The Standard On West Dallas

To start off, I have to say that the ladies at the front desk of the Baron Properties complex I live at (The Standard in Houston) are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I genuinely feel bad for the horrible situations their management has put them in.
With that said, I struggle to determine if the management of Baron Properties (the ever elusive people at «corporate») are really as incompetent as they seem, or if they strategically plan to screw over their tenants.
Our stay at The Standard was doomed from the beginning. We used their online reservation system and paid over $ 700 for application fees and as a deposit to secure the apartment. We received digital confirmations, but never heard anything from a human… So after a few weeks we came in person (because their phone system was down) to make sure everything was good to go. We were informed that the apartment we reserved had been leased to someone else, and that they had never received our application. A quick investigation revealed that the Baron Properties management had never trained the staff on the usage of the online system, and they were neither maintaining it or checking it for applications. But corporate was still collecting money from the site. We ended up getting a new apartment, but it was $ 200 more per month than we had originally agrees to pay… However, we were close to our move in date and we didn’t have time to make other arrangements.
A few months into our lease, a bad storm resulted in some water damage… Which led to management discovering a massive mold infestation in the complex. This is where the real trouble starts. Baron Properties hired Blu Sky Renovations to take on cleanup efforts, which have proven to be quite disastrous. The construction crew has consistently violated basic safety requirements, and have introduced major health and safety risks to the residents.
Examples include:
— a chunk of concrete façade was knocked from the third story and fell onto my patio on the first floor. Had someone been standing on the patio at the time, the outcome could have been fatal.
— on numerous occasions, I have found OSB with several inches of nails sticking up, laying out in the common area.
— the common area has been filled with insulation fiber multiple times, which has caused itching and a slight rash.
Each time I brought concerns to Baron Properties management, my concerns were dismissed. I have to give Blu Sky credit, in that they took quick action to build a buffer to protect my patio once I raised concerns with their foreman. What’s really shameful, is that I had been bringing my concerns to Baron Properties for weeks, and they never once communicated these concerns to Blu Sky. The foreman had no idea that a chunk of façade had even fallen onto our patio.
As these health risks escalated, we requested that we be allowed to terminate our lease early without financial penalties. Our request was flat out denied. Apparently the revenue from our contract is more important to Baron Properties than our safety.
Most recently, we have had our water service interrupted time and time again, without warning. Apparently the root cause is that they keep accidentally busting our water pipes while trying to fix the mold problem.
Honestly, there are dozens of other examples I could get into… But this would turn into a novel. All I can say is please save yourself the trouble and do not rent from Baron Properties. Check my review history and you’ll see that I hardly ever complain about companies. I’m generally an easy going person, but this company is so horrible I had to share my experience. I’ve never been treated with such disrespect in my life. The management of this company does not care one bit for your safety, and their greed and lack of humanity or empathy is truly appalling.

I’ve been burgled in this Residence.
The Parking gate is always open.
The doors to the outside are broken, anybody can come in!
The Management does not answer to enquiries.
STAY AWAY

The experience has been horrible living at The Standard over the past year and a half. Here are some highlights:
— Due to the lack of security at The Standard, our apartment was robbed in broad daylight, while we were at work.
— Water damage resulted in a closet ceiling partially collapsing and ruining clothes.
…and now, exterior renovations to our building have revealed that our apartment needs additional construction. As a result, our lease is being cancelled halfway through its contract, and we are being told to move out in 2 weeks! This is BEYOND frustrating, disappointing and UNPROFESSIONAL! To add, they are not offering any discounted rates at their sister property, Cheval (which they are trying send us to), despite this life changing event. So at this point, our hands are tied and we have until December 7^th to move out and find a place to live; which will be really interesting given that we are traveling to see family over Thanksgiving.
We are truly at a loss right now.

