Goldleaf Development - Madison, Wisconsin

Emma S.

Would not recommend renting with Goldleaf. I fell victim to their scam of a Home Buyers Clause and moved out to give them time to prepare the unit for a new renter. They told me they would advertise it as available right away, however, they advertised it as available 3 months after it actually was. It’s pretty clear they also didn’t do their walk through until 3 months later because they charged me for dusty countertops… which I wiped down thoroughly the day I moved out. As other reviews have stated, they nickel and dime you for damage or wear and tear that was there when you moved in. As a meticulously clean person, I spent time cleaning every surface of my apartment when I moved out, but yet they’re claiming it was dirty and dusty. They even noted black cat hair as an issue, yet I’ve never owned a cat in my life. There was, however, a disgusting amount of cat hair in all of the carpet when I moved in that I had to vacuum 5 times before it stopped covering my socks. I can tell you that I did a better job cleaning the apartment when I moved out than they did when I moved in. Yet they kept my entire $500 security deposit and are charging me over $600 in damages. Trust me, I know what real damage to a unit is, and it wasn’t the case. Pictures included to show the state it was left in. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of these crooks.

Emily B.

Staying at Goldleaf the past 3 years has been wonderful! The amenities are perfect and we love the neighborhood in general. Maintenance is always super responsive and quick to help. We recently had an issue with our dryer and maintenance responded within the day and had the problem fixed within the week. They are always so helpful and kind.

Nancy D. R.

I thoroughly enjoy living here at Hickory Pointe. The staff and maintenance crew are exceptionally pleasant. Each time I've requested for service it is done efficiently. I've had my carpet attended to and other smaller things, but all are done quickly and courteously. Thank you! Nancy

Fabio A.

I’m living now almost one year at the Hickory Point apartment and all I can say is , amazing people ! Grounds and maintenance are always on top and beyond everything!!

Beautiful area and always well taken care of ! A nice and clean place makes the difference!! Very lovely property manager on site which name Is Andrea that solves anything in a matter of time because her priority is always her tenants !

I recommend this place !

Thank you to all of your team .

Liam G.

I have lived with Goldleaf for the last 7 or so years, and have plenty of positive things to say! They have been responsive on maintenance requests, including going above and beyond with not only fixing the things that were broken but upgrading equipment and space if they notice that additional things need updating. The access to the fitness facility, and the helpful office staff (and the excitement they bring to their events) has certainly kept us renting here for as long as we have.

CHA

My wife and I have rented from gold leaf development since 2021. This will now be our third place renting from them in that time span! We started out with a studio at the Abbey, then a two bed, two bath at Hickory Pointe, and now we are renting a town house from them at Hunters Trail! The management and workers in Sun Prairie are amazing, shout out to Andi, Haley, and Max! I would never rent with someone else and they have wonderful locations!!!

Veronika D.

tldr: don’t rent here unless you want mice as roommates and not a penny of your security deposit back!

Pros (Casa Blanca)
-fitness center
-bus stop directly outside
-French doors

Cons:
-mice. Yes, mice. See pictures. Found a mouse 2x in our apartment and LOTS of mouse poop. Notified management of the poop and the workers came and put caulk around some holes and laid sticky traps, but the mice came back anyways and we found one in our apartment. This time, they told us to “keep our apartment clean” even though we always keep it spotless and don’t leave any food out. To be clear, I am not blaming the maintenance people. They’re kind and helpful. We were cleaning the kitchen one day and found a giant pile of mouse poop back behind the oven, as pictured, so clearly they were still getting in. Goldleaf didn’t take proper measures to exterminate or prevent the mice and instead laid some traps and told us to keep the place clean. We bought mice prevention supplies and that seemed to help for a while, but they need to get an exterminator as they clearly have structural problems.
-move out: they will scam you for every penny that they can. Charges like $100 for a small chip in the microwave that didn’t at all impact the functionality, over $200 for door replacement for a small dent in the door, etc. this is despite there being damage to other doors when we moved in that they didn’t fix, so it makes me wonder if they just take the money and don’t actually fix any of the damages, since they don’t impact the functionality of the apartment. All in all, they claimed we owed over $1000 in maintenance/damage repair, despite us spending hours scrubbing walls, counters, the bathroom; mopping; wiping walls; vacuuming and spot cleaning the carpet, etc. there was $130 charged for “cleaning beyond normal wear and tear” and they claimed the apartment was “dirty,” “black/grimy,” “sticky,” and “dusty,” when we bought multiple kinds of cleaning supplies on top of the supplies we already had to do an extra good job of cleaning. We did cause minor damage to 2 of the doors, so I didn’t fight the $500 charges for those (even though I find it ridiculous because one was a minuscule dent and the other was peeled wood that didn’t impact the functionality of the door- they claimed they had to order new cedar doors, but I’m sure they bought the cheapest doors possible.) they ended up taking our entire security deposit and claiming that we still owed them money. Essentially a giant scam that screws over college students & hospital workers. Before they try to leave a snarky reply about how we left the place, I attached pics from when we moved out, showing that it was clearly cleaned, mopped, and vacuumed.

-on multiple occasions they notified us that they were doing showings of our apartment, but then didn’t show up for the showing and never let us know that it had been cancelled etc. I wasted time waiting around at my apartment just for them to not show up for showings. I called the leasing office to ask and they said that they show a “mass amount of apartments” so it’s not even guaranteed that mine would be shown. I can’t take off work each time they are doing showings just for the small chance that they would show mine. Why not choose specific apartments to show and only notify those people?
-very high rent for the age/construction of the building, and they raised the rent by $500 in the 2 years that we lived there, despite not making any upgrades to the apartment. Do not be tricked or scared into signing a lease early because you think you can’t find something nicer and more affordable. You can. We were scared we wouldn’t find a new place, so we re-signed our lease in October 2021 after only living there a few months. The next year, we didn’t sign a lease at a new place until January 2023. We found a nicer, more modern, and almost double the size apartment that was closer to campus for $200 cheaper than what Casa Blanca raised their rent to for a 1 bedroom apartment with old appliances, old flooring, awful natural lighting, no central air, etc.

Hannah T.

My family and I have been living at the Hunters Trl apartments for almost 5 years. This is my favorite place I've ever rented!
-Maintenance is AMAZINGLY responsive and great at their work. I am not kidding, I've never had such a quick turnaround for requests. Things get fixed quickly. Multiple times a year they check our alarms, vacuum dryer vents, and refill water softener as well. Dale is very knowledgeable and his whole team works well together and is very friendly.
-the units are full of light with large windows. My houseplants and I are very happy even during the dark, long winter.
-Apartment management (Andi is my favorite) is very friendly and helpful, and holds contests / games with a free buffet multiple times throughout the year with cool giveaways.. we got a deduction of rent once and there's other fun household items.
-I haven't seen the exponential price increase other renters have over the last few years. *I do renew early every year which has helped to be fair, but I think Goldleaf has not price gouged their renters like other places. I hope they continue to offer early renewal to retain tenants, we appreciate having a steady expectation for rent!
-the location is fantastic. Walkable distance to several stores including Walmart. Can get to several parks, the library, walking paths. Jump on 151 in 1 minute to get to where you need to.

Goldleaf and this location have made renting more than bearable!