Central High 330 West Colfax Avenue, South Bend, IN 46601

"Pros: Communicative staff, lots of parking, low bills, hardwood floors, central air, secure building, green space for pets Cons: not a great area, downtown traffic, no covered parking spots, pay-per-use laundry, high rent I can't speak highly enough of my lease at Central High Apartments. If you prefer historic quality over the latest amenities, you'll love it too. I lived there for a year. From the very beginning to my last day, it felt like they cared that I was happy. Pamela in the office is awesome and gave us a tour and history of the place, which thrilled my father in law who tagged along to see the school his parents attended back in the day. They don't have a "show" unit because each apartment is one-of-a-kind, so they'll show you the actual units that are available. I ended up getting a 2-bedroom because it actually cost less than the 1-bedroom options - again, Pamela figured that out for me and didn't try to upsell me just because I came in looking for a 1-bedroom. Who wouldn't want an extra room for free? Living there is comfortable and quiet. The building is clean, and the maintenance and custodial staff always say hello! They had replaced all the appliances and polished the hardwoods and my unit was ready for move-in on time. Their resident portal is active and easy to use. Maintenance requests were answered within a day. My electric bill was never more than $40/month despite using heat ALL WINTER...I am a cold girl, but the building is so well insulated that it didn't take much to heat the place even with the 15-foot ceilings. There is central air - unheard of in a historic building! You can control with a thermostat but the whole building is on "heat" Oct-Apr and "cool" May-Sept, which is a bit inconvenient on those unusually warm or cold days in the transitional months but not too bad. Parking is plentiful and the lots are well lit. The school is surrounded by grass on 3 sides and there are pet waste disposal bins. Of course there are pros and cons to old buildings...the walls are solid and I rarely heard my neighbors, but some of the windows no longer open. There are no laundry hookups in the units, just a shared room on the first floor which is fine but it's a few dollars per load and sometimes the machines chew up your clothes. We had no issues with security while I was there, which was a concern I had from reading other reviews, but I think since Village Green took over it's been much better. (Occasionally there are people loitering nearby, but that's downtown South Bend. I enjoy taking walks and frequently walked downtown, but always east and never in the dark. Basically, the area is not the best but the building itself feels extremely safe.) Bottom line: I only moved out because I bought a house. Well, that and the second reason, my only true complaint...my lease renewal offer was too high to afford, so I can't speak to the value of this place in the future. However, for me, it was perfect. This was the best place I've ever lived."

"Paying 1k+ a month for my loft for me to leave water running for about ten minutes or more almost every morning to shower before work? So not worth it. I’ve also tried using A/C before during warm evenings and my vent just shoots out warm air even when i set it to cool and around 60°/65°F. Have had to sleep at night with the windows open several times to keep somewhat cool."

"Our Mom suffers from PTSD & OCD, her first apartment didn’t help at all BUT the staff found her a perfect unit… she had unpacked 90% of a bedroom unit in 20hrs she was at such PEACE… Thank You Village Green for making Our Mom’s transition WONDERFUL!"

"I really enjoyed my time living here. The maintenance staff does the best they can with what they’ve got. Unfortunately, the property owner is just making a cash grab by raising rents with no updates or upgrades to the individual units. My apartment is great but the rents they’re charging aren’t worth what you get. After 5 years, home ownership is now the better option for me."

"Very cool how this place was converted into apartments from an old high school. The developer kept some of the things and maintained an old school environment!"