Eastwind Apartments

The apartments feel modern and nicely upgraded, with stainless steel appliances, new cabinets, and new flooring. You're only steps from Barnes and Noble, Starbucks, and Whole Foods. Savannah and Kay are awesome, too!

We spent three years, from 2020-2023, in Eastwind apartments, living in two units, one on the first floor and one on the second. We got a pretty good sense of the building, and our experience was very negative. Many residents were grad students and working-class people looking for an affordable place near the University of Michigan. In my opinion, CMB treated us poorly. The location did make it possible to walk to the bus, grocery store, pharmacy, and a decent range of restaurants, which was handy without a car. Covered parking was nice in winter. By Ann Arbor standards, the rent was relatively affordable while we lived there, though CMB raised it substantially after we left. As of November 2024, a 725 square foot one-bedroom was $1,575, which is extremely overpriced for metro Detroit. The problems were substantial. In our first year, sewage water flooded into the apartment from the kitchen. Management didn't reimburse us for damaged belongings, and we paid ourselves to clean a rug covered in dirty water. The whole place smelled disgusting for days. Both units also had ongoing mold, especially in the poorly ventilated bathrooms. We repeatedly tried to get maintenance to deal with it, but they couldn't stop it spreading. A shower later developed a steady leak. Maintenance came on Friday, said they couldn't fix it, and said they'd return Monday. Instead, they left us with a worse problem: scalding hot water poured into the tub for days. It made the mold worse and heated the apartment, and we spent the weekend in a hot, humid place without a working shower. Laundry was another headache. One dryer was constantly broken, there weren't enough machines for the tenants, and that dryer was cheap and damaged clothes. I stopped using it because everything came out smelling moldy. The kitchen was tiny and had little storage. Although amenities are nearby, Eastwind sits on Washtenaw Ave, a busy road between Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. Cars were always zipping past, and getting to restaurants and businesses meant crossing crowded parking lots. My spouse and I enjoy walking together, but didn't like living in such a car-dependent area. When we sought a fourth-year lease renewal, CMB offered us a rent increase of about $400 a month for a one-bedroom, from roughly $1.2k to $1.6k. A neighbor on our floor in an almost identical one-bedroom got an increase of about $100, from roughly $1.2k to $1.3k. We don't know why Eastwind quoted such different rates. We suspect it may have been because we'd complained about ongoing maintenance problems. My spouse and I are both transgender and visibly queer, so we can't know whether that played a part in CMB's decision-making either. At the very least, the difference between two comparable units seems suspicious. Whatever the intent, it felt like a backhanded way to push us out. I wouldn't recommend Eastwind or renting through CMB management. You can find a much better deal elsewhere in metro Detroit.

CMB management was easy to reach, and even ordinary maintenance requests were handled within a couple of days. The building is a bit old and had a few typical older-building issues, but they were addressed quickly. I never felt stuck navigating bureaucracy. The area felt very safe, and I never saw property crime. There was plenty of parking for visitors or extra cars, and the building sits far enough from the road to stay quiet apart from the occasional loud exhaust on Washtenaw. The management team was nice and eager to help, but communication could be disorganized, so I'd keep important leasing questions to email. Getting in and out on foot or by car was also a little annoying. It's just off one of the city's busiest intersections, and nearby Kroger and Whole Foods aren't easy places to pop in and out of quickly.

Maintenance requests have always been handled quickly and respectfully. Jenny, the property manager, communicates really well, and Joey and Eric on the maintenance team work hard and are nice guys. CMB management has been top notch for us. When we move, we'll go out of our way to stay with them.