Apartment Reviews for Briarwood Terrace - Prospect Hts

I moved in in 2005 and it was a great place with good staff and they were great - very easy to talk to and had lots of activities for residents. For example, had pool parties and even had one of the local Pizza Huts come out and set-up in the party room every month and sell pizzas/pop/sides. A really great thing (come home, walk over to the party room, pick up a pizza or two and not have to cook)! Unfortunately, times have changed and now, there isn't a single activity on the calendar that they still send out every month.

The staff, while changed, is still great and very responsive to requests/needs. Some other reviewers have complained about the high turn-over of staff. I understand that it isn't a glamorous job and high turn-over is to be expected. Several of the office staff are working on their degrees and understandably want to move on once they graduate.

The fitness center is a bit of a hit-or-miss. They get all of their equipment from another property owned by the management, so while it all works and tends to be good quality, if it goes down, it will take a very long time for repairs. For example, both treadmills broke once, and it took about 6 months to get replacements.

Safety/Neighborhood: I've never had a problem or ever felt the slightest bit threatened while being there. My car has never been vandalized/broken into. The neighborhood is mainly industrial, so generally only light-pollution and noise from the occassional truck passing are the only problems there.

Neighbors: Most of my neighbors are from India. The complex does seem to cater to them, and they are on a whole, not very clean, but that is ingrained in their culture. As is a certain level of entitlement. For example, laundry machines are shared in a building and they have no problems leaving their clothes in the machines (sometimes overnight) even if they know there are others wanting to use the machines. Again, that's not the fault of the management/staff but a bit of a primer in American way of doing things should be given to them by the staff to ensure that our foreign visitors understand standard practices in the U.S.

Main Con: My biggest complaint is that they have switched to ISTA for utility billing. ISTA, from consumer reviews, is a very shady organization. They tend to charge ridiculous sums of money without explaining how they arrive at their bills. For example, my May utility bill was ~$150, most of that due to gas. Why was gas so high in May (a relatively warm month)? No explanation is offered, nor any details of how they arrived at the charge.

Main Pro: They just updated the pool and it is really nice. I wish they had kept the original depth (did go to about 12', now tops off at about 5'), but that is a personal preference. The pool chairs have all been given new covers.

Some people have mentioned infestations. I live on the second floor and haven't had any issues with infestations outside the occassional spider/fly/random insect coming in through an open window/door.

Noise level: You will be able to hear your neighbors, but most people follow the standard quiet hours (2000-1000 hrs.) If there is an issue w/a violation of the quiet hours, you can always go to the staff and they'll remedy the problem.

The property is generally in good repair. The most lacking part is the party room itself, which has ripped furniture, broken appliances/cabinets. To their credit, the staff did replace the roofing on all their buildings last year. If there is ever an issue in a unit, again the staff is always quick to help remedy the situation.