BlockONE, ames-ia

I really liked the two years I spent there. I lived in a 4x4 furnished at 23Twenty; the shared living room and my personal bed and bath rooms were very clean, the ceilings are high, smooths and concrete so no “professional upstairs neighbors” activities can bother you. I got to keep my place when I renewed. Tdlr: office exceptional, maintenance good, gym amazing until just good, parking meh, location great and unknown roommates is a 50/50 gamble THE OFFICE In my experience, the office staff genuinely does the best they can to be helpful, caring and accommodating. Emma is kind of the face I generally associate with the office and she’s been the best, kindest person from very first day I moved in ( I locked my self out first day and she helped me get back inside) all the way to my last day there. I once forgot to pause a food delivery subscription when I left the city to visit family for a few days during holidays; I came back expecting to get the package and dispose of rotten food but office kept it fresh in the fridge for me. There’s many other instances of them being goated but the . A genuine 10/10, would live there again just for that if I could. MAINTENANCE Usually reasonably responsive except the time it took a long while to get working AC again. 7/10 GYM Gym was mostly great; it was on the third floor of my building; its no state gym but it’s well equipped with treadmills, a smith machine, leg extension/curl machine, pulldown, dumbbells, the big ball, etc. It has good AC during summer and not too heated during winter. It’s not a huge gym but it never felt cramped. The floor to ceiling windows face the outside community area which is great because brings in light that really opens up the space during daylight and creates an amazing ambiance during winter and Christmas time. BUT after my first year, it felt like it wasn’t very cared for. the gym was still very clean don’t get me wrong but the water bottle filler and some machines were broken for months on end, the former seemingly because the filter wasn’t changed. 8.5/10, still very convenient and would but a 9.5 to 10 if not for those last issue CAR DEPENDENCY/PARKING -In my experience, BlockOne parking is limited and expensive, alternative parking options close to home are scarce. If the car is towed, the process of getting it back is time consuming and I still think the cost of getting in back from the towing company is honestly kind of absurd. If you own a car and plan to use it often, I STRONGLY recommend putting THIS near the top priority prior to committing. I had my car towed twice by leaving it in the BLOCKONE parking lot overnight and it is very frustrating and costly so I ended up purchasing a parking spot at Jack Trice Stadium which is 20 minutes away with the shortest bus so I only really used it on long trips home. I was only able to get a BlockOne parking spot my second year there after a sign up for a waitlist immediately going whatever spot was open regardless of tier. 4/10 -On the upside, by nature of the 23Twenty being right literally right across the street from Iowa state campus and being in Campus town, there are multiple Cyride Buses that go A LOT of places. So if you’re a student who doesn’t have a car or don’t want to drive, this place is pretty much as good as it gets imo. 8.8/10 REASON FOR LEAVING. I was already considering living farther away from campus for my 3rd year at ISU so rent up, limited expensive parking and issues with some new roommates led me to not renew

I lived at Blockone for two school years. The first school year was okay. The biggest complaint the first year was that maintenance did a shabby job of fixing things in our apartment, leading to them having to come back on multiple occasions. The real problem began when Blockone advertises to renew your lease and “save your space”. My roommates and I chose to do that going into our senior year. They tell their tenants specific instructions for those leaving in the summer, which we followed exactly. When my roommate returned 10 days before our senior year, she walked in to an apartment filled with black mold in the kitchen and my bedroom, resulting from a water leak in the unit above. Come to find out, Blockone was aware of the leak above our unit and they did not check to make sure our unit was okay, leading to all the damage. During this whole process, we had to drop all of our weekend plans, come to Iowa, and move me out of a moldy apartment and into a different unit (after many hours of being left in the dark with no solid plans or answers). Blockone told us no to paying for a hotel, despite living 5 hours away from Ames. All year long, I was stuck in an apartment that was significantly smaller than the old unit, but still paying for the old one as well. I paid an additional $90 per month because Blockone did not change our rent as it was a “temporary living situation” (spoiler alert: I stayed in that apartment all year long). We paid $900 extra in rent my senior year because they did not change our rent or lease. Blockone then communicated with only 1/3 roommates instead of talking to each tenant and their families individually, which then lead to me being in the dark the entirety of my senior year, despite trying to ask questions politely. On top of that, Blockone had the front doors of The Edge unlocked my entire senior year, allowing anyone to walk into the building. Their security was mediocre and so was their maintenance. The only positive part of Blockone is that the units are furnished, close to campus, and close to the bars. Edited for BlockOne’s response: If management would like to claim “accuracy”, it should clarified that yes, the replacement unit was larger than the moldy apartment. However, let it be known that they moved us to a 4x4 XL, which was $699/mo. Originally I lived in a 3x3, being $789/mo. The replacement unit had my bedroom being half the size and a closet 1/4th of the size of my original 3x3 apartment. BlockOne still owes us $900 in overpaid rent, yet we’ll never see that refund. My bedroom in the new apartment did not even come close to the same size. Pictures for reference.

