Will do my best to provide an objective review based on my 1 year of living here in its first year of opening (Summer 2018 - Summer 2019). A lot of pros and some cons that may or may not apply based on your situation but hopefully it'll help you make a decision on whether to live here or not. So here's my input:
Pros
-Amazing location; Commuter rail, Stop & Shop, Kohi Coffee, HomeGoods and Dollar Tree, all within walking distance. NB Fitness Club (amazing gym), and some restaurants that are super close if you're feeling lazy
-Amenities - Common areas include 3 communal grills, firepits, bocce ball court (don't know how to play though), cornhole, pool, skytop lounge (with 1 additional grill) that you can book for private events ($300/4 hrs). There's also a tech lounge and three conference rooms that you can book
-(Internal) Noise - surprisingly really good. Not sure what they did for their construction but noise above/below and our neighbors, we haven't had any issues (unless they're blasting music).
-Gym (i'm a gym rat so i'm pretty picky about gyms) - pretty standard apartment gym, free weights up to 70lbs, kettlebells, row machines, treadmills, stair master, some strength machines, smith machine (no actual squat rack and bench), 1 heavy bag for boxing, 1 barbell and a few spin bikes (2 peloton bikes and 2 additional spin bikes)
-Staff/maintenance - concierge staff are amazing, always super friendly and helpful with packages and when we were moving in. Maintenance staff always try to respond within 24 hours (even for non-urgent issues). The staff that you sign with will almost be like your account manager for any ongoing issues/questions. They all are super responsive and professional and amazing to work with as well.
-Extras - dog wash room, bike room, concierge and package locker (super convenient). Guest room that you can book if you have family visiting from out of town ($250/night). Covered parking spot as well but hefty price tag (~$300/month). Vendors that come in every so often to promote products (i.e., personal training, dry cleaning services, wine tastings, etc).
Cons
-(External Noise) Construction across the street; if you live in the tower (facing away from Boston), it's super loud and they usually operate from 7am - 4pm. They're expected to finish in 2021 but if you work from home or have noise-sensitivity issue, definitely would recommend living on the other side of the building.
-Tech rooms - there's a good amount of students that live in the building that take up a lot of the study areas so if you're working from home and want to do work downstairs - definitely try to get there earlier in the day.
-Gym - granted again, I have a high standard for gyms but they claim that the gym is fully operational/functional yet it's missing some things. They need to add an actual squat rack and a bench for it to completely replace a gym and add some more weights. If safety is an issue, just have tenants sign a waiver - doesn't make sense to me. They're also missing many attachments on strength machines so you can't even use some of them properly. They up-charge the monthly rate with some of these amenities but the amenities need to be fully operational in my opinion.
-Parking - management claims that the $300 price tag is comparable with parking rates in seaport/downtown which doesn't make sense to me. A few other GreyStar properties (the management company that runs Lantera) have parking rates at a much cheaper rate and they're right around the corner from Boston Landing, so not sure why the exorbitant price tag here. They say street parking is possible BUT with added retail spaces, restaurants and events, finding parking is definitely a challenge, especially when you have a truck full of groceries or a post-CostCo run.
-Policies - renting from a property management like Lantera/GreyStar has different priorities than other property management companies that I've encountered. It's almost as if they're super focused on volume and filling up empty rooms rather than maintaining tenants. They usually have some new sweetheart deal but none for tenants that are upgrading rooms (studio to 1 bed, 1 bed to 2 or more beds for example). Upper management is definitely focused on signing new tenants.
So, that being said, I would say I had an overall positive experience living here. I think if you're a working professional without a car that wants to splurge on a highrise with downtown, luxury apartment amenities and don't want to actually live downtown, this is the place for you. The policies, parking and the gym lost some of the value for me based on my situation, otherwise, it'd be a 5 star rating from me. read more