Flats170 at Academy Yard

I lived at Flats170 from January 2014 through this past March and I couldn’t be any happier with my time there. Both Staffs working there during my two years were professional, always friendly and polite, and very helpful, especially the maintenance staff. Honestly, the Staff is what really pushed this place over the top, and made it such a nice community to live in.
The property and the apartments themselves were also very nice, especially the main building, which has almost a hotel feel to them. I didn’t use the amenities as much as others, but those were also always clean and accessible. There were minor issues with the apartment during the two years, consistent with a brand new building nowadays, but the maintenance staff was always swift to remedy the issues.
The property is extemely pet friendly, staff and residents included. Management is always organizing community events. As most people have already pointed out, parking can be an issue at times, but I wouldn’t let that deter you from this place. As I said above, the Flats170 is very much a community and I honestly would still be living there if I did not have to relocate for work. I would definitely recommend this community to anyone.

3.75/4.0***
The floors and walls are paper thin. I live on the floor below and I can hear the upstairs residents. Also, the other neighbors on my floor, down the hall can hear the freaking loud neighbors upstairs as well. We have talked to management about this once already and the loud neighbors were quieter the next week. But two weeks later, they got disturbingly loud again. I kindly reminded the noisy neighbors that people were sleeping and when they opened the door — my sister and I looked into a room of 8 – 10 teenagers. Side note: I am seriously questioning management and who they allow to move in to the community. We talked and they reassured us they would keep the noise down, but they did not. The material that is used to build Flats 170 isn’t quality material and that reflects in the sounds that you can hear. As I am typing this, I can seriously hear another neighbor pounding on the door upstairs to shut up those irrigating and disrespectful neighbors. THAT IS FOUR COMPLAINTS IN ONE HOUR! I had to go up there a second because they were so loud they woke up another person in my apartment. Seems so stupid and silly to remind people there are such things are quiet hours and noise ordinances.
**Update: I just spoke to the father of the teen’s friends who was causing all the noise. He came by and apologize for what happened and said he was away that night. Gave me his number and told me to contact him in case the noise level ever gets out of hand.
Yeah in terms of neighbors, I seriously question the selection of residents. The neighbors across from me do weed all the time — I’ll walk back from the gym at night and smell weed when I enter the hall.
Management sets rules in place but they can’t seem to enforce. For example, there is valet trash service (trash is picked up Sunday –Thursday and you take it out from 6−8pm and no later). Some neighbors will leave their trash out from Friday through Sunday afternoon and it creates a horrible stench. Partly confused about the residents because there is a dumpster 500 feet outside of the apartment complex. There are also a no smoking on the property policy but when I come back from the gym at night, I always see a smoker.
Management is so great although I wish they could be better about enforcing regulations. They’re super friendly — always getting you when you come get a package or when you walk into the leading center.
Maintenance requests couldn’t be any easier! There’s an app that you can use to send maintenance requests — simple and user friendly. Whenever I send in requests, maintenance is super speedy and fixes it the next day. They even replaced the door to my dishwasher when it wasn’t dispensing the dish detergent. Also, they leave service cards that say the job was competed and who it was completed by. Nice and friendly touch!
The amenities here are AMAZING — there’s two gym/​workout areas. The main one is in the leasing center and has a decent amount of equipment. Limited free weights, assisted smith rack, cardio machines, pylo boxes, etc. There’s also a small studio room with mirrors, a bar and a tv if you wanted to watch a dvd and follow along in a workout. There is another gym that is targeted more for boxing.
There are two entertainment rooms. The bigger of the two connects to the theatre room which has leather seats. In the main entertainment room there’s a pool table. In the smaller entertainment room, there’s table shuffle board. They both have tv’s and fios cable!
There’s a business center with four computers, tea and for purchase coffee. Printing is free and when they run out of paper or ink, just ask management to refill it. There’s a small conference room connected to the business center as well.
When it’s nicer outside, there is a pool. There are two gas grills and a table, outside for your use. There’s this area that is across from the pool with outdoors furniture and a fireplace that makes a good reading spot Saturday Mornings.
The last down side about living here is parking. Like many of the other reviews, management hasn’t given residents permit stickers for their cars. Parking usually packs up at 8pm.
The Apartment complex is rather new and it’s absolutely beautiful! Marble counter tops, stainless steel appliances with beautiful red wood cabinets and modern ceiling lights. Also, the bathtubs are much bigger than your average size tubs! Electricity and utilities are also much cheaper here because they use power saving sources! So that’s a nice touch for saving a couple of dollars a month!
Overall, I would say that living here is a hit or miss. Do proceed at your own risk! I’m sure it’s fine for some but depends on your lifestyl

