Kennedy Biscuit Lofts

We have lived in this building for 10 years. It has gone dramatically downhill under new management. Most recently they abruptly canceled the front desk concierge service, which is one of the key features that they used to advertise the building to prospective new tenants. Since that happened, packages, routinely pile up in the hallways, creating a risk that they get lost or stolen. The current management team is dishonest and nonresponsive. I would strongly recommend staying away from this building.

We had a great experience with Lee Tran who helped with the tour and the initial setup, very prompt to respond and always helpful, highly recommend working with Lee!

KBL-Returning Tenant; I had pleasure of returning to this apartment complex for a second time, and I can honestly say that my experience has been very good with the team specially with Joseph Awuah the property manager.Here's a breakdown of my experience: 1. Location (*****): The apartment is in a fantastic Cambridge location. It's close to shopping centers, restaurants, and public transportation. Whether you want to grab a quick bite or commute to work, everything is within easy reach. 2. Cleanliness (****): The apartment unit i rented was very nice. The kitchen is modern and fully equipped, and the living area is cozy and comfortable.The property management team was very helpful in taking care of things that i needed at the time to make feel comfortable and I am very grateful for all the unit 3. Amenities (*****): The amenities in this complex are very good. The fitness center is well-equipped and the communal spaces are inviting and cosy. 4. Maintenance and Service (*****): Any maintenance requests were addressed promptly by the maintenance team. The property management team is friendly and responsive, making the rental experience hassle-free. 5. Safety and Security (***): There are security measures in place, including secure access to the building and parking, which provided peace of mind.Here may require a little bit improvement in some areas in the building. 6. Community Atmosphere (****): The residents in the complex are friendly, and there are community events that help foster a sense of belonging. Overall, the combination of a great location, well-maintained property, and friendly staff made it a perfect place to call home. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a rental unit in the area.

LEASING OFFICE IS SO INCONSIDERATE kept waiting for an hour, and was told every 15 minutes that he would be another "15 min". If you are going to be late/backed up, no problem, but give a realistic timeline. Asked if someone else could show us the place, was told he was the only one there, when we went to the back there were at 3 other people back there.

Current resident here. My experiences here have been far below par. Management and leasing are absolute wrecks. Laundry machines have been broken for over a year, repair requests are open for months. Floor renovations took almost a year. They also raised rent by 7% which is overpriced for this location imo. They don't treat KBL residents like they do at the other University Park locations. Also the color of the walls are nausea inducing. Also there was a week in May where the temp outside was 90+ degs, and AC was not turned on. Who in their right mind forgets to turn on AC IN MAY??? Only redeeming qualities are the front desk crew (shoutouts Richard and Katey)

At every change of season, KBL management decided when to transition from AC to Heat or vice versa because they control the HVAC. Have been living here for 3 years and with every change in season they get their prediction wrong so tenants are left to suffer through. This week has been warm and the AC is already turned off for several days so tenants are left sweltering in the heat with no AC (as was advertised when they moved in). Management should be aware of this and should offer rent credits when THEIR error in predictions and their decision making cause tenants significant discomfort -- I have not seen this done yet to date. (Dear Management: It is hot, as you are aware. You decided to turn off the AC. We need air conditioning back on or we deserve credits on our already considerably high rent.)

The facilities appear to be a good value at first, but what you can't see from the curb is that this place has THE worst management team imaginable. And worse than just being incompetent, they're incredibly rude. Run, don't walk, the other way -- its not worth it. 3 quick anecdotes to illustrate my on-going nightmare with management: Story #1 I had the same experience as another Yelper (Sara M), which she recounted: "We got kicked out of our apartment for two weeks so they could replace the hvac systems, with no warning, no provision in our lease, and no offer to put us up somewhere else." Story #2 While conducting repairs on a broken ceiling fan in our living room, building staff encountered an exposed set of wires inside one of the closets. These wires had actually been exposed since the day we moved in, but management hypothesized that we had instead tampered with the wires in order to install a clock that sat distantly above the closet (a clock that was battery powered. lol). Management sent us a blistering series of communications about the 'lease violation', lecturing us about our recklessness and the fire hazard that we created. After realizing their own idiocy, they still refused to apologize for either their rude correspondence or for introducing the 'fire hazard' in the first place. Story #3 We opted for a unit with a direct entrance via a staircase from the street. This entrance was a major part of why we selected this particular unit. Exiting directly to the street rather than meandering through the internal building exit shaved 5 minutes off of our commute and was a major luxury. Eventually, however, these stairs began to crack, and management instructed us not to use them anymore (without an apology, or offer of compensation). They put up this insane mickey-moused barrier to prevent us from using the stairs: http://i.imgur.com/AdIs04m.jpg (Do yourself a favor and click, it is hilarious) Our repeated requests to repair the stairs landed nowhere. Management was content to let it sit there indefinitely. Instead of fixing the problem, they rudely threatened us with lease violations for going around the barrier or deconstructing the barrier (something we never did.). After SIX MONTHS, I finally contacted the Cambridge Housing Inspector who cited them 4 housing code violations (410.451: Egress Obstructions, 410.452: Safe Condition, et al). Ultimately, they had to be forced by the City of Cambridge to finally resolve the safety hazard and restore the amenity we were paying for. We. Never. Once. Received. An. Apology. in any capacity from the management team for either the initial inconvenience or the aftermath. In retrospect, I deeply regret not withholding rent on these clowns. I could continue writing for literally hours, but I'll wind it down. Rent here at your own peril: you'll be treated like dirt, you'll have untrue accusations routinely lobbed at you, and you'll have an incompetent management who is uninterested in your satisfaction. Randy

