Trinity Commons

Moved in: 8÷4÷2011 Moved out: 1÷13÷16
I have lived here a little more than 4 yrs. I moved in when it was still under construction. From ⁸⁄₂₀₁₁ — to ⁶⁄₂₀₁₂ I lived in a one bedroom + den facing downing st. My apartment was closer to the backside of dunkin donuts and I was on the 2^nd floor.
I think in order to optimize your experience at Trinity, finding the right apartment location within the building is key. I had several friends also reside in this building and noise was definitely different if you lived in other areas of the building. Me and another friend lived on the Downing Street side and we both were woken up early every morning by Dunkin Donut or restaurant trucks backing up with their beeping, loud revving engine noises going up the hill, and occasionally a very inebriated loud fight in that parking structure across the way. I highly DO NOT recommend choosing a unit on that side. Some friends had the studios facing north who said those are quiet.
The problem with my unit is that my upstairs neighbor would wear heels inside her house and i could pinpoint her exact location within her apartment at all times. Not to mention she decided to exercise across the apartment every night at 3 a.m. I kid you not. After several complaints and trying to work with the property management, they offered to let me switch units without any penalties.
I changed to a corner 1 bedroom smaller unit on the top floor facing a quiet courtyard. There I lived for 3 years and have not had any problems. Granted, you still get the occasional kid running through the hallway or a group of people talking loudly in the hallway, but all were temporary. If your neighbor has a yappy dog, you’ll definitely hear it. But for the most part, the noise problems pretty much resolved after finding the right unit.
The smaller 1 bedroom corner unit was just under 800 sq feet. For one person it was perfect. The walk in closet is spacious and the bedroom is very large and capable of storing lots of stuff.
So just to recap 4 yrs of living here:
pros — modern everything, clean, quiet in the right places, SECURE, parking on your own level and covered, package receiving service with front desk, repairs were done quickly and efficiently (mostly light bulbs — those things went out like every other month!), VERY close to Duke Hospital (I walked to work every day for 2 yrs and pumped gas once every 1.5 months), walk to several quick eateries, very nice gym, sauna, jacuzzi, steam room, outdoor pool, etc.
Cons — fire alarms (especially while under construction) was INSANE. i think we had a fire alarm every other 2 weeks! They did get better as I kept living there. I learned to ignore them entirely. I would recommend keeping a sheet of cardboard in your kitchen. every time I opened the oven and closed it, I had to fan the smoke detector so it wouldn’t go off. It is very sensitive. Noise can be a problem if you don’t live next to the right neighbor but that is the same everywhere.
Neighbors — most people I believe are Graduate students. There are a handful of 4^th yr Duke students that can be rowdy. I have never really seen young kids around. Very pet friendly but there are some size limitations I believe. There is a small dog patch of grass out the back.
Management — they have changed throughout my time being there. In fact, I think I’ve lived there longer than any of the current employees have been there. I preferred the original team of employees there — they were very nice (Gail) and responsive to my concerns. The staff there now are just OK. Some are overall friendly and helpful. A few of the higher ups are a bit stand off ish. They email back promptly and are efficient.
I had to move out of state prior to my lease ending. They do not allow for contracts to be cancelled for a fee. You are responsible for the remainder of your lease BUT you can put it on the market (they will do this for you) and have it re-​rented out on a new contract or you can find someone yourself to take over the remainder of your contract with no penalties. I thought this was very helpful. My contract was ending in April and I moved on January. They found someone to move in at the end of January and it worked out great! I will not be responsible for the remainder of my contract.
Overall, Trinity Commons is in the right location (especially if you’re in the medical field). Parking at Duke Hospital can be a pain and walking to work saved me a lot of parking money and gas money! Minus one star because it is pricey, but when I shopped around at the other newer developments, you’ll find they are more expensive and the units are not as large or well planned. I would recommend this place, just make sure you get a quiet unit!

