Imperial House

The best thing about this apartment building is its location near Cheesman Park. The second best thing is the layout of each unit--the two-bedrooms and some of the one-bedroom units have two balconies, and they rock.

Otherwise, everything else is bad news. Serious issues include mold in the stairwells running from the basement to the fifth floor, water leakage in the basement, a permanently broken heater under the ramp leading to the street from the underground garage, and a broken emergency sprinkler system. Other concerns: no viable storage units in the basement, no exercise equipment in the exercise room, a consistently filthy and unheated swimming pool, scalding hot water in the faucets, graffiti in public areas, air conditioning that doesn't cool the air, one permanently broken elevator (the other one works most of the time), and no working bathroom vents. Annoyances: everyone splits the utilities (except electricity), so no matter how much heat, air conditioning, or water you use, you get charged a portion of the total usage.

The most recent manager we had worked very, very hard to fix ongoing problems. He was awesome, yet after four months of receiving no support from the owner, he burned out and left. This building has so much potential, but unless the current owner, Joseph Furer, sells it to someone who expresses interest in tenants' rights and decides to manage it decently, it will continue to be a frustrating, unsafe place to live.

Recommended: NO Overall Rating

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