If I could give less than a one star I would. This place is horrible... do not live here. The leasing specialists bs to get you into a unit... like saying the building is great and that Green Street is a quiet street and that there is air conditioning and that the 24 hour security is great... LIES. Green street is the loudest street, very busy... and there are two loud clubs that you can always hear the base from... not to mention as a first floor unit we often had bare butts fornicating against our windows. Also, aside from constantly hearing base at night... they use the emergency exits as back entrances and the cops often escort so you can't call in a noise complaint... you can hear it right through the walls and windows even when they are closed and with fans going to dull the noise. The bands often load and unload their buses, etc. at all hours. It is a bus route and often a place for the bums from the salvation army to crash at. The majority of residents seem to be pretty low income and do not watch or care what their kids do... the kids constantly run around in the halls and scream, even though there is a kids room. Be prepared for washers/dryers to be in array and things to be left in for days or your stuff to be moved or stopped in a cycle and not restarted... just left in a heap. Landscaping doesn't clean up the thousands of cigarette butts on Green Street. Security does not patrol Green Street.... Again, Green Street is full of kids from the clubs, loud base and noise violations, and the salvation army shelter (another thing management wont tell you). Maintenance staff is pleasant but often seem motivated and then don't show back up or on time, etc. Front door staff... Richard is very nice and def the most competent, but he also doesn't listen well. The rest of the staff is useless... be prepared to be told you don't have packages and actually you do or vice versa... also be prepared for them to say they have or will do something and not follow through... if you are reserving the loading dock or something... make sure you check several times and actually see it written in the computer. They do have air conditioning.. but it is on their terms... they turn it on late in the year and off when they are ready... so basically if you have your windows open you cant sleep because of noise or you die because of the heat. The pre move in clean is a joke. They say they cleaned but didn't do much.. maybe swept the carpet... yet they will charge you a bunch when you move out. And they dont care about your safety... we by chance checked our carbon monoxide meter in the basement floor of our two floor and it had no batteries... even though they charge you if you dont put a new lightbulb in when moving out... no batteries... that isn't something they should worry about? And it wasn't connected to any power. Basement spells of mold and is ALWAYS DAMP and nasty. The location is the ONLY good thing about this place... Their staff is all rude and liars and don't expect anything from management... they don't care.

I wish I had read the reviews on this place before moving in. Terrible, deceitful management staff who finds any excuse to charge you a fee. We got kicked out of our apartment for two weeks so they could replace the hvac systems, with no warning, no provision in our lease, and no offer to put us up somewhere else. The hallways are poorly maintained, the management is impossible to get in touch with, the gym is gross. Avoid this place.

