Jenny H.
Yelp
Ron is very friendly and welcoming. Great tour, reassuring attitude. Did his best to answer my questions. Love the stories of this old building, love the large windows of this floor plan, love the friendly neighbors. Also love that I don't hear them because of the concrete between each floor.
Unfortunately since I signed my first lease, issues have arisen that keep me from being able to relax and call the Statler home.
There's been a miscommunication about my lease and rent, and it's been a months-long process to correct the numbers. The number first communicated to me as the total prorated amount was an overestimate. The 5% preferred employer discount rate for which I qualified wasn't applied for the first couple of months. Not wanting to be punished for late payments, I overpaid. I'm the only one doing the math to correct for it. Response was quick at first--I was sent a new lease with the corrected numbers--but has been slower since the beginning--the numbers in my online account haven't actually been corrected. Things have been sorted out much quicker when we meet in person, but due to my work schedule, that hasn't been possible. Especially in a season of recession, I would appreciate respect that my budget is limited and is the fruit of my hard work, that I chose to live here, and that I deserve accurate numbers so I don't have to be on guard to keep from being swindled.
Furthermore, there was water damage in my ceiling. It had been painted over, so I didn't notice upon moving in. A welt has slowly started to form on the ceiling and grow larger. A month after I finally finished moving in, it had swollen into a bump the size of a honeydew and started actively dripping water, threatening to burst. I submitted a maintenance request under the "critical" category but only received a response three days later. (Thankfully the water dripping stopped; wonder if it's related to the shower upstairs or something.) The offered solution was to replaster and repaint because there was someone living upstairs at the moment and would be less invasive than fixing the root issue. I'm only two months into my lease and would rather have the root issue addressed instead of risking a flood.
In my apartment search, I had wanted a place with large windows and ample natural lighting, and I really like what I have here. However, the windows don't open. There's an article online about a fire in this building from a few years back. Recently when I was cooking it got a little smoky, but there was no fire. Couldn't open the windows. The little vent under the microwave didn't help. There was no button on the smoke detectors to stop it. Couldn't get ahold of the 24/7 concierge because of recent staffing issues. Couldn't get ahold of 24/7 security. Ultimately called the hotel front desk who was able to send someone from security but it was another thirty minutes before the alarm was finally off. Was told that security should get an automatic alert but no one was there. Was reminded that there's a $500 fine for tampering with or disabling the smoke detectors. (Per lease, it's $100 + one month's rent + actual damages + attorney's fees, so $500 is a steal.) Because of all the calls that weren't answered initially and the delay in reaching the security team, the whole ordeal lasted 1.5 hours before the alarms were finally turned off.
Good things, to be fair: cute little half bath, small but well-equipped gym (has all the things I need), not charged $30 a month for valet trash, elevators always functioning and pretty quick, convenient mail room, great concierge team when staffed (currently 24/7 weekdays), lovely views (I could see fireworks on the horizon from at least three neighboring cities on July 4th!), nice pool area, fast internet. It also impressed me that many of the staff are also my neighbors. They live here, so surely they would care more, no?
Weeks ago, there were some weekend nights when Waterproof, the roof-level pool and bar, was playing really loud music until 2 AM. Called Jordan who was working the 24/7 concierge security shift, and he kindly directed me to call Ernesto from the 24/7 security team. Ernesto answered right away and assured me that multiple residents had been calling about the noise level. The very next morning, an email was sent out saying that they were testing noise levels. I'm happy to say that noise from Waterproof has not been an issue since.
When I'm not trying to cook and when it's not the anxious days leading up to the next month's rent due date (and the math is still all wrong), I really like living here. Staffing's been an issue, and on some days it's been really inconvenient. I hope I'm not faulted or evicted or anything for the rent math. It's been officially about 2 months since the start of my lease. I wanted to live here for a long time, but it's hard to call it home when it's been an unnecessary additional headache.