The Hillcrest Apartments

Starting with Cons, because they shouldn't be overlooked: -- Utilities -- - Radiators are unbearably hot in the winter, and the tenant has no control. Even with windows open throughout the winter, our apartment was consistently over 80 degrees day and night. Despite claims to have addressed it, management doesn't appear motivated to find a solution. Likely because the tenants have the privilege of covering the enormous gas bills. - Water and sewer bills nearly doubled in the summer. The tenants pay for the water used by the complex's thirsty sprinkler system. - $25/mo for valet trash service, which is not optional. On top of a $35 waste bill. - Frequent water shut-offs varying from an hour, to as long as 12 hours. From Aug 5 thru Dec 11, there were 9 water shut-offs. - Steep CAM charges for common areas that are mostly neglected. It's unclear what these charges go towards, outside of mowing the lawns. -- Cleanliness -- - Stairwells are carpeted and are very rarely vacuumed. Let alone steamed. I can't remember the last time our hallway was cleaned. - Laundry room is consistently filthy, and the machines aren't regularly cleaned. Often filled with dog hair. - There's a "picnic bench" behind the main building that seems to be intended as a common space, but it's quite literally a trash pit. - The radiators in the apartments are covered by grates that make them impossible to clean. Ours are covered in a thick layer of dust that appears to be older than me. -- Security -- - There were two fires in the span of a few months this spring/summer. No alarm went off in the building, and no effort was made to reach out to tenants during or after either fire. - The garages and dumpsters are commonly inhabited by trespassers. We've come home several times to trespassers just sitting in the stairwell. -- Amenities -- - None to speak of. Pros: - Close to downtown - Friendly maintenance staff - Spacious - Recent renovations look nice, but were cheaply done and not comprehensive as it relates to the apartment as a whole. Windows and floors are rotting. The closer you get the worse it looks. Not surprised by how quickly this Pro turned into a Con... Our experience here in a nutshell. I doubt any of this will be addressed any time soon. Scroll down to reviews from the past 3+years, and you'll see the same issues being surfaced. Likely followed by a cookie-cutter reply from the owner.

I love the place and location, and there are still many things for improvement. Any time I request maintenance, I don't hear from them weeks until I call. The excuses are - we are short on people. Well, at least let me know you saw my request, please. It is called being polite! Second - stairways are always dirty. They say they are cleaned every week, which is not true at all. I was hoping they to be extra clean during the pandemic, but no - lots of dust, dirty carpets, and garbage. I see that every day walking from or to my apartment. I would do it myself, but I pay them for doing that! Dog poop is everywhere. Stairways in the backyard are even worse! This is disgusting! Garbage is not taking every day many many times, and cockroaches are happy! Internet connection is ridiculous! I've got Google fiber letters so many times, but I can't do it, because of management having a contract with Comcast. If you will not change it, I am going to submit a petition.

We had the worst possible experience at the Hillcrest. Not only did we pay almost $300 a month on utilities (for the heat we couldn’t even control), we got robbed not once. Not twice. BUT 3 TIMES. We bought a garage space after the first break into our car, and one month later someone had come, cut our lock to our garage, and slashed up my convertible top, and vandalized my car!!! We asked for higher security of any kind, and they said they couldn’t do anything. It was absolutely absurd. There were countless other horror stories from our neighbors, and there was never any action taken. There are homeless people EVERYWHERE. There was always someone sleeping in the dumpsters, with legit CRACK pipes in there hands. IM NOT KIDDING. The lack of security ALONE should prevent you from living here. Not to mention the unbearable heat that you can never turn off in the winter, or when they decide to turn it off for weeks at a time, the unbearable cold. They are constantly turning off the water, with very little notice. We also had issues with cockroaches. All and all, please stay safe and pick somewhere else to live.

Unfortunately, the Hillcrest has declined with the new ownership's lack of spending the money needed to renovate these old, beautiful apartments. I have been living here for four years and over the last year I have experienced countless days without hot water- sometimes weeks- and the heaters have not been coming on as temperatures drop into the thirties. Management is uncooperative, indifferent, and makes excuses for the broken utilities rather than fixing them. Management has also been untruthful about repairs, saying that we received a new boiler when in fact we never did. I used to love this apartment, but sadly it has become unlivable.

I signed the lease because the units were newly renovated and with the convenient location and 9' foot ceilings it seemed like a dream. But my first weekend after moving in I had major water damage in my kitchen, during the summer we had multiple weekends without hot water, I've killed two cockroaches and 4 mice and now that the temperature is dropping down into the 20's at night, there are nights without heat. Three just this week!

