Limestone Ranch apartments; Enclave & Lakeside at La Frontera (Austin: for sale, apartment complexes)

[coleslaw]

Someone posted a comment about these apartment complexes a while back (Austinitegirl, I think), advising to stay away from them. Does anyone have more detail as to why they're bad?

I'm in corporate housing at Lakeside at La Frontera and looked at Limestone Ranch yesterday for more permanent housing. Also looked into maybe staying here, or the sister property down the street, The Enclave at La Frontera.

What's the scoop on these places? I have read the crime stats on the RR web site. It gives me an idea, but numbers don't always tell the whole story.

[love roses]

I was just at Sam's in La Frontera and noticed that they were tearing down part of the enclave. It looks like it just got done being built and now it's being demolished.

[coleslaw]

But I'm still not certain of the drawbacks to these properties. The location seems to be great, in a good neighborhood, close to shopping, restaurants, and I-35. The properties seem clean with decent amenities. Of course they're not upscale, but they're not rundown or shabby either. What's wrong with these places??? I'm probably going to sign a lease somewhere on Saturday, and it's between here and Riata. I like Riata itself, but really like the location at La Frontera better.

[Austinitegirl]

Hi coleslaw - I lived at both Limestone and the Enclave. Here's the "skinny":

Limestone - I lived there from '99 to '01 - in that very short time, the quality of the complex (facilities, tenants) declined exponentially. The facilites became "run down" looking - it seemed as though fewer repairs were being done (a carport collapsed and crushed a car and sat there for months before it was fixed by the central office - I have pictures). The tenants became loud, obnoxious, messy (we often found beer bottles and cans littering the parking lot every Friday and Saturday night). The front office staff also became increasingly rude to us - on one occasion, they didn't notify me when a perishable package arrived and argued with me about the importance of notifying me when a box marked "perishable" arrives in the office. There were no washers/dryers in the units when I lived there - just hook ups and the laundry room was kinda dirty and "ghetto." The workout room was sparse (an understatement) and always in use. So - that was a decade ago - since then, they got the Tiger Market built right in front (not and ideal living situation in my opinion) and installed what I call the "Vegas lights" - their lit-up sign - wasn't there when I lived there. Also - the traffic situation in front of the complex is not ideal if you need to commute south (which I did). You used to be able to make a left turn from the main exit/entrace - no more. Even if you go down to the 35 intersection and loop around, there is no southbound entrance to the toll road, so you'd actually have to go all the way across the intersection to Target, loop around and get on the toll road there - could easily add 10 minutes to your commute. Oh - and then there's the fact that Limestone is located right next to that creepy old cemetery...

The Enclave - we moved in when they were newly-constructed (early '01). In fact, we were the only people living in our hallway for several months. The amenities were pretty nice (except for the pool - I felt as though the pool was kind of claustraphobic feeling and heavily shaded by the surrounding building). The parking garage started out as a cool feature - being able to park somewhere where our car wouldn't get rained on, but it quickly turned into an extremely loud noise amplifyer - I heard every car stereo, screeching tire, door slam or loud conversation - and we lived at the end of the hall - the farthest away from the garage!! We were entranced by the "beauty" of the apartment, but quickly learned after we moved in that there was NO storage space AT ALL. The apartments were also about $100-150/month overpriced. The front office turned into major douchebags about what was "stored" on your porch. We kept getting "written up" for keeping storage boxes on our porch. We also got assessed at $30 fine for leaving our garbage back outside our front door for 30 minutes. And then there was the issue of our bicycles getting stolen from the bike rack, which we were required to use because they wouldn't let us store them on our porch. The front office was less than helpful in that situation. And the Enclave has the exact same traffic flow issues as Limestone (you can turn south out of the entrance, but only onto 1325 - good luck getting to 35). And then there was that whole meth lab situation...

I strongly recommend the Lodge at Warner Ranch - just past the HEB at Greenlawn (about .5 mile east of La Frontera with really easy/convenient access to Target, Wal Mart, Dell, HEB, Starbucks AND La Frontera. We just moved out of there about a year ago, after living there for 6 years. The apartments are HUGE, prices reasonable, nice pool, nice workout room, decent front office staff. There's a nice private park near the front entrance and it's set back a bit off the main road. The only major drawback to living at The Lodge is that there is only one dumpster for the entire complex, but you can request to live in Building 15 (the one closest to the dumpster and quietest because it's far from everything). I think you'll find that your dollar will stretch a lot farther at The Lodge. I only moved out because I bought a house.

Happy apartment hunting!

[coleslaw]

Thanks so much, austinitegirl! I was hoping you would respond, since you were the only person I found who had made any reference to these places.

My corporate housing is up at the end of the month so I need to find something in the next few weeks. I still have my house for sale in Ohio so I'd like to get something short term that doesn't cost a lot. The Limestone places have nice granite countertops. Were they there when you were there, or are they new? I looked at the B2, 2/2, and they're only $749. Maybe you get what you pay for? Plus, my son got a job at the Mr. Car Wash on the 35 access road across from WalMart. He doesn't have a car so I was hoping to find something where he could still walk to work, and these places fit the bill. The W/D connection is OK, since I have my own, and it's not too bad to get onto 35. I shoot straight down there to the Dell Parmer campus. I will check out Warner Ranch, though. There seem to be a lot of good deals on apartments these days, which is somewhat surprising given the housing market today. It doesn't seem to have affected Austin the way it has other parts of the country.

Does anyone else have experience at these places? I'm wondering if things have gotten better since austinitegirl's tenancy...

[BigJoe530]

Somebody else asked about apartments recently and I think I told them to check out Rentals in Austin, TX - Rent.com® or Austin Apartments If you call a locator they can usually give you the inside scoop. You have to find a good one though. I have used the same one over and over and he is very nice and knows the real deal.

[Austinitegirl]

Originally Posted by coleslaw

Thanks so much, austinitegirl! I was hoping you would respond, since you were the only person I found who had made any reference to these places.

My corporate housing is up at the end of the month so I need to find something in the next few weeks. I still have my house for sale in Ohio so I'd like to get something short term that doesn't cost a lot. The Limestone places have nice granite countertops. Were they there when you were there, or are they new? I looked at the B2, 2/2, and they're only $749. Maybe you get what you pay for? Plus, my son got a job at the Mr. Car Wash on the 35 access road across from WalMart. He doesn't have a car so I was hoping to find something where he could still walk to work, and these places fit the bill. The W/D connection is OK, since I have my own, and it's not too bad to get onto 35. I shoot straight down there to the Dell Parmer campus. I will check out Warner Ranch, though. There seem to be a lot of good deals on apartments these days, which is somewhat surprising given the housing market today. It doesn't seem to have affected Austin the way it has other parts of the country.

Does anyone else have experience at these places? I'm wondering if things have gotten better since austinitegirl's tenancy...

No, they didn't have granite countertops when we lived there. I wouldn't be surprised if they made quite a few "upgrades" since I was there. Interesting - the price they quoted you is actually less than we paid for a 1 br/1 bath when we lived there 10 years ago!! There are a lot of good deals on apartments these days. My husband and I are still living with just one car - I work at UT and he teaches at a school in Round Rock. It's challenging, but we make it work. Good luck!!