Lafayette Station

I lived at Griffis Lafayette Station (GLS) from May 2022 - Aug 2024. Overall, my experience living here could’ve been worse, but also could’ve been better. I wouldn’t recommend it for most people. I had two different neighbors with extremely loud dogs that would bark constantly whenever their owners were gone. A lot of the dog owners here also didn’t seem to care about picking up pet waste either. Unfortunately, I think issues like this are pretty widespread throughout much of Denver. This was admittedly the first place I’ve ever lived in Colorado, and I had no idea so many people owned dogs here. Another thing I didn’t know about before moving here were trash valet services. GLS (among many other apartment communities in Denver) hires a third party to collect people’s garbage door-to-door, and instructs residents to leave their trash out daily. An unfortunate side effect of this is large quantities of garbage sit outside for a long time and stink up the breezeways year round. I’ve even seen other properties with indoor hallways do this kind of thing, which seems really stupid. I have no idea why so many property management companies out here think this is a good idea. And I’d speculate that’s probably why there’s mice in some of the apartments. My downstairs neighbor caught over a dozen in Nov 2022, and a few of them made their way up to my unit. On a different note, during warmer months, a landscaping company is present on the property most weekdays. So if you work from home, this means you’ll hear loud industrial lawnmowers and leaf blowers being used throughout most of the day. A few other things worth mentioning: The exterior stairwells on the residential buildings are beginning to show their age (cracks are forming in the concrete steps all over the place). If you don’t rent a top floor unit, you’ll hear your upstairs neighbor walking around a lot. In spring/summer they have lawn sprinklers on a daily timer and don’t seem to care about turning them off whenever it rains. The outdoor pool is not looked after very well. It’s never covered up and usually turns green like a swamp once a month. Lastly, the quality of service from the on-site maintenance staff was often hit-or-miss.

My apartment often smells like cigarette smoke, and I've been begging the office to do something about it for 5 months now but they haven't stopped the issue even though this is supposed to be a non-smoking property. I have asthma from long covid but I'm trapped living in this place that's really unhealthy for me because of their really strict lease requirements and huge lease break fees. I hate it here so much. I have to hold my breath when I go into my bathroom and I have to sleep on the living room couch instead of my bed because the cigarette smoke comes in through the bathroom and into my bedroom. I'd caution anyone considering living here that several lease policies are *much* stricter than anywhere else I've lived in the Boulder area over the last 7 years. I'd recommend renting from another management company if you might need to make any changes to your lease during your time there (e.g., changing roommates, adding or removing pets, etc.) because you aren't allowed to make more than one lease change every six months. For me this means I can't have one roommate leave and another move in a month later because that would be two lease changes too close together, but the complex does not allow subletting either. You also aren't allowed to find someone to take over your lease if you need to leave early, but the fees to break a lease are also exorbitant (like $4k). This is really unlike anywhere else I've lived in the area so if you aren't 100% sure that you won't need to make any lease changes I'd suggest going elsewhere. A few years ago I needed to leave a different apartment in the area before the lease was up, and that apartment complex showed the unit for me and found new tenants to replace me and I didn't pay more than a few hundred dollars in fees. But honestly I feel like Griffis's rules are so strict that I'm trying to leave this apartment but I'm trapped.

Charged $2075 after giving them only 36 days notice to vacate. $200/month in additional hidden 'community' fees. The police actually raided some unit one day. The pool is frequently left in a swamp-like state where it is green with algae and has mosquitos/dragonflies living in and around it. The thermostat in my apt doesn't work. The hot tub usually has no water in it. And sometimes there is garbage strewn throughout the one parking lot with the only recycling dumpster. The lights outside are frequently left on all day and the pool is left heated in the winter without anyone using it. The tenants pay for community electricity. Much of the apartment complex is left in a state of disrepair. The stairwell outside my unit is crooked and the steel plate on the right side has actually cut its way through the floorboards and has actually bent the wooden beam below it.

Lots of spiders and insects inside apartment. Stained carpet. Broken toilets that back up all the time. Bathroom smells like mold. Broken fireplace. Thin walls. Can hear upstairs neighbors all the time and sump pump activating every time a toilet is flushed. Be very familiar with Colorado landlord tenant laws. Take lots of photos on move in/out. They will keep the deposit regardless, but make sure you have something to show a judge just in case you want to fight it.

