Carmel Center Apartments

As my second year lease is coming to an end, and I'll be moving elsewhere, I feel I should post a review for Carmel Center Apartments. Overall, I have had a good experience. The office staff is typically fairly attentive and available. The grounds are beautiful and well-maintained. They are extremely dog-friendly. I have been pleased with my apartment for the last 2 years for the most part. The only complaint I have, and the reason I've subtracted a star, is the apartment buildings truly need a key fob or code panel for entry. Yes, I know, this is Carmel we're talking about. Most of you are probably rolling your eyes at that. However, the residents pay more than enough to justify such a simple security feature. Literally anyone can come and go as they please. As a result, if you leave your bicycle in the entryway bike storage, or now even in the fancy new outside bicycle hub they've recently built (which also does not have a fob or code), expect things attached to your bike to get stolen at some point. My phone mount was snatched up and my little bike pack was sifted through (thankfully, I was wise enough to empty it beforehand). A key fob system is already in use for the fitness facility and mail room. I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated by many residents if they extended that feature to make the actual apartment buildings more secure. It just makes sense. They recently implemented a huge remodel in the common areas and office, but that doesn't exactly do a whole lot for the current apartment residents, the people who are making the remodel possible by paying rent every month. Sure, curb appeal and first-looks mean a lot, but making residents feel secure in their homes should be a higher priority. Even Carmel is susceptible to thieves.

Awesome place to live, great management and maintenance. The complex is maintained very clean. Very close to trail and restaurants and other shopping needs. Unlike some apartment complexes who keep the deposit for some silly and unreasonable reasons, Carmel center returned my entire deposit. Sad that I had to leave because of a new job.

Phenomenal community. Especially impressed with the maintenance team and their professionalism, attention to detail, and timeliness.

We had our water heater go out at 8 PM on a week night and John showed up, was great to deal with, and replaced it within an hour.

Would recommend living here - there is a certain peace of mind knowing you’re in good hands when you need it that.

TL;DR: Great place to live. Everything is electric. Budget an additional 250-350 a month for Duke Energy.

I have had a two bedroom unit here for about 4 months now. The office staff has been great, the maintenance and grounds teams are efficient and anticipate weather events and prepare well. The units itself is gorgeous. The location is perfect.

A couple of downsides are that the windows aren't the most insulated, and that can lead to poor heat retention in the winter, depending on where your unit is. I have had this issue.

A larger issue, one I think most people would prefer to know before committing to living somewhere for at least a year, is that everything is electric. There is no gas. With mandated heating in the winter, and even just light usage of appliances, you should expect the highest energy bills you've likely ever had, during the winter months (possibly in the summer as well, I have not experienced that yet). I'm paying about $300 a month for electricity, which is just far too high compared to what is available elsewhere. If not for this last detail, I would expect to want to live here for a long time. Given the energy set up, I will definitely be shopping around once the time comes.

If you don't mind the extra energy costs, I think you'll find a lot to like here.