Lark Central Florida, orlando-fl

Lived here for two years and have a lot to say so buckle in. Let’s start with positives. Front desk workers (specifically Kevin and Alexia) are great. Never had major issues with front desk management personally. The insides of the apartments are nice. Pretty modern and well-kept. Maintenance is very punctual; things get taken care of quickly. Pool is nice and pretty much never crowded. Gym is decent especially if you’re new/intermediate to working out. Has all the basics you need. Also not crowded if you go at the right time. The most serious thing wrong with lark from the perspective of a woman is lack of feeling safe. The parking garages are not only badly kept (there’s constantly trash, broken glass, and you can barely even see the parking space lines) but they’re also very dimly lit with no cameras whatsoever and people drive like LUNATICS in there (it’s not lark’s fault that their residents suck but they could at least discourage it by having cameras). The lack of cameras in the hallways is also very concerning (not sure what the Florida laws are though about surveillance within living spaces). I was constantly looking over my shoulder and bracing for all the blind corners. The hallways are literally the backrooms with a ton of stains, patchy paint, and spiders everywhere. Every time I brought someone over it would be the first thing they’d notice. It also doesn’t help that they are open to the outside air (aka non-air conditioned) and depending on the position of your apartment it can be an absolute TRECK in the Florida heat carrying groceries and stuff. Lark’s method with Amazon/UPS/whatever packages is honestly ridiculous. The leasing office is open 10-6 Mon-Fri and you can’t get your packages unless they are open AND have sorted through every single package and sent you an email that it’s ready. The office staff did an impressive job honestly of sorting through the packages and having them ready by at least the next day, but my point is that they shouldn’t have to do that. If a place like Campus Crossings across the street can have an Amazon lockbox it’s insane that Lark doesn’t. You better hope that any package you order doesn’t arrive outside the leasing office hours or else it’ll get sent back or left outside the front door to possibly be stolen. Insane tbh. Had some problems especially last year with fire alarms randomly going off sometimes at like 3 in the morning but that hasn’t happened in a super long time so maybe they finally figured it out. Parking garage gate breaks every few months but there’s another entrance at the back so it’s really not that big of a deal. All in all, if lark wants to stay competitive with other housing in the area they need to majorly step up their game. They are one of the more affordable places near campus but still SO overpriced in my opinion. Honestly, other than the hallways just generally not being kept up well, it doesn’t help that lark residents in general seem to be SO disrespectful. I have never in my life seen such consistent trash and spilled food/drinks everywhere that stay there for DAYS. People here have no respect for common spaces and are filthy. The amount of times I would see people just leave their trash bags RIGHT NEXT to the trash chute was infuriating. Pure laziness. Also, for some reason they don’t have any virtual or in-person tours of their studio apartment and only have one singular picture of it available. So I’ll include some pictures of my studio apartment on move-in day.

I have lived at Lark for one year before moving out. Besides my original issue with leasing and getting an apartment locked in, I had a worse issue and ultimately I chose not to renew because of it. I would advise to please read my review before leasing here so that you know what to expect. A couple of months into my lease my apartment got flooded from a floor above me, and subsequently led to my apartment having to be fully renovated. In that time I was relocated and I am very thankful. However, this is where my issue started. During this time I was told that my unit would be ready to move back into in just a week, then it was two weeks, and then it was ultimately it won’t be finished for the rest of my lease. Which is understandable, but when I was told that it won’t be livable for the remainder of my lease I went to go collect all my belongings and I came to find out that all of my personal and private belongings were rummaged through and put to the side without prior notice or my consent from any management or staff. Again, I would’ve happily removed all my belongings and items if I was told I needed to, but instead it was all clumped together by who knows who without any emails, communication, or even records of who was in my room and moving all my belongings. Fast forward to when I get situated into my temporary unit and I finally unpack the unorganized clumps of what used to be my belongings, I find that I am missing things. I was missing two cologne bottles, clothes, my cars second key, and even my bank card which made me very upset since this all happened because they didn’t give me a deadline or anything. At first I was in contact with management at the time of me moving all my belongings etc, who were very on and off with communicating, but after unpacking there was a shift in management and that new management informed me that I took too long to report the missing items and that I am no longer eligible for reimbursement. Which is insane because prior management reassured me that I will have everything reimbursed and to take my time. So on top of random people going through private and personal belongings, I am missing my bank card and second key for my car, along with others. I just want my belongings to be reimbursed. While I was lucky that I deactivated my bank card in time, who knows what happened with my car key and colognes.

Very affordable compared to other student residences, especially for a short-term lease. The apartments and bedrooms are spacious and comfortable. The main downside is the condition of the hallways. They could really use some renovation and are not very appealing. The pool is nice and the gym is also good, although some of the equipment could use an upgrade. The staff is very friendly, and maintenance requests are usually handled quickly. Overall, a good option if you are looking for affordable short-term housing near UCF.

I've been living here for a month now and I can say this has to be the worst complex ever on sanitation, apartment quality, and communication. I have seen dozens of emails and tried to contact them about a bunch of problems with my apartment and they never respond, they offered me zero instructions on move in day, no information on mailing, trash, anything, just the keys and my room number. When I got there the couch was trashed, our blinds were snapped, my mattress was covered in blood, our dishwasher and washing machine didn't work, my room smelled and still smells like weed from past tenants, there is still literal feces and urine in my stairwell for weeks it still hasn't been cleaned up, and I can't use the elevator because its broken. Cockroaches in my room when I moved in. The place was packed with junk from old tenants I had to spend days getting rid of all of it they didn't clean it out one bit. There is often trash laying around the complex because they bolted the trash chute shut and people cant be bothered to walk down 5 flights of stairs through feces and urine because the elevator is broken. Honestly there are a million lawsuits waiting to happen if this place doesn't act fast. All of this just to talk to some ai assistant that does nothing, I've sent dozens of emails and message and maintenance requests and almost zero communication back, it's almost radio silent. Can't lie this is probably the worst complexes you could go for around UCF. I regret it hard.

DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN HERE. I genuinely cannot recommend Lark at UCF to anyone. The condition of this property ard unacceptable. Hallways are filthy, the garage is disgusting, and it feels like cleanliness and maintenance aren’t priorities. The whole place stinks of urine and throw up. More concerning, doors that are supposed to be locked are routinely left unlocked with broken locks throughout the building, and there are often non-residents coming in and out, which makes it feel unsafe. Management is another serious issue. Be extremely cautious when moving out. In my experience, I was charged hundreds of dollars in cleaning and painting charges after move out, despite leaving the apartment spotless. It feels less like a fair assessment and more like an opportunity to squeeze additional money out of residents. Total money grab on already extremely over priced rent for what you get. If you’re a parent considering this place for your child, I would strongly urge you to make this your absolute last option. Everything else within a mile radius of UCF better be full and this is your last option or you clearly do not care for your child. And please do not respond with the usual generic, AI-generated management reply. I’m not interested in a copy-paste apology or an invitation to “reach out to the office” or to tell us you have a deep commitment to resident safety and a well maintained property. The issues here are obvious to anyone who actually lives in the building, and a scripted response does nothing to address them.