Academy Lane Apartments

This is FPI Property Management. I actually ruled another complex out of my search for a new apartment because they are owned by FPI. They’ve made us take down all door decorations, so now the halls, in addition to the smell of anything anyone has cooked have a more creepy, The-​Shining-​like vibe than ever. There have been continuing issues over my apartment. Without going into detail, there was another fix or evict notice, and when I tried to figure out what I needed to fix I was either ignored or given vague responses. I’m still waiting (over a week) for a response to my last email. They didn’t even show up for the inspection that was supposed to follow the fix or evict notice, so I don’t even know what’s going on. I’m currently at a 24-​hour diner waiting for the office to open because at 4am my smoke detector started chirping. Since it’s wired to the building I did not feel comfortable trying to unplug or dismantle it myself, I called the 24 emergency maintenance number. When I hadn’t heard from them by 8:15 I called the office, identified myself, and asked if they got my email (I sent an email when the maintenance # yielded no results). They said they’d gotten it. Ok… when I inquired further they said that if they had permission to enter they could probably get to it today. So if I hadn’t called and given permission to enter I may have had a constant chirping indefinitely? We also got a summer newsletter yesterday. It basically said not to put powdered detergent in the washers, don’t bring dogs in the pool, they’ll no longer be offering free cable, and that we need to start taking out our trash nightly if there is food in it. The last is supposedly to keep the halls smelling fresh. I have never noticed a hall smell problem other than people’s cooking. And if they cared about the halls so much they may want to clean them every few months. Also, the free internet is terrible. If there is a problem, you have call the internet provider (instaconnect) tech support, which is only open 10am-​7pm Monday-​Friday. When there are serious and long outages, if you complain to management they tell you that you are free to buy your own. The other residents I know are also planning to move out. This is also partly because they wanted to raise my rent $ 120 next year.

I lived here for two years and like anywhere else you’re going to have your pros and cons but the pros definitely outweighed the cons for me.
Cons:
— sometimes you’ll hear the trains honking their horns. It generally doesn’t last more than about 20 – 30 seconds and while it’s annoying and noticeable ultimately it’s not a huge deal
— I lived in two apartments in this complex (I moved from one unit to another in my second year) and the second one had an inferior water pressure to the other.
Pros:
— generally pretty quiet which is nice.
— good location
— I live by myself and it’s way more space than I need
— the management here is really really great. Anytime I needed something fixed they got it to me ASAP whether it’s a new AC unit, piping issue etc
— there’s new management as of a couple months ago and I actually think they’re even better than the old one
— free wifi and cable is nice. I mean, it’s probably rolled into the cost of rent but you get a TON of channels with the cable and the customer service with wifi is good. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve had issues with the internet during my two years here
All in all I’d recommend this place

Be advised, some reviews may be screwed as the leasing office used to give out gift cards to those who posted reviews online, sort of compelling you to not be as harsh as you would have to meet the leasing office staff face to face to receive your gift card after they read your review. I also noticed that as soon as the new management took over a few months ago, the bullying tactics began, with a «Renew or get out! Or else!» type attitude only half way through my lease. It’s a shame, I might have considered renewing even with the noisy train tracks and cramped space but not now that they have poor customer service as well. Plus the pipes at this place are old and brown water comes out from time to time, something that has always grossed me out about living here. The floors are pretty thin too, I can hear the person under me use the bathroom, make dinner, etc. and she’s complained about my TV volume being so loud when I can barely make out what they’re saying in whatever movie I’m watching. I wouldn’t recommend living here. Read my prior review for a more detailed description.

I have loved living at Academy Lane for the past 1.5 years! The staff and maintenance crew are very professional and efficient. The location is very convenient, and I like the free wifi and cable! I do live on the train side, but that noise doesn’t bother me too much. I can hear a lot from neighbors on either side of me and upstairs, but even that isn’t enough to deter me from staying here. I do wish this facility had a study lounge or fitness center, but I am still happy overall with my living experience here. I would recommend this apartment complex to people I know!

I enjoyed my year living at Academy Lane Apartments. The living room/​kitchen combo is spacious with lots of cupboard space. The apartments have big windows and feel bright and airy. I looked out onto the courtyard, which is slightly more expensive, but worth it in my opinion. If you are a light sleeper, the train noise may be a problem, but it doesn’t run early on the weekends. The location is great. It’s a short walk into town or to the Co-​op and very close to Community Park.

