The most difficult part of reviewing a complex that you've called home is the question of what you're really reviewing. Are you reviewing the overall time you've spent living there? Are you reviewing the management team? Are you reviewing a tour you took? Are you angry or pleased with one particular aspect or incident and just slamming/praising the property for it?
I share your frustrations, dear reader, with the wildly inconsistent goals and extreme opinions you'll see reading feedback for apartment complexes. I've lived at MAESTRO since it opened in 2019 and I'm now leaving in spring 2023. I've had some great times here (and those were 5 star times) and there is a lot to love about the MAESTRO property, but I think to focus on those times would actually do you a great disservice. Because what you're curious about now is the proposition of moving into MAESTRO in 2023. And even in the context of me tapping out, I think that this is an awful proposition that I advise you against.
For the record, I think the management team here (despite a turnover rate like the Blazers in the 3rd round of playoffs) remains fantastic. Unfortunately, Holland Residential corporate has, to put it gently: lost their minds.
I understand rent is up everywhere, but the idea that living here as a proposition has gone UP in value means that Holland Corporate might be abusing some of the same meth that now freely flows in front of 22nd & Kearney.
If this neighborhood had remained what it was when I first moved in, then MAYBE, MAYBE, I would consider just grumbling at unhinged increased in rent, but these increases are so divorced from reality on the ground that they must be using some algorithm that is devoid of human logic. So let me pour some logic directly on the wound.
Safety is relative. Is this neighborhood the south side of Chicago? Absolutely not. But compare itself to when I first moved in? It's gone to hell by absolutely every measure.
When I first moved into this neighborhood, I deliberately walked all around and under the 405 (which remains the most realistic way you're ever going to walk to most of the Pearl from MAESTRO) after midnight. I literally could not encounter trouble. It was quiet and about as clean as the city of Portland gets. I encountered only a single TriMet worker on the night shift who smiled and waved.
In 2023, you could not pay me to attempt this walk. Even after random and ineffective sweeps from the city there remain encampments (that grow to sidewalk-blocking proportions and beyond when the weather turns warmer) in every direction. You cannot walk in this neighborhood without encountering dozens of people with severe untreated mental health issues AND/OR severe drug addictions in all stages of withdrawal or psychosis. That is a fact.
Other facts of life at MAESTRO in 2023:
Sometimes you won't even need to leave your apartment to enjoy these struggles. You will hear ranting, raving, racist screaming, arguing, and threats of violence from outside your window or balcony and in the distance. Thankfully they rarely if, ever, escalate to such because all parties are severely impaired. So there's that.
Broken car window glass from unlucky street side parkers is now the *rule* and not the shocking exception it once was. An ride share driver casually commented while dropping me off at MAESTRO that "Oh yeah, you just can't park over here anymore, it's sad."
And last but absolutely not least: critical local businesses that once elevated this neighborhood are gone and they've not been replaced. The loss of of the beloved Commissary Cafe (literally across the street from MAESTRO) alone has dropped the value of living here. Le Happy, Basics Market, Botanist and Urban Grind are all cherished memories now with no legitimate replacements on the horizon for any of them...
Anyone with an ear or foot to the ground knows that Portland's road to recovery is struggling mightily to put in mildly. The city is in agony as a whole and what's happening near MAESTRO's neighborhood isn't unique, it's also real and tangible.
Meanwhile, Holland Residential looks at all of this (or more likely doesn't) and says "Yeah, you know what. This is "luxury" living. These are ~2,000+ dollar apartments in Portland 2023."
I would argue that you should say to them what I am saying as I give my notice: "No. Absolutely not. GET REAL."
To my mind, moving into MAESTRO in 2023 at lease costs like this is a vote that says "Yes, I want Portland to become the next San Francisco. Blind increases to the rent and no solutions on the ground."
It's my sincere hope that my apartment joins much of downtown and those previous gems of this neighborhood and remains VACANT and FOR LEASE for as much time as it takes for corporate to get a reality check and do some reflection. Right now, in 2023, a 1 BR at MAESTRO is worth about 1,400 given out-of-control fees. Now you tell me how far off base Holland Residential is with your quote... read more