Overall, I enjoyed living at the Slate apartments. The park and QFC across the street is super convenient and great! The gym and common area with the grills is also great, and I wished I used the amenities more when I lived there. My personal unit had a lot of storage (I was in a studio with a wall) and the bathroom was huge. The area is also pretty quiet at night and definitely felt safe to me.
I would give a 5/5 for the maintenance guys. They were always super friendly and helpful and usually would should up within 24-48 hours when I submitted an issue. You can just fill out a form online at anytime which is super convenient. I did have an ongoing issue with my sink which caused a ton of water damage, but they really worked with me to get the issue solved.
I give the admin/front desk a 2.5/5 as they usually would respond the same day when I have a question. However, once and a while they would lag, not give me helpful answers to my questions and weren't all that polite. The move in and move out process were especially bad. Moving in, I had to contact them a few times to get my name added to the call box, I was shown the incorrect garage to be parking my space, and there were a few other mishaps. Mary (the old manager) was the worst. Moving out was just as bad. I reached out to Greystar to get a move out form and sent it back. There's a confirmation on the second page of the form which I never received back. So I had to e-mail and check in and was told my move out was "on notice". It would've been nice to get a confirmation. Then during my move out I had to email to figure out where the keys goes, how much my rent was prorated (the system didn't automatically update it), and figure out the process. I don't believe i got the most direct answers and I often had to ask follow-up questions to make sure I understood the process correctly. It would be nice if they had a standard sheet or script with the details of how to move out.
There was one situation they I think handled poorly during the summer. I didn't like was during the summer. Windows were always open because there's no air conditioning and people would be smoking right outside the building, so smoke would just waft in. I even saw a guy sitting 10 ft from the front door smoking one time. I e-mailed Greystar and told them this issue and they said they couldn't send out an email about it because they already sent one out recently. That was kind of a lame answer in my opinion. It sounded to me like they were essentially saying there was nothing they could do (even though it's illegal to be that close to the door and smoking). They did inform me they were going to be putting up some small signs, but i don't think they really helped honestly. This example represents my overall impression and experience with the front desk whenever I'd speak to them.
Price wise, I definitely think this place was expensive for what I was paying. My water/sewage/gas bill was around $200-250/month because of the common areas, I paid $150 for parking, then I was paying $1509 for my studio. After electricity and my other utilities, I ended paying around $1,900-$2000/month. So that is something to note! The utilities really add up (especially for the common areas)!
I'm also a little bitter because I e-mailed asking if they would give me any deals if I renewed (discounts, extra months, etc), but was denied this. I think that's funny considering when I took a look at my unit being put up for rent (before I even moved out), it was substantially less than what I was paying. I would think they'd offer me a discount so they wouldn't have to find new tenants if they were going to list if for less anyway. I took a look a few months later and the unit still hadn't been taken and rent including utilities is around 700 less than what I paid there a month. I think that's comical, but I would say it's a good time to rent at this place if you're looking!
Overall, this place is pretty decent building to live in. If you don't have a lot of issues and just kind of live your life without needing a lot of help/service, then this place should be pretty good for you. I honestly would've stayed if I could've gotten the rent lowered to price they're listing it at now. read more