Very quiet and clean community with great managers. Everything is solving in the shortest time. I love Academy Lane Apartments.
Just a negative tip: The water pressure is too low and we could not take shower easily or even wash the dishes :(

We liked our year at academy lane well enough.
The pros: The management is super super nice and is always attentive to anything we needed, no carpet in the living room/​kitchen, nice windows, pretty grounds, pool is always clean, nice cabinets in the kitchen, heaters work well, nice showers and bathroom vanities, good water pressure, super close to campus and downtown (7 minute bike ride).
The cons: no workout facility, poor insulation, it’s on the railroad tracks so it’s noisy, the floor is a little soft due to the dated infrastructure, units are small, hallways seem like a nice safety feature at first, but quickly realized they are hear traps that turn your apartment into a sauna, no dishwasher, air conditioning is really old and doesn’t work great, you can only have 1 lot space per unit, bike racks have NO shade.
Overall, academy lane isn’t a bad place to live. I’d recommend it to a friend.

I have been living here for one year and I love it, I already renewed my lease for 2014 and I am really happy about it. I highly recommend Academy Lane.

My boyfriend and I moved into a 1 bedroom apartment here back in September 2013, where we continue to live today, this is our first place together and we are really enjoying ourselves. The apartments might be a little old, but they’re newly remodeled to give it a more modern look. Management is very friendly and maintenance are real quick to solve any problems! The biggest pros are how close we are to downtown, the university, and bus stops. Also, the only utility we pay for is our electricity and gas (free wifi & cable, yay!) which is totally inexpensive! If there are any cons I would reluctantly say maybe the size! However, of course we knew about that when we scheduled our tour, but me and my guy are minimalists so we don’t NEED a ton of space! Nobody does really, unless you just HAVE to move in your huge bulky vintage 70s’ furniture -.-# lol Another would probably be how thin the walls are, but luckily, upstairs we have pretty quiet neighbors and we’ve never had any issues w/​that. What I’m saying is that two people can easily live comfortably in the 1 bedrooms!

My husband and I moved into these apartments in January 2013. These units are newly remodeled with a faux-​wooden floor finish in the living room/​bathroom and carpeting in the bedrooms. Although the unit is small, it is perfect for one or two people to live comfortably. The grounds are kept clean with pretty landscaping. Our surrounding tenants are all really quiet and we’ve have no trouble with noise issues. Really a no-​hassle apartment complex to live in! And management are very helpful and responsive with any questions or concerns, accessible via email or phone. No complaints here :)

I just moved in at Academy Lane in May 2013 and I have never been more impressed with an on-​site management team in my life! Angelique and Jason are amazing! Arnold, a member of the maintenance crew, is incredible as well. They address any need I have within 24 hours and are always polite, funny and easy to get along with. They are extremely professional as well. The apartments, while dated, (they were built in in the 1940’s I think), have a certain amount of character but they have gone to great lengths to update each one with new flooring, windows (with screens!), appliances if needed, etc.
When I had a noise issue living downstairs and mentioned it to Angelique, she immediately suggested other apartment options I could move into and I am happy with the second floor option I chose.
Full disclosure: like another Unilocaler mentioned — if you live near the train tracks on H Street like I do, it can get noisy early in the morning, but I’ve found if I just close my window I don’t notice it anymore! No problem. And I am a light sleeper! The grounds are stunning and well kept up, the pool is amazing, laundry room has HE washers and dryers. Plus they use these cards which are a lot easier than coins!
More than anything though, I am impressed with how much the management team listens to tenant concerns and actually cares and understands (since they live on-​site too). And the speed in which repairs are done is extraordinary! I am so impressed and would recommend anyone live here at Academy Lane!

The «4» rating is an average of the actual physical attributes, which is a 3, and the management, which is a 5.
Rcommended to prospective renters, if you are willing to pay for it. I like the management, which never happens (usually it’s a nice property with abysmal management). They are always receptive to constructive criticism, and extremely professional and willing to help. They don’t BS you and they get stuff done. All you can ask for, really.
Cons:
Small pipes
Small bathroom
My bike wheel was stolen from the bike rack (now it lives in my living room)
Pros:
Management is very responsive, professional, and accommodating (rare find)
Work orders are completed within 2 – 3 days of submission (immediately if emergency)
Lots of living space
Internet included, and has been doing fairly well (instaconnect has a bad history, but it’s been pretty good for the last few months, fingers crossed)
A/​C and Heating units very effective (just for living room)

