The Cairns Apartments

I absolutely love living in this apartment building! The location is perfect, offering easy access to everything Seattle has to offer. The amenities are top-notch, with a well-equipped gym and a beautiful rooftop terrace that provides stunning views of the city. The management team is incredibly responsive and friendly, always going above and beyond to ensure residents are happy. My apartment is spacious and modern, with high-quality finishes that make it feel like home. Plus, the community here is welcoming and vibrant. Special Thanks to Mila Sandoval for Going above and beyond in helping us out.

CHECK OUT THE BBB WEBSITE REVIEWS AND COMPLAINTS OF THE MANAGEMENT COMPANY ESSEX IF YOU DONT BELIEVE ME. Management is never on site, and hard to get a hold of on the phone. You cannot go to them for help with anything without them blaming you for the problem. Cameras in the lobby and in the package room? Doesn’t matter they will refuse to look at any camera footage. Then, they will also blame you for not giving the delivery driver instructions to deliver directly to your door, despite the fact that there is no way for anyone without a key to get up the elevator. They told me once that I should have them call the call box and from there I can let them in the front door and they would have 30 seconds to use the elevator to get to my door. This does not work at all, I have tried it many many times since living here. Don’t bother saying anything to management about anything because legally they’ve covered themselves for everything, and it’s either your fault or something else, but definitely not theirs ever. So if you want to live here, cross your fingers and hope you don’t run into any issues at all because they won’t help and they’re not exactly nice when telling you there’s nothing they will do. Hope that you don’t run into any issues with your car parked in the “secure” garage either because that’s also not their problem because the parking garage “is a different company”. Like other previous reviews, the elevator always seems to have a problem with one of them and there are only 2 for the whole building. They’re also extremely slow. While this place might seem more “affordable” it’s not that much cheaper than other apartments in the area and you’re much better off living in one of these other apartments that have a much better management company that actually care about their tenants. I made the mistake of moving here from out of state before getting the chance to tour. Everything in the pictures is also misleading in size, so if you can’t do a tour just be warned it’s probably not what you expect. AGAIN CHECK OUT THE BBB WEBSITE REVIEWS AND COMPLAINTS OF THE MANAGEMENT COMPANY ESSEX IF YOU DONT BELIEVE ME.

Been living here for 6 months - 1. One of the 2 elevators is broken from the last 2-3 months. No ETA on fix. 2. Every other week there is no water from 9am -6pm. Management emails that there is some repair work being done but does not tell how many months more it will carry on. This has been going on for months. 3. There is no one leasing office in the building so you can’t complain anyways.

The units have smart locks that report the times which your door is unlocked to both the landlord company and smart-lock servicing company. The thermostat also report metrics on usage. This place is to be avoided. **Update**: I still live here because I'm cheap. Today, a strange man unlocked my unit door and barged in, without knocking, while I was partially undressed. Turned out, he was here to do some maintenance task. Seattle law specifies that a 2-day written notice is required prior to unit entry (59.18.150), ***no notice for this visit was received.*** Needless to say, ***this is extremely inappropriate***. Can't imagine living here if you were a woman or if you had kids to worry about when they have random men entering the units without warning. This demonstrates extreme incompetence on the part of building management. The building manager in charge during this incident was "Mila Sandoval".

If you have to deal with the management team, prepare to go to therapy. They will do everything they can to make your life miserable: - Hang the lease over your head without signing even after multiple emails and phone call. - Try to charge you extra rent because they have not signed anything and then try to get away with it. - If God forbids, an emergency happens like my apartment flooded because of the poor infrastructure of this building, they will let it flood for days before responding and will not provide you with temporary shelter when such a thing happens. This actually happened. - If they email you saying that "I will get this done today/by the end of day/etc." that will never be done that day, and if you do not follow up, they will straight up ghost you, even if it is important paperwork. - They do not respond to emails, and will occasionally answer your call if you are lucky. They make sure to not have an office in the building so that you cannot reach out to them that way. There are plenty more things, but this is long enough. Especially, if you have to deal with a person named Terri'll Haueisen, you are in for a world of pain and anxiety. He works like a scammer and a fraud at a call center. I am not one to bad mouth others ever, but this is an exception. AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COST. DO NOT LIVE HERE.

