Negatives:

Poorly constructed building. Plumbing and electrical problems common. Cheap appliances will leak or fail completely. Live-in maintenance man quit, and was not replaced. Staff cannot supervise repairmen, therefore you will need to take a day off work every time you need something repaired.

Significant traffic noise, especially Monday to Friday. Major road construction planned for later this year.

Not much visitor parking on site. Tends to be monopolized by the same people. Street parking not allowed. There is a small two-hour public lot down the road, at the University Avenue intersection.

Clearing of snow and ice done poorly, and at odd times (2:00 a.m. is typical, and the noise will wake you.)

Lawn coated in toxic chemicals, hazardous to small children and pets.

Windows washed only once a year.

Several units have been flooded. Check carefully for signs of mold in the unit you are considering.

Few full-time residential owners (many investors and weekend residents), leading to general apathy and weak homeowners association, easily manipulated by manager whose first priority is protecting her status and salary (see next point).

A dim, disorganized and willfully dishonest building manager with anger management issues. Her standard response to constructive criticism is to start with a denial, then if that doesn't work, to find someone to take the blame. She doesn't actually care about solving the problem, and you will never hear her apologize for anything, or thank you for bringing it to her attention. She is tempermentally and intellectually unsuited for the job, and eventually the HOA must acknowledge that her ineffective management is costing them more than they realize. (Check the per square foot value of recently sold Portico units compared to neighboring properties of the same age.)

Low morale and extremely rapid turnover among support staff (office assistant and cleaners).


Positives:

Although there is a lot of street noise, the building itself is fairly quiet.

Many of the residents are very nice people.

Short drive to Cherry Creek North or to the shopping mall. When the weather is good, you can walk.

Elevators work quickly and reliably. Just one known incident of a person being stuck in an elevator, and that was for only about an hour.

Good security. Some bicycles were stolen from the garage a few months ago (check Denver Police website for details), but otherwise most break-in/theft attempts have been unsuccessful. Probably best to avoid renting a ground-floor unit, however. No known violent crime in or near the building. Street is well-lit at night and lobby staff of neighboring building ("One Polo Creek", 2400 Cherry Creek South Drive) are present 24 hours, so can keep an eye out for suspicious activity.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/29/2009
Some people are simply negative ............ maybe visit a therapist ......... or get drunk, what the heck?

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