I actually liked living here for the most part, but I wouldn't go so far as to call this a "luxury apartment" and it is DEFINITELY not worth the prices they are now charging. This is an old, ugly building that needs more work put into it than some new carpets and "accent walls" - it needs entirely new management.

When I moved in, they were only just starting the renovation process. Though they have put new paint and new finishings on many areas of the building, they have actually downgraded and cut corners in several areas. They no longer use heat or AC on the hallways - though they used to a year ago - leaving them either too sweltering hot during the summer or too cold during the winter. They replaced the double locks (door lock and deadbolt) on all the doors with a single deadbolt for no other reason than the handle looked cooler. They drilled in the hallways up and down the building to put in extra PVC water pipes which, to my knowledge, are redundant (which is why there are oddly shaped "columns" interspersed in each hallway). They started "working on" the rooftop deck, which consisted of removing the deck floor tiles, exposing bare roof, and putting up a sign on the door to the rooftop saying that the deck is "temporarily closed" (that sign has been up for almost a year now). They recently stopped recycling (but, instead of telling the residents, they simply removed the recycling boxes from each floor's trash room). The building is NOT improving.

The building management has never shown anything beyond the barest passable level of competence, and has gotten progressively worse since I moved in. At the end of each lease period, even when I renewed my lease in 2006, they failed to send me a rent amount for the final month (which was November). I went to them in late October and asked for a rent quote - I received only an estimate, based on last month's rent. I paid the estimate in full, and 5 days into November received notice that I was "delinquent" in rent payments (due to that month's rent being $50 or so more than the estimate) and was being charged a late fee. I complained and got them to remove the late fee, but I was still pissed - and the same thing happened to me AGAIN this November when I was paying my final rent after already having moved out (more on that below).

Four months ago, when amending my lease to replace a roommate, we asked for copies of the new lease and never received them. This isn't too unusual - except that we asked on three separate occasions of the same administrator. Additionally, when I put in my Notice of Termination in September, 2 months before moving out at the end of my lease, I never got a copy back. As it turns out, when I came in a few days ago to check on my remaining rent balance (the same issue above), I found that it had never been filed! It was just sitting in someone's inbox pile and never got processed. Two whole months ago. And the cherry on the top of this entire experience was that my final rent balance includes not one, but 3 separate charges for Water/Sewage - all in a one week period from November 1st to 6th. I'm currently trying to get this issue resolved with the previously mentioned incompetent management, but don't hold out much hope.

Notices of scheduled outages, such as electrical outages for maintenance or renovation, are inaccurate, if they send notice at all. Twice in the past month, a scheduled electrical outage didn't happen on the day they were scheduled, but a day or two days after. Three times in the past 2 years, my apartment has flooded (which requires a carpet shampoo) - twice due to a leaky water heater and once due to a HUGE problem with a roof AC unit that was pouring torrents of water through the walls (water was leaking out of electrical sockets). In response to these issues, management sent a maintenance man (who arrived within a day or two to fix the issue, thankfully) but they failed both times to follow up the leak fix with any type of carpet cleaning (which led our carpet to develop mold). I'm fairly sure that in the 2 years of living here, I've never actually had the carpet cleaned, even though I've asked for it to happen on many occasions.

All of this was, at the time, acceptable to me, since the rent was cheap enough for this area (not cheap exactly, but cheap for Dupont Circle area and within 15 minutes walk from my office downtown). However, that was when my roommate and I were paying around $2000 to $2100 a month for a 2 bedroom - now they're planning on charging $2800 for the SAME 2 bedroom layout, with no significant changes to the physical infrastructure of the room, save putting in new cabinets and counters, a new carpet (or floorboards), and a new coat of paint. The AC will still break down, there will still be maintenance outages of electricity and water, there will still be broken elevators, and there will still be a management so incompetent as to charge me 3 times for water in a period of one week.

If it were possible, I'd give the management a zero of 5 stars, or even negative stars if I could. I had fun while living here, I highly enjoyed my roommates, but the management has been frustrating at best and intolerable at worst. Stay away from this building, if you can.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/10/2007
the managers there are different people now. they have only been at this building for a couple of months, which is after you decided to move. the building is under construction so what do expect! i am glad that people like you are gone, you make us all look bad with the new people in the office. they think that all we do is complain like you about everything... dont like it, move out!
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/12/2007
I didn't like it, so I did move out - a week ago. I doubt the management has changed in the past week, though it has changed so often over the past year or so I wouldn't be surprised if it has. I'd been in the Latrobe for about 2 years, so I was here when the construction started and I'm not sad to say I won't see it end. Please, take comfort in the fact that "people like me" are gone; the building, the management, and the construction are now all yours. Have fun!
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/23/2007
it's a shame that AIMCO management has nothing better to do with their time. Instead of new carpets PLEASE FIX THE PIPES! The manager is the worse! i just had a flood in my apartment and i had to pay for the hotel room out of pocket and came home to huge industrial fans in my apartment. I have already informed the DCRA on this building and really hope something is done about it soon.

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