Capitol Villa Apartments

The complex is in a fantastic location to walk to the Broad College on the MSU-Lake Lansing Trail, under a mile. The location is also excellent for shopping and getting around town - a 5 minute drive from everything and a bus stop outside. Maintenance is very responsive and our unit was just updated with new appliances before move-in. The rooms are large and comfortable.

Our only negative experience is communication with the leasing office. The staff is a revolving door of students expected to train each other, and you will get a different answer asking each of them the same question. Freight train noise is also quite loud and the utilities are very expensive.

I’ve lived in this apartment for over a year, and my experience has been a mix of positives and challenges.

On the positive side, the location is very convenient—within walking distance to downtown East Lansing, and with trail access that leads directly to the MSU campus. My apartment itself is spacious, gets plenty of natural light (especially welcome in winter), and allows pets, which has been great for me and my cats. The complex also has amenities like a pool and volleyball court. For safety, I generally feel very safe here, though the parking lot can feel less so at times because some tenants drive the wrong way in the one-way lanes (management has attempted to address this). Over the past year, they’ve also made improvements, such as updating countertops, and maintenance requests now tend to be handled more promptly. The front desk staff are kind and try to be helpful.

That said, move-in was a rough experience. The flooring wasn’t ready on my scheduled date, delaying my move by a day, and the AC didn’t work properly—it took over three weeks to replace during the summer heat. Although management arranged for cleaning, the apartment was still in poor shape and required additional effort on my part. Laundry is another drawback: the washers and dryers are older, located in a separate building, and some units are out of order. I also would not recommend the gym—it’s limited in equipment and not the cleanest. Noise can be another factor—while it’s fairly quiet during the week, parties are common Thursday–Saturday, and there’s also road noise from Grand River Ave plus train noise at night.

Overall, management was disorganized at the start, but I’ve seen improvement over time. I chose to renew my lease for a second year mainly because of the updates made to my unit, the amount of sunlight it gets, and the unbeatable location near both downtown and campus.

We were pleasantly surprised by the apartment when we moved in. Its close to campus. Maintenance is very responsive, appliances also work great, washer and dryer in unit, close parking. Down falls: no signal for verizon, no storage closets (there are a lot of cabinets in the kitchen though), not much sunlight

Capitol Villa has been fine except they raised my rent when I renewed my lease and they did not have transparent pricing when I initially toured so I was surprised when I got my first bill.

I would describe this apartment as the cheapest 1bed 1 bath i could find. Ideal for CHM students due to the proximity to the radiology building, nearby markets/downtown EL.

No bells and whistles, it’s super simple but gets the job done. Everything works, very spacious.

My one-bedroom apartment is very close to campus, about a 25 minute walk or 10 minute bike ride. I like everything about living here except the price is way higher than any of my friends' apartments, there is not in-unit laundry, and the building does not lock. I have a balcony which is really nice and parking is open.

Great space. Only 1 mile from campus. Good community space.