The Belgard

I’ve had a really positive experience living in this building so far. The property is consistently clean, well-maintained, and clearly cared for, which makes a big difference in day-to-day living. My apartment itself has been great, and the overall environment feels comfortable and welcoming. The staff are polite, attentive, and responsive whenever I’ve had questions or needed assistance. You can tell they genuinely care about the residents and the community they’re managing. I also want to specifically recognize Steven, who has been an exceptional help throughout my experience. His professionalism, charm, and genuine care for the rental community truly stand out. He was incredibly supportive during my decision process and played a major role in why I ultimately chose this building. Steven takes the time to listen, follows through, and treats residents with respect, which is not something you find everywhere. Overall, I would absolutely recommend this building to anyone looking for a clean, well-managed, and welcoming place to live.

The Belgard is a wonderful place to live. The community is clean, modern, and well maintained, and it truly feels like home. The amenities are great, the location is convenient, and the overall atmosphere is welcoming and peaceful. I especially want to highlight Steven, who is an amazing leasing agent. From the very beginning, he was professional, responsive, and genuinely kind. He took the time to answer all my questions, made the leasing process smooth and stress-free, and went above and beyond to make sure everything was taken care of. You can tell he truly cares about residents and takes pride in his work. Living at The Belgard has been a great experience, and having someone like Steven on the team makes it even better. I highly recommend this community to anyone looking for a great place to live!

After viewing only 3 apartment buildings, I chose the Belgard because of how cozy and well decorated their common areas are, the affordability, and square footage of the unit I viewed. I moved in November and I do not regret it. The customer service is A1, from the concierge, to the leasing agent. Special shoutout to Steven and Gentil. Steven is a strong factor in my decision to move in. They also host a lot of community events that people actually show up to. If I had to sum up the pros: - great customer service - cozy environment - well-maintained common areas that are perfect for co-working - safe area and conveniently located to Noma metro and Harris Teeter - very responsive maintenance (my last maintenance request was addressed the same day!) The only con: - Carpet in my bedroom lol (but not all units have carpet) and the carpet is cozy and modern so I’ve actually liked having it this winter Anyway, I highly recommend the Belgard.

After months of searching, my dream apartment was finally realized! From the modern amenities and stylish common spaces to the Equinox level gym, this place has it all. I could not be happier with my decision to lease from The Belgard. Literally close to everything. Attentive and patient staff, especially Stephen Kangwa, the leasing agent. He helped me find the perfect space for my specific needs. 100% recommend (this is from someone who is generally dissatisfied with the state of rentals in DC altogether)

In general, I like to uplift good experiences rather than spend time and energy on negative ones, but I'm about to end my lease at The Belgard and it seems the general manager, Chris Carlos, and Bozzuto Management are determined to make even this last bit as frustrating as possible. The good: 1) The design. It's gorgeous. 2) Steven Kangwa in the leasing office. He's lovely. 3) 4 of the concierges: Gentile, Robert, Barry, and a new woman whose name I will get back to you with. 4) The rooftop. The bad: 1) Zero communication. Chris Carlos did not pick up the virtual tour I scheduled of the unit I wanted to apply for. He did not answer the emails I sent requesting basic info on the apartment (pics of the view, layout questions). He did not pick up the phone or call me back. I was lucky enough to tour a similar unit in-person earlier, so I assumed this unit on the 13th floor would be similar to that one. It was not. The online schematics didn't mention the smaller windows, lower ceiling, and lack of carpeting in the bedroom. This info I would have had if Chris responded to any of my communications. The day after moving in, I ended up schlepping my stuff to a different unit which was a headache for everyone involved and could easily have been avoided. 2) Application process so delayed I almost had to move elsewhere. After applying, there was some sort of mysterious lag with my application. It stayed in limbo for so long that I ended up applying to and was accepted at the nearby Sonya building as a backup. Sonya used the same application process, so I imagine the blame lies, again, with Bozzuto or Chris Carlos. The fix was some unintuitive PDF upload that took 5 minutes. This could have been avoided if Chris or Bozzuto communicated even a little bit. I initially applied for an April move-in, but this bug pushed back my application to May which leads me to the next easily preventable problem: 3) Difficult to get move-in bonus. It applied for April move-ins, but not May. They claimed I no longer qualified even though the lag in processing was entirely their fault. Here Chris Carlos and Bozzuto get SOME points, because they did extend that offer to me eventually after some in-person cajoling. And even this one, potentially positive experience did they mess up because they forgot to apply it and I had to do some more in-person cajoling to get it the following month. 4) Fleecing me upon move-out. Here we are, 3 months before my May move-out and I've found a good apartment elsewhere. After asking for an extension on my lease, Chris Carlos and Bozzuto quoted me a whopping $1,000 increase over my current rate. I have always paid on time and have rolled with the many punches in good faith and they have the audacity to pull this. I was looking at moving to a different Bozzuto property, but now I'm researching something else entirely. I wish I trusted my gut and went with Sonya. Does Bozzuto not train their staff properly? Is there some micromanagement going on? Is it just plain good old fashioned incompetence? Whatever the case, the chic decor at The Belgard doesn't make up for this nonsense.