Worst experience ever. UNCLEAN APT - PACKAGES STOLEN - UNPROFESSIONAL TEAM THAT TAKE AGES TO RESPOND. I had my lease started on 22nd July, by which I should have got access to the apt through their so called smartrent app. I reached on Saturday evening and I wasn't able to access my apt, they were unavailable on Sunday as well. I wasted nearly 1000$ on hotel and my car rental was also wasted as I couldn't get access to the apt on weekend so I couldn't utilize it to buy household stuff. After numerous call attempts on Monday, I entered the apt to see the toilet pot unclean (having stools floating). I immediately asked them to stop my lease as they had 30 day satisfaction guarantee. I left the apt on 28. They still haven't responded me for days on when I will receive my refund. I had a box worth 300$ shipped through Ups to that place. It arrived on 29th, I go there to see that my package is missing. This is the worst management ever, DON'T RENT HERE, even if you have cheaper apt. There is no one managing at the office. The management is enjoying their summer giving trouble to the residents. They have secure access for just NAME SAKE if they can't even save the packages. Put ATLEAST security cameras at common areas to know who is doing what and traceback. I am still waiting for my refund and help regarding tracking back my package as to who stole that. UNTILL THAT THIS REVIEW IS GONNA STAY HERE.

Fine when you're living here, but they try everything they can to charge you an arm an a leg when you move out. I have always taken perfect care of every place I've lived. I've always gotten every single cent back from every security deposit. I expected the same when I moved out of the Cairns. Instead, they tried to charge me to replace the carpeting, for painting of the entire apartment, cleaning fee, and on and on. Be very wary of renting with them. And if you decide it is worth the risk, make sure to take hundreds of time and location stamped photos upon move-in and move-out. Make sure to get every single tiny little scratch or spot that you would normally never notice, because they will claim damage upon move-out, and pretty much charge you to renovate the apartment.

We moved into The Cairns just over one month ago, and hope that this wonderful place will be our home for years to come. The building is incredibly well-maintained and clean. Concrete floors add to the charm and to noise-proofing. The amenities-small gym, entertainment lounge w/full kitchen, rooftop lounge area are great perks, also very well maintained. Very convenient Italian cafe on one side and German pub on the other. Outstanding rooftop facility and views. Best of all, the staff here is amazing. Scott Liedele, head of maintenance, has made our moving-in experience the best ever, and he goes beyond the call of duty to help residents any way he can. Sam Meas, at the front desk, is friendly, smart, efficient, and also makes a special effort to take care of the residents. We are thrilled with The Cairns and its staff! Skye Moody & GM Ford

Making a Yelp account specifically for this review, because this is important. Today a strange man unlocked my unit door and barged in, without knocking, while I was partially undressed. He was here to do some maintenance work (specifically fixing drywall that the other maintenance staff destroyed a week ago while putting in a pipe). Seattle law mandates that landlords give a 2-day written notice prior to entering units, barring emergencies (RCW 59.18.150). No notice was received for this visit. This is extremely inappropriate. How can you live here when at any time strange men can barge in without knocking? What if a single woman was living here or someone with kids? ***There is a sensible reason why this notice is required by law in Seattle.*** There are a lot of negative things you can point out about this building (its practically falling apart due to poor maintenance), but this is seriously inappropriate. Building management is demonstrating a worrying amount of incompetence here. Stay away and ignore the 9+ year old reviews, they are out-dated. Management for this building has changed multiple times since then.

I just moved into this apartment. There are many problems, such as electricity, and I don't know how to set up the network. They are very patient and have contacted me many times to help me solve the problem.

We have lived here about 6 months and it has been great! The Cairns is very pet friendly and the staff is the best we have ever had. They are very quick to respond to any situation. Our apartment has concrete flooring, an open floor plan and we can only here our neighbors when they are in the hall. It is pretty reasonable in price for the SLU (we have not renewed a lease yet so I will update). I wish the closet was bigger but who doesn't.? The SLU is great to live in. We both can walk to work and have easy access to anywhere. Plus, there is a bar in the lobby! When we moved in our apartment was boiling hot because we are on top of the building's AC unit. The staff gave us a free air conditioner to use as long as we needed! The only thing that lowered the star rating is I wish the gym was bigger and the lounge and roof were open later (at least the lounge, every time I want to use it to just sit in is after it is closed especially on Sundays). I also hate having to enter a code to access our floor. It is really inconvenient when you are carrying bags to drop everything and enter a code. I wish we could just scan the same key fob we use to access the building. They say the reason why the code and lounge hours are necessary are because the parking has non-residents but I think they should figure out a way to not inconvenience the resident because they leased out the parking.

