Ascend Richmond Student Living, richmond-va

- There is routinely a means into the building that has no obstruction, no need for key access, and is not in view of any cameras until you are standing in front of someone's unit. - Read the lease! By signing it, you agree that they may put you in whatever room they want, including those that will include additional charges. In my case, they put me on the 12th floor (+$35 per month) and in a room with the ensuite bathroom. (+10 per month) You sign away all power to change it. - The beam keeping the window connected to the wall fell off a few months in. - There were thousands of wasps swarming all around the top floors (not hyperbole) one month in, preventing us from going outside on our balcony for weeks. The wasps began returning right before move-out. - The powdery paint cannot reasonably hold more than a poster, and basically no command strips, and can be marked far to easily. - Everything they provide in your units is clearly intended to be breakable and cheap to replace on their end. - The sky lounge never had AC during the summer, and the amenities such as the pool cues were always damaged. (snapped in half, stripped of the felt heads, etc.) - If you were to replace all the filth in the pool with a dead squirrel, that would still have been cleaner. It was disgusting the whole time. - There is nothing you can do if you have problematic roommates or neighbors. My downstairs neighbors would play music at night so loud it shook our appliances, and neither the staff nor security would do anything effective about it. This place is a sham of luxury.

Ascend is an amazing place to live, especially as a VCU student or young professional. It is very central and they have amazing staff and maintenance teams. Alden (one of the maintenance workers), was extremely reliable and helpful throughout my four years of living here. He always made sure to go above and beyond to ensure maintenance issues were resolved in a timely manner. Thank you Alden & Ascend!!

From an outside perspective, Ascend seems like a nice place. It’s nice to have your own personal bedroom and bathroom. It also offers a lot of amenities (gym, pool, rooftop lounge). However, after living here for 2 years, I would NOT suggest moving into this place. I had a car in the garage (which they charge $115 a month for), and for most of my time while at Ascend the garage door was broken, so literally anyone could walk into the garage. MULTIPLE cars got broken into and had things stolen. Ascend did NOTHING to compensate. They also were doing construction in the upper garage for 6 months, and didn’t tell anyone or update us on any information concerning when it would be finished. There were more cars than there were spots so people had to park along the wall, blocking other cars in. The front door (which is supposed to be locked and secure) half the time is open. At least one of the elevators is down every week. They say the rooftop is “common area” but then kick you out at 10pm. When you move out, they will charge you for horrible paint jobs that THEIR maintenance did. They will charge you for a new couch ($125 per person if it’s a 4 person unit) when the couch is perfectly fine. They will charge you $8 if they have to vacuum your carpet, along with multiple other ridiculous “cleaning and maintenance fees.” If you’re fine with dumping $1k a month and getting screwed over for this disorganized mess they call an apartment complex, then Ascend is the place for you!

Toured with my roommate and soon as we entered we was greeted by Ms. Gems and her energy was everything! She was so happy and explained everything so detailed. Great experience.

My daughter loves her studio apartment. The layout is super cute and furnished with the basics. She enjoys her full size kitchen, outdoor patio and amenities the complex provides. Thankfully we were able to get her a car parking pass for the complex. As a parent I am happy they have a good security system of how to get into the parking garage and apartment complex. She does gripe about the app not working frequently to get into the complex.