Colonial Grand At Edgewater

I lived in colonial grande for 2 years
Pros: Nicely kept grounds, the apartment was very conveniently located for shopping/​entertainment. The up charge for renewing a lease another year was low, reason I stayed two years.
Cons: Horrible front office staff. Very unresponsive to issues I had with my unit as well as incredibly rude. Maintenance rarely fixed issues on the first try. I had many plumbing issues with my unit (leaking pipes, busted water heaters, etc). The celling above my shower caved in at one point due to a leak in my upstairs neighbors unit.
Conclusion: Upscale apartments with down scale staff and reliability.

The wife and I move a lot all over the country for my job, so we have seen a lot of apartments, townhomes, and other rentals. We spent a couple of weeks looking in Huntsville and Madison for a rental that allows our German Shepherd and a 6 month lease. Colonial Grand was one of the few apartments in the area that did. We’ve been in our apartment for about a month, and it’s easily one of the most beautiful properties I’ve seen. It’s like living on a golf course! We also rented a garage, which is large enough for my Tahoe and additional storage of my kayak, bikes, and other boxes. It’s a quiet, family-​oriented neighborhood, and the surrounding areas around the lakes are a great place to run and walk the dog. The staff works really hard to accommodate and they’ve always been professional and friendly with us.

I lived in Colonial Grand for 3 years.
Pros: Nice area of town. Close to everything, yet feels like you’re secluded by being close to the lake. However, Zierdt road is going to be under construction for the better part of a couple years as they widen/​make new additions.
Basic Cable TV (Comcast) is provided. This has been ‘included’ in the rent payment.
Generally quiet for being a large apartment complex. Your mileage may vary depending on your neighbors.
Because I’m a good resident and pay my bill on time, my rent increases have been very minimal. Usually only ~$ 15-​$ 50 per year. The low increase in rent is what made me not move after my second year. It was worth staying vs. the effort/​hassle of moving.
Grounds are generally kept up if you care about that sort of thing. I actually saw them what appeared to be painting the grass green out front. Yes… painting it. The lake and path around the lake are nice. However, in the summer the mosquitoes and lake stench can be a con to this.
Cons: Management/​staff is horribly inefficient. I always had to call and follow up on everything. I once called 3 times telling them I wanted to renew my lease only to get a call a week and a half later asking if I was interested in renewing my lease. It’s as if they didn’t speak to each other.
Resident concerns are not met. I had a bee *infestation* and I was blown off (as in pest control didn’t even bother to show up because they thought I was lying). When I showed them 45 dead carpenter bees that I killed myself, they finally realized I didn’t just have a few bees because it was springtime. The only reason this got taken care of was because I kept calling (and personally visiting) the office about it. They should have addressed my concern from day 1 instead of deciding whether or not my concern was valid.
My maintenance requests (although very minimal) have been hit and miss. Some are taken care of instantly (like that day) and some have been missed. Once I filed an urgent leak request and it went un-​fixed for 3 days until the leak finally busted and water went everywhere. I called emergency maintenance to fix it after hours. Two days later they finally came in to «fix» an already fixed issue. I’m not sure why the after hours person didn’t close the open ticket. Had I not been home, there would have been water damage everywhere. The reason I got for it not being tended to immediately was they were short staffed.
Pests: I pay a monthly «Pest Control» fee. Yet I have wasps in my apartment. Every day. Also see above re: bees. And because I live near the lake, I have about 8 million spiders. I know there isn’t much that can be done about that, but I’m not really sure what all pest control does (i.e. how much worse would it be without them?).
There are other incidents too numerous to list here. My main issue is with the staff. They’re nice, but they play politics and say they’re going to do something, but I find it’s generally just lip service to get you out of the office. I’ve had concerns of mine go un-​addressed for months. In only one instance was I actually happy with a concern of mine being met in a manner consistent to lease rules and in a timely manner. Once.
The complex is under new management (MAA). The changes I’ve seen are purely from an investment strategy which makes perfect sense from a business perspective, but usually does not bode well for the tenant. I have not had to deal with this new staff outside of picking up packages so I cannot say with any certainty if my previous staff issues have been addressed. I know they have kept some staff, while it appears some have been replaced.
It was a decent place to live while it lasted. If someone asked me if I would recommend living here, I would say to put it on your list and keep looking. It depends on the price. If you get a *great* deal, then… maybe. I can’t give 2.5 stars. So they’re only getting 2 because the staff issue was a big deal for me. Also, I do not like the direction the complex is going under new management. It does not favor the tenant in any way, shape, or form. Any place can paint their lawn green. It’s more important that resident concerns are addressed properly.