The Connection at Lawrence

I lived at The Connection for 5 years (August 15, 2019 - July 31, 2024) and my review was far too long for any of the review platforms so its a bit truncated. Unit Condition - Mine was totally clean and had no visible signs of molding, dirt or grime. Our AC went out for a couple summers, they replaced the outdoor condenser and it works now. They provided a window AC unit in the meantime. We had a small roof leak, they provided a fan to dry the area (though you do pay for the cost of electricity). Staff Entry - Staff/Contractors come in your unit quite a bit. Pest control, inspections, unit upgrades (require you to move your stuff mid-lease). Amenities - There is a public bus stop on Ousdahl, use that. The pool closes sometimes, is usually open in summer. The gym on-site is good. Internet - This is where 99% of my review that was too long was. They had Midco, switched to Pavlov Media in summer 2023. The internet was effectively down for 2 months (though they did technically 'provide' internet in this time, it wasn't useable) while they did the switch (that kept getting delayed). Pavlov internet goes out all the time, you are expected to talk to their support yourself. It sucks - likely was done to save money (or was force contracted on them) and is just an infinitely worse service than what they had with Midco. I did not renew because of this more than anything else. It's really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really bad. Move Out - I got my security deposit back with no hassle, I returned the unit in reasonable condition but nothing too fancy. Other Things: - The gates never closed the 5 years I was there, didn't care because they are annoying when they do close. Allegedly they do close now. - You have to sign your lease really far in advance (like 8 months) so plan ahead or you will probably lose your unit or good rates. - You can hear your neighbors, I had some issues but not many over my time here. - Maintenance guys are cool, they do good work. Its when they need to get contractors out that you are going to wait forever. - The fire alarms are really picky and will go off if it gets a little too humid in the unit. - They pay for internet and city at least for now (they have taken steps to reduce water usage, if they cannot do so enough they will likely pass it onto tenants). - The leases are per room, which is very good. - My experience seemed to start getting worse when the community manager changed from Maria to Haven.

We received the room in deplorable condition. The carpet was a mess and the couch was sticky among other issues. The stay was okay, but moving out was a nightmare. If you decide to live here DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. The connection will try whatever they can to take your deposit. Everyone who lived in this complex talked to me about this issue when they tried to move out as well. Everyone who lived here had some kind of issue with being charged a ridiculous amount for moving out. Also had some workers come in without notice a few times. Highly recommend finding a different place to live.

This complex has the absolute worst management I've ever experienced. The apartments are filthy, torn down and in an overall terrible state at move in. At our unit we were more than 5 months without AC as management refused to fix it for us at the time because it was "too expensive for them" and "the weather wasn't so hot anyways". Now at the time of move out they are trying to charge over 800 dollars in damage charges in an attempt to renovate the apartment at the expense of the residents, with charges as ridiculous as wiping dust off a table... The pool is often closed on the short period of the year in which is open, and the student shuttle hasn't worked in almost two years. They will also post charges in your account without any notification and afterwards try to charge late fees on top of that. Overall a terrible experience with regard to dealing with management.

I can't completely blame the Connection for the trash and dog poop all over the grounds as the vast majority of it comes from the other residents, but very rarely did I see a trashcan in the public areas that was not overflowing. The landscaping itself was however very nice as landscapers come pretty frequently to plant new flowers and lay down fresh mulch. The noise levels are okay. I only woke a couple times to drunken yelling in the parking lots and residents with chipped mufflers and blaring music. This is to be expected at an apartment complex in a college town though. BUT, when it comes to moving out they will charge you as much as they possibly can to keep your security deposit. On my security deposit statement, they charged me thirty whole dollars to "clean [my] bedroom door"? How could they possibly spend $30 cleaning a door that wasn't dirty? I had already greased the hinges and everything myself so I have no clue why they could possibly be charging me that much. This was just ONE thing on my security deposit statement that didn't make sense though. They also charged me for an entirely new paint job in the kitchen, which was already covered in dirt and grease stains when my roommates and I moved in. There was grease on the ceiling and light fixtures in the kitchen when we moved in! Needless to say, we left it better than it was when we got the apartment and still lost our whole security deposit and then some. The icing on the cake is that when I went to officially move out and give the office back my keys, they told me that since I turned them in the afternoon on my moveout date I either had to pay a late fee of two months worth of rent OR I could "lose them" and pay $180 on my security deposit later. Now mind you, I was never told that keys had to be turned in before noon on the moveout day so I assumed any time during office hours would have been fine. TL;DR: They will squeeze every penny out of the security deposit that you give them so they can keep it all. (Literally every penny. The amount I owe after factoring in the deposit is $225.01 exactly.) P.S. Fun fact! The gates only ever close during showing times and have never once worked properly! This does not count as a gated community, and don't let them convince you otherwise!

The workers and management here feed off of young people who can be mislead. Going in knowing these things I was still mislead. My roommate and I went in and signed to a specific room and unit AND building, however according to our lease none of that was documented. They promote the units that you won't actually be placed into and don't tell you until weeks after you've signed. I asked for a copy of my lease to be sent over to my father to read over before signing and they agreed to do that and sent a completely different document without my knowledge. Very disappointed. Very frustrated.

Management and staff are extremely condescending to tenants. We have had several issues with being told different things and when asking about these issues the staff just says refer to the lease. They never own their mistakes and correct them.