If I could spare everyone from moving in here, I would. And I am actively trying to review this place everywhere I can because what they’re doing is illegal. No water for weeks, no hot water. Now my water is yellow. Mold in the hallways, stove off casing, front door doesn’t lock, no seal on door. Management has not responded in two weeks to any issues.

The water is undrinkable as it runs a pale yellow and has a terrible taste. Having lived in historic buildings I understand that the pipelines can be corroded and if left to sit for a long period of time the water will run an orange/yellow color. I have lived in my unit for 11 months and use the water daily. It should not be running yellow every time I turn it on. It is so bad that the standard Brita Water Filter that I use stops becoming effective about every 10 days and I must replace it. When the management finally turns on the boiler system for the heat the situation becomes far worse. The water always comes out brown and takes a bit of time to return to its almost clear state. The new management company is unwilling to work with you and unapologetic for their shortcomings. For example,when replacing a floor in an empty apartment on the ground level. Their team did not use proper ventilation and the fumes carried up through the top apartments reaching mine on the fourth floor. They had not given any of the tenants notice that they would be working on the unit beneath them. When returning home from work opened my door to a sick dog and a wave of fumes. I immediately called the emergency contact number as I checked my apartment to make sure that the fumes were not originating from my unit. When finally called back I was advised that the management's team staff had been working on the floors but did not opened any windows for the fumes to vent from the unit below. They advised me to open my windows and let it blow out. It was 45 degrees outside. I stayed in the house for about 30 minutes to open all my windows and see if the situation would improve. During that time my dog started to vomit continuously and I was forced to vacate my home. When I stopped in to address the issue the management said, "Well I don't know what to tell you we don't advise other tenants when we work on projects in other apartments." They we unwilling to admit fault and did not offer any type of solution. I am happy to verify any of this information and provide old utility bills that I have saved. Please feel free to contact me at happytoproveit@gmail.com

I have lived at the Hillcrest for 11 months and in that time the charm and appeal has diminished day by day. During my lease there was a change of management companies and that made it far worse. First, the temperature of the units during the summer and winter months. During the summer months Salt Lake easily hits the mid 90's. When signing my lease the management staff told me the utilities run about $70-$120 a month as it is a communal billing system. With the high temperatures almost every apartment in the building ran an air-conditioner unit driving up our utility bill over $150 a month. In order to keep my apartment cool we had to purchase two units and we were never able to bring the temperature below 80 degrees. In the winter months your heat is provided by a boiler system. Which means the management team picks when they will be turning on your heat. I would like to let you know that it must be 55 degrees outside before they turn it on. My building went a full week during the change of management where it was 42 to 56 degrees outside far colder than a house normally is kept. This left our unit so cold we had to purchase a space heater, however, with the old building and original windows the heat soon was drafted away leaving the heater pointless. When addressing this issue with the management they said, "That's the just the temperature we have it set at and we cannot appease all tenants."

Charming historic building located lower Aveues of Salt Lake City. Roomy, open 1 bedroom apartment with large living room and dining room. Sun room with tons of built in storage leads to back entrance. Small walk in closet in comfortable bedroom. Door to the spacious balcony leads off living room, along with several large windows. This apartment gets alot of light from front and back. Galley kitchen with gas stove and adequate work space. View from the balcony of this apt. must be seen to appreciate, it is spectacular. This apt. is as close to downtown as you can get and everything you need is within walking or biking distance. This property is somewhat overpriced considering the lack of upkeep and managemnts ability to ignore the tenants requests for repairs or replacemnt of apartment or building necessties or existing features.

I love my apartment! There is very little I would complain about living here. The location is amazing - I can walk anywhere downtown, from grocery stores to restaurants and bars to the summer twilight concerts or the farmer's market! The apartment itself has so much charm - wood floors, crown molding, honeycomb tile and other ornate tiling. So many beautiful touches that remind me I'm living in a building built in the early 1900's. It has radiant heat and no AC but I get by with ceiling fans and a window unit in the summer. I have a great balcony overlooking the city. There are laundry facilities on-site and those could definitely use improvement. The nice thing is that they are cheaper than any laundromat around. The downside is that occasionally a machine doesn't work and you don't find out about it until you've lost your money and your clothes are wet. The building does have some plumbing issues because of how old it is, but I've lived here for a year and a half now and anytime there's an issue, the maintenance and office staff have been great to work with and really quick to respond. Overall the pros of this place far outweigh any cons. Love it!