Do you live at Grand Reserve Condominiums on Sutton Park Dr? (appointed, rental)

[mrsrucker1]

We are moving from CA to FL because my husband is in the military and we are doing research on Condos/TownHomes ect and any info on this area would be greatly appreciate. Is it a nice area? Are there any problems at that complex? ETC....

[EricBoyd]

We manage a rental unit in there. The current tenant just renewed for another year. They have never complained about any noise or crime.

[jaded_seconds]

I lived there for a few years while I was finishing up a master's degree at UNF. Did not enjoy the complex one bit. I'm pressed for time so I'll edit in more comments later.

Edit...

I lived there for a few years before deciding to move to Riverside/Avondale. Both have their pros and cons. I will always take Riverside/Avondale over anything in that area in a heartbeat. My current situation, I'm preparing to move out of the city for a PhD program and I will sorely miss Riverside/Avondale. I wholeheartedly recommend looking into the area. You will not be disappointed, but I digress.

For the complex you are considering here is my take...

Pros:
- it is a very safe area. You will have no problems with any burglaries, vandalism or the such.
- Convenient to a Publix and other shopping at the intersection at Beach and Hodges
- Convenient to UNF and FSCJ
- Close to the beaches and all the fun over there
- It's a quiet suburban area. The only noise you'll get is possibly an owl or annoying noisy neighbors.
- My unit was modern and spacious with wooden floors. Wooden floors are quite uncommon in suburbia. This is quite rare, though I believe most of them have that terrible carpet you expect in suburban areas.
- Thanks to the modern amenities, electric was pretty cheap
- My AC failed a few times, but was always remedied quickly. Nice cold air always for the hot summers.
- Nice amenities - pool, gym, hot tub, volleyball court, tennis court basketball court, etc...
- I had an open straight shot floor plan, but other units are different and have a chunky or suburban feel. Depends on your cup of tea.


Cons:
- Parking is a mess... Everyone has assigned parking. It is one spot per bedroom of your unit. My parking spot was an assigned spot 3 buildings down. Any visitors had to park even further, either a couple more buildings down or at the front office. For a car centric suburban community this is unheard of.
- You can't choose your neighbors, but mine were noisy and nosey. I had to make noise complaints to the Sheriff's Office numerous times.
- The foundation of many buildings are falling apart. They are trying to remedy this, but this sure has brought down property values. When I was living there, there were many exposed buildings with workers trying to fix foundation issues. This was quite a noisy and cumbersome process.
- One unit in a particular building had a rotting wood problem. The insides of the building were exposed for everyone to see for about 2 or so months.
- Fireplaces don't work. Built improperly and are likely to cause fires.
- The walls are pretty thin. Probably due to the shoddy construction work. I could hear conversations, TV's, vacuum cleaners, music really easily!
- If you rent, you may rent into a unit that was once owned by a kind little old lady. I toured such a place in that complex. Watch out for the pink walls and antique brown fixtures. If that's your cup of tea. Kudos to you.
- Most of Jax outside of the immediate areas in the urban region is car-centric to a fault. I ride my road bike and jog on the weekends quite often. One afternoon I was jogging I had a little green man on the light across the street indicating that I can cross, I was clipped by a speeding car which resulted in a sprained ankle. I chose not to pursue any legal action, in retrospect I probably should've. My wife experienced a hit and run on her bicycle. She was clipped while riding down Sutton Park on a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon.

Other Comments:
- Car-Centric
- Mostly family and retiree centric
- Keep a lookout for the nice man who walks his cat =)

Overall I feel like the bad outweighed the good in my situation. I did my work and studies on that side of town at North Florida, but I did my play and social activities in Riverside. I said sayonara to Hodges and never looked back.

I'll edit in more comments as I think of them.