201 Twenty-One

The apartments and the location are not the problem, it is the turnover in staff and, the biggest issue, Melissa (Gillette) Hall. Melissa Hall is very vocal about being a «people person» that prides herself on building relationships; however, as a former resident and one who was friendly with a few of the staff members, I can attest to the fact that Melissa is lazy, rude, and completely incapable of showing decent customer service. One review below has referenced an office worker that does not get up to help anyone who walks into the office– well, I can assure you that is Melissa. It was also a running joke between the residents that Melissa does not show up to any of the resident functions; she has the other staff slave away for her while she makes up excuses as to why she can’t be there. I’m honestly shocked that no one in the company has noticed Melissa’s behavior and abuse of her position as a «manager» at 201 Twenty One. It saddens me to hear that so many residents move out because they find Melissa to be cold, rude, and ineffective at her job. What’s also sad is that no one feels like they can speak out about the way Melissa acts because people are «scared» of her and the lies that she’ll say in order to cover up the truth. In addition to residents moving out, all of the staff that work for Melissa are so miserable that they eventually leave, too. If only the staff that have worked for her were brave enough to report her. Until the manager is moved or fired, 201 Twenty One will continue to spiral downward. In the meantime, I’ll be hoping that justice is served to the person who sits in her office with the door closed all day and plays on her phone.

(From the point of view of a prospective tenant only… I did not live here.)
When you have a steady income, excellent credit, and a squeaky clean record, the last thing you expect is for the staff of a prospective apartment complex to make you feel like they don’t have time for you.
Based on online searches, this place appears to be in an awesome location with amazing apartments. In person, my expectations were not met. I arrived at the office in the early afternoon on a Tuesday (during posted office hours). The door was locked – access denied. I thought this was weird. Apparently, so did some contractors that were there to do some maintenance (they were locked out too). About an hour later, I figured I’d swing by again to see if I’d have better luck. Unfortunately, when I tried to call ahead, someone in the office hung up on me… 4 times. At this point I’m irritated, but at least I know someone is in the office. So when I arrived in the office, one staff member was helping someone and the other, I guess, wasn’t helping people so I waited. When it was my turn I was showed around in subservient Vanna White fashion, but I get the feeling that the staff-​member that showed me around was either exhausted or feeling that I was wasting her time. The models are just as pictured on their website. Nice enough. There was a lot of construction on roads and buildings nearby… not sure of the extent of the impact that might have on tenants.
Overall the whole experience left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I’ve dealt with crappy property management in the past, and I just got the feeling that if they are this way around prospective tenants, how much trouble am I going to have when I need something repaired in my apartment? Some people might have had a better experience, but I’m going to have to rate 2-​stars based on mine. Unfortunately, I know other applicants who had told me of a similar cold-​shoulder experience, so maybe its not a singular occurrence.
On the plus side: The garage is attached to the complex, and it appears to be extremely convenient for tenants. Common areas also seem very nice.
Though this place advertises to be a dog-​friendly complex, it appears that your dog is banished from all of the common areas, the main entrance, and front elevators. I wasn’t sure if I was okay with that.

Maintenance crew is decent (when you can finally schedule an appointment with them) but everything about the rest of the staff at 201 is horrible.
They definitely do not work with your work schedule (for packages, for signing admin, for moving in/​out, etc) and although they do keep a professional presence they are some of the rudest people that I’ve met since I’ve moved here (specifically Melissa and Bri). They want your money and are not in the business of looking out for you, especially when you’re ready to move out of the overpriced place.
All of their events are a waste of time and extra rent fees. The facility is nice, but its not worth the trouble considering the service that you should expect to get with the price.

The team at 201 does a great job and there is no better apartment complex in the city. Being able to park on your floor is probably the best part. The pool is area is amazing and the common area is perfect for small parties and is always clean.

I leave in a one bedroom apartment on the first floor and not on 21^st. I got really lucky and live in 119 which is the only apartment with it’s own unique design. My bedroom is like a cave and with a small fan running i hear nothing and it’s pitch black all the time. I pay 1390 a month and have a 17 month lease. I like it but will not be staying after the lease is up.
The courtyard and common areas are awesome and many people do have parties with family, I am including myself, so it your are a unsocial person you will hate that. the movie room and the workout area are very nice also.
I hang at ⁸⁰⁄₂₀ and have been there when the police came because someone was playing an acoustic guitar, the cops laughed it off and he was told he did not have to stop.
If you rent a place I would say hang in the place you are going to rent for a minute to hear what you can expect.
It seems that people on Unilocal somehow become super critics of everything or what I think is that they just show how miserable they are in life through this medium. So take every ones response with a bit of skepticism.

