<p>D just mentioned she and her apartment mates are getting hammered by unexpectedly high utility bills at GrandMarc. The bills are almost three times the amount estimated by GrandMarc at the time of leasing. Just curious whether anyone else is having or knows of someone who is having a similar experience at GrandMarc.</p>
<p>Is she a 4 bdrm or 2 bdrm? And how much is "hammered"?</p>
<p>john ross - do you have any other feedback on grandmarc. per my post below, my s is looking for 2nd year housing options. how is grandmarc besides utility bills - does your d like it?</p>
<p>GrandMarc is extremely expensive, they are nice places and all, but close to 200 more than the average off grounds housing. I really hate the fact that all the new apartments being built are high end and not cost efficient for most students.</p>
<p>also, how much are these utilities?</p>
<p>Not really. Most places on the Corner are $550-650. My 4-bdrm is in the middle of that range. You can only really get cheap if you live farther down past the Corner, or down JPA, or a crappy house.</p>
<p>yea I guess, it's more in the neighborhood of 100-150 which is about 20% more. The corner is the most expensive place around UVA and in my opinion not worth the added cost.</p>
<p>My D does enjoy the convenience of living there and having indoor covered parking. Her monthly rent is $770 including parking. The utilities are on top of that. They have been running around $300 a month for the unit although when she leased, she was told they would run around $100 per month.</p>
<p>are we talking just electricity utilities? If so that is indeed extremely high. Depending on temperature settings and just overall usage, an apartment should still not be anywhere close to 300.</p>
<p>That is just electricity.</p>
<p>Could they be taking the total bill for the complex and dividing it up so each unit pays an equal amount? A modern building shouldn't have to do that, but I imagine it's possible.</p>
<p>Dean J- your inquiry is, as usual, right on the money. These so called "common area charges" are to be built into the rent rather than passed along to each lessee. An example of a typical common area charge would be snow removal, security, and maintenance. Another possibility is that GrandMarc may be tacking on some sort of profit per kilowatt hour on top of what the local utility charges. That too should not be done. Finally, in an effort to give GrandMarc the benefit of the doubt, a call to the utility will be made to make sure that there is no malfunction of the meter.</p>
<p>Wow. I assume they're in a 4-bdrm. Ours was $60 a person for the first billing cycle (we weren't even there all that much!), I don't know the most recent, though. That seems ridiculously high though...$85 a person is insane. Try to ask her why she might think the bill should be so high, though. It may come out that they run the A/C all the time, leave lights on, etc. I know I tried desperately to open our windows as much as possible, and I'm very conscious about leaving lights on and such. I'm hoping my roommates will catch on. I'll let you know when we get our next bill.
PS- is she planning to live there next year? If so, she needs to compare her "returning resident" lease amount and what it would cost to sign a whole new lease with them. I know my roommate is getting hosed, so she's just not going to sign and we're going to hold her room for her, then let her come back later and sign newly.</p>
<p>That is rather absurd. If anyone is searching, you can certainly find a place cheaper than GrandMarc. You can find a place that's just as new/nice and save $100-200.</p>
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They have been running around $300 a month for the unit although when she leased, she was told they would run around $100 per month.
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<p>Armed with JohnRoss's information I stopped in the Grand Marc while apartment hunting. I told them that "a friend" was getting hammered on the electric but they denied it and are sticking to the $100.00 per month on electric. I ran in to a current resident and he estimated 50-65 per mo depending on time of year. I also asked about whether or not the common area electricity were spread amongst the residents but the rental agent said no.</p>
<p>Nice place, and I'd like to live there but all of these hidden costs will make it tough to do.</p>
<p>It seems like the only way to make this even remotely affordable is to get the 4 bedroom. </p>
<p>Shoe, can you please tell me how your roomate is getting hosed? I need to have all the facts before I can decide.</p>
<p>shoe-it's definitely odd that someone would be charged more than the cost of a new-signee, those must be some strange circumstances. </p>
<p>50-60 per month is 2/3 our bill as an entire apartment for electricity so that's one heck of a bill.</p>
<p>john ross, is your daughter in a 2 bedroom or a 4 bedroom? I'm looking at the Grand Marc right now and they told us that it would be about $500 a month for a 2 bedroom.</p>
<p>db, based on the sheet I have for the Grand Marc the prices are:
"$485-490 per bed shared bedroom" or
a range of $725-$830 depending on the square feet of the apartment for a private bedroom.</p>
<p>So it sounds like they are giving you the price for the "B2 double", which is a two bedroom for four ppl. </p>
<p>I hope this makes sense I'm just typing what the sheet reads.</p>
<p>D is in a 4 bedroom. Cost is $770 inclusive of parking plus utilities.</p>
<p>You have me worried that there are more hidden fees. Assuming a $85 parking fee your d is paying $685 for rent.
That is higher than what they quoted me for a four bedroom.</p>
<p>Perhaps their prices have come down a bit but I assure you the rent plus parking is $770 and the utilities are on top of that. That is for a rental of a four bedroom unit with a lease beginning this past August and ending in July. If you like, you can email D and ask her more specific questions. Just send me a pm and I will send you her email address.</p>