I lived at Flats170 for about 13 months. I was deciding between Flats and Arbors at Arundel Preserve. I decided that the Arbors looked a bit older and had too much traffic in the area so I settled for Flats170.
The leasing office area is wonderful, and so is the mini gym. The staff that was there when I first moved in was perfect, and greeted me by name whenever I saw them. The staff that replaced them and is still there is friendly too, but not as top notch as the first group. I’m a bit curious as to why the previous staff had all left. Maybe Bozzuto rotated them out. Regardless, I’ve never had a problem with either staff and they are both super helpful.
The complex has no assigned parking, and it has started to become more and more full. If you get home late, you’ll have to search for parking. Some people give up and illegally park. I opted for a garage for $ 200 a month, which also includes a parking space in front of it.
The room I rented was fantastic. It had a great view, and I paid $ 1,600 a month for an 1,100 square feet 1 bedroom. I think prices have shot up since my lease, but if you can get that floor plan for that price, then go for it! Utilities are cheap since everything is energy efficient.
The complex hires people to take the trash out Sunday-​Thursday. This is a good thing and a bad thing. It’s very convenient, and it has spoiled me. Bad side is that many people save up their trash on Friday and Saturday and EVERYONE puts their trash in the hallway on Sunday evening to be picked up resulting in a terrible stench.
The residents are ok. Everyone is friendly, but there’s been a few issues. People don’t pick up after their dogs. The stairwells have an odor of urine from time to time and the elevator has vomit in it once in a while. Non electric cars park in the charging spot. This was a problem when a friend stayed the night and could not charge his Tesla. There’s been a lot of kids being loud and obnoxious outside lately too. I have heard them yelling and fighting in the parking lot, and it’s quite annoying. I’ve gone down to break up fights multiple times. It’s not a HUGE issue, and you don’t have to worry for your safety. It is just annoying, especially when you hear about a kid telling a police officer that he started the fight because the other guy was «talking crap on Twitter».
Overall, not a bad place to live. Awesome staff and apartment building. Crappy parking, and annoying teens being teens.
Oh and there is a liquor store across the street.

I’ve lived here for about 7 months now, and have had plenty of time to experience the good and bad that Flats170 has to offer. I’ll start with the good:
— The apartment is amazing. Everything is brand new, great layout, low electricity bill, all for a reasonable monthly rate. I literally don’t have a single complaint about the apartment itself.
— The staff is the best. They have been helpful from the moment I stepped onto the property. Always friendly, and they try to remember you by name. They constantly host events, I haven’t been to any yet, but plan to in the future. I haven’t had any experience with maintenance staff, since nothing in my apartment has broken, but the grounds seem to be maintained well.
Now with the bad:
— The parking situation is terrible. If I do not renew my lease, this will be the reason. I have come home many times and been unable to find parking in the entire complex, other than the handicapped spots. I have a huge problem with paying for a luxury apartment, only to have to park at the shady bar across the street, and walk my young child across a busy road. I’m not sure if the problem is caused by non-​residents parking there, or underestimating the number of cars per apartment. I would be completely open to a parking pass requirement, if it fixes the problem. I think having dedicated motorcycle spots may help as well, since currently they each take up an entire spot.
— As other reviewers have pointed out, the other residents have gotten worse over time. Between late night gatherings in the parking lots, vomit in the stairwell of my building (left for days), and people constantly smoking on their porches, it’s getting old real quick. I don’t expect Flats170 to police the community at all hours, but I don’t understand the complete change in resident mentality since I moved in.
I’ll be more than happy to edit my review if Bozzuto attempts to address the parking situation.

I moved in October 2014. I recommended this apartment to a friend and he is moving in this month. The pool closed when I moved in but I am looking forward to it this summer. Super staff here. Parking is the only issue I have seen. You may have to park on 170 if the parking lot is full.

I have been living at Flats 170 since April 2014 and I must say that this is the best apartment community I’ve lived at. The staff is very professional and friendly. The maintenance staff is great as well and they are very timely and efficient at taking care of your maintenance needs. The community itself is great and quiet for the most part. The rent price is the average for the Odenton/​Crofton area and you get great amenities compared to other apartment communities in the surrounding area.

