Slate at 901, knoxville-tn

I lived in Slate (formerly Evolve) from August 2017 through July 2018. My time here was stressful from day one to say the least. The day I moved in my apartment was beyond filthy (photos attached). My roommate had already lived there since the year prior, so her stuff was everywhere. It was clear that no one had inspected the cleanliness of the apartment prior to my arrival as the fridge had an odor, there was paint on the couch, coffee table, and floor, the white countertops were stained, the floor was sticky, and paint was peeled of the walls. The manager sent a cleaning crew up there, and their mouths fell open when they saw the mess, and even after a couple of hours of cleaning the apartment was still trashed. I should have broken my lease that day, but I was assured the situation would be handled, which was a lie. Moving forward my roommate made my experience a nightmare, and management at Evolve and their higher-ups did nothing to handle it. My roommate's boyfriend lived with us, which was in violation of our leasing agreement, and Evolve refused to make him leave or adjust my rent and hers for the extra person she had living there- mind you I paid over $1000 a month for rent and parking. I should also point out my roommate had an issue with her roommate the year prior because she was so filthy- and despite knowing this and me filling out a self-evaluation saying I was a clean person, they still roomed me with her with no warning. The building was filthy at various times during the year as well. The hallways needed to be repainted and the floors needed to deep-cleaned. I also had a package delivered that they were never able to find. The only thing that was positive about my experience were the people who worked in the front office. Preston Abbott was the leasing manager when I lived there and was always very nice. The maintenance man- I can't remember his name- was great. The front desk workers were generally polite, but I did have a girl call me asking where my final move out payment was before the due date and have an attitude when I told her I would bring it when it was due. Despite the niceness, nothing was ever handled with my roommate's lease violations.The property manager's manager-I don't know her name- did absolutely nothing to try to help solve my roommate issues despite the lease violations. Though I cannot attest to how the new management is, I will say I would not recommend living here. While they could not necessarily make my roommate be clean, they should have enforced the leasing agreement when it came to having guest. If you know your roommates prior to living there, it might be a positive experience, but I absolutely did not enjoy living here.

If you like living in a place with terrible management that constantly jacks up rent while the building is quite literally falling apart, this is the place for you! If you’re planning on living here, expect your rent to go up year by year with no real explanation and also be prepared to dish out hundreds of dollars a month because this place does NOT provide any parking for its residents and there is no free parking anywhere near the building. The parking they do offer is mostly tandem parking, which is incredibly inconvenient and they charge insane prices for it. They also won’t help you find any parking solutions either, so unless you wanna park 10 minutes from the building looking for any possible free street parking (which the city of Knox is getting rid of) be prepared to spend extra $$$. This place will take every dime from you where they can get it. In terms of the quality of this place, expect mold to constantly build up in your faucets, air vents, and showers and don’t ever expect some kind of solution for it, just be prepared to clean constantly b/c their filters are terrible. Oh and if you want to go on your balcony? Better hope it doesn’t collapse, which actually happened recently here. There was no kind of rent discount when it happened, management just bolted the door for every balcony months and didn’t offer any kind of explanation. Fantastic. For students too, be ready for the WiFi to go out constantly, the community printer to NEVER work (which they also charge you for too, so be prepared to say goodbye to your money if you try to print something out). Also, there are weeks where the fire alarm just goes off randomly early in the morning every single day, and it’s the loudest most painful alarm you can think of. This place does like everything it can possibly do for you to hate living here. Management is really terrible. The leasing office is so incredibly clueless and the actual upper-management are aggressive and rude and don’t care about their tenants at all unless money can be made. You’ll deal with college students working the office only to get a discount on the unbelievably high rent who have no idea how to fix or resolve anything, or the upper management who genuinely could care less about anything without a dollar sign on it. Management only cares about money and it really doesn’t matter if your apartment is falling apart. Typical terrible landlord situation. During quarterly inspections, they also seemingly just lie and make stuff up in order to charge you fees wherever they can. Seen that happen to a lot of different people here. Also wanna mention that when you move in, bring cleaning supplies. The place was absolutely filthy when we moved in and we had to deep clean our supposedly new and clean apartment which was ridiculous. Also heard this right before I moved out, but because they are having trouble filling up their awful apartments they are offering super unfair discounts to certain new prospective tenants, so if you don’t mind paying almost double what they charge some people for the same floor plan go for it. They are robbing you here. Amenities are also not great. Hot tub is gross and gets closed down every couple months indefinitely for whatever reason. Gym is pretty ok though. The only pretty good part of this apartment is the location, so if that’s the only thing you care about then go for it. BTW, all the five star reviews are literally from them begging people to give them five stars in exchange for BS gifts and stuff, so ignore them if they don’t actually have anything to say. This place sucks and everyone I knew who lived here was happy to leave.