I am not someone who yelps nor do I know what a yelp even is... But there is one thing I know, The Cairns, The Cairns Mgmt and especially the Super Scott (though he is super I am referring to his classification of Superintendent) deserves a 5* yelp review. The reason why I highlight Scott (Jessica and everyone in the office is great too) is that he is always on time with any request, does an excellent job... and completes unfinished furniture assembly projects in your Apartment without you even having to ask, I mean who does that?... The Super Scott, that's who. Story is as follows: I saw him on my way to Blackfoot, my office building (a brisk 15 or less minute walk by the way), and noted that something was wrong with an appliance in my Apartment. He simply stated "I'll take care of it" and I had no doubt. I should have warned him that my room was a mess (not dirty, but clean clothes in piles everywhere before folding) and an unfinished (unstarted) standing desk in pieces all over the floor... with an instruction manual quietly picking up dust. We'll I didn't warn him (and I hope he doesn't think those were dirty clothes lol) but he didn't seem to mind when I saw him next after this story unfolded so it's cool. When I arrived home from a normal 14 hour workday @ Amazon (lol it's not that bad... We have fun) I was ready to come into my apartment and ignore all of the things on the floor and drop into bed. Well I wasn't able to bc there was nothing on the floor (except my clean clothes which he didn't fold btw, good thing bc that may have been a bit weird lol). In the location where the standing desk components had begun to make impressions in my rug, was a fully built and fully functional standing desk with a note on it saying something to the order of "Appliance Fixed" (referring to my original request). I mean who does that?... The Super Scott, that's who. And he deserves a raise! (I don't care how much he makes, give him more) I would recommend this apt building to anyone who enjoys good atmosphere, great location, and even greater staff. Not to mention there is a low key German Restaurant/Pub attached to lobby with great food. Jessica is Great too!!! (She deserves a raise as well)

I have lived here for six months and have yet to run into any problems. My rent is incredibly affordable for SLU, and the location cannot be beat. I get to walk to work every morning, and have had no problems with the neighborhood whatsoever. I live in a 500 sq ft. studio which I find is large enough for one person comfortably. The number one best thing that I have noticed about living here is how incredibly quiet it is ALL THE TIME. Due to the concrete structure, I have yet to hear either of my neighbors. I am on the bottom floor and never have to deal with heavy footsteps above me, or any disturbing noise. There is SO much storage here, and all the appliances are new and in great working order. SLU is such a central location, with easy access to every neighborhood around here. I would highly recommend this building to anyone thinking about moving in.

The management is so great! Scott is so helpful with all the living problem. I accidentally throw my wallet within a beg into the trash room. He found and grab it back for me! He saved my day.

A wonderful place to live! I've seen my fair share of Seattle apartment buildings, and this is by far the best! From the high-quality residences to the amazing office staff, I can't say enough about The Cairns. All our neighbors are friendly and respectful, and any maintenance issues are handled quickly. This is not a run-of-the-mill, impersonal property. Anyone lucky enough to score an apartment here is sure to enjoy their new home!

The Cairns restored my faith in corporate-managed apartments! I don't know about you, but every time I've lived in a large corporately managed apartment community I feel like they treated me like a transaction and tried to squeeze more money out of my at every turn -- Not the Cairns!! I would definitely recommend them to anyone looking to live in SLU (particularly in a building that's pet friendly). Staff: Their staff was always extremely friendly, gracious and responsive. The community manager Jessica is wonderful! She really goes out of her way to help her residents. For example, I had an issue with not receiving my parking permit one month (which is managed by a separate parking company so technically not even something that she is in charge of) and Jessica went out of her way to work with the parking manager to ensure it was resolved quickly and seamlessly and that I did not have to pay anything additional. Scott, the maintenance manager, is also terrific. I never had any issues with the appliances in my place, but he installed my AC unit for me. My dog was also especially good friends with Scott-- he wanted to stop and say hi to Scott every time we walked by the office! Rent prices: Their rent prices were very reasonable, especially compared to some of the other properties I looked at in the neighborhood. Their units are bigger so I felt like I was getting a lot more square footage for my money along with just the right level of amenities. I only stayed for my one year lease (sept 2014-sept 2015) but if I had renewed for another year my rent would have only gone up 6-7% (as opposed to other management companies that I've heard of raising rent by 10% or more!). Regardless of how pristine I've kept previous places I've rented, I've always been worried about getting my security deposit back (some people are jerks about taking the whole deposit if you've even just hung one thing on the wall) but, again the Cairns surprised me with how fair and reasonable they were when I moved out! I had a unit with concrete floors except for the bedroom and they basically just charged me a cleaning/wall-paint-touch-up fee (about $40) and a small amount to have the one (bed)room of carpet steam cleaned (about $40) and I got the rest of the deposit all back! Amenities: While they might not have as many amenities as other SLU buildings (btw, who really needs a whole basketball court or a rock climbing wall in their apartment gym?!) The Cairns gym is well maintained, never crowded, and its perfect for getting in a workout indoors if it's crappy outside. Their roof deck has 2 gas grills, plenty of tables, a pet area, and a great view. They also have a community room that you can reserve for FREE (they just require a security deposit which you get back when everything is clean, working, and put back when you're done). Another bonus about the Cairns is that their apartment units come with Air Conditioning hookups/vents already in the wall so you don't have to mess with trying to install a window unit. You can either rent a unit from them or buy your own unit to hook up via to the already provided vent if it's a hot summer (like it was when I lived there!). In summary, the Cairns apartment units were a good value with the right level of amenities and a fair, friendly, and generally terrific staff.

