide great customer service.

They hire the dumbest people to lease these places. I’ve seen a lot of them come and go, but it seems at any Gables property you’re likely to be very unhappy within a month or two.

I just moved out of the «luxury» apartments Gables West Ave off upper Kirby in the River Oaks area (where the recent MURDER occurred). If you are looking for a nightmare apartment complex that:
PRICE GOUGES their tenants when leases are renewed (ours was an increase of $ 500/​mo)
has MULTIPLE BREAK INS (on labor day there were 3 forced break ins in our building B, it’s closer to the garage and makes for an easier get-a-way…there have been several others but the apartment «does not have to disclose them to other tenants if there is no forced entry»)
where the FIRE ALARMS go off on a bi-​weekly basis (there are several alarms in each unit and it is one of the loudest noises you will ever hear… literally deafening… they have glitches regularly and sound off but it is especially disturbing when the drunks at the restaurants downstairs pull the alarms at midnight and wake you from a deep sleep),
where tenants are HARRASSED by drunks (sometimes other tenants) at all times of the night (speaking of the drunks and restaurants, if you move here you better buy several large floor fans and maybe some ear plugs because it is EXTREMELY NOISY here… don’t listen to the leasing agents when they tell you it is not)
where there is a SERIOUS LACK OF SECURITY, most of the time i saw security was when they were either flirting with the concierge or hiding on the roof deck of the garage fidgeting with their cell phones)…also anyone can follow you into the gated resident parking as the gates stay open for a very long time
and where people are MURDERED right outside of your door, on your floor, in your building and the management will not let you out of your lease… then look no further then the hell hole called Gables West Ave.
To recap:
PRICE GOUGES
BREAK INS
LACK OF SECURITY
EXTREMELY NOISY
FIRE ALARMS
MURDERS
move here if you like these things

A MURDER HAPPENED and when we went to them saying we don’t feel safe here MANAGEMENT SAID, «I don’t understand where you came to the conclusion this was ever a safe property.» They refuse to install cameras, management saying it would cause a great deal of noise to install them thus they would get complaints from tenants, (their excuse for it being too expensive?) So you rather get complaints about murders and robbery vs noise level?!? Oh did I mention burglary!!! Several apartments were broken into… and again nothing was done.
We have also been lied to about management/​police coming into our apartment without notifying us. We were out for the evening and came home to lights on and some closet doors open. When we asked first they said no they didn’t, and then they changed their minds and lied again saying some of «our friends» in the building said we were out of town… UMMM SCARY… we don’t have friends in the building and since the burglaries we sneak out if we’re going to be gone overnight anywhere so no one knows were gone! We since installed cameras in our place!
We are paying a considerable amount of $$$$ for
MURDER, BURGLARY, LIES… FEAR.

Do NOT live at a gables property, especially this location.
I am taking down my initial good review after moving out from this property (which initially looked great).
My experience here:
1. A MURDER occurred in the hallway of building B in the middle of the night while I lived there. No security updates were made as a result. My girlfriend was terrified to continue living there and we had to get ADT security set up to add to our costs in order to feel safe in our home.
2. Many break ins occurred and I had suspect individuals knock on my apartment door multiple times to scope out when I would be home, this building is NOT safe, crime is very high and security is an absolute joke.
3. The hot tub was shut down indefinitely due to a series of «incidents» as I was told by many of the other residents…
4. As my going away present, the ever so kind (not at all) leasing agents /​maintenance team decided to charge me $ 850 to replace the hardwood floors in my unit (which were left in immaculate condition as I was only at the apartment a few times of the year for work). They will charge you for all damages you create, but will also seem to find fictitious damages that may have been left by previous residents and once overlooked. Be weary.