Bluestone Lofts

I lived here 2 years ago. They randomly break into your unit to beg you to re lease. I had the door locked while coming out of the shower. They trespassed and tried to brush it off by trying to give me frozen pizza. There is no privacy here, which something I really prioritize when choosing where to live. Don't move here unless you cool w being snooped on. There are also way too many cameras.

They also have no respect for your whip. They gonna tow that and charge u 75 for not moving your car on time after 2 inches of snow.

The pool is cool but the flaws make the penalty offsetting iykyk.

I never leave reviews but my experience was not the best.

I lived at BlueStone during summer, I subleased a room from May-August. I agreed to their 10-day early surrender policy (lease ended on the 14th of August, but I was kicked out on the 4th), unaware that that meant I agreed to pay rent for those 10 days even though I legally wasn't allowed to stay in the unit during those 10 days! Not financially worth it... I now know what language to look for in leases to avoid.

I wish I could add pictures because I was charged for a replacement stovetop that was done after I moved out. There was a small cosmetic chip on the outer rim on the stovetop surface, I don't believe it affected the functionality of the stovetop, but they replaced the entire stovetop without informing us and then sent us the bill!

The $125 cleaning fee is also bs...I'm doubtful they spent that much just to shampoo the carpet and touch-up the walls with paint.

I briefly read the other reviews and they're all still prevalent despite being written 5-7 years ago :(

Needs better and more understanding employees. Tomorrow is my move out day and the front desk lady isn't willing to cooperate with me because I need a moving cart and she said to use a mini shopping cart even though they have moving carts she's not willing to give me one from the flats just for one hour.

Hello my names Quincey, yes this is going to be a lot but it's well worth the read.

I moved into Bluestone Lofts August 15th 2020 age 19 attending my first year of college thinking it would be this awesome luxurious place to live as described on their website but it was quite the opposite, Bluestone is a Piece of work to say the least.

My move in day was full of unanswered questions and confusion as the Leasing specialist at the time was very misinforming. I was not given very much time to review my lease as I was rushed into signing it because "the important stuff" was read to me by the leasing guy. Paying $791 a month to live with 3 other people in a tiny 4bed 4bath apartment is not it. Now include power and gas which rounds your monthly payment up to $805 - $830. That was a big financial mistake, Not something you necessarily want to commit to while Attending college full time.

The beginning of my issues started with the lack of parking, which keep in mind you pay almost $40 a month for a spot. Well where do you park when there's no parking where you pay to park? The street, No you get tickets if you park on the street. How about the side of the building where there's always parking but you're not allowed to park? Nope you get your vehicle towed with a buy back fee of $160 - $180 or a boot with a removal fee of $80 - $90. Oh and let's not forget they tow your car even if it didn't snow for "snow removal" and charge you $80 to move it 20 feet and 180 degrees and it comes with a free dent/scuff service.

During the midterm of my lease my roommates and I figured out that we were supposed to have gotten a 1080p HD Smart TV as stated on the lease but we had an old faded Sony 720p flat crap screen TV. The apartment also came with new "NEW to US" NTU for short as the new furniture was falling apart like dead skin. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a new luxurious fashion statement or this place just doesn't care about it's renters. We put in a maintenance request which thankfully they did follow us on by coming in our apartment and seeing our oh so "new" couch was an old POS. They told us it would be two weeks and we'd have a new one. fast forward 4 months and no new furniture... time after time this place let my roommates and I down. To add on to the bs, the dishwasher leaked leaving a huge puddle of dishwater on the floor after every use, The washer leaked leaving our hallway wet after every use as well. We had the maintenance guy that's always on site come and look at both appliances to which he said they would fix them, we'll I bet you can guess what happened... they never came and fixed them.

Even if your rent payment is on time get ready for a fun not at all frustrating game of PAY A LATE FEE!!!
Nothing like family feud. The guy that collects renters payments doesn't come on time to collect checks and he doesn't update the website to tell you how much you owe. So yeah it becomes the renters fault therefore you get to pay for whomever's mistakes.

