The good
The…read moreapartments are nice as they are new, and the aesthetics are pleasing. That said, they are nothing special compared to other new buildings in Seattle. The units have A/C, which are hard to come by in Seattle, and this is specifically nice when forest fires happen--you can at least be sure that you will not have to breathe ash. The location is great, you have most of what Capitol Hill has to offer within a few minutes walk, also downtown is just a short walk away.
The bad
There are only two elevators serving all 16 floors. At time it takes forever (say 5 minutes) to get down to the lobby, especially when someone is moving and the other elevator is blocked. At least the elevator says "sorry to keep you waiting", so I guess that makes it alright? But if your Uber is downstairs, it can be really annoying.
The lobby regularly smells like trash, the building has been working hard to fix this, so some days it is pumped up with synthetic smell to make it better. For how much we pay, and how much they brag about the building, this should not happen.
More on trash, every floor has a room with chutes that rarely work, so they put in recycling bins in every floor now, sometimes, the door barely opens LOL look at all the pictures on Yelp, they are real. I did some digging, and there was a complaint filed with the city because someone living near one of the trash rooms had smell issues in the units.
More on smells, the building has a shared ventilation system. It is used to ventilate bathrooms, kitchen fumes, laundry, etc. You should keep the fans running at all times, unless you want to smell when your neighbor is going number 2, or when they decide to smoke cigarettes indoors.
More on poop, the dog run is generally full of dog poop. It is disgusting to take my dog up there, and if your dog decides to poop at night, you are in a shit minefield--and you better have a flashlight with you. It is normal to see a trail of poop all the way to the elevator from someone scraping their shoes because they stepped on doodie. Parasites anyone? (see attached pic of email they sent, yet poop violations are rampant)
The ugly
Not happy with how they have handled leases - been told that my lease would renew month to month at a higher rate if I took no action, yet my lease explicitly prohibits this.
When I tried to give notice--I always have done it over email in the past two apartments I have lived in Seattle--they said that I needed to complete a form that they provide. The form says that I agree not to receive my deposit if the unit is not professionally cleaned, and I had to show a receipt or pay a $200 fee.
The lease says to follow move out instructions if they have been provided, which they were not, and I only need to return the apartment in a clean condition, no one said anything about detailing. In fact, when I moved in, it wasn't even that clean. There was construction dust everywhere, as I was the first tenant. Waiving security deposits and paying additional cleaning fees is not something that I had agreed to, so what gives? In my previous experience, landlords take on these expenses as part of doing business.
Moreover, they said they would not accept any notices by email, yet I filled the form in my iPad, emailed the paper to them, and it was fine? The lease agent even told me that this was state law and that it was the only way to give notice... I am still rolling my eyes.
Please do yourself a favor and check any of the other apartment buildings in Seattle, this is the first time I have been loaded with undisclosed fees, procedures and forms. Other buildings will likely be cleaner too.
Why are there few bad reviews? Because management will call you to chat, and offer you money to put the review down. Also management is writing reviews for their own building, at least Yelp removes them when you flag them!
Update:
I received my move out statement with two extra charges totaling $104 extra. Make sure you read everything they charge you. This is not the first time they try to sneak-in extra fees.