Ok, so I am one of the original tenants that moved into this building when it first opened in late 2001, so have seen it change over the years. I have lived in 3 different apartments in the building over the past 7 years (originally shared a 2 bdrm with a roommate, changed to a 1 bdrm after my roommate got married, and then moved back to a 2 bdrm a year ago for extra space).

Pros: Location is central to many subway lines, Penn Station, etc., making it easy to get around. Young, lively crowd of tenants (guess it can be a pro or a con, depending on your perspective), great gym and rooftop that is included with the rent (other Stonehenge properties such as Ritz Plaza charge extra to use the gym), good views on the higher level units.

Cons: Neighborhood lacks character or local bars/restaurants, sound insulation between apartments is very poor (cheap construction), terrible owners/management company (yes, what you read about Stonehenge is unfortunately true).


Key Considerations / Takeaways: Given that it is a very young crowd that lives in this building, there are often parties on the rooftop or in the apartments that can run late into the evenings. I used to throw parties for my friends and we would keep it going till 4AM...neighbors were really cool about it since they would be throwing their own parties sooner or later, so no one complained, even though some nights you wish you could just get some sleep. If you have loud neighbors you will hear everything through the walls...I used to hear my neighbor's phone calls, morning alarm clock, radio, etc., and could even smell when he smoked as the smoke came through the vents or walls (again, the walls are very thin!). The F line 1 bedroom units (same as the one used for the rental office) are next to the elevators, but are actually quiet as you don't share a wall with your neighbor in the bedroom. The J and K lines are 2 bedroom corner units which provide nice views on the upper levels. Great for the aforementioned parties...

Regarding comments about Stonehenge, most of them are true. They bought the building a couple of years ago and raised rents incredibly! One of the best things about the Pennmark was that the pricing was attractive for a modern high rise building. Each year when I considered renewing or moving out, I checked around and the old management team was careful to always maintain attractive, competitive pricing. Since Stonehenge took over they have just kept raising rents and now there are other buildings that offer better values. Even more so, the people that work at Stonehenge are unresponsive, uncaring and sometimes just plain rude. They somehow just don't seem to care about your concerns and act like you are wasting their precious time when you call. They made a mistake on my monthly rent bill and I had to call their central office...half the time you would just get voice mail and no one would ever return your call, so you just have to keep calling over and over until someone finally answers. I finally got hold of their accounting person (Esther De Jesus) who said she would take care of the mistake, but then month after month the adjustment was never made...so I would have to call her again and again, for like 3 months to finally get it fixed! I think they have the philosophy that maybe if they ignore you long enough you will just go away. You just have to be persistent with them, as annoying as it is.

The building staff are mixed...doorman Gus is simply the best, always knows when you have packages and takes care of everything. Sandy is also very friendly and tries hard, but the rest of the doormen are pretty bad. Maintenance person Henry is very helpful too. All-in-all, no complaints about the staff. I, too, try to tip them very well at the end of each year.

Bottom line is Stonehenge is terrible, but the rest of the building has its merits. Worth checking out if you can tolerate the phony, uncaring, unresponsive owners.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/11/2008
I completely agree with this review. The leasing and accounting staff are rude, but Gus, Sandy, and Efam are above average doormen.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/19/2008
yup, this post pretty much sums it up. Hate the management office but the building itself and most of the staff are pretty cool.

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