Parkside At College Park

"Please do your research before deciding to sign the lease. I know housing options are very limited for poor college students here at UMD. There exists a spectrum of housing from a box-sized subbasement bunker room with dirt cheap rent to an over-the-top apartment with exorbitant 2k monthly rent. But the reasonable middle-ground choices seem to be few and far between. You would think Parkside was one of those rare finds with seemingly reasonable 1k rent and 5 min walking distance to the campus. However, this could not be further from the truth. If you do not care about living quality, then do me a favor find the cheapest bunker room in a nearby house which not only saves you 500 bucks every month but also provides more reliable utility and maintenance. The decade-old piping in the houses seems to hold up a lot better than those in the Parkside, which erupts as regularly as the Old Faithful and shuts off the water every month. And take caution as if you are visiting the geyser, since the bath water in the unit could scorch you as easily during the cold water outage. If you are lucky enough, you would even enjoy some flooding in your unit exclusive to the beach-front properties and get to stay at a better property across the campus for a week. For those of you blessed with a thicker wallet, you probably won't consider this place as a first choice. However, on the off chance that you decided to save some money, trust me the suffering you have to endure is not worth the couple hundreds you might have saved. You would thank me when lying on the larger queen sized bed while bathed in the sunshine from some real windows. Everything in Parkside seems to be smaller at its price point: the closet, the bed, the window and the bathroom. While I am not being exactly correct here, you do get a bigger bottom gap in the door which provides convenient key-less entry for roaches and the likes to grab some quick in-N-outs. I would only recommend this place to the most extreme masochists who derive pleasures from being waken up by loud door bangs when the fierce maintenance team enters for an unannounced repair work, and the cold unapologetic notice for an outage the night before. I hope you have been completely disillusioned at this point and wish you best of luck for your housing search."

"DO NOT LIVE HERE!!! The management is made of liars who cannot keep their information straight. They consistently make promises they won't keep. 3 months of living here will make you feel like you're living in the wild. Don't be fooled by the good reviews, they were all bribed with the promise of pizza for a good review. Let me explain the situation. RELOCATION After being relocated to an apartment across campus that is not convenient at all and being told repeatedly that rent would not be charged as long as residency at Parkside was not happening, management decided to charge rent and utilities that was used by maintenance. When complained to management they kept pushing it to corporate. With every new email they send, it is clear that they are making things up as they go as all these sudden new options keeps coming up after the decision time has already passed. They CLAIM that the waived rent option is only for those who found their own alternate housing but when notified of this relocation they made the choices clear. If there was no alternative housing tenants would be placed in a different apartment, no rent would be charged. Again, NO RENT WOULD BE CHARGED. ROACHES For months there were roaches in apartments that the front desk and pest control would not address. When pest control would grace tenants with their presence they would simply walk around, tracking in dirt, and leave. Then when complaints were made, the front desk, especially Ryan, would gaslight tenants into believing it was their fault for not moving appliances or something as simple as that. As a result of this tenants lived with roaches crawling around their kitchen cabinets, floors, bathrooms, bedrooms for MONTHS. The rent may make it appealing and you may think it would be worth it to stick it out for a couple months or a year and it wouldn't be so bad. You may be lucky maybe you won't have this experience but if one thing goes wrong believe me when I say Parkside management will some way to make things even worse. To each their own but beware this review's warning."