Update: after just 24 hours, I've already heard back from Yelpers who have been helped by this post! Keep the messages coming :) In addition to the apartments below, check out 2 mo free rent at the new Troy Boston, 6-wk free at Eleven West Broadway, 1 mo free + $1000 at The Batch Yard, and 1 mo free at South End's Ink Block. CurbedBoston is a good source for these deals; search posts tagged with "Free rent watch" http://boston.curbed.com/search.php?origin=cbos&sites=locale&blogs=46&query=free+rent Dear Reader, I've worked hard crunching these numbers for you. I hope the post is helpful. Please send me a message if it is! :) They just increased our rent $150/mo at KBL, which inspired me to do some shopping around. Let's say you are considering KBL, 315 on A, or The Kensington. (Spoiler alert: KBL is more expensive than many of the brand-new luxury buildings going up around the city.) KBL studio: $2574 rent +$30 pet rent +$60 laundry facilities +$150 HVAC (details below) --- $2814 for a studio in an old building with a view of TT the Bear's dumpsters, loud tenants, thin walls, and no outdoor space. 315 on A, 1 bedroom corner unit w/ huge windows on 19th floor: $3699 -3 mo free rent (current incentive) $0 HVAC $0 for laundry ---- $2794 to live in a brand-new luxury building in a trendy seaport neighborhood with in-unit laundry, killer city views, thick walls, gym in the building, penthouse common space in the building, and a roof terrace. The Kensington, 1 bedroom on 25th floor: $3670 -3 mo free rent (current incentive) $0 HVAC $0 laundry ---- $2752... PLUS a $1500 signing bonus to pay for your move! Incredible luxury building with nicest lobby you've ever seen, in heart of downtown Boston, with sweeping city views, in-unit laundry, thick walls, great gym and common space in building, guest rooms available to rent your visitors!, and a roof deck terrace with a pool! So, dear reader, I wish I had known this earlier. I was put off by the "sticker price" of the luxury buildings, not realizing that they are all fighting for tenants and offering crazy incentives to move there, such that it's cheaper than the old buildings. KBL is terribly mis-managed. I see tons of vacancies at their sister property, the lofts on Sidney. And I know there are tons of vacancies in my building-- the apartment across the hall has been empty since May. They've literally lost over $20,000 dollars (think about that number! $20,000!!!!) on that ONE unit already, and they aren't interested in offering us ANYTHING to stay in our apartment. It's a huge company with lots of properties. They don't care about filling vacancies, and they don't care about you as a tenant. FYI, I did contact several people in management, including Jodi C, who commented on my post. I'm not sure why she asked me to call, since she wasn't able to do a single thing to address any concerns listed here. ...Aside from the math, here is what I have to say about the building. First, the pros: The location is ideal for an MIT student and our unit is amazing. Management does a good job of keeping up the place-- nice clean floors in the common areas, in spite of all the salt and mud being tracked in, etc. I've put in two maintenance requests (one for a loose shelf in the closet, the other for a lightbulb) and both were filled within a day. Easy. Biggest drawback here are the thin walls. As everyone has complained about, you can really hear everything. Whether or not it's a problem depends on your neighbors. I had one really crappy loud neighbor who blared music all hours of the day and night. The others don't bother me much. The second complaint I have is that the building charges you separately for using HVAC system. We already pay our own utilities for heat and electric... but then, on top of that, you get a bill from KBL for using the HVAC system to RUN your heat or a/c. Super annoying and it was deceitful that they didn't mention it to us. (The June 2014 bill for our studio apartment was $140 for HVAC alone!!! Be sure to factor this hidden cost in, on top of regular heat and electric!) It's also worth noting that the HVAC charges are averaged over the building, so you're powerless to do anything about the cost-- you can't run the heat lower/less often to reduce the behemoth bill. Just budget for some serious $$$ in Jan, Feb, March, June, July, August, Nov and Dec.

I lived here for 4 years before moving to the west coast. In contrast to other reviews, my experience at KBL is very positive. Management (Richard and Chris) and maintenance staff had been very helpful and friendly. HVAC is pretty efficient, given the New England winter. Rate was also reasonable (~$30/month). Location is ideal (10 min walk to MIT, 2 min to Shaws, 5 min to central T station ). Even though it's sometimes a bit of an effort to carry groceries up to our studio on the top (fifth) floor, which is accessible only by stairs, I guess one of the advantage is that there's not much noise to be heard. My only real complaint about the apartment is the water system. From time to time, the water would get super hot, and there were days that there was no hot water at all. I would definitely choose KBL again if I got a chance to move back to Cambridge.

Rude management that uses your apartment as a showroom without your agreement. Verbal agreement on lease price means nothing- our rent was raised by 40%

Nice location. Nice people at the front desk. Nice gyms in the other buildings. PAPER THIN walls. You'll hear your neighbors loud and clear on all sides. You'll hear their cell phones ringing. Lots and lots of 20-30 year old males who like blasting loud music. Very bad.

