Guild - The Yards

Beware!! This place is horrid. The leasing office is atrocious. They rented me a nearly $3,000 unit that was infested with cockroaches, and rodents were scratching inside the walls. Leasing showed no empathy. They accused me of trespassing when I was trying to terminate my lease and return my keys. From beginning to end, the process was an absolute nightmare. They don’t respect tenants, they don’t maintain the property, and the entire building carries an undertone of depression and neglect—even staff complained to me during my short time there. I literally moved in while they were spraying the unit, and as I was unboxing, bugs appeared everywhere: in the kitchen, cabinets, and bathroom. This place is disgusting, poorly managed, and the leasing staff is terrible. Stay away from Brookfield Properties.

Overall, the building has some nice features, but there are recurring issues that need attention. The other day, I accidentally broke several glass bottles while bringing a package upstairs. I reached out to the front desk for help, but was told that neither they nor the cleaners could assist because both roles are contracted and cleaning spills isn’t part of their contract. The cleaning staff had already left for the day, so I ended up spending about an hour cleaning a shared hallway myself using my own broom and mop. I’m not someone who expects to be catered to — I clean up after myself. But in a building marketed as “luxury,” I would expect cleaning coverage to extend at least into the early evening, especially for safety and hygiene reasons. I recently also had a delivery that required refrigeration. The delivery system notified me, but the vendor didn’t label the item as perishable. I called for assistance and was told the front desk would move it to the freezer, but it was never done. When I came home six hours later, the food had been sitting out the entire time. Maintenance and the building’s front desk staff are generally helpful, but communication, follow-through, and basic support services—especially through the leasing office—have been very inconsistent. Hoping management improves coordination and staffing, because these issues do add up.

I had a very negative experience. My dog had an incident with someone who works in the building at the dog run. I have been trying to handle the situation by moving out of the building but the building was completely unresponsive for 2 months despite 5 follow ups. They clearly do not care about the wellness of either the residents or employees. Stay away.

Highly advise against moving here or any Brookfield property. Countless hidden fees and expect to pay $200+ a month on top of you what you thought was your rent when you signed your lease. The tenants from the buildings have formed a group to try and stop these horrendous practices.

Stay away! Leasing at the Guild (A Brookfield Property) is atrocious; so much so that the tenants formed a group to have their voices heard. Each month it’s a guessing game of how much in hidden fees leasing plans to charge tenants. On top of your rent they’ll also charge you a mystery amount for trash, common area electric, gas, storm water, and of course a billing fee to pay your bill through their provider. Month to month these amounts vary significantly so you’ll never be able to anticipate what you’ll owe. On top of that the building itself is not safe. Packages are regularly stolen. Various security issues including assault and vandalism are commonplace. Facilities like the elevators and garage and building doors are regularly in disrepair often for months. Leasing doesn’t care about the tenants. They’re unresponsive, argumentative at best, and seem to be content providing terrible service often at the direct expense of tenant well being and safety. For your wallet, health, and sanity, don’t live here.

I usually don't do reviews but after my the A plus experience, I had to do it.. I must say, from start to finish Ms. Danielle with leasing was nothing short of amazing. She assisted my mother and I with identifying the perfect unit, leasing up and any questions we had regarding our process. We love the location, the amenities and the support from the concierge and leasing office. :)

I've looked for every reason to love this place and truth be I love my particular unit. That's where the love ends though. Please note, they recently started charging for common area utilities in ADDITION to your own unit. Last month I paid over $150 for common area electricity in addition to my own individually metered bill. This is one of a few ways they manage to get more money out of you. The Guild very much has a "homeless vibe" with the type of people who end up here. Smell of cigarettes and weed will greet you daily as you enter the common areas, or even in your own unit, if your neighbors are smokers, which I am experiencing. Communication is abysmal. If you need anything from the front office, you will most likely see the expiry of your lease before hearing back on whatever you needed. I would not continue to live here if it were free. Steer clear.

I moved into Guild about 2 months ago. The apartment itself is fine, however the ownership company is horrific. After moving in I found out that hidden in the legal jargon of the lease was a clause about community electric and gas billing. So on top of the expensive rent, we now have to cover the electric and gas used in the common areas. WHAT A SCAM. Isn't that meant to be included in rent?! Just received my first communal electric bill for the month of July $77!! That's more than I pay for my in-unit bill. And $25 for the 1.5 weeks I occupied the apartment in June. On top of this they use a company called Metergy to bill for water, this company is owned by Brookfield (who also own Guild). My metergy bill for this past month was $65 for water, $20 of that is just fees! In my previous apartment 2 blocks away I had an additional bathroom than I have now and I paid at most $45/month and none of the "DC water fees" Brookfield is charging. Finally when I first toured the complex I was told there was a concierge at the desk every day from 8am - 12am. When I moved in a month later this service had disappeared without any notice. This is one of the main reasons I moved into this complex! Suddenly after many many resident complaints a concierge has appeared again, however only from 9am-5pm. This does not offer the same level of service or safety guarantee as the previously promised 8am-12am service. The residents are coming together to fight against Brookfield and their deceptive and fraudulent practices. We have filed a complaint with the DC Attorney General's Office. I have attached two screen shots of showcasing the excess fees and communal billing now in place.