MD
monica draine
Aug 26, 2026
I knew I needed to move out of Cortland at the Battery, but I wanted to stay in the area because of work. After looking at several apartment communities, I decided on this one because it was relatively new, more affordable, and still in the area where I wanted to live.
One thing I appreciated from the beginning was that this was probably the only community that didn’t harass me weekly while I was making my decision. I started looking in April, even though my lease wasn’t up until July, and the team gave me the space I needed to make my decision. When I finally came back, even though I hadn’t initially toured with Niecy, she somehow already had my design preferences figured out. She showed me two different finishes and pretty much knew which one I was going to choose before I did.
I do want to be honest that there were some hiccups on move-in day. I reserved the loading dock for a specific time frame and received email confirmation. I ended up arriving about an hour late because it started raining during my move-out, and the movers had to take additional precautions to keep the furniture dry. However, there were residents using the dock who had not reserved it. They were not apologetic and acted as if I was being unreasonable, while the person I expected to enforce the reservation system did not. To clarify, that person was not Niecy, as she was not scheduled to work that day. I was genuinely agitated because, to me, there’s no point in having a reservation system if residents can ignore it without anyone enforcing it.
Then, while I was moving in and naturally had my apartment door open, another resident’s unleashed dog came well inside my apartment. The resident called the dog out and continued walking without even a simple “my bad.” That same weekend, I saw the dog being walked through the hallway unleashed again. I emailed Niecy about it, and she immediately researched the situation, identified the resident, and addressed it. I haven’t seen that dog walking around the building unleashed since. Pets are supposed to be leashed in the common areas, so I appreciated that the rule was enforced once I brought it to her attention.
Niecy has also gone above and beyond in ways that had nothing to do with leasing. She noticed one day that I had my arm wrapped and asked what happened. When I told her I’d recently been hit by a car, she immediately called the attorney who had handled her own accident and gave me their contact information. She absolutely did not have to do that, and it says a lot about the kind of person she is.
Overall, I’m happy with my decision. I like that it’s a smaller community, I have actual guest parking again, and I no longer have to plan my life around the Battery’s event schedule just to figure out how I’m going to get home. There have been a few hiccups, but what matters to me is how issues are handled once they’re brought to someone’s attention, and Niecy has consistently been responsive and helpful.