Americana Arms is a pretty sweet place to live. I’ve lived here one year and intend to remain as long as I’m in Davis. It’s a fairly quiet community with lots of grad students, a short walk from downtown, a few blocks from the food co-​op, and pretty close to everywhere else, really.
I am genuinely surprised by some of the things I’ve read in the other Unilocal reviews. During my time at the Arms I have not seen a mouse or rat (as one Unilocaler complained about), nor can I imagine ever seeing one here. It’s really not that type of place. There are also screens on all the windows, contrary to what one review said, and no, the mail is not left at your front door where it might be stolen. The office accepts all packages and will hold them for you or put them inside your apartment according to your preference. As people have mentioned, the kitchen is small (just one wall of the living room), but the living room itself is enormous. If you move in now you get a renovated apartment with wood flooring in the living room, and the room is definitely large enough that you can expand the kitchen – by adding a table or an island or something – and still have plenty of space for living room-​y stuff.
As far as management goes, the staff is almost completely new as of this summer, so the complaints about Leslie are now moot (although I had no problems with the old management). The new people seem very friendly and eager to please. The new owners have been making improvements here and there (such as the wood floors) and I hear there’s a chance we’ll be getting a community garden in the future, which would be rad.

Wow, I think the people who wrote such negative reviews about this place have been spoiled by living in the comfort of mommy and daddy’s home and this is their first time on their own. I on the other hand have seen way worse.
I did my undergrad in Berkeley, and compared to the high-​priced and dirty apartments there, this place is like a resort! Berkeley is small, and since there’s so much demand for apartments, rent is through the roof and landlords can get away with ill maintained and disgusting facilities, as well as increasing rent each year.
Americana Arms is really inexpensive, I pay the least by far out of all my friends in Davis. When I renewed my lease, they decreased it! The rent includes cable (Comcast) and wireless internet. I’ve heard that there are issues sometimes with the internet, but I’ve never personally experienced any reliability issues and management seems to try to resolve any quickly. The area itself is really nice, well maintained courtyard and grassy area… really clean. There are benches and a bbq grill on one side, the other side has the pool.
This place is great for grad students who want a quiet environment like myself. I see a lot of small families with little children living in the buildings. Really late night noise is rarely an issue. There’s a large park across the street, the public library is within walking distance, and there are lots of schools nearby… so it’s a very safe and comfortable area.
When you move in, they do re-​paint and put in new carpets so it looks nicer.
I’ve never had any issues or negative encounters with management. Quite the opposite, they’ve been nothing but helpful and understanding. I’ve spoken with Leslie a few times on the phone, she’s pretty nice.
The man who serves as the maintenance person is awesome! Twice my space heater blew a fuse really late at night, I called him and he came and had it fixed within 10 minutes. I had an issue with a clogged toilet once, and the next day it was fixed. For packages, non USPS carriers cannot put them in your mailbox. So when ordering, those carriers usually just deliver them to the office. I can pick it up, or sometimes I authorize management to personally deliver and leave it in my apartment. They also always notify me by e-​mail when a package arrives.
Yes, you do have to pay for laundry… but you do that everywhere. I also found that this place is cheaper than the Berkeley apartment.
Negatives:
The walls are paper thin. I’ve also experienced awkward sex noises from the downstairs neighbor… luckily it never lasts that long. :P My recommendation is to get an upstairs apartment as the floors are creaky in some areas. The pipes also make weird noises, but I find that it stop in the winter time. (no clue why)
The train comes by EARLY…5 or 6 am. So if you’re a light sleeper, you do not want an apartment next to the train tracks on G street.
Phone reception here is not that great. It’s a small apartment, so it might be a little tight for multiple occupants.
All in all, it is a nice place to stay. Maybe I have low expectations from my experiences in crappy apartments. Rent’s decent, location is convenient, management and maintenance are efficient. You get what you pay for, so of course there are the issues that older buildings have. Personally, I don’t get where the other reviewers are coming from.

