Under no circumstances should anyone move into here. There are better places for the money within this area. My wife and I have lived here since it was new construction back in 2007, we were one of the first residents that moved in. We have to live close to our jobs and need the Metro access. This is not that cheap to begin with. The Management is the most incompetent management company we have ever come across in all the years we rented. And let me tell you that was a lot of years more than 10 years of renting at several different properties. You should expect nothing from them, absolutely nothing. In fact, expect the worst in all situations. Whenever you deal with anyone associated with the management at Fenestra it will be a problem. Whether it is attitude (most of it), competence, responsiveness, understanding, communication, it is irrelevant. They will fail. No one ever knows what is going on within the development. There are no shining stars here either. All the staff are indifferent, careless, rude, outright incompetent, and at times untrustworthy.
As far as the residents are concerned; there are good and bad just like any other place. There are a lot of transient military personnel here. That is not a good or a bad; it is just a statement of fact. Most of the neighbors we have known here have been decent people. About 2 months ago there seemed to be some kind of criminal element within the development because crime spiked during this period. Something of course Fenestra denies. However, you can check the Police website and see the crime statistics for this zip code. There were a lot of small petty crimes, car breaks, etc. This kind of criminal element, I am told by the Police, usually indicates teen-age crime. They felt it was probably some kid or group of kids in the community. The crime problem has seemed to dissipate. It certainly had nothing to do with Fenestra taking an active role within the community.
As far as the apartments; we live in the top floor so noise wasn t an issue at all. But in fact the wall are so thin that we hear phone conversations and sometimes our neighbors having a little bit of fun if you know what I mean. Most of the noise complaints that I have heard from neighbors come from the other unit buildings. Some residents with the apartments facing the Fire Department House have complained but that has usually been related to excessively loud noise from the fire trucks. The apartments themselves are not the worse construction and not the best. As an engineer I am familiar with these things. Poor placement of utility closets and HVAC systems are in units. Fenestra could easily remedy all these minor problems if they cared to. Of course, they don t. If you do move here get yourself a top level apartment. Demand to see the apartment that you will be moving into. Fenestra will try to tell you that you can t because it is not ready. Do not sign anything until you have checked on your apartment. Check the apartment for any water leaks or damage, if you see any walk away. Look elsewhere is the bottom line. Fenestra management is one of the largest property management companies in the country and it shows, poorly. The company obviously is so big it cannot properly do what a property management company is supposed to do manage properties. Stay Away from this and all other of their Properties.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/20/2008
As a potential renter I would like to have had specific details from this reviewer. It's a little unfair to ramble on about the incompetence of management without telling us why are they incompetent. You also indicate crime is a problem, but how were you affected? Was your car broken into? Your apartment? If so, this would seem to be worth mentioning. More details seem to be appropriate.
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/18/2008
Ditto. Management is terrible. Even if you talk to the head of the management they will make up stories, or lie to your face about why something didn't get done. They aren't courteous or prompt in responding to any sort of issue. I was also one of the first residents in my building and had a multitude of issues. I had to stop into the management office 4-6 times on separate occasions to get the same issue resolved. Each time I was assured to get a response, only to wait one more week before going in again.
From: renterrible	Date: 06/25/2008
I'll give you some examples of "incompetence". We have lived here for 6 months. 1) when we first moved in, there was a faint, but horrible, odor. The Management told us "the smell will vanish after a few days". Luckily for us, it did. However, that smell is SEWAGE. Many people live in this building with that smell every day. 2) There is a large piece of machinery in the bottom level of the parking garage that has been making an extraordinarily loud noise, not unlike a loose fan belt of some kind. The noise is so bad that I rush to get out of my car and into the elevator. Once in the elevator, you can still hear it. I informed The Management of this problem a month ago...nothing has been done. 3) I have called about a specific problem in the apartment three times - I was told that "maintenance will be informed". I have not seen or heard from The Management or maintenance about this issue. That started about 6 weeks ago. Then there's the noise. Not from neighbors. Not from bar patrons. Noise that is created by, I'm guessing, the City of Rockville in the form of atrocious music which is being played 2 or 3 times a week in the square. I can't understand why anyone would like this music. In any case, if I had been told that the Square would be used as a concert and event center, I would NEVER have moved in. Do not move here. This area has been an economic failure since the 70s, which I can remember. Perhaps the Festera was built upon an ancient Indian burial ground, or secretly buried nuclear waste.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/11/2008
The above response from a "potential renter" demanding specific examples, and trivializing criminal activity in the area by asking how the renter was affected is idiotic, and suggests it was written by someone with a financial interest in discounting a negative review. Simply to be concerned about crime in the area is enough in itself, without being personally mugged. The negative review was well written , and no motive whatsoever other than flushing out incompetence and bad behavior could possibly be inferred. It is not a jury trial which requires concrete detailed evidence, and the reviewer was not required to keep and recite a detailed log of the incidents, like he was preparing a police report. Yet the silliness of the "potential renter" did serve a purpose since some actual other renters took the time to respond with examples. These apartments are grossly overpriced and poorly built , save for the superficial exterior, which perhaps explains an exorbitant amount of vacancies which corresponds to a veritable ghost town. They constructed these buildings on the cheap insofar as the interior is concerned and the market place is speaking.

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