The Waterfront Apartments, madison-wi

Adding to the 1 star security deposit theft reviews. Just moved out of McKenzie Place and they’re trying to steal $400 from my wife and I when we left the place immaculately clean with nothing but three years of normal wear and tear. This is illegal and I’m still dealing with it. You’ve been warned!!! Photos for proof :) Edited 8/13: Review remains 1 star as their theft of half my security deposit is still ongoing. After reaching out and asking when I’ll receive my full refund for wrongfully withholding my deposit, Tara doubled down on thinking the fees for cleaning and wall marks were needed. Pictures really speak for themselves. As you can see, the apartment was perfectly clean with nothing but normal wear and tear. Tara sent me pictures as her proof of taking half my deposit and said they needed to hire professional cleaners to “make the unit livable for the resident” lol. I added Tara’s message and her pictures of some crumbs, mostly behind the fridge, and a few nail marks to the post as her “justification” - you can be the judge and see for yourselves. The pictures after the screenshot message on 8/13 at 6pm were what I was sent as “proof” of them needing half my deposit. If you do choose to rent from Palisade, take tons of before and after pictures and I guess try not to miss any crumbs behind the fridge. You can see the proof of my clean, orderly exit from McKenzie Place but they think they can still bully their tenants into stealing half their security deposits. PS - we paid an extra $300 to end our lease early and my wife found the person to sublet our lease. Just adding context to not let Palisade’s reply purposefully deceive anyone! Edit 11/15: It was a pain figuring out small claims court but I sued them and got my security deposit back and all associated court fees.

Here's a fresh take on the same experience, written from a different angle: --- Moved in expecting the "luxury" experience they advertise everywhere. I've since adjusted my expectations considerably. The front desk staff are pleasant enough when nothing is wrong — but the second you actually need them for something, you find out fast that pleasantness and helpfulness are two very different things. Issues get acknowledged, not resolved. What I will say is that the maintenance crew are genuinely decent people who at least show up and try. One thing worth flagging: I've heard that staff get commission bonuses tied to residents naming them in positive reviews. Keep that in mind when you're reading the five-star write-ups. On the unit itself — insulation is basically nonexistent. My windows were so cold to the touch in winter I genuinely thought something was broken. Water outages happened more than once and lasted full days without warning. The elevators were a coin flip for over a month, and when half of them are down in a building this size, you're waiting several minutes just to get to your floor. Amenities are the other sore spot. Laundry is around $10 a load — and these are small machines that routinely need a second or third cycle to finish the job. The pool is advertised prominently but seems to be closed more often than it's open. The grill is locked whenever the pool is, which is most of the time. The price point is the punchline. This is among the most expensive options in the area, and none of the above is discounted into it.

Living at the Palisade property has been a wonderful experience. The management provides a stress-free environment that allows me to focus all my energy on my schoolwork. They offer free breakfast every Friday morning and handle any maintenance issues quickly and efficiently. In particular, Max and Will always make it a priority to resolve any problems as soon as possible. Overall, living at Palisade has been a phenomenal experience!

I STRONGLY encourage prospective tenants to read reviews carefully and look at the full timeline, not just the overall rating. A large number of recent 5-star reviews are clustered within short time periods and primarily focus on individual maintenance staff rather than the overall management experience. While timely maintenance is important, it does not reflect the full scope of being a tenant. My experience with management issues did not align with what these recent reviews suggest. I recommend reviewing older feedback and considering a range of experiences before making a decision.

I signed and paid for a lease at 150 langdon st that included a specific garage under my building with standard electrical outlets, and I was explicitly told I could bring my own Tesla charger and plug in. That charging access was the sole reason I chose that garage. Despite this, Palisade overbooked the garage and towed my car without any notice, even though I had a valid, paid, signed lease. When confronted, instead of taking responsibility, they tried to justify it using an impossible lease date error (claiming the lease started in 2025 and ended in 2024), clearly an internal mistake that they chose to weaponize. Their “resolution” was to move me to a different garage over 10 minutes away, and they claimed it had the same charging capability. It did not. There were no usable outlets at all, meaning the core feature I leased the garage for was gone. This was a clear bait-and-switch and false representation of amenities. No warning. No verification. No accountability. Just towing first and excuses later. If you rent from Palisade, expect them to say whatever is convenient up front and then fall back on fine print and paperwork errors when it’s time to honor the agreement. Document everything. Update: Is it really the first time you're hearing about this? Maybe you got to talk to Will. I have the emails saved and attached the invoice of the tow from Schmidt's. You guys said and i quote "Please don't park in the garage as there is not a spot allocated". For context, I had a signed parking space made all the payments on time and got towed without any heads up and moved to a garage 10 minutes away. You guys can keep deflecting but the world isn't out to get you. 3.2/5 on google says something...