I am writing this under a fake account because I fear retaliation from management, which should say a lot in itself. The only thing this apartment complex has going for it is the location. It is walkable to campus. Other than that, I strongly recommend you look elsewhere. The Hub, The Union, The Tenn, or really any other place would be a better option. The apartments are extremely outdated, especially when you consider the brand new buildings being built on every side of the property. Despite this, rent is the same or even higher in most cases. Their inspection process is completely flawed. I moved into a unit that had been continuously occupied for several years. Because at least one person always renewed, they never inspected the common areas, even when new people moved in. As a result, my roommates and I are being charged for damage that occurred years before we ever lived here. This is deeply unfair. Conversations with management felt dismissive. Every time I raised a concern, it felt like it was flipped back on me. Instead of support, I was met with defensiveness. Parking is a mess. I was on the waitlist for two years and never received an offer. The few spots that exist are tandem and cost way too much. Without a parking spot, you are forced to either purchase UT permit (which will run you about $400 and is extremely competitive) or search for public parking, which used to be free but is now all paid. It often took me thirty minutes to an hour just to find a space. If you have a car, do not expect any reasonable solution. The amenities are unreliable. The deck is often closed. The hot tub is usually broken. Do not expect to use either. The community events are well-intentioned but mostly pointless. Only a handful of people ever show up. I would much rather have cheaper rent than art supplies and snacks for three or four people each month. The apartments are moldy and falling apart. The maintenance guys are very nice (at least). But one of the decks actually collapsed. In response, management locked everyone’s balcony doors and never offered any kind of reimbursement for the lost square footage. In short, this is a poorly managed, overpriced complex in severe need of repair and better oversight. The location alone does not make it worth it. Save yourself the stress and look elsewhere.

The Slate at 901 is definitely one of the best apartments on the strip. It is always extremely clean, safe and secure, relatively quiet, and the units are nice. If anything is ever broken the maintenance team is awesome, they're super nice, and very prompt in repair. There are lots of cameras and it is nearly impossible to gain entry without a key or someone scanning you in. The amenities are super nice such as the gym, study room, and lounge. Theres a vending machine with which is convenient as well. The staff really put in an effort to make the apartment more of a community like feel. With just above 50 units, you will for sure see some familiar faces in the elevators and hallways. My only complaints are the hot tub terrace that is continuously put off repairing each year, it's a pretty bad eye sore, given that its my direct view from my room. The parking situation is another one of my complaints as they continue to raise the price each year(195$/month for a single spot in 2024). Most of the walls are also pretty thin so you just got to keep in mind that the people below your unit can hear you walking around. Overall, the Slate is easily the best ran apartment on Cumberland. If you are a parent reading this, I highly suggest this apartment over any of the competitors. I will be releasing again as I have very few complaints except the price(which is on par with everywhere else unfortunately nowadays). Slate at 901 team- thank you for your hard work and I look forward to the future. (Please fix the hot tub/update residents more on whats going on with it)

The slate is AMAZING. it is seriously the BEST apartment complex at UTK. It feels like such a community, the staff is always working on ways to interact with the residents, the building has cleaners come every single week day, and it is so well maintained. I love it so much! The only downfall is the parking situation but that reflects more as a campus problem rather than the slate.