As someone coming from a poorly managed Post Properties luxury apartment building where I experienced several issues ranging from the minor to the serious end of the spectrum, I really thought I’d be in for a much better treat and would be able to relax my shoulders a bit when I made the conscious decision to rent from Flats 170 vs. a nearby apartment community that wasn’t as nice, but would have yielded a notable cost savings. While the interior of the apartments are extremely nice (they are brand new, with beautiful tiles, stainless steel appliances, and huge kitchen counter tops), holistically speaking, I’m dissatisfied with the decision I made and don’t plan to renew my lease. First, for the monthly rent rate, speaking for myself, I received less bang for my buck as far as square footage is concerned. Tall ceilings are nice, but they don’t really help me when I’m trying to situate furniture. I’m in a two bedroom, and the guest bedroom is pretty stifling. I definitely lost closet and living room space. Second and more important (to me at least), it seems like the leasing office is granting space to rowdy, ignorant, inconsiderate residents who don’t want to put a leash on their dog when walking around the property, pick up their dog poop, or pick up after their children when they litter the nice grounds. When I moved in, it was during winter and occupancy was low, so I had a feeling and was bracing myself for less-​than-​professional people to start moving in, and it’s happened, at least from my purview. People have spilled food and liquids all over the stairs in my garden building. I know it’s outdoors, but it was a beautiful property and to just trash it like that makes no sense. So you spill syrup or whatever sticky substance that won’t go away, OK, come back out and pour water over it or report it to the leasing office and tell them that you had an accident so that housekeeping can come clean it. But, alas that would be too difficult. Also, residents aren’t following the valet trash ‘rules’ which I knew would be an issue. How hard is it to put a can out without overflowing trash? HARD. Even though pickup is daily from Sunday through Thursday, my neighbors can’t seem to make it happen and like to stink up the floor. Naïve me, being the thoughtful resident that I am, actually broke down all of my boxes when I moved in and neatly piled them next to my door making sure I don’t exceed the height requirements for pickup, meanwhile everyone else chucks all their garbage and non-​deconstructed boxes into the central garbage «center.» Third, the doors to my building — sometimes they work — sometimes they don’t. Anyone from the street has a 65% chance of waltzing in. I alerted the leasing office about this, as well as Bozzuto’s area manager, both to no avail. Apparently, when people slam the doors, it causes a latch to go defunct. They offered to send out a mass e-​mail asking people to not let the door slam behind them. How about, instead of banking on goodwill from the ignorant, loud mouth people that you give leases to, CHANGE THE DOORS considering the sky-​high rent and assigned parking rates here. They should be able to afford it. For goodness sakes, one door to my building even has some of the wiring bent from someone probably trying to break in during a rare occurrence when the door was working and was locked. Fourth, my roommate and I pay $ 150.00/month for a spot in a detached parking garage and 3 times we have been blocked by a moving vehicle by someone who is moving in or out and doesn’t have the ability to think and be considerate of the fact that someone just might actually have a car in the garage, and just might actually need to get in and out of the garage to use their car to go to work or come home. No, that is just preposterous to even consider. And it would be just insane to think that maybe the leasing office could very clearly instruct incoming and outgoing residents to be mindful of where they place their U-​HAUL or Penske’s. The building has claimed that a pet spa, self-​service bike repair shop, and kickboxing studio will open soon; they’ve been saying that since I moved in 7 months ago and it’s not ready yet. They conveniently made the recent decision to move the rowing machine in the gym to the not-​yet-​opened kickboxing studio. Convenient. When I moved in, because they didn’t salt the property my boyfriend actually fell on our way to work one morning, even though the forecast blatantly said 24 hours earlier that icy conditions were on the way. We let the leasing office know and got some typical corporate gimmicky response. You can’t even pay rent online without incurring a fee. This property has a ton of separate buildings, some enclosed, some garden, so everyone is bound to have a varied experience. My nightmare is someone else’s pleasure. This is just my experience and maybe I’m the only one who’s even feeling like this. Next year I’ll pay less, for bad service elsewhere.

First and foremost, the staff is top notch. I have never lived in an apartment with such a responsive staff. I’m actually pretty blown away by their helpfulness; maintenance crew included.
I love living here. It’s super quiet in my building. Please don’t move here if you like to get loud and party uncontrollably because the neighbors consist of young professionals and families and everyone is mellow, friendly, and respectful. I’m on the fourth floor and don’t mind the steps one bit. There is daily trash service and they supply you with a trash and recycle bin you can put outside your door at 8pm for daily pick up. I thought this was an awesome perk.
The tile, cabinets, and appliances in my apartment are super sexy. The bathroom is pretty big and with a good amount of cabinet space.
The lobby, club house and cyber café are all great. Club house and movie theater open until 10pm and the cyber café until midnight. Tons of sitting areas to relax with a group of friends/​family or neighbors.
The gym is ²⁴⁄₇ and while well equip if you like the yoga room, treadmills, and cardio equipment, it is a little small for lifting. If there was one more bench it would be a lot better because there is only one bench for dumbbells and one bench for the smith machine. Pretty much if there are three people lifting at the same time it can be a juggling act. I think this will get annoying once there are more people living here. However, the gym is never full and since I go late there are times no one is ever in there. It also appears to be pretty empty during daytime hours, even on weekends. 6−8pm are peak times just like any other gym. Please Keisha, if you are reading this, rally for one more bench in the gym.
The pool is amazing and I can’t wait until it opens in May. The courtyard has a ton of seating with an outdoor fireplace. The fireplace is easy to use — if you can use an analog kitchen timer you can turn the knob and fire this bad boy up. It’s such a nice spot to sit at night. It’s pretty peaceful here.