Current resident..avoid this place at any cost. There is literally nothing good about this place except the location. Management is absolutely awful. They're either useless or just don't reply to any concerns. First off, I moved here with my husband. There are two of us on the lease. When we moved in we were given one set of keys. The second set they gave us were to the complete wrong apartment. Since we moved in on a Saturday we had to wait until Monday for a new set. This seems simple enough...nope. It took ONE MONTH to have a second set of keys made for us after constant questioning and pestering. The funniest part is that the keys they eventually made were the WRONG set...again. I ended up just going to the hardware store to make new keys. I would have went earlier but my husband didn't officially move in until later, so it wasn't urgent. Secondly, management decides when they switch from heat to air and air to heat. I live on the fifth floor where there are only four apartments and it's pretty much an attic space. It gets extremely hot. Management decided to shut off the air conditioning when it was 80 degrees outside, so my lovely apartment heated up to 88 degrees. I'm currently waiting for the air to be turned back on again. It's currently 78 in my apartment with the skylight open (I have no windows, only one skylight that you can partially crack open). Third, as I mentioned before, my apartment is extremely warm since it's an attic space with very little ventilation. Because of this I never had to use heat during the winter. My apartment on average was between 70-75 degrees, which I thought was great since it would save me money on heating costs...WRONG. My average Eversource bill for the winter was $30 (awesome I know), however KBL charges their own HVAC/heat bill. For December I was billed $100 and January $135...wow more than three times more than my electricity bill for a service I didn't even use. I actually contacted management because it seems that there may be some sort of issue with their system. After three weeks of pestering them they finally decided that they would send maintenance to check the transmitter for my heating unit. Weeks have now passed and I've been continually trying to contact management, but they refuse to answer me. They've FALSELY charged me an obscene amount of money for heat that I haven't used and refuse to look into the issue. Management here is a complete joke. Do yourself a favor and skip over this place. If you think the rent is expensive, then add on an electricity bill and an HVAC bill that's three times the electricity bill. If you spend an average of $100/month on heat..expect an additional $300. This place is a scam.

I recently moved out of Kennedy Biscuit Lofts (KBL) in University Park, Cambridge, right near Central Square. When I first looked at the building, the rooms, the amenities, I was excited to move in, and expected a smooth transition. However, about 6 months out of the year are so incredibly unbearable, that I regret ever moving in to the building - which is very unfortunate, because the building has such great potential. Not to mention the paper thin walls, and ridiculous use of space, the EXTREME heat in the building makes you want to sleep outside and cry all night long. From April - September, the old warehouse space heats up to temperatures in the high 80's, yet management refuses to air condition the building. We ran our HVAC units in our apartment and complained over and over, but each request was impolitely ignored. If you are interested in losing weight, getting no sleep ever, having friends never want to visit you, and getting dehydrated, then KBL is right for you. Do yourself a favor before signing the lease... take a walk through the building during the summer months and see for yourself. No need to take my word for it.

We've lived in KBL for almost two years now, and all and all we have loved it here. The pros: Great location, lovely apartment with new carpet, appliances, clean/modern bathroom and kitchen, unique style, concierge, laundry in building, great common areas and amenities, friendly neighbors (mix of young professionals, MIT folks, and some long-time residents. The cons: Lobby/hallways too hot in summer, utility issues*, parking pricy ($235 for 24-7). *Re: Utilities - In the summer we pay a lot to run the AC, since we live on an upper floor and heat rises. Sometimes it doesn't quite get as cool was we'd like, especially on those 100 degree days. And there are no window AC units allowed due to the "historic site" rules. But in the winter we almost never need to turn on the heat and our apartment is a comfortable temperature. So the cost balances out. One more utility problem is that the system is either heat or air. The building managers have to switch it over from one to the other twice a year, and sometimes right around the overlap there are some hot days with no AC. As for the HVAC billing, the "base cost" is based on apartment size, so those like us in smaller units really don't pay much. Overall, we pay about the same as friends who have apartments in Back Bay/Beacon Hill for a MUCH better quality. Seriously, our place looks clean and modern, while they are living in some overpriced dumps. Also, I know that there was a problem with mold in the past, but that is no longer an issue here and we have had NO problems.

I have been quite happy here. Apart from some miscommunication upon arriving, (before signing a lease we were told that we could install a temporary wall, but this statement was later retracted), I've found KBL to be a clean, peaceful, and well-run place to live. Building attendants are super friendly, utilities work well, apartment is spacious. My roommates and I have yet to turn on our heat (Boston in January!) as carpet + good insulation has kept us warm enough thus far. I'd recommend KBL!

KBL is run by professional staff and is a nice place to live. However, they have not invested in basic privacy measures; you can literally hear the casual conversation of your neighbors. This is the only major con of KBL.

I just moved here after a MIT classmate recommended this place. I must say I am surprised by the negative comments here as I have looked everywhere around Cambridge and Boston for lofts/apartments (I love high ceiling lofts) and the KBL lofts are in comparison a great deal for the beautiful lofts, hight ceilings and location. Everyone I ask in the elevator how they like it here tell me they love it. My experience with the sales office (Sarah and Xevian) were great. They are super nice despite being over worked. You just have to know how to respect and talk to people. I live in a studio here (over 730 sq!!) and yes, these units are not cheap but in comparison to other apartments/lofts in Cambridge or Seaport area where for the same price a studio will be half the size, I rather come home and do not feel like I am in a dog house. Granted, I am new here and have not experienced the management (although I went over the to say hi and they seems very cool) but so far I am super happy being here.