The apartments themselves are very nice and almost all of them are now renovated. (Dark wood floors, crown molding, nice sinks) Great location and amenities for the price. Mostly young tenants in the complex.
The maintenance staff are very friendly, helpful, and quick to fix things.
The gate is often broken which wouldn’t be so much of an issue if it was stuck open. But sometimes the gates won’t open and there will be a huge line of cars! The parking garage is kind of a pain to park in at times, especially if you live on the first floor and it is the weekend since there are so many guests at the pool.
The pool is nice and there is always a party on the summer weekends. Which could be nice depending on your preference. If you have an apartment located by the pool it will probably be pretty noisy due to the amount of people and loud music. Always a fun crowd though! Management does try to control noise by sending emails and making people wear wristbands but very rarely do any tenants follow these rules.
Honestly, the huge downfall is management! Very quick staff turnover and some of them are rude. Although some of them are super nice as well! I can not stress enough about issues with packages going «missing». They will constantly tell us that there are no packages (even though it will say it was delivered) and then act annoyed if you actually want them to physically walk back there to check since they are technically supposed to sign packages in. Clearly someone isn’t doing it. It wouldn’t be an issue this happened once but it has happened more times than I can count!
Overall not a horrible place to live but there could definitely be improvements that would not be difficult to implement.

Just moved out. Customer service over the phone and email left a lot to be desired but otherwise while living there customer service couldn’t have been better. Had problemes in the apartment fixed promptly after submitting repair requests and always had friendly interactions with those at front desk.
Pool is very social on the weekends which can be a good or bad thing depending on what you’re looking for!
Overall very happy with The Standard.

Great place to live, great location for anything you want to do in downtown and surrounding areas of Houston. $ 6 über to nearly every bar or club. Great pool, but the workout area is small and tiny. Also they have all the places inside of the leasing office blocked off when they close and are t there. So if you want coffee on a Saturday or Sunday morning, you better drive to Starbucks or have some at home. Also, this place is kind of expensive for what you get. $ 1450 for a one bedroom, should be around $ 1200-​$ 1250, but you’re right next to buffalo bayou park and Allen parkway, so worth it.

The place itself is not bad. Like my apt and renewed my lease. The location is great. The downfall here is the amount of turnover in the mgmt office. Although most are nice, by time you get to know them and they’re helping you with things, they’re no sooner gone. I agree w the others on the unorganization, and them saying they’d take care of something only to get notice that you still owe, even though they say they’ll make note and take care of it. Frustrating.
Also, this place doesn’t really do any appreciation type events for its tenants like surrounding properties do. When I first moved in they did, but I think with the turn in mgmt it effects that as well, they don’t seem to care enough about the tenants, and lately there has been a lot of people moving in and out. The valet trash that you don’t have a choice but to pay for, would be great if it was taken all the time, but sometimes it’s a few days before it’s gone. AND my biggest pet peave is when people just leave mounds of garbage outside their door, which will sit for days because that’s outside the rules of one bag per night.

After reading all the negative reviews, I felt inclined to give a review on the complex. I have lived here now for 9 months and think this is a great property. It’s quiet, always find parking in the structure, and the pool is nice in the summer. The one bedroom one bath 768 has plenty of space and storage. Some of the models are not renovated and will be cheaper with all carpet, older fixtures, old blinds. Most were renovated within the last year to two years with wood floors, new fixtures, crown molding, new celing fans, and new kitchen appliances. The price difference was $ 100 (It’s worth the renovated models). The office staff has changed a few times, but I have always been provided great service.
Here’s the good and bad:
Good: Nice pool area with BBQ’s excellent for summertime. Gym is ok, with more then 5 it can be crowded. On site fitness classes and stand up tanning booth. Plenty of parking in structure with a guard on duty at times of special events that may be in surrounding areas (He makes sure only residents park in the structure). Quiet complex. Valet trash pick up. Plenty of storage on site if needed. Maintenance is very responsive when needed.
Bad: Sometimes the office will only let two guests per apartment at the pool (wrist bands required, though not always enforced). If your appartment is near the two trash shoots it can be smelly in summer, and noisy during trash drop by valets. The washer and dryers are in need of replacement (even in renovated models).
Overall I am happy with the complex and would not hesitate renewing a lease, or referring a friend.