Pros: LOCATION! I love SLU! Bar downstairs, good beer, good food, good hangout. Different floor plans, I've seen a couple different units that are very nice and have their own uniqueness to them. Pet friendly, I've seen lots of dogs in the elevators that are happy. Nice neighbors, never had any problems with them. Maintenance staff, very friendly and always willing to help when an issue arises. Secured living, I feel safe living in this building with the security measures they have put in place. Cons: Appliances, though they look new, they're cheap and don't work that well. (to be specific the W/D and dishwasher) Parking, small spots, jerks that run the garage. Elevators don't always work... seems to be an ongoing problem. Speaking of elevators, for as big as this complex is, they don't offer any carts for groceries or when moving which I've had in every other place I've lived, is this strange to anyone else? Church bells, wake me up on my only day off... every Sunday and it's so loud... they also sing/chant surrounding the church and ring the bells at midnight/2am on Easter, we all know he's risen, can you do it inside please? The management is hit or miss... it depends on what mood everyone is in. They can be curt or they can be extremely nice. I'm not a mind reader so this is problematic at times, especially when you need something done or have a question/issue to bring up and no one wants to help.

I moved to the Cairns shortly after starting work at Amazon. I stayed for about a year and a half, and I recently moved out for a variety of reasons. Having read the reviews on Yelp and discussing the move out process with a friend who moved out a few months prior, I was unfortunately prepared for a stressful experience trying to get deposits back. Here are some of my experiences: 1. The apartment was nice enough. Expensive rent, cheap finish, building starting to feel dated, but lots of space and storage with a decent view. The storage really didn't make a lot of sense, as the cabinets in the kitchen weren't placed where they could be used for cooking very easily. The walk-in closet cut off a lot of living space in an already awkwardly shaped bedroom. The appliances were as cheap as you can get while still looking decent and performed fine, though the fridge didn't have a good seal, so it was constantly making noise trying to seal the door. There's a nice deck on top with a good view in all directions and a grill. They recently re-did the deck, so it is probably even nicer now. 2. The location seems great and was the initial draw, but there is really nothing interesting nearby, so the area feels very isolating. The closest groceries are at Whole Foods, which is almost 3/4 mile walk away - not great with a couple bags of groceries. Nobody makes South Lake Union a destination, and there are no good bus stops near the building, so I spent a lot of money on cabs/cars. The nearby park also seems appealing, until you realize that it is currently a camp for a host of local homeless and there are perpetually people shooting up in the public bathroom - not a great place for kids/dogs to play. Car2Go vehicles are almost never available, since the Amazon employees start leaving with them at 4:30, going to Ballard, Fremont, Capitol Hill, and other outlying neighborhoods. There are 3 Zipcars in the neighboring building, which is handy. There should also be a lot of new restaurants in the area after the new buildings are built out, but that looks to be at least a couple years out. 3. Management changed frequently. Currently, the building is on its third manager in the 18 months that I lived there. The feeling I got interacting with management and its policies is that it is very corporate and driven by short-term views of numbers and maximizing short-term margins rather than personal relationships to encourage long-term leases. Every time the lease was renewed, exorbitant rent increases were demanded, even though much newer buildings had recently been built all around the Cairns. Month-to-month options were as much as a $400 increase. It was a struggle each time my lease was renewed to stay at something close to what I'd been paying. Given the explosion of housing opportunities in the area, this seemed short-sighted on their part, and it was needlessly stressful, since I was able to negotiate to a fairly constant rent rate by threatening to move. 4. Their automatic payment system failed to make my payments twice when my lease renewed and when I gave notice. I was immediately presented with a notice to vacate and late fees both times. Having consistently made automatic payments for 6-18 months, I would have preferred a more personal touch than a notice to vacate letter stuffed in my door and then having to argue to get the late fees reversed. 5. On moveout, they charged me to replace the carpet, charged me for professional cleaning, and quoted deposits totaling $125 less than what I actually paid in deposits. In an e-mail from them before they had inspected the apartment, "Since you have a dog, mostly likely we will need to replace the carpet and pet seal." I paid a $250 fee up front for the dog, $15/month, and a $250 pet deposit. According to WA state law, security deposits cannot be used to repair normal wear and tear. The carpet was in good condition when I moved out, visibly clean with no odors - in my assessment had only normal wear and tear. They pulled the carpet off the floor and claimed that spills which I had cleaned were dog urine from my middle-aged, very house-trained dog. I notified them that I had my own professional cleaning service clean the apartment before the end of my lease, which is not a requirement under the lease or WA state law. I paid $750 in security deposits, but they are claiming I only paid $625. If they are replacing the carpet after every person moves out of an apartment, and they would like tenants to pay for it, they need to charge this as an up front fee. I found at least one poster on Yelp had a similar experience losing their deposit and I talked with a very responsible friend who recently moved out who also lost most of his deposit. I paid plenty to live in this apartment building, I took care of the apartment, and I left it in good condition with only 'normal wear and tear'. I was not able to get my deposit back after much wrangling. Disappointed with the management group.

