Pros:
Initially this building checked all the boxes: gorgeous rooftop, decent-sized apartment with a good layout, W/D in-unit, amenities, doorman, storage, Fios, etc. The staff is also great, especially Earl, G, and Tamika. But unfortunately, this building has been riddled with problems since it opened its doors.
Cons:
It has become abundantly clear that the management doesn't care about the safety of its guests; it only cares about saving money. They overestimated the demand for a few units with massive outdoor patios. Since they can't find tenants to pay the steep rent for those units, it's obvious they are having money issues.
- Insufficient security: Back door isn't monitored properly. There was a double-shooting this summer. A non-resident tailgated behind a resident and shot two residents in their apartment, who thankfully survived. Management's short term solution was to put a guard at the back door, who was often seen sleeping on the job. Their long term solution is to give the front desk attendant a button they can push to lock the back door. The idea that such a solution provides sufficient security is not only delusional, but categorically false and insulting to our intelligence. Only someone who has never stepped foot in this building or doesn't care about our safety would think this is sufficient. In reality, the front desk attendant is far too busy with guests and packages to monitor the back door. The back door is also often broken and swings wide open for at least 5 seconds, which gives people plenty of time to tailgate a resident and enter the building. There have already been multiple sightings of delivery people sneaking in since the security guard was removed.
- Management doesn't proactively communicate important building updates to tenants, they ignore tenants' messages, and ignored tenants' requests for a town hall meeting after the double shooting.
- There were also two shootings on this block since the building opened: one at the community center and one at the Sakeer bodega next door.
- The building has 3 elevators and all 3 are never working at the same time. The lobby can fill up with 20+ people waiting 10+ minutes for an elevator during rush hour.
- Not maintained like a luxury building: halls on each floor are only vacuumed 1x/month and debris is left on the floor for weeks. Also, there is no AC in the halls on each floor.
- The Major Owens Community Center next door has loud parties that go beyond quiet hours where the sound reverberates across the entire interior of the building keeping residents up until 1:30am. Management does nothing to protect the residents from this, even though they manage both buildings.
- The units themselves are made from cheap materials that break
- They are constantly trying to get the trash situation under control and multiple tenants have seen roaches already
- Management botched the payment set-up with the electric company, which meant tenants didn't receive bills for months. When they finally set it up, tenants received multiple bills due within the same month. This happened during the expensive months of summer, which meant tenants were expected to pay $600+ worth of bills within one month due to lack of competency of management.
Advice to owner:
Fix these issues and this could actually be a nice building. Actually care about the tenants, listen to them, treat them with respect. Hire more staff for the entire building in all departments.