I hate that I even have to give this place a star, it deserves 0! There is a reason this is the cheapest complex in the area, they are GARBAGE!!! Honestly splurge the extra money for a nicer complex with decent amenities. The main reason I would splurge is so you never ever have to deal with the people in the office. When it was ran by AMLI they were so kind, efficient, and organized. The maintenance staff are awesome. So polite, sweet, and helpful. I feel awful for them that they have to work with the people in the office. The staff here is the worst, from not even being able to get you your packages, not sending you the correct amount due on rent, not answering service issues, and the list could go on.

I lived there for a year, great location… and that’s about it. It’s less expensive than most in the area, but they will get you in your move out. I would save yourself the stress and go somewhere else, it’s not worth the hassle with that complex. The office is really friendly until you have an issue and need assistance.

I absolutely despise living at the Standard. The apartments are not as nice as the models and do not have any storage space in the kitchen or bathroom. Everything looks nice, there are some nice amenities and I can’t say anything bad about the maintenance guys. However management makes renting here a terrible experience. I have never been nickeled and dimed more in my life than at the Standard. There are a ton of fees and some weird rules in the lease.
Don’t be fooled by their end of summer and back to school leasing specials, there is a reason they can’t keep tenants here for long.

This place is terrible. Shortly before I was to move in they called and told me the apartment they rented out to me was still occupied so I couldn’t move in when needed. I had to pick a different apartment. The staff here are, completely rude. Packages get lost all the time.
The power in my apartment kept going out. There was a problem with the main breaker. Maintenance told me to switch the breakers, myself. I told them I wasn’t comfortable doing so, and they told me to still do it. Needless to say the breakers were smoking and sparking. Scary! Then an hour later the maintenance guy comes to my apartment and said if it happens again not to touch the breaker cause it looks like a person will get electrocuted by touching it. My power went off again and their way of accommodating me was to put me in their model apartment. The apartment didn’t have a shower that worked, who knows if or when the bed has ever been cleaned or washed, they still tried to show the apartment when I was in there. I was very upset. Never received an apology from the staff.
I cannot wait to move out of this place. My lease is up in a few months and I am sure I won’t see a penny of my deposit back, even though nothing is wrong with the apartment.
Oh, also the gates to the parking garage are always broken, seems like a lot of vandalism occurs around the gates.
Don’t move here!!!

I can’t get no dick here!!! Jahahaa. This place is awesome I love it here it’s always clean the gate works I guess the management has really changed. sometimes you see dog poop laying around but it’s not that bad any more. People are nice I hardly see kids that’s good so peaceful here love it

The staff turnover alone is the first sign of trouble at this complex. I moved out over 15 months ago and this place is still hassling me for disputed move-​out fees. I had two separate managers tell me that the move-​out fees would be dropped and then those managers apparently left the place so now I’m getting calls from debt collectors. I left this place because there were other, better options nearby and I was 100% satisfied at my next apartment complex. You could strongly consider your options before moving in here.

The apartment itself is not bad but it is all of the other things you have to deal with that make it unbearable. As mentioned in previous posts, the management and staff are not prepared to run the property and cannot handle many things correctly.
The entrance gates are broken and left open more often than not so that defeats the purpose of a gated community. Previously, under AMLI management, my gate code for visitors worked seamlessly, however immediately upon transition to the Standard it stopped working. I have tried on multiple occasions to get it fixed and they have not done anything about it. This makes it hard to have any visitors when you are required to walk to the entrance gate to let everyone in (this is assuming it is actually working).
Also, I have had packages on many occasions go missing. I have called and asked them to look again and they ultimately found it. Did they not look in the first place? This would not make it in a review normally but it has happened on multiple occasions.
The only plus is location. Rent somewhere else, you will be happy.

Worst staff ever! Rude, aggressive, consistently unprofessional. Maintenance policies are terrible, will not fix anything with any urgency — even leaks. Walls and ceilings are very thin which makes the apartments pretty noisy. Definitely not safe! Recent break ins. No doubt due to the parking garage gate being broken or stuck open several times per week EVERY week. Major sections of the complex have no lights on the walk ways. There are better options in Houston. Can’t wait to move.