Old Market Lofts by ExecuStay (EXEC-MW.OML506)

Residents have to step over human feces, bodies, and drug paraphernalia in the entryways and staircases at night. Non-residents get into the building to sleep, urinate, defecate, and use drugs. The trash chutes are backed up as high as the sixth floor, with bags piled in hallways, and the shared carpets haven’t been cleaned in years. There are hundreds of stains, and the halls are littered with garbage. The bathrooms haven’t been cleaned in months, and a ceiling on the 10th floor is rotting through. The basement garage door has had a broken lock for weeks. Staff use it every day but won’t fix it until residents push them. The so-called heated parking isn’t heated: last winter, an uninsulated copper pipe froze and burst, flooding three floors below. The emergency line said it wasn’t an emergency, and a maintenance worker blamed residents for the burst pipe. The atrium has no AC and reached over 90 degrees all summer. My AC was out twice this year for a total of 13 days during the hottest stretch. They refused my request for portable units, saying they weren’t allowed to provide them anymore, so I spent $400 on temporary AC. A leaking washer took almost two weeks to replace, and the new one sat in my dining room for five days before installation. The Community Room / Sky Lounge has been closed to residents for over a year, though staff still use it for private parties. They ignore emails asking about it. After you sign your lease, you can’t go back into the leasing office, and staff are rude when you try to talk to them. They tell you to call their number, but don’t answer. I’ve sent several complaints through their official forum and never heard back. Staff spend much of the day smoking outside and tossing their cigarette butts on the ground. Residents should complain to the city, because this company clearly needs outside intervention to manage the property.

My main concern these days is feeling safe. I leave for work at 5:30 in the morning and feel anxious because unhoused people are in the entryways. I’ve been yelled at, followed outside, and harassed. With the rent I pay, I should be able to feel secure, and all the doors need controlled access. I understand why OML has so many negative reviews, and after living here several years I have plenty of complaints myself. I love my apartment, which is why I’ve stayed. Maintenance has been an issue before, though over the past couple of months they’ve been responding faster and fixing things sooner.

When I try to reach management, there’s little response. Leasing agents will take your rent check, then seem to disappear once the lease is signed. As a property manager and real estate professional, I’d tell tenants and landlords to stay away from Elevate Living. The company seems driven by profit, with little regard for residents’ wellbeing, tenant rights, property standards, or basic decency. Shared spaces are filthy and unsafe: trash chutes stay backed up for days, elevators operate out of code, AC in common areas often fails, and the halls and garages are neglected. Maintenance access also feels like an invasion of privacy. They arrive without notice, despite Nebraska’s 24-hour notice law, and I’ve personally seen workers go through residents’ belongings while supposedly completing work orders. This is nowhere near professional property management. I’d be ashamed to have my name on a community run this way. The negligence and disregard are appalling. If Elevate Living wants to learn to manage its properties properly, they can call me, or sell them to someone who cares.

Don’t let the Old Market location or the historic look of some units win you over. I did, and I regret it. The apartments have little insulation: the windows are attractive but single-paned, and do nothing to keep out cold or dust. The brick exterior walls don’t help, and thin interior walls and floors let you hear and smell your neighbors constantly. I lived here for 2.5 years and should have left sooner. Packages get stolen all the time, common areas are filthy, elevators are frequently broken, and maintenance requests can sit for weeks. People without housing regularly get inside. The party room and guest room have been unavailable for months, while the gym is small, outdated, often closed, or has no AC. Management is basically unreachable. They use a confusing voicemail setup and don’t return calls or portal messages. If you go to the on-site office, they just tell you to call the voicemail system. I wouldn’t live here or at another Elevate Living property.