I lived there for a year and just recently moved out to find something a little cheaper but if you can afford to live in SLU I would say definitely look into The Cairns. The units are very well kept and modern. I lived in a larger studio and couldn't have been happier with the layout, storage, appliances and interior. Pros- The management and staff. Hands down some of the nicest people. Scott is the absolute best, he is so helpful and saved me numerous times. Maintenance gets to your issues, which there rarely are there, in a timely manner and does a great job. He even helped me jump my car when I had a dead battery on his day off. That's true service. Jessica and Megan in the leasing office are awesome as well. Super friendly and accommodating. It feels like they truly care about your experience living there, it's not just a paycheck to them. Majid is also great - solid staff. Location. You can walk everywhere. Rapidly growing neighborhood, close to the lake and there are new things opening every week. In the last month I was there a Deli, Indian bar and nice Italian restaurant opened within two blocks. Connected to a German bar and coffee shop that are both great as well. If you work at Amazon, the walk to work is less than 10 minutes. Rooftop. The roof was remodeled after I moved in and is huge. Has a great view of the Space Needle. Pet area (also super pet friendly building). Nice BBQ's and there is never anyone up there. Gym. Nice simple gym and there is rarely anyone in it. Community areas are always clean and well maintained. Huge pantry and walk in closet. Cons- I wish residents had roof access 24/7. If you need to take your dog out after ten you have to go outside and there are some interesting people out at night sometimes. Bring your pepper spray. You have to punch in a code every time you are in the elevator which can be a pain if you have a lot of bags or are having company over. However, the flip side to this is the building feels very safe and secure. Overall, a great place to live and I would recommend it to anyone looking to move into that area. Reasonably priced in comparison to some of the newer buildings that have gone up recently nearby.

Great apartment in the SLU area. The apartment and facilities were all wonderful with absolutely no issues in the seven months that I lived here. Very pet friendly complex. Quiet area. For all the great things this place has to offer, the absolute best was the staff!!