"I've lived here for 2 years so far. I thought I was happy here, however there were recent issues that caused frustration. The way management handled it really spoke volumes. Here is an honest and thorough review of what I’ve experienced: FLOODING ON THE 6TH FLOOR - The flood caused my roommate and I to be relocated. This is understandable because there are concerns with mold and having to replace the flooring. That's okay. However, what is not okay and is extremely rude is to not give us any notice AT ALL. Two days after the flood, I came back to 6+ maintenance workers in my unit and everything in my closet was ransacked and thrown into the middle of my room. I couldn’t even walk through my room and was in tears by the mess they made. I was told I had to stay at another place and was only given 3 days to pack everything up in the middle of midterm week only AFTER they threw all my stuff out of the closet. To touch, mishandle and throw another person's belongings with no warning is really disgusting. We were also told that December's rent would be waived due to this inconvenience and to accommodate the upset residents who had to relocate. Nope. They decided to change their mind and are charging us rent. I went from a 2x2 room at Parkside to a 4x4 relocated apartment where my room is half the size than Parkside, there are no windows in my room which feels like a jail-cell, and I now have to live with 3 roommates instead of 1. They call this “accommodating” but to me not really. PEST INFESTATION - This place is full of cockroaches. Specifically, german cockroaches which are the worst type of roach infestation. From personal experience, the exterminators they hire don’t do a good job at getting rid of them. You’re basically stuck with roaches crawling around your kitchen and bedroom no matter what you do. There's so many that you even see them during the daytime. My roommate and I have been trying to get rid of them for the entirety of 2 years with no success even though we kept our place very clean. You’ll also see roaches occasionally outside in the hallways/walls. POOR MANAGEMENT/MAINTENANCE - Your emails will be read by management but most of the time they don't email you back so it feels like you’re getting ignored. Previously, they hired some workers to replace the sprinklers. The workers damaged my wall in my room as they were replacing the sprinkler. I emailed Management about it because when I move out, I don’t want to mistakenly get charged for this damage that I didn’t do. I never got a response back. This seems like a recurring issue where they hire very messy maintenance workers which then reflects poor quality and rushed work in the end. The paint job they did during the renovation is horrendous. The paint on the cabinets literally peel off whenever I clean my kitchen. Cheap place that is overpriced. PROS - The gym is 24/7 and overall the apartment is a quiet place. The front-desk workers are really friendly and the place is very close to Lake Artemesia which is really beautiful. They sometimes give away free Lunch and small giveaways for residents. To conclude, if you plan to lease here because their rates may be slightly more affordable - I can't recommend it. As someone who has lived here for years, there are far better places around UMD. I used to love living here but sadly that has changed. They do a bad job at communicating with residents and leave us in the dark until last minute. They also keep increasing the rent every year."

"Parkside bribed students to leave good reviews with promise of free pizza then reneged on the pizza, and that pretty much sums up the experience here. They have a lot of maintenance issues, and you might think it won't happen to you, but even if you're not directly affected by the roaches, or the flooding, or one of the other biblical plagues that happen every other month here, one day they might just call you to say you have 36 hours to vacate and move to a different apartment across campus so they can fix the straw and popsicle sticks that prop up the building, and they couldn't care less if the literal one hour of moving time they give you is during exams. And after promising they'll give you a month's rent in exchange for the inconvenience, they quietly charge you anyway, and so you go down asking if this was a mistake, and then talk to people who smile at you while explaining that the powers that be changed their mind, before they go off to kick Oliver Twist down the stairs."

"I strongly advise against choosing this place if you happen to be an international student. Here are several compelling reasons why: Exorbitant Deposit Rates: Prepare yourself for deposit rates that soar above anything you'll find in the vicinity. They'll hit you hard in the pocket right from the start. Pest Infestation: The living conditions are nothing short of a nightmare due to a rampant cockroach infestation. Your comfort and hygiene will be seriously compromised. Leaky Roofs: Frequent water leakage through the roof is not just an inconvenience but also poses a risk to your belongings and overall well-being. Pricey Parking: If you're a car owner, brace yourself for wallet-draining parking fees that will undoubtedly add to your financial burden. Unjust Deposit Deductions: Be prepared for an uphill battle when it comes to getting your deposit back. They'll inexplicably deduct a substantial sum from your hard-earned money, offering little to no explanation. They will charge you no matter what. Unpleasant Management: To top it all off, the management team exhibits a level of rudeness that is simply unacceptable. Your concerns and complaints are met with dismissive and inconsiderate responses, leaving you feeling unheard and undervalued. In light of these glaring issues, it would be prudent to explore other housing options that prioritize your well-being, finances, and peace of mind. Your living situation should enhance your academic experience, not hinder it, and unfortunately, this place falls far short of those expectations."