I lived in this complex for just under a year. It was way to long. The best thing about 201 twentyone is the day you move out. The staff does such a wonderful snow job selling you on just how great the place is and how much they do for the residents. Don’t fall for it. Ask a current resident just how many «socials» they have and ask a few more how happy they are with their decision to move in. Oh, just try to find a resident with children… not likely… the management and MANY residents who walk around with their noses 10 feet in the air, thinking they are high and mighty and kids should not be here. Yes, I am accusing this facility of violating fair housing for singling out people with children and making them feel so welcome with your nasty emails, phone calls, and dirty looks. Lastly, dont’ even sneeze on your carpets. If you do, you will be replacing the entire carpet in your entire apartment. Upon move out, you will get a supposed walk through with the maint. manager. Even though you spend 5 hours cleaning the place spotless and even go through the trouble of repairing every nail hole that the previous tenant left on top of your own, expect to have your ENTIRE security deposit retained and receive a bill for new carpet. They also expect you to pay in certified funds within 10 days of THEIR sending the letter out – no proof of delivery – no proof of anything — –and next thing you know your in collections. So, if you like being lied to, cheated out of your money, being harassed, and living in a dungeon where hardly a neighbor will speak to you, let alone look at you, and you love SNOBS and non-​working amenities (see previous poster of the green fountain. Yes that was true — the o.p. was not confusing it with another property — I saw it myself and actually have pictures — then 201twentyone might be the perfect trap for you. Too bad because this could be a decent place if it had the right management and was made into a luxury apartment lifestyle. I was looking at renting a «luxury» apartment in Orange County, California and not only was the rent SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive, this place defined what a luxury apt is. 201Twentyone should be sued for false and misleading advertising as their are many more places in va beach and norfolk that are truly luxury apartments and you dont have to deal with the crap that the management team and her staff delve out on a daily basis. I lost out living here and wanted to be certain to speak my mind. Run as fast as you can.

IT IS NOT ALL THAT IT SEEMS TO BE!!! While it is a nice establishment in the area of Norfolk that it is in, BEWARE!!! My husband and I resided here for about 2 years and learned some really unpleasant lessons. First of all, DO NOT CHOOSE AN APT FACING THE COURTYARD! While the courtyard/​pool/​grilling area «closes» at 10pm, there have been NUMEROUS occassions where residents violated this and management NEVER ENFORCED IT despite the suggestion to charge people for being in this area after hours. Also parking is can be inconvenient (for those with a 2+ car household). One spot is given on the floor you iive on while the other is on the 5^th floor (top floor) of the garage. VERY INCONVENIENT for us because we lived on the 2^nd floor. This came about because nonresidents basically «ruined» it for everyone else and assigned parking had to be established. Again, if managment enforced any of their rules (towing cars in incorrect spaces, etc) residents wouldn’t have to suffer. The best thing about living here was being close to OneLife (the gym downstairs at the apt complex SUCKS) and Soya Sushi just downstairs and Kin’s Wok (chinese food) and Changes salon across the street. While it has improved SLIGHTLY since first moving in, it could be a LOT better by enforcing their rules and charging residents for misdomenors (i.e. borrowing the dolly — which always seemed to never be returned, reserving an extra garage entry for a guest– again these seemed to never be returned) and several emails were always passed on. Receiving reminders for rent seem to be a waste, again charging a fee for noncompliance would alleviate this problem too. Since this apt complex does allow for pets, barking dogs were common as well as pet feces and urine in stairs. The maintenance staff did a fairly good job of keeping the hallways clean. The trash chutes were always CRAMMED on the weekends and discourteous residents would leave trash inside the trash rooms even when the chute was not crammed! Its not perfect but tolerable. A friend of mine lived in the front of the building and said the train whistle was unbearably loud. Unfortunately, the TRAIN CAN BE HEARD from any part of the building (the tracks are just a block or two away). While the amenities are nice (pool, pool tables, mini theatre) we enjoyed none of them. The complex also tries to have socials or resident get-​togethers on occassion, but again, we never bohered to waste our time.

This is definitely as good as it gets here in Ghent. They just recently opened up less than a year ago and they have retail spaces that are going to be filled under the apartment complex (hoping for a supermarket!). They are the tallest building around, so you have to get the top floor because, if positioned correctly, your room could have a fantastic view of the city.
They have a putting green, a swimming pool, pool table and not to forget the theater that you can book for you and your friends. The thing with this place (compared to the Alexander at Ghent) is that they are much more classy… for now anyways. I can’t say what might happen after a few years. The people there also seem to be classier as well. No more frat house type apartments!
If you recommend other people to the place, they give you a discount on your rent! They are a little more expensive, but I think that it’s worth it. Their website has many different types of apartments. As of 5÷13÷10, they have leased out about 75% of the apartments already.
If you aren’t familiar with the area, this apartment complex sits on 21^st street which is where most of the restaurants in town are located. You can walk to pretty much everywhere.
They let you have pets, but there’s an extra fee of $ 500 and an extra $ 50 tagged onto rent per month (for up to 2 dogs). Size of the dog/​cat does not matter. There are restrictions on the breed of dog.