Terrible experience. Money hungry complex that cares more about filling a bed than their residents. There is no need to sign a lease a year in advance when there are multiple complexes that allow you to sign and move in at the time you're ready. Do not fall for their scam. And their roommate matching is a joke. They tried to fill the fourth bed in an all female apartment with a male when all of our roommate matching forms specifically said female only roommates. In short, find an apartment complex that respects and values their residents - not a complex who will bully and intimidate.

MAKE SURE YOU TAKE A PICTURE AND VIDEO EVERYTHING!!! THAT INCLUDES EVERY BASEBOARD AND IT'S CORNERS...INSIDE CABINETS...ECT DO NOT EXPECT YOUR DEPOSIT BACK EXPECT A BILL!! THEY REFUSE YOUR WALK THROUGH IF YOU MOVE OUT EARLY EVEN WHEN YOU PAY UP YOUR LEASE, THEY WILL NOT NOTIFY YOU WITH WALK THROUGH. PLACE WAS DIRTY WHEN WE MOVED IN AND WAS CHARGED RIDICULOUS PRICES FOR THEIR SO CALLED CLEANING! HORRIBLE-GOOD LUCK

Terrible office staff doesn't pick up the phone when they're open or return messages. They will try to overcharge you at move out. They sent bills to a co-signer instead of returning messages or sending bills to the actual tenant, whose new address they have. They try to call themselves luxury housing but air conditioning is constantly failing on hot summer days. WiFi is worse than ResNet. Gates broken/open so often they do basically nothing to increase security.

1. The management and staff are very rude and not helpful 2. wifi was always down, extremely slow, and shut off throughout the week 3. The Gates were ALWAYS broken. Honestly there was no point in putting them up 4. You will get little to none of your deposit back once you move out. I email them about it and were extremely rude. 5. The Shuttle was always "broken" and rarely runs. 6. They advertise "Free printing" but it is not free. 7.Please do NOT live here. This place is way over priced and so far away from campus. You can find apartment complexes closer to campus at a cheaper cost.

There are so many bad things i can think of about this place, i am just gonna make it short and make a list 1. extremely bad internet connection ( disconnected 10 times every two months) 2. Unreasonable deduction of deposit ( all of them will be gone) 3. irresponsible management team ( no reply no matter how many times you complain) 4. extremely bad soundproof ( knowing exactly where your neighbor is doing) ...... Need to know more to make your decision?

I would give them 0 stars if I could. We moved in, I had to clean my bathroom, there was hair and dust like crazy. Yet upon my moving out, I cleaned it then my mom cleaned it, they charged me $30 for a safety pin, the partial roll of TP on the dispenser, and I forgot to grab the toilet brush, and a spot on the tub that was there and would not come off. I scrubbed that spot weekly over the year trying to get it off, it was in the porcelain. Each of the 4 of us were charged $50 for a cable box that we never received, we went to the office several times to request one, always were told "none available". Then when I argued it, they said "you never completed the online request" - even thought I lived there a year, not one time did anyone tell me I had to complete the online request to get anything done. They took our phone calls and were never able to fix anything, they were minor so we were stuck living with them, like the over light was ON when the oven was turned off, and the light was OFF when the oven was heated. Charged me for painting, even though it looked exactly the same as when I moved in, not one scuff or anything, and SCUFFS are 'normal wear and tear'. I have been requesting them to review the over charges they are charging me and then take a couple days to get back to me, now they have said - "OH TOO LATE TO PROTEST" -- DONT GIVE THEM YOUR BUSINESS, they will take advantage of you.

DO NOT LIVE HERE. After all the smiles and sweet talk to get you to sign a lease, the customer service goes to absolute garbage. The WiFi is totally unusable and when I contacted management they told me this was normal and unless there was an issue with the wired internet, they have no contractual obligation to care about the situation. They were very rude and very unhelpful. All of the reviews on their website are fake and should not be taken as accurate. This place has an F rating by the BBB and it shows. After this lease term is up I will not be living here again unless things seriously improve. The place was in really bad shape when we moved in it smelled and floors were disgusting. Yet in the lease we signed, a cleaning fee will be taken out if the apartment is not up to their standards so clearly they just take the fee and don't actually clean it. They do not give one single care about the resident once they are locked into a lease. Save yourself many headaches and live somewhere else. This has been terrible so far.

Management tires to take advantage of young tenants by bullying and lying. The leasing director, Lori, is rude and difficult to work with and rarely make time to speak with a resident about problems and concerns. Have twice had poor roommate assignments and there is no possible way they used the roommate matching sheets they require future residents to fill out. All they're interested in is filling a bed. They would not work with us until we contacted an attorney. If you intend to move in and hope to be matched with a compatible roommate, think again. Don't move here until you have your roommates lined up. Also, do not expect to get your security deposit back. They will charge you for painting and carpet cleaning, things that are normally considered to be normal wear and tear. Internet sucks, too. WiFi is unreliable and ethernet rarely works. Bottom line, live somewhere else. The Connection is extremely overpriced for what they offer.

Pretty good size apartments, nice workers and the amenities are also very nice. The only thing that wasn't great was the roommate pairing. I had some of the worst roommates ever and I was paired with them because of a personality quiz which couldn't have been more wrong. I tried to talk to the manager but they didn't do anything about it even when my roommates started to bring random people in there to live with us and breaking our stuff. So I wish they had a better way to deal with roommates and stuff.