I'm curious, does anyone on here live in either of the Stonebridge properties or elsewhere on the west bank of the Flats? What do you think of living there? Is it safe? Do you feel like you can walk to local businesses in Ohio City or is it too far, especially in winter? Any issues with the building or management?

 

There are a bunch of these properties on the market, many at fairly ludicrous discounts, so I'm curious if it's more the neighborhood or more the horrible housing market that's putting good apartments in my price range.

I lived in the Plaza building from the time it opened until Jan of this year (about 3.5 years).  I enjoyed living there and do miss the area.  There were some building management issues at first, but residents got together, the property manager changed, and things were resolved. 

 

I always felt safe down in the flats around my building.  It could get sketchy as you head up the hill towards W25th by Lakeview Estates or across the river if something was going on at Club Alchemy.  But I have dogs and never felt unsafe walking them, nor did my wife, as long as we stayed in the immediate block around the building which included the little park on our side of the river. 

 

Ohio City is not too far to walk to, but there is a sketchy block just south of Detroit on W25th (more section 8 housing). I know my wife didn't like walking to OC b/c of that section.  I didn't work downtown for all of the time I lived there, but when I did I would walk or ride my bike which was nice.  Walking to Tower City or W 6th was a bit more palatable for my wife that Ohio City was.

 

Anyway, it's not a bad place to live - I think the ability to get financing for condos is really what is hurting the market.  I know when I moved out, I had my unit rented in a couple days.

I have a coworker who owned a condo unit in the first Stonebridge tower.  Apparently K&D employed some rather shoddy construction techniques and some of the building exterior is having to be replaced or upgraded (I can't remember which).  The condo association is trying to assess its members several thousand dollars for the repairs. Also, one of the walls in the garage just collapsed.  The coworker ended up selling the condo at a very deep discount.  I'm sure some of this can be explained by buying too high in a relatively warm market, but I believe at least some of the residents are dissatisfied and that might account for the availability of rental units.

^ The Tower building had all kinds of problems.  I've heard some bad stories.  The Plaza building didn't have the same construction issues, at least to this point.