It's probably an okay place to live if you're not the kind of person who hangs out on NextDoor spinning conspiracy theories and being a cop. I've been here ten years and had some good neighbors and some bad ones. All things considered and given that I couldn't afford to live in Reston otherwise, it's, you know, perfectly adequate. read more

Worst place to live. The ASSociation sucks and will try to get this review towed. Myself and many others have been towed out of our own spots. Please do yourself a favor and live anywhere else. read more

If you NEVER want to sleep or need any type of quiet and absolutely love constant obnoxious noise of work trucks with the never ending construction projects , souped up cars, obnoxious pick up trucks that race from one speed bump to a stop a sign that 95% people absolutely never stop or barley slow down !!! From before sunrise to well after sunset . It continues with ongoing loud music, people fighting throughout the night , EVERY night and the loud foot traffic any hour and ALL hours with a huge bonus of the most epic brightest lights right in your windows ( light pollution at its finest) (Blackout curtains double up don't help at all) ! Well this is your place !! On top of it parking is worse than the city parking. If you just go outside just to take the trash ( which is a whole other subject that's largely laughable) but there is always trash all around the property, you will be approached by people panhandling over & over. Not to mention the copious amounts of animal feces everywhere ! No worries the property management will do nothing for you or address any problems that occur. I wouldn't even give one star but you have to choose one. read more

Well after reading older reviews as I really don't see any newer ones at this time !! It seems ABSOLUTELY nothing has changed , it's an incredible shitty place to live !! NOTHING gets addressed even when you try to ask anything by this laughable management and crew it's always meet with a negative attitude and I don't give a fuck attitude from management !! I've never seen this manager ever walk the property or interact with community members! Security is still an ongoing joke, cameras that's even more hilarious!! From the trash, drug deals ,noise at all hours, parking ,to the dog shit it's all very true !! The property needs a lot of attention ( to much to even express) but the only property that seems to get attention is the office building! Hummmmm I would give them no stars if that was an option ! I wouldn't recommend buying or renting here to anyone!! read more

Worst bunch of assholes I've ever dealt with. In 2010, they made the decision to turn the hvac units off in all the buildings during a week-long triple digit heat wave in July "for upgrades" and only offered one box fan to each unit. The board president Brian Olivia was a complete douche to me when I emailed asking how long it would take to complete (originally two days, ended up nine). So we moved out the next month. read more

If I could give this place 0 stars I would. In a nut shell, the manager Natasha is rude, doesn't even pretend to care about the residents here, and has a "what do you want me to do about it" attitude. She does not provide one ounce of Friendliness whether via email or phone. The maintenance team consists of 2 overweight men who ride around the neighborhood all day. I've had two experiences with them. The first time they were great. The second time they were extremely rude! I work from home and was on the phone with a client one day they came to change the air filters. When they came to the door I kept saying hold on so I could get off the call. They literally banged on my door for almost 5 minutes as loud as they could until I opened. Their response when I opened the door, "we can't wait we have to get this done". First strike There is dog poop EVERYWHERE. Even right in front of the security camera by the office. You would think they would check to take care of the problem. You will even find it on the sidewalks sometimes. Strike Two Here's the third strike and my reason for the review. This is the second time in a week my water is getting shut off (for 6 hours) due to someone wanting to renovate their bathroom. They don't even give residents 24 hour notice to make other arrangements. I explained to the manager Natasha (does anyone else work here?!?!!) that I have a baby and NEED to wash my hands when I come home due to the coronavirus pandemic we are currently in. During a pandemic, water should only be shut off for EMERGENCIES NOT LUXORY REPAIRS. She says "what do you want me to do he has to renovate his bathroom". No he doesn't, health should be the top priority right now. So after I threaten to file a complaint against the community, what happens, a week later she allows the water to go off again. 18 families will be without water during the coronavirus pandemic for 6 hours because some guy wants a new bathroom. Does that even sound okay? Again, back to her not even caring about residents or their safety. I've filed a complaint with the county since she doesn't care about the safety of my family. I tried to give them a pass the first time. Let's talk more about this guy fixing his bathroom. I come home and water is pouring from the vent. My bathroom is flooded. I've reported the damage to the office. Do you think they even called or followed up to make sure the damage was taken care of? Of course not, that's someone people who care about their residents do. Message to anyone trying to rent or buy here, keep it moving. This community does not reflect the normal culture you will find in Reston. Once you pass the shadowood sign, welcome to southeast dc. The security guard is either eating or on his phone so he's not paying any attention to this property. The maintenance is a joke. You will smell weed coming from numerous buildings. They only keep the dumpster clean by the rental office. The only camera is by the rental office. There's a lot a bugs around here too, more than I've ever seen in my life! Again, I would not recommend anyone buying or renting in this neighborhood. It's cheap for a reason! read more

