Whetstone Apartments

"Management has always been really nice but I have to say, I'm very disappointed in how they handled the car theft/vandalism issue. On June 1st (a whole month before the July 3rd incident that I, fortunately, was not there for because my lease had already ended), my car was broken into. I contacted management to try and get a better understanding of what had happened and if they were in the process of helping the police figure out any leads. They told me they would have to review the security camera and that it takes time to do that. I tried to be very understanding but after a few days and now more than a month without hearing from them about anything, I'm getting the feeling that I may never know. I understand this situation is out of management's control, but I just wish there was more communication about the situation."

"We’ve lived here for a few years and the apartment itself is fine. However, management is a huge issue. As you can tell from other reviews we have been dealing with serious issues in our garage (stolen cars, smashed in windows, rummaging through unlocked cars, bike theft). All of this is occurring in our gated garage and it is occurring repeatedly. I get it, crime does happen but the communication and overall response from management about these events is poor. Their emails to us are vague and never say “heads up a car was stolen”. Instead, they remind residents to not let people in who don’t live here and to make sure we close the doors. I think most of us do these things already and it’s a bit of a slap in the face to hear that we just need to do a better job of closing the doors behind us. Multiple times this spring I’ve left in the morning seeing cops in our garage but no email was sent to the building to update us on what was going on. When 30+ of us had our windows smashed in there was actually a google review response written before an email went out to the residents about the issue (literally days after it happened). More timely communication and more details are owed to residents but management seems to only communicate when they are basically forced to do so. We are now relying on each other for accurate updates on the safety in the building because management has dropped the ball."

"It's not a place to live, more a place to land. As others have mentioned, the car thefts and break-ins are rampant! 31 people had their cars broken into on July 3rd; while another dozen or more people had their cars broken into or stolen in the previous month alone. Other thefts include bikes from the racks in the parking garage, and packages, both from the mail room and outside apartment doors. I was personally accosted in the coffee area by someone who definitely didn't live here because they were asking me to give them the wifi password and to let them into the secure areas (I didn't).That happened a few months ago and I brushed it off because it was an isolated incident. All of this, yet there is little response from the management company. Until 31 cars were broken into in one night, they had done little to alert residents about the increasing vandalism and thefts or the lack of security in the parking garage. Some of us were hit with no warnings whatsoever about the uptick in break-ins or thefts. There are people who are on vacation who will come back to find their cars vandalized and/or stolen! The Greystar "higher ups" have made zero attempts to increase security -- they've actually hamstrung the on-site managers from making any appropriate interventions other than asking the Durham police to patrol. The police officers claim they know who is hitting our property but refuse to investigate or charge the assailants. The officers I spoke to onsite are using these break-ins toward their own agendas, saying things like it's "above" their "pay grade" to respond appropriately to these crimes. We all know the Durham Police Department is a mess and the night time officers are happy to let crime continue in order to bolster their funding, including increasing their salaries and their numbers on the ground. In other words, they have their own agenda and can't be relied upon to do their job. Despite having my car broke into, I won't be manipulated into participating in a covert "Fund the Police" campaign. The fact is that Greystar/Whetstone property needs to hire a private security company that will put a guard in place to monitor the property overnight, and create a more robust use of the security cameras, including having the footage reviewed daily so that potential thieves staking out the property will be caught early. There are numerous other issues with the Whetstone which you can read about in the other reviews. At this point, I do not foresee renewing my lease. I'm glad my insurance company is covering the cost of the break-in/vandalism on my car, but remain very worried it will happen again."

"Would highly NOT recommend living here. If you do, buy lots of duct tape!! You will need it when people break into your car (because management isn’t doing anything about that), you will need it to keep your freezer closed (amenities do not work), and you will need it to keep up your pants (the dryers will rip out the elastic band from your pants). I had a horrible experience at Whetstone and am so happy to be leaving. My first fridge didn’t work so all my food went bad. Then they said they fixed it so I went and bought new food. And it in fact wasn’t fixed, so all the food went bad again. This apartment complex is not “luxury”. If you don’t mind windows being busted in but want better amenities, consider living at 605 or Cortland. But either way your car may get damaged. Maybe consider living elsewhere. Oh also the train is so loud and may wake you up at 2am"

"It was a nice experience living at whetstone for over a year. The office staff is overall helpful, maintenance is also timely. The location is great. The building is clean and well kept. I lived on a ground floor apartment with windows but did not have any bug related problem, and also did not find the noise from the swimming pool too much. A few things that I wish were different: 1) I wish we did not have a mandatory bundle internet and cable package because it was an unnecessary cost for those of us who don't have tv. 2) the valet trash cost also seems unnecessary to me, we can put the trash down the chute ourselves, plus there also need to be recycling options available on site. There's only a cardboard recycling option. 3) the fan lamps are of the type where the light is quite intense, in your face, would be better to have the other type of fan lamps where the bulb was not directly visible. 4) Floors are thin, so you can hear people upstairs especially if they are running. Also for the rent they charge, it would be good to have some sort of after hours security guard, as is present in some apartments, to manage noise complaints after hours. The leasing office really doesn't have a good solution for this, except calling the after hours durham police line. Overall I had a peaceful experience."