Want privacy? Not here.
They'll just unlock and walk right into your apartment, then walk right into your room wether your dressed or not. My roommate Tyler aka Peg leg aka The One Legged Wonder got walked in on by a female staff that just welcomed herself into our apartment and into his room while he only had Tommy boxers on which was a startling experience to say the least. This happened more than once so prepare yourself for random room checks!

I could go on and on But I really hate to complain but come on... you men/women run a professional business.
Professional is the last thing you are.

Wow this an awful complex.. The management loves to capitalize on every event they can. If you leave your parking pass in the wrong place in the car or you are "too loud" on a Friday night you better be willing to cough up some extra dough.. (PS DONT THINK ABOUT HAVING ANY WEEKEND FUN)

Financially it's not worth it to live at BlueStone!! I'm so angry... they snuck in a prorated charge of $366 for August (half of a month's rent), but I had to be out by August 2nd... When I confronted the front desk, she gave me this guilty look and just shrugged saying that she didn't know why they had to do it. Very disappointing... On top of that cost, they also gave me only $237.94 of my $500 deposit back because of a "soiled stove and refrigerator" and "misc. charges" even though I cleaned that apartment very well!

Really sucks, especially when I had all of the finances of my new apartment to deal with the same month.

Yes it's a nice and new complex, and I'm sure that's why management thinks they can get away with all of these charges.

Just be very cautious if you live here...

Well, this is a management company that is in their own world. The new building, the "flats" is a terrible waste of money. Way overpriced for what it is. I've lived in major metro areas and the rent in Duluth is more expensive for a smaller apartment.

The apartment is with terrible sound insulation and multiple times per week I can hear the intimate relations, loud music and parties next door between the hours of 2-6AM. There are literally 100 cameras throughout the building where it feels more like a prison. The management is essentially non-responsive to concerns. The hidden costs will surprise as well. The other interesting hidden surprise is the fact that the charge you for 10 days of rent at the end of the lease, but you must move out 10 days prior to the lease, essentially paying for 10 days of rent that you aren't in the unit. Absolute absurdity that no other place in the country let alone in the world does. The response I got was.... "we need that so we can prep the unit for the next occupants." The Summit management company is a joke that treats their employees poorly. In two months there has been large volume turnover, which speaks volumes about the actual management.

On a positive note, the building is new. On a positive note, there is a starbucks and bar near by. On a positive note, there is free coffee in the lobby.

I lived there and so did my sister. It is very nice and anything after BlueStone will be a downgrade! I really loved how my packages were always safe and behind a locked door. I see many apartments that leave them out - not cool. I also had so much fun talking to the front desk ladies and managers. We always had a great convo and good laughs. One thing I will always miss is maintenance! Any time anything was wrong, even small as I do not know where a cord gets plugged into - they would fix within 24 hours no joke! Even better is that you can submit a fix request online. I never had to meet with anyone and could out "allowed to come in when I am not there". I would come home and it was fixed. They have SO MANY epic events and these events really are not basic. They make cool food with cool themes and try to get every one together. Many people complain about having to leave your apartment and still pay half months rent - of course that is not fun, but it is stated in the lease and brought up before you sign. It is a unique situation because they have mass loads of students coming in at once. This is a great place to get your base started and your group of friends!

I TYPICALLY DONT LEAVE REVIEWS BUT FELT THIS WAS NECESSARY.
I lived at the Bluestone Lofts for about two years. It's a decent place to live in terms of convenience and amenities. However, that is overshadowed by management practices. They will try every possible way to get another dollar out of you.