Oh how the apartment market has changed! The last time I went out searching for an apartment downtown it was between $800-$900 a month for one bedrooms and now..WOW! With that being said, I spent all day looking all all round South Lake Union hoping to find something. Here's the scoop: The Cairns by FAR has the best amount of space for the price. I was pretty shocked to get the same amount of space at a newer complex for almost 500 dollars more a month and that place called their new studio a one bedroom! Plus this small quaint building as only 100 units, a small but surprisingly active fitness center (it was full of residents!) and a beautiful lounge. The traffic close by made me nervous but when I saw the one bedroom, it was so quiet. I couldn't hear the traffic at all. It has an awesome rooftop deck with a fire pit. Thats pretty sweet. I'm giving this 4 stars: Love the location Love the space and amenities. Full size washers and dryers, nice patios, large Bathroom. The pub next door is yummy! The leasing girl seemed to know every resident. I LOVED THAT! What its missing though, free Wi-Fi (all the other places have it) Lounge closes at 6 Roof sometimes doesn't get unlocked on Sundays (I talked to residents at the bar next door) so it makes it difficult to enjoy. Either way, if something in available at the end of the summer when I need to move, I am definitely coming back to see what they have.

Be forewarned: the pictures are pretty but the location is horrendous. I only lived in the apartment for 4 months and I am so glad and thankful that I signed a short term lease. DO NOT LIVE HERE. I would mark it as 'no stars' but there isn't an option. The apartment is tucked away in SLU. It's 20 minutes away (walking) from the Space Needle, 20 minutes away (walking) from downtown and kinda tucked away from everywhere. The rent is very high and you can definitely get a comparable apartment elsewhere that doesn't feel so insecure. There are several alley ways and empty buildings that make the area feel very unsafe. Not to mention some questionable seemingly permanent parked vehicles. No area around the apartment building seems friendly until you get several blocks away. The elevators broke down several times during my stay and you (and guests) need to have a key pad number code to make the elevators work. The thing is, if you want to visit another floor other than your own, you will need the key code from whoever you're visiting. They staff give you key fabs but they don't work half the time. The reason why they have so much security is that it's not a safe neighborhood. Sure, the building is pretty but the neighborhood is not. Ask yourself if it's better to live in the best building in the worst neighbor hood or a crappy building in the best. I'd definitely choose the latter after this experience. The apartment staff are incompetent, unfriendly, and unhelpful. If there were any misunderstandings, they would treat me very poorly. Or if I had a question, they would talk down to me as though I were a child. The only friendly person was a man named Mike. But he left shortly before I vacated. The maintenance man was nice and friendly but the front desk girls are not. They will not be helpful during move in or out and guaranteed you will have to make sure you ask to get your keys, key fab, parking permits and anything else you need when you move because they will forget. Or be busy flirting with male residents to even bother helping you. I was moving in and I parked in front in the loading zone, the girl working at the time didn't give me the elevator code (I didn't know I needed one at the time) so I was stuck in the elevator for an hour trying to figure out how it worked. She also didn't have my keys or key fab ready when I got there even though I called beforehand and gave her my estimated time of arrival. When I moved out, it would have been so helpful to have a cart or something to facilitate my moving but all they could say was, "sorry, don't have one," with no effort of figuring out a way to get one. I read the reviews before and thought, "It shouldn't be that bad..." I learned my lesson. There is a church right next door, and I didn't really have a problem with the bells on Sunday, but I always had my windows closed. The summer in Seattle is quite cooler than the one's I'm used to, but if you're from the area, you're most likely to have your windows open and if you have your windows open, you are going to be blasted with the sound. Also, during some weekends, the people in the downstairs bar are very loud. Also, the parking is horrible. The non-compact spaces are small and there is little maneuver rooms for cars to get in or out of spaces. I always felt like I was going to hit another vehicle or a pole. The company that runs the parking has incompetent checkers so you will most likely get a ticket even if your ticket is clearly showing. I had to move my car so the hood was facing out so that the ticket was so obvious not to miss. (I really don't like backing up in spaces.) There are some good points...no monthly pet rent...and a nice bakery a block away. Other than that... I left mainly because my friend moved to Seattle and we needed to find a two bedroom. And I find that the new place is 100x better. Friendly staff, friendly neighborhood, and cheaper rent. (by about $400). Seriously, my new place actually feels like home versus a prison. If you're considering on living here, look else where. ***update*** I received my final move out statement... I am impeccable at cleaning. I made sure there wasn't a spot they could complain about. I made sure there was no streaking on the bathroom mirror or any other shiny surface. I even made sure to have any and all furniture away from the walls so not to make marks so they wouldn't have to paint when I moved out as the walls were clean before I moved in. I spent a good 2 days of cleaning to make absolutely sure that I would get most of my security deposit back. They took 95% of my security deposit to pay to paint and clean when there was absolutely no reason to. If you are expecting the majority of your security deposit back, don't.

