Robert Boyd’s original remarks on the scraping of the Wilshire Village Apartments briefly mentioned another older apartment complex that Matt Dilick redeveloped and now runs: the Bayou on the Bend Apartments, at 5201 Memorial, just west of Shepherd. Boyd’s link to discussions of that complex at ratings website Apartment Ratings sparked a quick note from a reader:
It looks like Apartment Ratings attracts tenants who want to complain, but it seems like most of the gripes about other apartments focus on managers who are hard to deal with, thin walls, neighborhood crime, that sort of stuff. Have you read the reviews of Bayou on the Bend?
Bayou on the Bend gets a 35 percent positive rating from readers who have written in to comment — certainly not the lowest number for a large Houston complex. Here are a few choice excerpts:
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Good thing management has the time to write the good reviews, or this place would be at 5%. I found the staff to be nice, but gave it one star because dealing with the managing owner is so bad that it overrode anything good the staff ever did.
. . . mold is growing on my bedroom wall and I have still yet to see the maintenance or the manager show any concern,maybe because I am moving . . . they appear to have no money because when something major breaks such as swimming pool it takes them six months to get them repaired.
From January of this year:
The place itself looks nice, but don’t be fooled. It was made in the cheapest way possible which is why they are having such financial issues trying to fix everything. After the hurricane, they were so unhelpful and my apartment still has mold in it!!!
When they first built the Bayou Apts, they had MANY problems…Here are just a few of them…
1. The fire marshall came in and the building had sooo many violations they had to move EVERYONE out for about 3 months…They had to be put up in a hotel downtown and pay for their expenses….
2. They built out the units as they rented them and NOT all at once. Ongoing construction while tenants were living there.
3. They had MAJOR MAJOR flooding from the pipes that were installed from the upper floors. They ignored the problem for a while and painted over the mold and damage where they could . . . The contractor blamed the installers and they fought about it. They ONLY repaired and painted where necessary….STILL having leaks ALL throughout the building.
4. Violations Violations GALORE……They were also sited for elevator violations, fire safety, plumbing violations….NOT reputable builders & contractors….
And from last November:
After the hurricane which flooded us in for days as the bayou rises, many residents now have mold in their walls. We had several days of rain last week and bayou flooded our back area and this water flows into Memorial Drive. I have had numerous leaks before the hurricane. Leasing staff are leaving, last one leaves this week. They cant in good consciousness lease to people anymore. Our pools and jacuzzis are still out of commission. The parking garage is a nightmare. People coming home from work cannot get into the garage if one person is leaving and you are stuck backing up onto Memorial Drive in busy traffic. Parties are so-so. I did not like the crawfish boil.
Ah, but more positive reviewers respond:
Now I know there were some problems with the Hurricane, the management told me about them, but the place is beautiful and the management fixed those problems which were the fault of a contractor. The entrance is amazing, almost like a modern Greek building, I love the room lay out I was shown, I still wish I could live there but the Lord had other plans for me. However to all those who say it is horrible, buy a house, the rent is the same as mortgage, and then complain to your contractor. Im 65 now and I was looking to show a picture to my buddy when I read all these nasty lies. I was taken off my feet by my visit and I am sure that you will be too.
Buffalo Bayou is so cool to watch and peaceful to sit back and read and smoke with the skyscrapers on the horizon . Bayou on the Bend Apartments is the best place ever with very spacious apartments and state of the art design features. I use the steam room 3 times a week and love the infinity poo. Absolutely the greatest views in Houston!
Here are some views of that infinity . . . oh, never mind. One commenter included these photos, with the caption “And this is not from ike a few times a year lets see how many months it takes next time to fix the pool.”
- Bayou on the Bend Apartments [Apartment Ratings]
- Wilshire Village Scraped [Wha’ Happen?]
- Bayou on the Bend apartments set to rise again, Bayou project rides out rain delay [Houston Business Journal]
- Bayou on the Bend Luxury Apartments
- Boyd’s Wilshire Village Prayer, with Photos [Swamplot]
Photos: Bayou on the Bend (at top); Apartment Ratings (Buffalo Bayou)
Bayou on the Bend is in a particularly bad location: When you want to leave, you only have one way out (turn right on Memorial); when you want to return home, you typically first have to make a U-turn at Memorial and Detering (I think…); and when the bayou rises and floods you are more often than not simply stuck.
