Ashton Dallas INSIDER REVIEW

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LOCATION

The Ashton Dallas Apartments is a residence that you want to explore if you are interested in privacy, a good overall location in Uptown Dallas and having a higher level of service to cater to busier professionals. The Ashton Dallas is not an “entry level” apartment choice, but seems more suited for those who want to explore a more elite residence, along with a whole lot of convenience included.

It is difficult to not be very, VERY intrigued by the Ashton Dallas when you drive past it. It is a noticeably beautiful high rise with a large and extensive drive up, with features that speak (instead of “shout”) luxury and class. It is an unusual combination of modern design but with retaining the feeling of being more casual. The outside has a large percentage of glass, but the lighter brick shell also humanizes the building. The entry circle drive includes a space for quick pickups and drop offs, with about 5 spots for quick parking as well. This drive is well attended with at least 2 concierge staff.

The inner construction of the Ashton Dallas is more like a commercial building than an apartment. That means super thick floors and walls! This also means double paned glass on patio or terrace doors. This is delightful, because it keeps sound away from neighbors, giving you a very quiet interior experience inside your residence.

The Ashton Dallas Apartments rest in the Crescent section of Uptown Dallas. This location is considered to be right on the edge of Uptown, (and if you go anymore west or south, you are in downtown). The location of the Ashton is very convenient overall if you want to quickly get to downtown, or drive to the airport or North Dallas/West Plano. It rests on a semi private and quiet short block of Uptown Dallas.

The Ashton Dallas is bordered by the Rosewood building on one side, and the Crescent hotel and retail on the other side. It sits right on the circle that leads to PEARL drive, connecting quickly to McKinney Avenue. It is also 30 minutes to the access road that feeds into the North Dallas Tollway on one side. The block also contains two other apartment residence buildings and prime office space, along with some enjoyable restaurants that are walkable in under 2 minutes.

I need to mention this huge benefit for frequent travelers!!: If you will be travelling to the airport using the North Dallas Tollway, you have just about direct access to the Tollway with NO traffic lights. That means super convenience and time savings!

This is also a very well kept, VERY clean and secure block. This doesn’t contain the super late night life of McKinney Avenue, so you will get sleep at night when you need it.

Now, the point of living in Uptown Dallas is to not just have quick access to downtown or the airport. The key point of Uptown Dallas is to have an amazing social life! A key point of that social life is having quick WALKING access to the 4 Key Features of Uptown Dallas. For us Texans, that would mean getting to key features with WALKING SEVEN MINUTES OR LESS. Let’s see how the Uptown Dallas does with this walking access standard:

• Uptown Trolley – The free Uptown Trolley is a huge key feature of Uptown. This is because so much of Uptown is quickly accessible by the Trolley. So, even if you can’t walk to every feature of Uptown, the good news is: you can walk to the nearest TROLLEY stop in under 7 minutes from the Ashton Apartments. It is about 7 minutes away on McKinney Avenue, at Pearl and McKinney.
• Katy Trail – Enjoying the Katy Trail semi private running trail is one of the highlights of Uptown. From the Ashton Dallas, it will take you a little over 7 minutes, so not quick walking distance…but it can still be walked to. The nearest location: you walk south on Bookhout street to go to a property called the Windsor at Turtle Creek. In the back of this property, there is a public access gate with direct access to the busy Katy Trail.
• Night Life in Mid-Section – Many of the more well-known Uptown Dallas clubs are located on quick walkable a part of McKinney Avenue that starts with Boll Street and ends around Holland. While this is not walkable in 7 minutes, the first access point of the trolley mentioned above will get you quickly to down McKinney in just a few minutes to this section.
• West Village – The super popular West Village has the most shops and restaurants of Uptown in one place. This is located in the North part of Uptown. The Ashton Dallas is NOT walking distance to the West Village. However, the West Village can be conveniently accessed by the Uptown Trolley.

Groceries: For complete convenience, it is always nice to be able to walk to a grocery store. There is a WHOLE FOODS in walking distance on McKinney. In addition, there is a TOM THUMB in Victory Park just minutes away. Also, within Uptown, the Minyards grocery store can be accessed by quick driving by going to McKinney Avenue and going north about 5 minutes.

