I'm about to wrap up a one year lease at AAD. I signed it back in August 08 after a hasty and limited search, and it basically came down to the rent not being as high as most other places in the tri-state area.

We had an excellent leasing agent, who I don't think works there anymore. Sad. She gave us one month free and prorated our rent so that we ended up paying about 760 a month for a 2b/2b 1000 sq ft apartment. Our utilities were pretty standard, we budgeted 150 a piece, but that included our cable and internet. We had one heinous bill over the winter, but that was our own fault. I highly recommend sealing the windows in the bedrooms (and in the living room if you have them) with plastic the minute is gets cold. This cuts down on energy useage big time. Also, get curtains, two layers if possible, for all of your windows, including the sliding doors. In our living room, one entire wall was a sliding door, and that sucked energy like crazy. Shut your heat or ac off when you leave the apt for the day, and try not to turn it up past 75 in the winter or lower than 70 in the summer. So far its been very cool and pleasant w/o the ac, but in the winter it was pretty cold, esp in my roommate's room. It was as though her vent was completely useless.

Do not sign a lease without taking a hard look at the actual unit you will be inhabiting. We were show the model apartment, which looks so nice, but the only apartment available at the time we needed one was a terrace unit. Translation: basement. As a recent college grad, I didn't know any of the right questions to ask and while I am not entirely unhappy with AAD, I learned a lot about what I don't want and what I need to ask next time around. My two biggest issues were noise, from the adjacent unit and the one above us, and mice. Our apt was built into a hill, and there was a yawning crawlspace behind it. Behind the oven there were openings that mice exploited all winter and we could not get rid of them. They were everywhere, and the management was not very helpful is resolving this. I won't even elaborate, because I've already written a book. But that was a serious pain. The noise wasn't bad all the time, but there have definitely been nights when I have had less than charitable thoughts toward my neighbors.

Parking is a problem--past 8pm there are no spots within sight of your section, nevermind your actual unit. On the plus side, you don't have to pay for the priviledge. The appliances are old--they all worked fine but sharing a freezer between two people when there is no shelf in there was tricky. The oven has no timer or light to let you know you've reached the right heat.

As someone who commutes to downtown DC to work, the location is a pain (this is entirely subjective, maybe this doesn't bother some as much as others). You have to take a bus or drive to the metro. You're on the end of the red line, so you get hit with rush hour prices both ways. Unless you're reimbursed by your business, this gets expensive fast. I have a fuel effecient car and free parking at work, so I drive, but 19 miles each way in DC traffic wears on me fast. (I have serious road rage. But with a toyota tercel, there isn't much you can do about it.)

All things considered, I've enjoyed this community. There are two pools, the gym is ok, there are raquetball and tennis courts. The costs were manageable, I liked the layout of our unit and I felt like the bedroom/bathroom/closet size was fine. I spend most of my day at work and then commuting, so really...as long as I come home to a relatively quiet, mouse free apt, I'm satisfied.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/27/2009
"one month free and prorated our rent so that we ended up paying about 760 a month for a 2b/2b 1000 sq ft apartment". Really? It's 1365 now. Or you each paid 760?

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