As the parent of a student who lived at The Edge for two years, I can say the property’s greatest advantage is its convenient location within walking distance of campus. During my daughter’s junior year, her experience was generally positive. The apartment itself was adequate; however, maintenance requests were often slow to be addressed, and the quality of repairs frequently fell short of expectations. Our primary concern during that year was building security. Several exterior entrance doors, as well as the overhead parking garage door, were broken for extended periods, allowing unrestricted access to the building. These issues raised significant concerns about resident safety. Unfortunately, my daughter’s senior year was far more challenging. Just ten days before move-in, and shortly before the start of classes, one of her roommates informed us that their apartment had sustained significant water damage and had developed black mold throughout the kitchen, living room, and my daughter’s bedroom. After spending several hours attempting to reach someone for guidance, we ultimately made an emergency five-hour trip to Ames to remove all of her belongings from the apartment. While BlockONE did provide the residents with a temporary apartment, we were initially told the displacement would last only six to eight weeks. That timeline proved to be inaccurate. The residents were never able to return to their original apartment and remained in the temporary unit for the duration of their lease. Despite this permanent relocation, the lease was never updated to reflect the change in accommodations. As a result, we continued paying approximately $90 more per month than the replacement unit warranted, totaling an overpayment of roughly $900 over the course of the lease. Communication throughout this process was consistently disappointing. When my daughter sought answers from the leasing office, she frequently received incorrect or conflicting information from one staff member. Another staff member was often unavailable, dismissive of her questions, or stated that he was communicating only with one roommate’s parent while assuming that individual was representing all three families. This assumption led to additional confusion and misinformation. When I eventually spoke with senior management, I was left with the impression that they were largely unaware of the extent of the issues or how they had been handled. Unfortunately, I did not find management to be proactive or particularly helpful in resolving our concerns. Building security also remained an ongoing issue throughout her senior year. The overhead garage door was not repaired until late in the academic year, and the front entrance doors to the building remained broken for nearly the entire year, leaving residents without the level of security they should reasonably expect. While The Edge offers an excellent location near campus, our experience was overshadowed by poor communication, inadequate maintenance, and unresolved security concerns. Based on our experience, I cannot recommend this property to families who prioritize responsive management, resident safety, and effective communication.

Loved my time at 23twenty. Staff was nice and responsive. Facilities were clean and safe. Unit had good amenities for the price I paid. I appreciated the staff's willingness to evaluate my charges upon move out so I was not charged for things that I was not at fault for.

University Towers is one of the worst places I’ve ever lived in. The building is old, lacks a lot of basic things, and the price is ridiculously high for what you actually get When I moved in, there were issues left over from the previous tenant cracks in the walls and closet, a broken TV, and terrible lighting. the internet. This was by far the worst part. There’s no Ethernet cable access at all in some rooms the Wi-Fi is completely unstable. Even when it works, the speed is only 50mbps. And don’t forget the elevator. For months, everyone in the building had to rely on a single elevator because the other one was constantly broken. Also You’re close to the university, so expect parties every Friday night that go until 2am. Good luck sleeping. Just to be clear, I’m talking specifically about University Towers. Other units in BlockONE probably are way better