Jacob S.
Google
After a year at Central, my experience overall was just okay. The building has decent amenities, and the aesthetics of the building are nice. The maintenance and cleaning team are also amazing and the best part of living here hands down!!! Super professional and quick as always. The location of the building is around a lot of restaurants and the downtown mall which has been convenient.
Regarding the “Central”experience… the move in process was a NIGHTMARE. The management team didn’t tell us we needed a cashiers check/money order to get our keys when we showed up on a Saturday afternoon after banks already closed!! My partner and I had to run around downtown Silver Spring for 2 hours with our two cats and all our belongings trying to get cash for a money order. It was VERY FRUSTRATING dealing with a lack of clear communication involving our move-in process. During our time here, we’ve frequently encountered pet pee stains and its’ aroma in the carpeted elevator, gym equipment out of order for months, a broken garage gate, a broken ice maker in the club room (no ice maker in the apartments) all to pay almost $2200 for only 650 square feet.
My most recent issue with the building involved one of my cars getting towed. After speaking with other neighbors, it’s a common occurrence of the predatory, third party company towing residents vehicles when their placard is misplaced (my placard fell on the floor but was still visible and they still took my car). This happened while paying $155/month for the first car and $165/month for the second car—$320/month for there to be no second form of verification of the cars before they tow them from the garage. Just recently, I saw that one of my sweet, elderly neighbors that parks in the same handicap space EVERYDAY get her car towed THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS because her placard fell like mine!!! There is plenty of parking for the building, so the predatory towing isn’t even necessary at all… just a money grab. To add to it all, it was extremely disappointing that management wasn’t able to offer any resolution regarding the $170 my partner and I had to pay to retrieve the vehicle from the tow yard.
The prices of the apartments are also all over the place and incredibly inconsistent. My neighbor that recently moved out and told me he paid $2,380 for the same exact same apartment/square footage (A4 layout) that my partner and I pay $2,180 for. Now, they’re listing the same units online for around $2,000…. super inconsistent. The management and front desk staff are all nice and friendly, but I’m often reminded that this is still a corporate entity. Overall, this building has had a slight, noticeable decline (hence the reduction in rental pricing) since it was purchased at the end of 2024, and the new owner/management will nickel and dime tenants about more expenses now. They recently put limited hours on the coffee machine in the lobby which is LAUGHABLE. They also now charge a $1,000 broker fee to sign a lease which they didn’t have when I moved in end of 2024.
My final criticism includes some of the other tenants. Some of the neighbors are lovely people with adorable, sweet pets and great energy while there are others who won’t even acknowledge your existence/are impolite and straight up rude! My neighbor refuses to acknowledge me after I engage with friendly hellos and even muttered a slur at me in passing!! There was another instance where a guy verbally harassed my partner and I as we were walking in the hallway back to our apartment. Honestly, such a mixed bag living here. I luckily didn’t deal with noisy neighbors.
Even without the predatory towing practices, it’s still only been a 3 star experience. My partner and I renewed our lease because we didn’t want the hassle of moving again around the holidays and have ultimately come to regret it because we feel like we’re paying too much for what it actually is.