Look elsewhere! Horrible, horrible place to live. Roaches everywhere! Place is old and the administrative staff is horrible if you're renting. They will not help you at the office if you are a renter because they are the "association" and help only the landlords. However, if you owe them some sort of payment you can go to the office. How nice! If you have any issues with your rental you have to speak directly to your landlord, but if you can't get it touch with them you're screwed. If you have to call the emergency number the owner gets fined $30 making them upset with you. If you go to the office to complain about something they may also fine your landlord and I have heard that they in fact do this from time to time. Kids running everywhere all the time without parental supervision and then they get lost and the police come knocking at your door to ask if you have seen them. There's a lady that goes dumpster diving, then you get fined an improper garbage disposal fee because you did not put your garbage in the dumpster when you really did. Once I went to the dumpster after having gone the day before to find my garbage bag ripped open outside of the dumpster and my mail on the floor. In order to fine you they will look in your garbage! Who does that? Creepy, creepy place to live. Everyone that I know who lives there has been fined an improper garbage disposal fee and its not because all of us are idiots that don't know where the garbage needs to go. Cooking odors, not aroma waft from apartment to apartment. Yuck! You cannot park backwards, goodness forbid because you get a warning. The tow truck is there every night and if you have your state inspection sticker expired your car is gone, but you can recover it for $150 in Chantilly. When it snowed you couldn' t get your car out because the snow plow piled the snow up against the cars. I have a 4X4 and even then it was tricky to get out. I have to give credit to the hispanic people who cleared the sidewalks though, they did a good job and were there 4 a.m. in the morning to clear the sidewalks. read more

I am a US Foreign Service retiree, who held a "secret clearance"; I'm almost 75, and possibly, the oldest current Shadowood Condo owner in Reston, VA. I thought I had seen it all. Wrong! Disclaimer: I do not criticize the Shadowood owners for not being more vigilant. There were no red flags; the Board did an excellent steath cover-up. The Owners have families; they entrusted the Board to be wise and prudent with their money. I attended many of the open-session meetings and my ongoing, the time-consuming ferreting through the Shadowood Financial Statements of the last two (2) years will support my claims. The Shadowood Board squandered $1.35 million or more (calculation: a work in progress). Unethically, the Board failed to comply with their established CONTRACT POLICY and the Association's "Governing Documents". In 2012 the Virginia Supreme Court and the County of Fairfax Circuit Court ruled against the Shadowood Board, when Judge Randy Bellows determined that Covenant F6 of Shadowood's Master Deed is paramount. For the Shadowood Board, F6 should have been the BLUEPRINT of prudent, fiscal, responsible spending directly related to the maintenance, repairs, improvements etc. in the Community. However, the Board ignored the Virginia Supreme Court and the Fairfax Circuit Court; they had the power to spend $1 million Plus for four (4) attorneys, 2 forensic firms, public accountant, and other legal service providers to battle one owner in the courts for years; they had the power to spend humongous legal sums, diverting operating budget monies from the upkeep and improvement of the Community to pay attorneys and legal fees. Incredible! It get worse! The Shadowood Board failed to comply with its Resolution Policy 2016-3 Regarding Contracts, which explicitly stated that the Board MUST approve any contract that is in the "aggregate" over $25,000. Like cheese and Shakespeare, this is where the "smell in Denmark" ripens. I found NO board meeting minutes (motions) to prove that the 5-member board ever approved the Contract that Board President [January 25, 2017] signed with the "fourth" attorney (first attorney hired in June 2014). The Purpose of the 4th attorney-contract was to renew the "Case" against one Shadowood owner. The aggregate spending of this Contract is over $500,000 and counting. Possibly, when the tabulation is completed, the cost may exceed $750,000. It get worse! Shadowood owners were kept in the dark. In a review of the board meeting MINUTES and the FOI, there are no Board meeting minutes to show that the Board reviewed and/or approved any attorney invoices in "owner-open-session" meetings for at least two years! The smell...with no board discussions in open sessions (2017-2018), owners were denied the right to know how their money was spent in huge checks issued by Sequoia Management, the financial agent of the Association. To clarify: 1/ there was no wrong-doing by Sequoia since they had proper board authorization to issue the checks, 2/ checks issued were buried within the Sequoia's Financial Statements. However, to repeat, since the Board never discussed the attorney invoice billing in open sessions and since the payment process was conducted outside open-sessions, there were no red flags or reasons for owners to dig thru 20-30 pages of financials each month. It gets more smelly! About December 4, 2018, probably weeks from the trial date, the Board decided (12/04/19, not four (4) years earlier) to settle the case before the trial. I believe the "money exchanged" in the settlement does not make a dent in the $$Million Plus spent by this Board. I believe the settlement was self-serving; it was about "Board survival". If the court had ruled against the Board on any one of the counter-suit "counts" of the opposing owner, the ownership would have removed the Board Leadership. The settlement assures that symbolically the Board did not lose the case - only a million dollars+. That $1.35 Million Plus squandered on 4 attorneys, 2 forensic companies, public accountant and expert witness ETC was _________ I'll let you fill in the blank. read more