TL;DR Version: Best Apartment in Durham, Live Here!
I’ve lived at Trinity Commons for a little over two years now, and I have kept tabs on the new developments in the area. Thus, I feel that I am qualified to leave a review about the experience. My review applies to the time period of late 2013 to mid 2015 and may reference new personnel compared to older reviews.
Building Quality: During my two years at TC, I have never heard my neighbors through the walls or the ceiling. I have lived in two different units during those two years, so while my sample size is admittedly small, I do believe that the construction of the building was done quite well. I do like the real wood (or real bamboo depending on the unit) flooring and the higher quality carpeting used in the rooms. The high ceilings in combination with the floor to ceiling windows give the units a light and airy feel, and I would recommend getting a unit with these great windows if possible. The apartment keys are nifty programmable plastic keys that do not scratch your possessions and are easy to use compared to some of the finicky conventional locks used in most apartments. The appliances look nice and work as intended, nothing really special here. The parking structure is well lit and clean; while not fully enclosed, the parking structure does provide ample shelter from the elements if you park toward the inside of the structure.
Safety: I have never had a problem with safety at TC. All the outer doors require a key to open, the stairwell doorways do not open from the outside, and the parking structure has a full gate on both sides. I believe the passive security is as good as it gets without invading the tenant’s privacy. At night, there is a security patrolman stationed in the main lobby who can be seen doing rounds of the building. As an added security measure, there is a Dunkin Doughnuts right across the street and it is common to see police officers enjoying doughnuts and coffee.
Management: The management is one of my favorite things about this apartment. Everyone is friendly and willing to go out of their way to help you, and service requests have never taken more than a day to complete. I am admittedly a bit difficult to please when it comes to customer service, but I have nothing but positive things to say about the people who work at TC; I would like to give a special shout out to the property manager Michael who has helped me with my numerous requests and inquiries. Michael, you are a textbook example of good customer service.
Amenities: The community has pretty much everything you would need in terms of amenities. I won’t bore everyone with the details, but all the other common areas were always clean and well maintained, and when something in the gym broke, it was always repaired quickly.
Walkability: I would like to preface this assessment with the fact that I hate walking anywhere. There are quite a few restaurants within walking distance of TC; I would hesitate to call any of them top-​notch, but I doubt anyone came to Durham for the food. Some of the restaurants a quite good and will serve you well in a pinch. There is a Suntrust bank within walking distance. Most of Duke’s west campus is walkable from TC. Duke medical center is also walkable from TC. There is a Kroger that is in an arguable walking distance; I would never attempt it myself. There are two gas station convenience stores nearby for your emergency needs.
Common Complaints: I personally did not have any complaints about TC, so I would like to give my opinion about some complaints I saw in other reviews.
— Noisy Undergrads: During my two years at TC, I did see a good number of younger faces, but they were all polite and I have never seen or heard them stumble around drunk and/​or high.
— Fire Alarms: During my two years at TC, I remember six fire alarms. Of these six alarms, two were false alarms; judging by some of these old reviews, the management seems to be working to reduce the number of false alarms.
Conclusion: I would wholeheartedly recommend living at Trinity Commons.

Make sure you receive a parking permit when you move in not just your garage door opener. I learned the hard way when my car got towed. Your car will end up getting towed without any warning. So make sure it is in your welcome bag!

The place is good besides its false fire alarms, which usually happen once a month. It’s EXTREMELY LOUD and ANNOYING and could ring at ANYTIME. For example, once at 3 am (late 2013) and several times at dinner time. The alarms might be unpleasant especially for seniors, kids and pets. The system might just be too sensitive, none of previous dozen alarms were causing any real trouble. Trinity Commons always claim they have done their best to prevent false alarms. Still, this situation occurs intermittently.
Update: 2÷21÷15 — alarm for 40 mins

Great staff, especially Brandon, who were responsive and attentive to our needs as residents. The building is beautiful and clean, and the units are updated and sun-​filled. Would have loved more free time to take advantage of the sauna, steam room, pools, and fitness center. As runners, we appreciated being 1 mile from the Duke cross country trail. Highly recommend Trinity Commons.

If you like easy-​living, such as simply walking to stores and restaurants, then you’ll love Trinity Commons… Also has a fantastic pool!

This is a great place to live especially if you are studying or working at Duke University Hospital. The building is new and very well maintained with responsive management. Rents are more expensive than average for Durham but you get what you pay for and building is very secure. They have a really great gym which is the biggest and best equipped I have ever seen in an apartment building. Plenty of parking in a gated parking deck. This place is worth checking out.