This is for the apartment complex formerly known as Elliott Bay Plaza or "EBP" and now called The Berkshires on Elliott. This is a duplicate of the review I posted on a new Yelp page for "The Berkshires."
I've been a renter for 25 years and this is without question the most disappointing experience I've ever had with a landlord. I wouldn't normally write such a long or scathing review of a business, but since this may be read by potential renters who will be signing a year or longer lease I think a detailed disclosure of my year living at this property is warranted.
Here goes:
The sales pitch last summer went great. My girlfriend and I were really excited about the location and the amenities (hot tub, pool, sauna, gyms, community center, rooftop, etc.). The leasing agents were friendly and helpful, and to this day I've never had an issue with any of them, they seem to be doing their best working for a horrific parent company headquartered back east. It must really suck coming to work everyday knowing you are making empty promises and signing someone up to live in a sub par environment. Shame.
Not long after moving in announcements started circulating that a major renovation was scheduled to begin and that it would take the better part of a YEAR! We were never told this and we would NOT have rented the apartment if we had been. And when I say major renovation I mean stripping the building down to its bones, covering it in a mesh "cocoon" all winter, scaffolding everywhere, and the loss of access to amenity after amenity. The package and "lifestyle" we signed on for was unavailable and we found ourselves instead living on a construction site.
Picture waking up to half a dozen construction workers staring through your 3rd floor windows at you as they banged and hacked and drilled away ALL DAY. And that went on for many months. Horrible, messy, and dirty. The air quality was/is severely compromised. We bought a $400 indoor air cleaning machine and have run it on high 24/7 for months now trying to combat the air that is always filled with something: mold, particulate, dust, chemicals, paint, etc.
In addition to the undisclosed construction, the level of service in general has declined steeply. There are bodily fluids and broken bottles left uncleaned in the stairwells and hallways. There is apparently no cleaning being done in the common areas. The building and parking garages REEK of rotting trash. The brand new paint and flooring surfaces are very light in color which would be fine if they cleaned but instead it all just looks disgusting. I've had to repeatedly ask the management to remove trash and debris from the common area just outside my apartments front door.
Our screens were torn by the construction workers when they ripped out our windows and haven't been replaced. Our drains back up almost weekly in both the shower and the bathroom sink. The scaffolding has finally been removed on our half of the building--but ZERO cleanup of the exterior was done and our windows and balcony are filthy.
HERE COMES THE BEST PART...we just got a notice from the property that we have one month to decide if we are staying or not (our lease is up in 2 months). If we immediately agree to sign another year lease (can you imagine?) they will "only" raise our rent $200 per month (roughly a 20%) increase. But, if we want to just go month to month (which is typical after being a good tenant for the first year's lease, always paying on time, etc.) then our rent will go up $700 PER MONTH! That's a 60% plus increase! BTW, during the construction I asked two different leasing agents if they were going to raise our rents--both assured me that wouldn't happen and that they would "make things right" by rewarding the people who had stuck out this whole mess with reasonable increases if any, and not to worry, there would be no surprises. Now I'm curious what they think a "surprising" increase would be. Double? Triple the rent?
And let me make one more thing clear...it's not like the building is renovated and beautiful now. It's not even close to finished. It's gross. Why would anyone who'd been through this sign ANY kind of lease until trust had been reestablished? Why chase away tenants?
If you are looking at this property, do not believe anything you are told by the well meaning leasing staff. They simply cannot and will not deliver. I really wanted this to work, and even up until that notice they delivered, would have been open to trying, but instead we get to start all over and move again. read more