So, after a year of being a tenant at these "luxury" apartments, I think it's about time I give everyone who is thinking of moving here a very serious heads up.
First of all, I have been renting apartments for over 20 years, in at least 6 different states. I wouldn't even kind of consider these apartments anywhere in the realm of "luxury". I just moved here from a major city in Florida, where I was paying $800 less for an apartment that was 1000 times more luxurious than these and was 2 blocks from the beach.
The security was a selling factor, until all of the pedestrian gates apparently broke at once, so basically anyone could walk in whenever they wanted, thus negating the security factor. For months it was like that. I have also pulled up to the security box on several occasions to find that my fellow tenants have put their security codes on a post it on the box. I presume this was for a large gathering, but still pretty negligent, especially since it was still there after a couple of days.
The carpet is thin and apparently has no padding under it, because my upstairs neighbors are all pretty small people, yet every movement through their home sounds like a herd of wild elephants stomping around over our heads. I also don't know what the fair housing laws are here about how often carpet needs to be changed between tenants, but our carpet already had bald spots near the transition strips in the master bedroom and the living room.
There is a switch for what I assume used to be a garbage disposal in the sink, but I don't have a disposal (don't know about other apartments). The washer and dryer and dishwashers, while all nice to have in the apartments, are all either really old or really cheap and are kind of inefficient at what they're supposed to do. My washing machine sounds like it's about to blow a gasket every time I wash a sheet or thin blanket, and you have to pre-wash everything before you put it in the dishwasher if you want it to come out clean. The kitchen cabinets are huge, but literally half of the space in inaccessible, either because the shelves are 10 feet off the ground, or they mounted the cabinet in such a way that the space is unusable or severely awkward to use because of how it is placed in regards to other cabinets/doors.
The master bathroom in my apartment doesn't have a tub, it's a tiny little shower stall that has a very small lip on the bottom. This means that you have to hang a shower curtain low so that it basically lays on the floor of the shower to keep water from splashing out onto the bathroom floor.
I have only interacted with the management a couple of times, but they posted a notice on my door about dog poo not being picked up and a potential $100 fine. When my adult daughter went to the office to protest (because there are cameras everywhere and all they had to do was check the tapes to see that we aren't the culprits), they were very rude and condescending to her. They also said it wasn't their responsibility to provide poo bags for residents, that it was only a "courtesy". For $1700 a month, you better darn well provide dog poo bags, especially if you think you're going to charge me $100 for not cleaning up said poo.
My main concern, however, is the lack of air conditioning in these apartments. I know it's the PNW, and once upon a time it didn't get really hot here, so AC was unnecessary. Fast forward to 2018, where global warming is a reality and living in apartments ANYWHERE without AC is a joke. It;s not even so much that they don't have AC, but you are not allowed, by the lease, to put your own AC unit in the windows. Which means you have to spend a fortune on those portable AC units that are inefficient at best and do very little to cool a large square footage apartment. I could buy 2 big window units for the cost of one portable and cool this whole apartment. But it will violate my lease to make my apartment comfortable. And even if the heat isn't an issue, I have children that have serious allergy issues, so keeping the windows open, even when it's nice outside, makes life a living hell for them for months during the spring and fall. The office, that is only in use for about 8 hours a day, is air conditioned, by the way. So they recognize the need for it, but apparently the office staff merit more consideration than the tenants.
Last, but not least, they decided that investing in a pool table and fully equipped kitchen (with better appliances than my apartment has, I might add) in the clubhouse was more desirable than a nice pool for the residents to use to cool off from living in their non air conditioned apartments. The workout equipment is nice, and it is accessible 24 hrs. a day, which is nice for people who work non-traditional schedules to get a work-out in.
All in all, for the price, I wouldn't recommend this place unless you have major disposable income, or have kids that you really want going to Capital HS/Jefferson Middle school read more