Riverfront at Cranford Station

I would like to express my thanks to Garden Communities, and more specifically to Leasing Specialist, Irma Molina. Irma was so gracious, and patient; and put in a great deal of effort to provide me with the apartment that best suited my needs. Her warm and customer-friendly manner was very-much appreciated, and most importantly, I sensed her integrity. ….. Irma noticeably enjoys her job, and delivers an outstanding professional product. Pay isn’t the only reason people do what they do; dedication and motivation are priceless! ….. Irma is priceless!

I have enjoyed everything about this complex ,except the third party online pay system...

It seems people only write reviews here when they have a negative experience so just wanted to share my positive experience. I had a very pleasant dealing with Irma in the rental office and was very impressed when I took a tour of the building. There were no apartments available right away (they seem to be in high demand) but I kept checking back and was eventually able to secure a one bedroom, which is what I wanted. I haven't moved in yet, so will keep you posted on the building and amenities, but with the train, Starbucks and Pastosa's all close by, I'm really looking forward to it. I rated it 4 stars for now, but will update once I actually move in.

Do I really have to give them one star? Yes. In fact, I'm not sure that they even deserve the one star I am giving them. When we moved in here I thought "oh awesome, brand new place, high-end appliances - what could possibly go wrong?". In the beginning it was great, but the first time we had to a minor maintenance (ps the maintenance staff is really nice) request they put it off for three weeks! I had to call them over and over to see when they would get it handled - um hello, you live in an apartment so you DON'T have to worry about fixing things or waiting around for a repair man. But wait I did, for a whole day at my house for the repair man - first the office claimed that he was coming in the morning, then afternoon, then the next day, then the next week.

The other big let down about these apartments is the price tag. So rent is a little high but we figured it was worth it. When we moved in our apartment came with one parking spot in the garage and the parking lot was open parking. About 3 months into our lease out of nowhere they decided to change the parking policy to $600 for a second car. Also, as everyone has speculated, these apartments are in a flood zone and the lower parking lot does flood when it rains. During the spring and summer there were tons of flash floods that flooded the parking lot, yes the same lot that we paid a whopping $600 for a spot in floods :)

Ok, so that sucked but I figured that was the worst that would happen, I mean we are paying nearly $3k a month to live here - I figured at least that would buy us something, perhaps decent office staff that are delightful and helpful and try to avoid making your life more difficult. Wrong again. Let me share just a tidbit of one of the awe-insipring conversations I had with the staff;

Me: "So one of our cars in the shop right now for repairs & we have a rental car for the next week so do we need a guest pass for the parking lot or to give you our license plate number..."
RF: "You can only have two cars, three cars are not allowed."
ME: "Ok, well we only have two cars, so what do you need from me so we can park in the lot without getting towed?"
RF: "You are not allowed to park three cars in the lot.
ME: "GREAT! I GOT THAT!!! now since we only have TWO cars, because one of our two cars is in the shop and we have a rental replacing it, could you please tell me what you need..."
RF: "You are not allowed to have three cars."

Oh hey, Riverfront at Cranford Station office staff, little pop quiz for you.
If I have two cars but one of them goes into the repair shop & I get a replacement car (aka a rental) how many cars do I have? Bet you'll never guess ;)

SUMMARY

Plain and simple - this place is a sad, pathetic excuse for a "luxury" living establishment.

RENT AND AMENITIES

The rent is astronomical for what you get (hint: not much). There are absolutely no real amenities here. Only amenities are: two useless sitting areas with no entertainment (one is used as a make-shift rental office - so you technically can't even use it without it being extremely awkward and neither of them have their televisions hooked up) and a tiny gym with a few machines and free weights.

CONSTRUCTION

The quality of the construction is a mixed bag. Items such as the granite counter tops are decent, however, for example, the quality of the paint on the wall is extremely cheap and low quality. I don't see the paint lasting very long.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

The property management is absolutely the worst people I've ever had to deal with. They don't care about you in any way shape or form, they only care that their money is in their account every month. Avoid at all costs.

DEMOGRAPHIC

In regards to the demographic in this building, it is skewed to about 85% of the population is older than 50 years old - mainly empty-nesters, DINKs, etc.

MISC DETAILS

Two very important details if you are considering this place (which by all means you shouldn't) is... the Section 8 (read: low income housing) building that is being constructed in the front and the fact that the building is in a major FEMA flood zone. Somehow, the leasing people tend to forget to tell you these small minor details when you ask for more information.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I DO NOT recommend this place to anyone.

Do yourself a favor, avoid the headaches and research other places such as AVE Union, Cranford Crossing, Lofts at Garwood, Avalon Somerset and the other REAL luxury living buildings in the area.