Minto Homes

I moved into the Castleview in 2009 and thus, I have been living at 1755 Riverside Dr for 5 years now and I finally decided to move out. I couldn't be more happy about my decision, as the quality of service and management of the building greatly decreased in the past 2 years, while the rent as now increased up to 25% since 2009.

First, this place is not all bad. The location is very convenient. 5 minutes from Smyth station, near the river and its bike path and within 20-30 minute walk from Billings Bridge. The location was my main driver when I first selected this place. I moved into a one bedroom facing north and back then, at a monthly price of 1027$/month. Already expensive, but near my work.

Initially, I had no issue with service. Maintenance requests, while not always speedy, were done as satisfaction. Survey were made to make sure the work was done adequately and the serviceman, which was very nice, made sure to keep the place clean. The office clerk were helpful, despite using a pen and paper system to catalog issues.

The building offers a pool, laundry service (which costs around 2.75$ per use by machine, i.e. 2.75$ for the washer, 2.75$ for the dryer, so laundry can come up to 500$ per year). There is a small gym. Gym may be not be appropriate, as it's more a room with a threadmill, a multi-purpose weight machine and an elliptical. There is a backyard with a gazebo. There are also storage room available for a fee. Above ground and underground parking spaces are available for a fee. Underground parking is a hefty 65$ per month.

While I have no real complain for the years 2009 to 2011, the decline in quality and service started aroudn 2012. Most of the staff changed, including building and regional managers. This year was probably the worst, where multiple water issues caused days without water, balcony repairs meant that balconies were not available the entire summer, also leaving residents to themselves to move and find storage for their items. Many older resident had much difficulty moving their personal effect from their balcony to whatever place their could move their furniture. The management offered no temporary storage. The pool was closed for weeks, gym equipment took for ever to be repaired. Garbage collection issues this summer caused awful smells, causing residents from up to 3 floors to complain about the lack of collection in warm summer days. Errors in parking assignment (due to errors in the management system) caused my car to be towed errorneously on a weekday morning. The fees incurred were fortunately refunded by Minto. Finally, we received noticed to remove our effects from our parking spot on threats that our items would be disposed of - the notice came 3 hours before the maintenance crew took my summer tires to God knows where.

Communications between the management and the residents are done mainly by letters taped in elevators - despite collecting email addresses from the residents. As such, it is very easy to miss an announcement.

Maintenance also deteriorate. While my last request was done courteously and rapidly, the previous one left a hole in my bathroom for 2 weeks. The service person left plaster all over the walls, my shower curtains and didn't replaced anything he had move, some of which were just dump in the sink. My last request to fix the buzzer took 3 weeks and 3 visits to the office to get fixed. The only positive item I can remember from the last year is the replacement of the machines in the laundry facility.

The tone of the management in their few written communiques also took an authoritarian turn, often threatening "disciplinary actions" or "immediate disposal", often agravating events with the residents.

To conclude, I highly discourage anyone to rent with Minto in the Castleview at this moment for the reason above. While the location is great, the management of the building is aweful and unhelpful. The spirit of community is inexistant and service is poor, communications between management and resident is terrible and almost dictatorial. For the rent you will pay, you may want to look at much better alternatives.