At the time of this review, we’ve lived here a little over a month. I can sum up our experience in one word: spectacular.
The staff is amazing — genuine and caring. Community is well-​designed, plenty of parking. Ammenities are top shelf. Smart people designed the units.
If you’re thinking of moving in, let me give you some advice:
1. If you’re gonna move into a unit on the 3^rd or 4^th floor, get in one of the buildings with an elevator. Some buildings have one, others don’t. Get on the 4^th floor if you can. Better views, less noise. We have 11 foot ceilings and they are slammin’.
2. There is a dizzying array of floorplans. Be picky. Some balconies are generous and wide, others are dinky. Some are covered (blocks the sun) others are wide open to the elements. The main building is by far the best. Get in there if you can.
3. Don’t rent local storage. Get one of the on-​site garages. You will love it. Deep and tall, tons of room for stuff AND your vehicle.
4. Neighbors are working professionals, well-​behaved and courteous. Community is diverse and everyone seems to be pretty chill. If you’re nasty or grumpy, go rent somewhere else. Don’t ruin this for the rest of us. Lots of dogs here.
5. The adjoining Academy Yard is a bit of an eyesore. Looks like a sad, abandoned and haunted concrete slab with old junk everywhere. But we are hoping it’ll all be converted to fresh new retail in the near future — including a grocery store which will be within walking distance. We’d welcome a Harris Teeter.
Bozzuto really knows how to design and manage apartment living. I believe Flats170 is among the better Bozzuto communities.

There isn’t one negative thing in my view for this property. It is very well maintained (like all Bozzuto properties); the staff is extremely friendly, helpful, and professional all at the same time. Shout outs go out to all the staff for such a wonderful job at making you truly feel at home as if you’re one of the family (and not the family that you dread visiting!)
Being a new property, it is a plus to be a first live in resident. We have a 1/​1/​den and find it spacious, well opened with the 9ft ceilings. Absolutely enjoy all the upgraded amenities in the apartment of Granite Counter tops, stainless steel appliances gas range, and not to forget to mention energy efficient with full size washer and dryer available in unit. There is a sleek contemporary-​modern design with nice espresso finished cupboards throughout offering more than enough storage than I know what to do with, and detailed with beautiful chrome handles to bring the whole look together.
Furthermore, the maintenance staff will hang your curtains, curtain rods, ceiling fans (after assembled together), mirrors, almost anything… you name it at no additional charge. A lovely perk! They’re precise, and take their time with measurements as if it was going in their own home.
One of the biggest features that we’re eagerly awaiting for is the opening of the club house within the next few weeks. From the floor plan and finishes that are currently able to be seen through the windows, it will be absolutely tres’ chic. Almost as if it were an upscale boutique hotel in New York City itself. The club house will feature a P.C. center with 4 computers and printers, pool table, private screening room with an 80″ TV. that you may watch movies in and rent during the evening if you’d like to have a small event with some friends. A full size gym, yoga studio, restroom facilities with showers and let’s not forget the «south beach inspired» pool! Coming from south Florida, it definitely couldn’t be more exact to a replica of a 5 star resort hotel on Miami Beach itself.
I simply cannot wait for everything to be completed within the next couple of months, the dog park will be a great place to mingle with residence that share the same passion for animals. Along with the exercising path to walk around, and grills on premises for a nice cookout once the weather permits again since we will be going into the winter shortly.
I may be rambling at this point, however I cannot forget to mention the fun events they seem to plan almost monthly to involve their residents. From the pizza parties, smoothie mixers, kona ice trucks, «Drive in theater», scavenger hunts with prizes. It is almost like you are on vacation where you live!
**as an Update, I’d also like to mention how centrally located the development is. A 2 minute drive to the MARC station which can take you right into Washington D.C., or a 20 – 35 minute drive if you chose. 15 Minutes from Columbia with an awesome mall and restaurant chains (PF Changs, Cheesecake) as well as 15 – 20 minutes to Annapolis with great shopping and dining as well and only 10 minutes from the BWI airport! Location location location!