I just moved in 6 weeks ago..
So far I think it is a very nice place. And I do *not* work here.
I think that the management must have changed in late 2005 or early 2006, because the
place seems to be much better than the older ratings indicated.
So far, they have fixed most everything that needed to be repaired (the various things that
always exist when one first moves into an apt), the hallways and public areas are in general clean and nicely decorated and even smell good, the office staff (especially Susan) are very pleasant even when being pushed on an issue, the view is spectacular (the fountain plus some of Valley Forge Park plus the King of Prussia area), it is extremely quiet (there are concrete ceilings and fire walls), and the maintenance personnel (especially Jody) seem to be competent. The living is the ultimate in convenience, with two dry cleaners in the complex and a grocery store (Giant) 5 minutes away in Audobon, and Walmart, Target and Lowes about 10 minutes away.

Some negatives:
- They promised me I would get a new carpet but a few days before I moved in told me they had decided it was not necessary (no consultation with me) and so did not do it.
After loud complaints, I got a $150 rebate, but I am still not happy about this. Get a signed letter for everything they promise you.
- The ground floor (where residents come in from their cars) is smelly, dirty, and poorly maintained. They are doing some painting and patching down there now so hopefully it will be better soon.
- The elevators were recently redone and have not worked right since. It is rare to have all 3 elevators working, especially on the weekends. People get stuck in them. Management does not seem capable of handling the problem.
- It seems to take 2-3 requests to get something fixed right (but they do eventually do it).
- There are some cooking smells that come into my apt from the balcony in the early AM (but I can close the sliding glass doors for 15 min and shut it out)
- There are quite a few elderly people around, which can give the building the air of a nursing home sometimes. Overall, there is a mix of ages and types, though, which is fine.
- The guard is usually not there when I need to get a package out of the mailroom.
Happened this Saturday at 9:00 AM (when the office was not open, either).
Makes you wonder how secure the building is.


Overall, though, it is a nice place to live. I would recommend it.

User Responses
From: EricNR88	Date: 07/10/2006
(THIS PERSON FIRST WROTE THIS AND IN THE SAME LETTER WROTE THE 2ND PART. MAKE UP YOUR MIND, WHICH IS IT) ****it is extremely quiet (there are concrete ceilings and fire walls), and the maintenance personnel (especially Jody) seem to be competent. (THEN THEY WROTE THIS) *****It seems to take 2-3 requests to get something fixed right ****** TALK ABOUT CONTRADICTING YOURSELF. THIS PERSON DOES THIS IN THE WHOLE REVIEW.
From: happyrentervftn	Date: 09/10/2006
I wrote the original review. The statements about the repairs are indeed somewhat contradictory. The fact is that at first it took several requests to get something fixed right, but that seems to be getting better. The last few things were fixed right the first time. And I do think the maintenance personnel are *in general* competent, especially Jody, the head maintenance person. I have now been in the apt 3 months and am still happy. Recently I asked them to replace the sliding glass doors in the master bedroom since the seals had broken and there is dirt inside that cannot be removed. They agreed immediately (even though this is a very expensive proposition). Also, when the A/C broke during the recent heat wave, they put me up in a lovely apt overnight a few floors down, and fixed it the next day. I was very impressed. The elevator problem seems to have been solved, which is a great relief. The ground floor where many (most?) residents enter the building from their garages or parking spots, has improved as far as its appearance and smelliness go, but still needs work (floors waxed, old doors replaced, etc). The worst continuing problem is the answering service which takes emergency maintenance calls after hours. The operators at that service are generally incompetent, unresponsive, rude, or some combination thereof. Unless you know how to manage them, you will be left without any response or with inadequate to your request, no matter how urgent. I have learned that I have to instruct the operator to (a) ask the maintenance person how long it will be before they arrive and (b) call me back after they contact the maintenance person to tell me how long it will be. In one case, before I learned this, the operator never was able to contact the maintenance person at all, and instead of calling 911 (the situation would have warranted that), she just ignored the request until I got involved again and called the police. Another problem with the after-hours emergency service is that they will make you wait one hour while they have a maintenance person who lives far away drive to the apts, even though they have an on-site person who lives at the apts and is there most of the time. So that might have to be item (3) in the management of after hours emergencies- instruct them to contact the onsite maintenance person, not the one far away. Overall, I still think this is a pretty nice place to live, though.

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