The layout of the apartments are good, the location is great, nice community. But one (for me) GLARING issue is the complete lack of sound-proofing between floors. We hear EVERY.SINGLE.FOOTSTEP from our neighbors upstairs. They aren’t particularly loud people, it’s just the super-cheap construction of the flooring. It’s bad enough that I seriously doubt I will opt to renew once our lease is up. It’s a shame, because otherwise I like it here.

Griffis Lafayette Station is a wonderful place to call home! I enjoy the best of both worlds. I have a contemporary apartment with modern amenities in a park-like setting with big trees and mature landscaping. The neighbors are friendly, the neighborhood is quiet and safe, with public transportation, restaurants and stores being within walking distance. I love this little town, and this little apartment community! Everyone in the management office is so friendly and helpful! Every problem I have had has been addressed quickly and beyond my every expectation. I tend to forget that I am only ONE of their 200+ tenants. They treat me, with my physical limitations, with understanding with care. No apartment is perfect, but this place comes close. It seems that every effort is made to improve this community I now call home. Oh, and did I mention that everyone in the management office is so friendly and helpful?

As far as apartments go, the apartments at griffis Lafayette station (fka Strathmore park) are pretty nice. Newer buildings, in good shape, no pest issues and the current management company has made some nice improvements to the complex. These upgrades include a new fitness center, upgrades to the pool area and a dog washing station (yay!). For better or worse, the dog wash area did replace the community laundry, so be prepared to either shell out more for an in unit w/d or the road for the laundromat What really makes this a great place is its location though... There are currently three breweries in stumbling distance (check out post!). If coffee is more your thing, try to get a unit in bldg 435, the aroma of roasted beans from the coffee shop across the field is a great alarm clock. There is also an rtd park and ride next to the apartment complex and a nice, bike friendly trail system to the south. With the increase in development on public road, there are a nice array of other shops and such nearby as well. Yes, a long-winded review for sure, but I figure if you've spent the time to read all this, I ought to make it informative!

We've lived here for 5 years, and overall I would recommend it. The construction of the apartments is so-so, with faucets that turn in non-standard ways and cabinets that do not sit quite right. But the apartments are fairly new, laid out nicely, and very comfortable. Since the transition between owners (the complex was sold in 2014), there has been an increased presence of maintenance, a fresh set of paint for all the buildings, freshly paved parking lots, and a completely re-done clubhouse. Some of the amenities, like the new dog-washing station, are patently absurd, and I would have liked to see better changes or additions, but ultimately they do a decent job of trying to offer things that everyone can appreciate. The folks in the management office are all polite, and they don't cut out before closing time the way some management employees do. The complex is conveniently a few blocks from Lafayette's Old Town area. As far as the town of Lafayette, it's a really wonderful little town, with a great community feeling and lots of seasonal events like Art Night Out and the annual Peach Festival. There are 4 breweries in town, all at least a notch above decent. The town could really use one or two nice restaurants in the Old Town area, but with the continuous improvement over the last 5 or 6 years, I'm sure that will happen soon. Lafayette is also situated about half way between Boulder and Denver, so it's pretty easy to get to either urban center any time you want, whether it's a daily commute or a night out. The apartment complex is situated next to the Lafayette Park N Ride, which makes travel to Boulder and Denver that much easier. Plus, a fantastic local coffee shop (Proper Grounds) is between the complex and the bus stop, so grabbing quality coffee is that much easier. The complex is also across the street from a mega church, which makes traffic on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings really, really difficult (they average about 20,000 visitors every weekend), but the hassle of being so close is limited, and we find it easy to get over. The one real complaint is that, like so many other rental properties in the last couple of years, rent prices have really jumped, so that a single bedroom costs more than $1000 per month. This is unfortunate, but also pretty common with the real estate trends. In the end, we have loved living here, we absolutely love this community, and I would encourage anyone to consider living at Griffis Lafayette Station.

I lived at Strathmore Park turned Griffis Lafayette Station for about 3 years. I enjoyed the area and the quiet, calm vibe of Lafayette. However on Sundays about 13,000 people crowd the streets immediately surrounding the complex, rendering it impossible to go anywhere during certain hours of the day. They also park on the street throughout the complex. It was a hassle to deal with. New property management company (Griffis) is good and helpful, but are constantly doing construction and renovations as an excuse to completely JACK the rent up.