I am a bit perplexed at the reviews that I have read about Americana Arms. I have lived here for a year now and this is the perfect place for a grad student in Davis. I live in a second floor upgraded unit and I will admit that some of the previous reviews are correct such as:
* the kitchen is small and there is no dishwasher or disposal. I really don’t understand why this is a complaint from previous reviewers because these facts were made aware to me when I toured the apartment complex before I made a decision to move in or not.
* the walls are kinda thin and I can hear my neighbor when he talks next door. It is more of a muffled sound than hearing his conversations clearly. I will admit that I may have lucked out with my neighbor because both of us are students and we appreiate our silence.
These are the only two negatives that I have to say about this complex. It is near UCD campus (I usually walk), the maintenance crew is very sweet and efficient. I have only had a few maintance issues and it was fixed the same day. I normally deal with Alicia in the management office and she (along with everyone else in the office) has been nothing but super sweet to me. I think in the year that I have lived here I have had to kill 2 spiders. I have never lived in a home, apartment or condo where this was not the case and I have NEVER seen mice or rats in or around the property. I currently live in an upgraded unit and there are screens on my window and in my year of living here there has never been a day where I haven’t immediately found a parking space.
Overall for the price of rent and all of the amenities included, living here is a DEAL and I have no plans of moving until I graduate. I hope this helps.

I have nothing good to say about this place. I lived here for two years out of convenience, and hated every minute of it.
Management:
Leslie’s insane. She acts sweet and demure if you’re checking out the apartment, but then promptly goes insane on you. She’s more likely to jump to conclusions and accuse you of wrongdoing before investigating/​working it through.
— Example one: My first year, I lived on the ground floor. My neighbor upstairs would have psychotic fits on a daily basis — e.g. screaming profanity, yelling at the world, etc. It was violent and terrifying. When I went to complain, Leslie just got sniffy and told me to invest in earplugs.
— Example two: My second year, I lived in a second-​floor apartment. My neighbors downstairs would often have sex in the middle of the night. My neighbors next door thought it was me, and complained to Leslie. I received several nasty emails from Leslie accusing me of being a whore.
— Example three: If you’re not careful, she’ll make sure your lease lasts until September. You get stuck paying for the summer months. If you complain, she’ll threaten to sue.
Piss poor maintenance:
— It’s not safe or healthy living here. The maintenance people they’ve hired aren’t professionals. In my two years there, they left trip wires around the apartment, turned water off for a week, didn’t filter the pool correctly (so I developed a rash), and did very little to maintain the fuse boxes.
Inconvenient package/​mail delivery:
— Mail gets stolen. They leave large packages outside your door, which is more or less an invitation for other people to take it.
— Packages can’t get delivered. There’s an intercom system that doesn’t work, so UPS can’t contact you when they’re trying to deliver something. In my 18 months there, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get UPS and USPS to redeliver packages.
Apartments in poor shape:
— Windows don’t have screens and are easily opened from the outside. My first year, I acquired a kitten. I left the window open a crack for air, the cat ran off.
— No sound proofing. As stated, you can hear every. single. word and every single thing your neighbors are doing. There’s more or less no privacy.
— No kitchen divider. There’s a piece of wood dividing the kitchen/​living room.
— Rats. When you have a rat the size of a small kitten running around the apartment, you know there are problems.
Laundry facilities:
— Expensive as hell, inconvenient. They’re located in one room, and there aren’t enough machines. It’s not uncommon to go back and find your laundry strewn all over the machines.
DO NOT LIVE HERE. I stayed here because UCD ran out of dorms.

Management’s very rude, nosy & tries to restrict comfortable living by implementing ridiculous rules. Mail gets lost or stolen since delivery can’t get in after 5pm (I had to start sending packages to my home address to be sure that they would arrive properly). Mice & spiders tend to get inside the apt. Upstairs & downstairs plumbing is connected so toilet clogs downstairs all the time (maintenance hardly ever fixes it and only one guy knows what he’s doing). Free cable & internet, but internet is weak & often very unreliable. Kitchen isn’t separated from the living room (only by vinyl flooring) & is about 2′ wide. No dishwasher or garbage disposal (manually take out all the food scraps from the sink). Hardly space to prepare food or dry dishes. Halls smell of what’s cooking. Ceiling’s very thin (hear people walking around). AC in living room hardly reaches the bedroom, so it’s often stuffy. No full deposit because they’re very picky & mark things even when they were there prior. Laundry room uses a card & clothes often get stolen. Parking’s hardly enforced, so it’s very difficult to find available spots!

Management here (Leslie) is VERY cranky, and she’ll try to fleece you whenever she can — especially when it comes time to get back your deposit. I’ve done it more than once.
Apart from the poor management, the prices are very good for Davis in terms of one bedroom apartments, but they are VERY old and the problems are kind of masked by constant paint jobs and washes.
The laundry room is terribly expensive. The name is kind of weird… Americana Arms.