Hope that explains a bit about the location. Now, let’s explore the Social Scene of the Ashton apartments.

SOCIAL SCENE

Once you step inside the Ashton Dallas Apartments, you will notice a lot of activity, right away. You will see a lot of fascinating people walking in, going to the Ashton Dallas gym across the drive in attractive Nike jogging outfits, walking their clean and well groomed dogs, or going out to cars that are pulled up by the concierge, etc. It is obvious that people here are movers and shakers, from younger professionals to more established professionals.

The concierge desk is a central focus. This is a 24 hour concierge TEAM, not just one person. This is a huge difference from any other high rise in the area: The concierge team seems to be able to handle multiple requests and with a little higher experience level.

There are a lot of amenity areas (talked about more in the amenity section) to explore as well, including not only the first floor amenities (with gym, breakfast areas and more) but also the terrace pool and other areas. The amenities are extensive and well designed to accommodate a good amount of people easily.

The Ashton Dallas apartments is very focused on residents being given the opportunity to meet each other. They coordinate multiple activities each month with residents, and also post the calendar of activities at the elevators for easy reminders. This is due to the common elevators shared with residents…you have to use these to access the apartments. It is also a great way to meet neighbors.

There are also enjoyable options within easy walking distance that take care of early evening enjoyment. Not a huge amount, but definitely enough to impress and enjoy with a guest or work colleague. For more activities in the later evening, simply take a quick drive to the McKinney Avenue area and go to Boll Street for a collection of night spots.

Overall, the location, along with the planned events of the Ashton Dallas apartments, more for a brisk social scene.

APARTMENT

The Ashton Dallas apartments offers a very wide variety of places to live, truly! The smallest of these is the one bedroom loft…to the largest penthouse residence with the 3 bedroom penthouse (with over 3300 square feet). All in all, there are about 29 different designs, with differing options available on different floors and sides of the building.

One thing I have noticed about the Ashton. If you look at the dollar per square foot rent cost, it is among the best of just about any full featured high rise in Uptown. For example, take a one bedroom $2,000 residence in the Ashton Dallas. This would have 950 square feet or so. If you price out other full features high rises in Uptown, the Ashton Dallas compares favorably. The per square foot cost is markedly higher in other options. You just get a better deal for the money at the Ashton Dallas.

Most of the apartments are in the 21 story high rise. There are also some residences in a 5 story building that contains the gym and other amenities on the first floor. The views of downtown, and a more vibrant social scene, are absolutely going to be in the main building, definitely. You will have more privacy, but also less social interaction, by being in the 5 story building.

The apartments have a “SOFT LOFT” style feel…and when I say “SOFT”, I mean soft! Let me explain: There are no exposed brick walls, unfinished concrete ceilings, or other things that are present in a typical more “hard” loft. The soft loft is more in the DESIGN of the rooms. That would include long hallways leading to dining/living areas, along with hardwood floors, and even some shiny “exposed” air ducts (not pipes, just air ducts).

Here are some of attractive features of the apartments at the Ashton Dallas apartments:

• Large spaces – all of the apartments here are large, with plenty of room. Even the smallest one bedroom studio has 949 square feet.
• Huge windows – the residences usually have very nice size windows in the living and dining areas.
• High End, Recently built Appliances – Fridges are huge and very high end. All appliances are included, such as large stoves, microwave, etc.
• Exquisite Interiors – The Ashton seems to go over the top in quality on the finish out of all rooms, including the 5 star hotel quality bathrooms. There is no “corner cutting” or cheap finish outs here.
• Washer/Dryer included: A full size washer/dryer is included at no cost.
• Hardwoods Floors – Many places in Uptown claim to have a hardwood floor. The Ashton has perhaps the richest and thickest hardwood floors I have ever seen in an apartment.
• Balconies/Terrace – A majority (75%) of the apartments have balconies with at least a 4 x 10 area for you to enjoy the view. FYI, you must go to some of the higher floors if you want a view of downtown in this area, because there are several large commercial buildings nearby.
• Noise Reduction – When walking into the rooms, you will notice…quiet! The apartments are particularly quiet.
• Large Closets – there is a large abundance of closet space. Perhaps the biggest closets in Uptown, truly.

