<p>My student wants to move to West 27th Place next year. I can understand why (not looking for comments or snark about the lifestyle - I wouldn't disagree). Child's valid point is, if I can live there for the same or less as in USC housing, it's in the patrol area and on a USC bus line, why would you say no?</p>
<p>I'm interested in specifics. What did monthly utilities run for your student in this LEED Platinum building? How was management to deal with (a quick look at Yelp shows a lot of horrible comments about the staff at places like Tuscany and Gateway)? Quiet time is supposed to start at 10 pm - does it? Are security deposits returned, or, like most landlords, do they drum up reasons to keep it, meaning $500 a year has to be added to the cost of living there?</p>
<p>My son is currently living at W. 27th Street- and really loves it. The apartment is kept at an absolutely freezing temperature- and the electricity bill is in the $20-30/month range. So the LEED Platinum rating is warranted- since it seems like the A/C is running 24/7. The building does get really rowdy on gameday- but he hasn’t had any complaints for noise,etc. His good friends lived at Gateway last year…and HATED it. He hasn’t had any complaints with the management- but it was just sold the last few weeks and is under new ownership- so I don’t know what, if any, difference that will make. If you are keeping a car there you will incur additional fees- but the parking is in a secure underground garage. My son also has a bike- and they have a bike room- so that is secure and convenient too!
I think that he is keeping the bagel shop going- they all know his name- but it is nice having the bagel shop and burger right there. I don’t know about getting your deposit back- since the new management group may affect that- but my son definitely thinks that W.27th Street is a great place to live!</p>
<p>My daughter currently lives in West 27th and loves it. Her share of the utility bill has been about $20 per month. We haven’t tried to get back a deposit yet so can’t really speak to that. Last year she lived in Gateway and I have to say we have been much happier with West 27th. Gateway didn’t feel as secure and any deliveries we had sent to my daughter would sit downstairs for days. We made a giant list of things that were wrong when she moved into Gateway and at the end of the year literally nothing had been fixed. They are much more responsive at West 27th. The only exception would be that the back elevator has been broken since the beginning of the year and West 27th really needs to fix it. I hate my daughter being in an empty stairwell late at night. I would be happy if she would live there again next year, but she wants to get a house with a bunch of sorority sisters…</p>
<p>Super helpful response b&bsmom, thank you so much. </p>
<p>Some of the apartments around campus lease by the academic year (I think Gateway does)? I could not find anything on the website about the lease period so I emailed the West 27th office and the reply was “the lease is from August to July.” I take it that means <em>through</em> July - so this is an annual lease? Is your son planning to stay all summer?</p>
<p>Southerncalimom, thank you especially with the comparison to Gateway and same question to you about the annual lease…I told my child the budget is the same as it would cost to live in Webb as a sophomore so if it’s higher than that, rethink.</p>
<p>The lease is a bit misleading- you actually pay for two weeks MORE than you can use- so it’s actually a bit more expensive. I think that you move in August 15th and move out July 31st- and they do cleaning, repairs, etc. during those two unoccupied weeks.From what I have been told it is easy to sublet the apartment for June and July - there are many programs at USC where people need short term leasing- or students with summer internships in L.A. My son is planning on going this route and sublet out the apartment(although he says that you usually don’t recoup all of your costs). And yes- the large freight elevator is broken- supposedly on gameday a group of kids filled the elevator and decided to jump in unison and damaged the elevators mechanics. The broken elevator has been his only complaint!</p>
<p>Son and 7 friends applied and paid deposits in November. They were told they had an apartment, and went to sign the lease. When they got there, they were told they didn’t have a place as a current occupant renewed, and then transferred the lease to their friend, taking their spot. This place is under new management, and the way this was handled by them is incredibly unprofessional. Now there are NO other options there, and they have not secured a place anywhere else as they were told they had a spot here. I would be very wary about any claims made by this organization and management if this is how they operate.</p>
<p>The apartment situation got straightened out eventually: and the new management apologized for the confusion. There may have been a mix up of which group was which as there are multiple names on the lease, or a confusion with the new managers about who held leases and who didn’t- or some of the parents (not us) called and worked with the managers- but they were eventually called back to finish signing the leases. I am hoping this was new management confusion and not a harbinger of how things will go from now on. Since then the communication with both the students and the parents seems to have improved markedly.</p>
<p>Very nice of you to take the time to update, so it’s expensive but seems ok so far aside from this little mix up? I assume moving in this fall or already in? If you can take time to update on how it is living there with this new management that would be appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>I’m glad you got this worked out maddenmd. My D is on her way back to school now; most of her roommates have already moved into the apartment. It looks pretty sweet…the kitchen is arguably nicer than the one here at home.</p>
<p>The move in went very smoothly-The rooms are smaller than his freshman dorm room: and with 2 to a room a bit tight. Rearranged furniture and added a bookshelf which was needed as there is no room for books on the small desks. Glad I have a son…I imagine the girls might have a tough time with one closet for two roommates- Management seemed very nice and helpful- at least verbally. They did need to put in work order: we’ll see how quickly it gets done- but so far so good.</p>
<p>My D’s bedroom is also smaller than what she had last year on campus. There is only room for one desk in the BR. Her roommate is taking the desk and my D got some extra closet space in exchange.</p>
<p>One thing to be aware of is that the bedrooms within the apartments are not all the same size. My D is in a 4-BR apartment/8 students and there are 2 large bedrooms and 2 that are quite a bit smaller, and even those are not the same size. One of the double bedrooms is pretty tiny. They’ve worked it out with the people who wanted the large rooms paying a bit more of the rent and those in the smaller rooms paying a bit less.</p>