Slate

Full disclosure - we toured this place and did not end up living here (so this review is for our leasing engagement experience). Big shout out to Ashley for her amazing and patient customer service - she is super kind, attentive and personable. She walked us around the whole complex and several apartments, going out of her way to make sure we got to know Slate and all it can offer, including ongoing lease concessions. When it came down to it, we preferred to lease in another area of town because it better fit our live-work needs, but Slate came in as a very close second, with gorgeous, high design apartments and layouts with sweeping views if the city and very nice amenities.

**********WARNING!!!********** DO NOT MOVE HERE! Here are the reasons that I ABSOLUTELY HATED living here. Apartment: 1. Concrete floors that you can never get clean. 2. You’ll drop your phone, tablet, etc., and break it on the concrete eventually. It’s like you’re ALWAYS walking around on the street. 3. No air filter in the apartment. 4. No central heating or AC. Because of this, the only way to get fresh air is to open the windows. 5. No AC in bedroom and it gets HOT! I had to keep a fan in my bedroom doorway just to get cool air into the bedroom. It’s terrible in the warm months. 6. The building is 1 block from an ambulance HQ and burnside bridge so if you leave your window open (ESPECIALLY at night) you will constantly hear the ambulance’s sirens and cars speeding down the bridge. 7. Bathrooms have the WORST lighting and hardly any storage. No linen closet, no vent you can turn on. Whoever decided to put a bright bulb on one the side of the mirror is an idiot. It makes one side of your face extremely overly illuminated. 8. Washer and dryer are very small. 9. Huge pillars in the living spaces really limit how much you can arrange furniture. I had two in the livingroom/dining room that severely limited where I could place my furniture. Building: 1. BREAK-INS AND VADALISM!! There is no visible security, no camera system, and the homeless/vagrant population is high in the area. I moved here in 10/21/2023 and my truck was broken into 1 week after in the “secure” garage. Multiple vehicles were broken into that night and when I posted it on the community bulletin board, Slate leasing staff did not allow the message to be published and left it pending on the resident app. My second vehicle was also broken into without ANY visible items left inside. 2. Unsecured storage. My bike was stolen from the bike storage. I think the Slate staff stole it honestly. It was inside a “secured” bike storage room. No message was sent out about the room being broken into and I didn’t know until I went to move out. 3. Pitiful “gym.” Wonder why there are no pictures of the gym on the website?!? lol. It’s because it’s a sad excuse for a gym. Period. Barely any equipment, small room, simply not worth it. 4. No rooftop lounge area, the grill is open to any vagrant to use off of the street. I’ve seen homeless people using it. It’s literally out in the open on the ground floor. 5. No resident events. Despite incredibly high rent, there was only 1 resident event in 15 months. Leasing Staff: 1. They are unresponsive and you will not be able to contact someone directly during normal business hours. They don’t call back or respond to emails for DAYS at a time.

If I could give 0 stars, I would. High turnover rate on management (major red flag). Currently renting here and we literally have to send countless follow up emails only to be met with no responses let alone an apology. My spouse also called multiple times today and left a voicemail. Nobody picks up somehow. Management needs to check their emails and respond to tenants so we can actually pay our rent online and on time. Don’t threaten to charge us a fee for paying our rent late when YOU have yet to send us an accurate updated leasing contract for us to sign. It’s like pulling teeth trying to get any sort of communication from them. Oh and they also told us they’ll be getting new management YET AGAIN this coming June. Pathetic. When we first moved in 2021, they were great. Management really has gone downhill quickly since then.

My partner and I recently took a tour of this property. To be completely honest the highlight of the tour was working with Ashley not to say we didn’t like the property we just felt like she went out of her way to help us find a place that truly could worked for us. SlatePDX please continue hire people like Ashley who seem to actually care.

It's tough to schedule a tour. I called for two days, and the guy said I had to wait two days. Set up an appointment for 10:00 am. Nobody called. It seems like it's not their interest to lease at all.

Beware mail and packages regularly stolen from the lobby even though it's controlled access with fobs

Summary: Lived here for 3 years, the property is 5/5 but placed about 3 blocks from anything worth walking to. + Parking garage and access is easy to utilize if you have a car + The street that the building is accessible from is relatively quiet, in a frequently trafficked area. + Concrete everything, very clean aesthetic. + Great sound isolation between apartments + Maintenance staff is extremely friendly & helpful - Elevators regularly occupied by offices on floor 2 & 3. - Expect to walk 2-3 blocks before you get anywhere worth going.

Slate is beautifully designed and is very unique compared to other apartment complexes in the area. The floor to ceiling windows allow for great views and the concrete floors/walls keep noise out. I’ve lived here for about 3 years now and have yet to find a comparable building in terms of location, price, quality and aesthetic. The only downfall is the parking, which is something to be expected for this area, we’ve made it work by downsizing from 2 cars to 1.

Architecturally, this mixed-use building is truly ahead of the pack. It has a design-centric, industrial but upscale aesthetic that's uncommon for new Portland construction. We love the spacious floor plans. The leasing office was very helpful, even as we moved in during a pandemic. The only downside so far is the lack of a garbage disposal in the kitchen. Otherwise, we are enjoying every minute of living here!