Hardwood floors cover the main living and dining areas. The bedroom mainly has a very thick carpet, with the exception of a few plans (such as the smaller studio units).

I also like to detail any weaknesses I see. Despite getting so many things right in their residences, the Ashton Dallas does have a few odd quirks that I want to point out:

• Open Ceiling Loft in some one bedrooms – Some of the one bedroom units have a partially open ceiling in the bedroom. For example, if the normal ceiling is 11 feet, the wall that is bordering the bedroom might have part of the wall going up only to 9 feet. This is present only in some of the residences, but worth nothing.
• Walk in showers sometimes not present– Although most of the apartments have a more preferred walk in shower, some of the smaller 1 bedroom floor plans do not have the walk in shower.

AMENITIES

At the Ashton Dallas apartments, amenities are on the higher end in comparison to other Uptown choices. The Ashton Dallas covers most of the basics nicely, and even includes some one of a kind amenities as well. All in all, the amenities in the Ashton Dallas apartments are very important ultimately, because they because they will not only help make things more comfortable, but will give you excellent opportunities to meet people. Here are some of the highlights.

• Parking Garage INCLUDED – Yes, parking in the garage is included, no charge. The entrance is secured.
• Free Concierge GUEST Parking INCLUDED – How about allowing your guests to also have their car parked by the 24 hour concierge? It’s free, and ohhh so nice, at the Ashton Dallas apartments.
• True Expert 24 hour Concierge – The Ashton Dallas has the best concierge service in Dallas. There is no comparison. They typically have at least TWO concierge staff ready to take care of needs. The Concierge are also uniformed and seem well trained. One of the secrets of their staff being better is that they use the same staffing company that furnishes concierge service at high end hotels in Downtown.
• High security Access – Of all of the high rises that we cover, the Ashton Dallas seems to have the highest level of secured access to their residences. That is more a subjective view than an objective view. That also includes the key fob secured access to the elevator and hallways. The location is also in a safer area than downtown high rises is an important part of it, along with a better trained concierge staff.
• Resort Style Gym – The gym present here is of a higher quality. It is not huge, but contains a good amount of treadmill machines and a separate spin room. It also has towels, water and lockers.
• Fantastic Heated Terrace Pool – This is a treat. The pool and the attached indoor lounging area are a highlight of the Ashton. The pool is heated, FYI. I like the hugely oversized plant pots that are around the terrace pool as well.
• Wine Lockers – Free, private key wine lockers are available to chill your private stock of wine.
• Guest Room for rent on the premises – The Ashton Dallas actually has TWO guest rooms available for rent. They typically charge about $150 a night. This is a great price for a room in this area in general. It is also a terrific solution for infrequent guests (vs. having to rent a larger apartment and pay more rent).
• 3X a week Fitness Classes – Plenty of opportunities to get in shape and meet people, for free.

There are a few amenity areas that I wish were different.

• Parking included only for one car – Garage parking is including in your rent at no charge. However, a 2^nd parking spot request means $50 a month extra. Not a huge expense, but a little different than most Uptown residences if you have a 2 bedroom. Reserved spots are also available.
• Fitness Center Free Weights – The fitness center is adequate, but I wish it had more free weights. If you are interested in bulking up, join a local gym.
• Pet Walking Places – The Ashton has no internal dog park. To walk your dog, you need to go outside to the area nearby. It is a very safe area…just not as convenient.

Overall: Amenities will make you smile and give you opportunities to relieve stress and meet some fascinating people.

SUMMARY

The Ashton Dallas is a delightful high rise for enjoying a very convenient lifestyle in many ways. Access to Uptown Dallas is quick, either by walking or by a quick drive. The quick access to downtown Dallas or going north on the Dallas Tollway (Plano, the airport, etc.) is also a strong feature of the Ashton Dallas. The residences are soft loft style and they don’t cut corners on construction. Amenities are well above average. This is the best rent value for a premium high rise in Dallas.