I've lived here for about 7 months with my husband. So far, we really like it. The location is great! There's a couple great bars / pubs very close and we're just a few blocks from Terry Ave and Westlake. There's also a small park nearby to take our dog. I've found the staff to be very friendly and extremely helpful with any issues (all minor) that we've had. The building is nicely designed and well maintained. We rarely hear our neighbors, although we do live on the side with the club, so we deal with that noise. We sleep with an air conditioner on at night, which mostly drowns out that noise. We're in the larger studio and feel like there's adequate space and the floor plan is such that we had several options for furniture arrangement. There is plenty of closet storage for us (more than our last 1 bedroom), the kitchen has good storage and I feel like the appliances and fixtures are nice--they all match, they all work, they all coordinate.

Me and my boyfriend lived here for about a year and a half in from 2009 to 2011. It's a great location and a nice building. I'm sure most people live here problem free but given all the issues we had I wouldn't choose to rent at the Carins again or recommend it to anyone else. Pros: -Great location, walkable and close to downtown. Lots of great stuff to do in SLU. -Great bar downstairs with great atmosphere and food. -Market downstairs if you need to grab something quick. -Nice layouts on some of the units, we had a great deck. -Lots of windows and light. Building has the best rooftop deck we've seen anywhere. -Pet friendly Cons: -Appliances and fixtures were on the cheaper side, not bad, just cheap. -We had fairly loud neighbors throwing parties with the door open into the hallway. It felt like a college dorm. -One side has a church that rings bells every Sunday morning, our side had a nightclub that had loud concerts with all their windows open until 2pm on weeknights. -When we moved in we loved the two managers, Lourdes and Jose. After a few months they were replaced with a never ending stream of surly temps that never knew what they were doing or what was going on. -When we moved out we checked with the office staff on what we needed to do (we had to break the lease) after we moved out we found that they had told us the incorrect information and the parent company tried to charge us $10,000 even though nothing was said about it on our lease. -Maintenance staff was responsive to minor issues but they refuse to respond to emergencies. Our kitchen flooded on a Friday afternoon due to a clog. We called the emergency line but they refused to fix it until the following Monday when they finally called a plumber. Meanwhile our kitchen was periodically flooded with foul smelling sewage the entire weekend. -There were several break-ins while we were residents into the garage. -People just tend to let anyone in as long as they are waiting at the door.

I've lived here for over 20 months and am very happy with everything overall. General Pros: Staff: The office staff are very friendly and helpful. They are available on site M-S and are always willing to answer my questions/requests. They'll take care of everything from UPS/FEDEX pickup to dry cleaning. The maintenance staff are awesome, too. Scott is always there to help when I need it, but with a relatively new building it's not much. Facilities: Built smart certified building, very energy efficient. Windows insulate the sound very well. Summers can get warm, but a portable AC fixes that issue. I rarely run my heater in the winter, usually only for a few minutes in the morning. Building recently underwent a remodel/refresh consisting of new paint in common areas, remodeled rooftop deck (including double-grill island and new furniture) with a great view of Lake Union, QA Hill, Downtown, and lobby/gym improvements. Parking garage is available, or you can just get a zone parking permit from the city and park on the street for ~$30/year. Location: the neighborhood is very much in development, but construction on the surrounding blocks is complete. Restaurant and deli/market are opening across the street, it's a few minute walk to Westlake and its shops/restaurants, downtown is a bit of a hike (15 min) but it's doable if you don't want to take the streetcar/public transport. Easy cap hill access, u district is a quick jaunt down Eastlake. New bike share stations are a few blocks away at REI. Other: Large pet friendly (there's a great dane in the building...)! This is rare in Seattle, and the Cairns allows 2 pets. Cons: the neighborhood lacks character, but hopefully as the new buildings across the street fill out that will change. Can be difficult to drive out of the neighborhood during rush hour (amazon commuters!!) but once the Mercer Mess is sorted out it should settle down. Until then, use side streets and time your exit carefully! Gym is smallish, it has a cable machine, 2 ellipticals, 1 treadmill, and a bike. It doesn't get too busy, but I think it can get claustrophobic with more than 3 people at a time. (24 hour fitness is a few blocks away if it's an issue). Some folks might not like a bar next to the entrance, but I've never had any issues with the crowd. Church bells on the S side of the building sound Sundays (~10AM) and holidays. I'm on that side of the building and it hasn't been much of a thing, especially with the insulated windows. Garage parking is ~120 a month, and street parking can get competitive if you're relying on your zone parking permit.