I have no idea how much the apartments rent for, but I can’t ever envision myself living there unless the rent was $1 or less for a year’s lease.
I thought they tore down Bayou on the Bend after Alicia flooded it for the nth time. A friend had survived two floods in the older apartment complex before the owners gave up.
The new ones (pictured) are called “Left Bank” and are pretty pricey; plus, they built a traffic light at the entrance.
“I use the steam room 3 times a week and love the infinity poo.”
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Goodness, if there is an infinite amount of poo at this place, I think steaming 3x a week just isn’t enough. :)
… but the gentleman is smoking, too, so volatile compounds are effectively removed and a pleasant aroma is left behind!
Infinity Poo is hilarious. Fruedian slip?
That place has needed a paint-job since day #1.
I’ve canoed past it a couple of times and always picture Personal Escape Rafts tethered to each balcony.
I looked at Bayou on the Bend but ultimately decided not to rent there. People on that apartment review web site do like to complain but where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. Likewise with The Bel Air on Allen Parkway. Lots of complaints about shoddy construction, noise, and poor management. I am leasing a condo and that is working out well so far. Condos tend to be built better than traditional apartment complexes.
@miss_msry: I disagree. I think Left Bank is indeed the complex at the light (Memorial and Detering), but it’s very French-ish, as the name suggests, and about 4 stories. This (6-story, modernist) place is just east of that, on the site of the “Bayou on the Bend” apartments that were, as you pointed out, torn down.
Also, I’m rather amused by “infinity poo” coupled with a photo of lots and lots of brown water.
Is this Bayou on the Bend or Left Bank? I wonder if someone has their complexes confused. Whatever the complex on the bayou is, it has been a disaster from day one. The rains come, the bayou rises. Not the best place to have ever built an apartment complex.
As for mold, I’ve been there, done that with both the city and then the county court and passed on going to the appellate court. Got mold? Move.
As for “reviews” it is usually best to assume the “rave reviews” are written by the management staff. Few complexes, if any, at this point garner any real raves from tenants.
Bayou in the Bend (as pictured) replaced a circa 1960 small complex that was also named “Bayou on the Bend”. The original complex was very cool but flooded several times before it was replaced with this tacky monstrosity. Left Bank is to the west.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that the area floods as it sits in the Buffalo Bayou floodplain and the bayou forms its southern boundary. The building is on piers several stories above ground.
The marketing gimmick for this place was “design it yourself” so the first residents picked their carpet, granite,color scheme etc….hence the construction while early residents lived there. No one has to back out onto Memorial as there is plenty of turn around
space in addition to a drop off zone. So take some of those apartment ratings with a grain of salt. They rented from $1400 up
when they opened a few years back.
The building looked cheesily built from day one with a polyglot of design mechanisms that in no way complement one another. There are now 200+ units where 36 or so sat before. But what can we say, it’s Houston folks and the developers rule the roost.
Does any real human being write “state of the art design features” in their review? It’s like saying “The complex is filled with beautiful objects.”
Property managers take notice: if you are going to fake reviews you need to do better! Otherwise your attempt is just… well… a pile of infinity poo.
Place doesnt make sense to me. I’ve been through most of it. For the area, its pretty low quality. Parties happen on that rooftop though, its terraced and somewhat cool.
I live nearby and I think that would be a neat place to live if it is executed correctly. Yes, it floods, but the building appears to be designed for it, being raised and all. During Ike it was cut off by a flooded Memorial Drive, but that is not exactly something to complain about (I would have traded a day’s entrapment for two weeks of additional electricity, which the complex had, relative to my nearby house).
As for the apartment review sites? If they were really an accurate look at people’s general opinions, no apartments anywhere would have any tenants.
I love bayou on the bend. Most people who live here do too. Except fortheir live in HPD officer who conducts warrantless searches as he or management sees fit. This will get them in deep poo very soon. Other than that no complaints