Truly the worst condominium association I have ever dealt with and this is the fourth condominium I have owned. Be ware. When you move in they will hit you with several move in fees that will not be in your settlement costs. And when you sell they will withhold $1,000 at settlement. Why? They claim it is to settle the water bill which you pay monthly in your condominium fees. So for $50 worth of water they withhold $1,0000 dollars. When I called they said it could take up to six months to settle this deposit. The development is full of unsupervised kids. They are loud, obnoxious and destructive. Steer clear. This is not a good place to live or invest. read more

If I could give this Condo community and especially the HOA zero stars I would. I lived in this community for just a little over a year and it was horrible. Obviously the units are old and have their faults but with that said there were a ton of issues. The walls are super thin so I could hear and smell everything from the neighbors upstairs and next door. The ones next door were heavy smokers so the smoke would come through the filtration system and they argued A LOT. The couple upstairs had not only themselves but their two children, their significant others and two grandchildren living there. The children did not ever go outside to play so you can imagine how much noise they made running and jumping around the place. There was a drug dealer in the building next to ours so the cops patrolled the area regularly. The HOA was a nightmare! They pretty much were vindictive dictators. We received a notice that our curtains in the family room were not an allowed color! Seriously? An approved color?!? Regardless to the fact that they had to be targeting us for no reason what so ever, our lovely loud neighbors above us had pink tie die curtains but that of course wasn't a problem for the HOA since they did not receive a letter with a fine if they weren't changed immediately. The HOA, at the time I lived there, had the ability to turn on and off the AC/HVAC units when ever they so pleased for whatever reason they so felt to. They would schedule a date for the AC to be turned on regardless to whether it was 20 degrees or 110 degrees outside. To make matters worse they targeted a lovely man in the building next to ours who had a sick daughter. He had a minor disagreement with them over I believe an unfounded fee for something stupid that he refused to pay until they heard him out in a HOA meeting but no... since he didn't pay they turned his AC off in the middle of a hot summer. This was around the time I couldn't take it any more so left so I am unsure of what happened in this situation. I know an investigation was trying to get started of the president of the HOA and the financials which were not being disclosed to owners in the neighborhood. BTW, you may want to know what my last straw was for GTF'ing out of there. Following a lovely extended weekend trip to the beach, I returned back to ShadowHOOD, as I've learned it is called, to find a car at the front of the community entrance that had been on fire. It looked to us that the car had been possibly tagged up and may be set a blaze... we left right after that. Beware of moving into this community is all I can say. Reston is a lovely area but avoid Shadowhood. Also, GET YOUR PLACE INSPECTED HEAVILY! Especially for asbestos which is not cheap to get rid of... The below article only begins to explain the horror of living in this place http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-state-of-nova/post/restons-shadowood-condominiums-make-new-va-case-law-cant-impose-fees-on-rule-violators/2012/12/13/52fb582c-4554-11e2-9648-a2c323a991d6_blog.html read more

I know Shadowood is super cheap, however do not move in here. You will regret it from day 1. I also ignored all the bad reviews about Shadowood and said "hey but how bad could it really be?" It s really that bad. Unless you really like car alarms going off all night, your car getting towed for the dumbest reasons, never being able to park in your own reserved parking space, AC and heat that don't really work, being able to hear every single thing going on outside at all hours of the day and night, really loud music all the time, dogs pooping in the parking lot and just being left there, or never actually getting a good night of sleep (unless it's raining). Pros to living in Shadowood? It is pretty inexpensive for the area and the trash usually gets picked up on time. But if those are the only two items on your new apartment criteria list and you absolutely love being woken up by people honking in the parking lot 24 hours a day then this is the place for you! read more