One Month In — Our Honest Review We absolutely love living here! Yes, our apartment is beautiful, but that’s not the only part of why this community is so great. I want to take a moment to highlight everything that has made our first month truly amazing. Leasing Team! Special Shoutout to Steven! Steven is incredible professional, responsive, and such a pleasure to work with! We were on a tight timeline because our original application at a different property was moving slowly and communication wasn’t great. Steven answered every question, addressed all our concerns, and helped us get fully approved in just one day! We even toured virtually from the West Coast, and he still made the whole experience smooth and reassuring. My husband and I joke that Steven should train every leasing agent at Buzzto! Chris was also super friendly and helpful in getting us settled with everything we needed. Living Here Has Been a Dream After a month in our new home, we are confident we made the right choice. The building is spotless! The cleaning team is here every morning making sure the lobby and common areas look and smell amazing. It truly feels like coming home to a luxury hotel every day. Concierge & Package Room — The Best! The concierge team is hands down fantastic. And the package room? So organized! Finding our deliveries has been quick and easy thanks to the team’s great management. Big shoutout to Berry for always being so helpful! And everyone on the concierge team, I’m gonna try to remember all their names because they are simply amazing alway greets everyone with a smile and dedicated to make sure everyone have the best living experience possible here!

Since Bozzuto took over management, everything has gone downhill. Water and sewer charges increased to nearly $260/month, often showing double charges with no clear explanation. We’ve asked for clarification multiple times and only get vague responses or none at all. At one point, another unit flooded and they left industrial fans running in our bathroom for nearly a week, causing a spike in our electricity bill. They only refunded a portion of it after we followed up several times, and never took responsibility for the inconvenience or damage. The leasing office staff is clueless. Every time you ask about an issue, they tell you to talk to the manager, who is never available, and neither is his supervisor. It’s almost impossible to get any problem resolved.On top of that, the trash chutes are always overflowing and poorly maintained. I absolutely do not recommend living here. If you do, just be ready to deal with constant issues and zero accountability. Even now that our lease has ended, we’re still being charged and no one from the office will respond. We’ve tried to contact them multiple times with zero luck. Oh, and if you’re wondering why this place has good reviews — they literally give people pizza slices or small perks in exchange for 5-star reviews. Don’t be fooled. The reality is very different. I absolutely do not recommend renting here.

If you want to live here, well then, good luck. I visited this property after scheduling a viewing only to find that they use a virtual leasing agent (AI chatbot) and the leasing agent in person had no idea about it. After waiting 10 minutes, he begrudgingly walked me through the apartment building like I had ruined his day. If that wasn’t enough to dissuade me, I tried applying online to secure an appointment before Oct 7th to secure a two month off deal, but was met with deceptive pricing. The 1BR was advertised at $2,100 per month but when you apply, the price magically goes up by 400-500 dollars. Yes, you read that right. Maybe this is the way they write-off the discount they’re supposed to give. In order to get to the bottom of this, I called the leasing office three times over the course of a week to speak with Steven (the property manager who’s day I ruined) but the concierge mentioned that they were away from the office, and they would call me back. It’s been two weeks, but alas my attempts at trying to apply were futile. Kindly Bozzuto, get some competent people running the property because people I had received a glowing review about the building from a friend, but after wasting a trip and a few hours on this, I’ve written off all your properties.