First, the rent is overpriced for Duluth, MN. I had a 2 bedroom for ~$1700. There is an early submission policy within the lease. That means, even though the lease is over on August 15, you are expected to move out of your apartment 10 days earlier. But you are still expected to pay half the months rent. Someone like me would be expected to pay $850 to live in the apartment for five days, August 1-August 5. The Bluestone uses these days to turn over the apartment. Most other apartments would absorb the cost of not having anyone renting for those few days but not the Bluestone. They choose to put that cost on the tenant. Some may have been surprised when it was time for them to move out. But I will say that it is clearly stated in the lease. They are not deceiving you, But it's still grimy.

Secondly, you have to pay $125 from your deposit for cleaning the apartment after you move out. Mind you, there is a ridiculously extensive list of things that you are expected to clean "immaculately" when your lease is over. Part of this $125 is to clean the carpet and touch up paint. Now, if you are one tenant in a 4 bedroom apt, that would be $125 per person. $500 to clean a four bedroom apartment after move out seems ridiculous.

Thirdly, if you should move out before your lease expires, you need to get a substitution, (another tenant to take over the lease) and they will help you with this to some degree. But this comes with a substitution fee of $500. Fee for what is my question? $500 to fill out a piece of paper that one person is taking over the lease of another?? It can't possibly be to clean the apartment because they will be taking $125 from the deposit!? I believe this is an arbitrary number that they came up with to get more money. I don't recall this provision being in the lease but when it comes time for substitution, this will be something you will be made aware of. It would seem more realistic to have a lease break penalty, like two months rent owed. Life comes with unexpected changes. You could sign a lease on day one and get a new job a month later. But you're expected to pay the rent until the lease is over unless you find a substitution, whether you are living there or not. It's obvious that this management company wants to have continuous cash flow at all times.

The Bluestone staff and management is average. Management from two years ago seemed more customer friendly and willing to help. There seems to be a lot of turnover with staff, so what does that tell you. Before I moved out, they always seem to be shorthanded.

If anything goes wrong with your apartment, the lease essentially states that you have to pay to fix/replace it. If you happen to get rodents or roaches, even if they come from another apartment, you're expected to pay for fumigation. While I was there, I DID NOT see any rodents or roaches so I'm not saying that they have this problem. But these are the kinds of things mentioned in the lease.

There are a lot of good reviews on Facebook but I don't know how truthful they are. I say this because at least once during my stay at the Bluestone, there was a raffle for a prize if you placed a review on Facebook or Google or something. The raffle did not specify that it had to be a positive review but I don't expect that people who are trying to win a raffle will leave a negative review.

The new lease starts on August 15. But they are approaching you about renewing your lease by December. So let's say you move in Aug 15, 2016. By Dec '16, they are asking you about renewing your lease for the following year. This would mean that you would have to make a decision in Dec. 2016 about whether you are willing to stay until Aug 2018. Most normal apartments would expect you to give notice two months before your lease is over.

It's not all bad and I could go on but I don't want this review to be too long. I do believe the novelty of the Bluestone lofts is wearing off. I saw a lot more raffles and gift cards to entice people to renew their lease. There was even a raffle for one year rent free. These are things I had not noticed when I initially moved there. Now, it seems like they're putting in more effort to retain tenants. This is probably partly due to the fact that there are new apartments popping up here and there in Duluth. The Bluestone will have to stop treating their tenants like "profit centers" as someone else stated if they intend to remain relevant.

Make sure to read the lease thoroughly as it is pretty extensive.

Pros. Convenient, amenities like gym, pool, resident activities, occasional breakfast. But I honestly could've done without these things.

Very nice apartments and the staff was generally helpful. However, they ripped me off by insisting that I be out August 2nd while demanding I pay $324 for a lease that expired August 15. Even when I had to work for the weekend in the area until the 4th I was not allowed to stay in the apartment I was paying for, and because of that I was forced to pay $200 for a last minute hotel room. That in addition to the rent I was planning on paying for a new apartment cost me $894 for the month. I have never had this experience with any apartment complex ever and I was incredibly disappointed in the management for implementing an underhanded policy that took advantage of residents. If you choose to do business with them make sure to press this issue before signing the lease to avoid these issues.