Pros:
Excellent location, beautiful views

The building itself, lobby and such were upgraded considerably over the past year or
so. Then again, most people don't live in the "lobby." (Find a floor that is renovated or you will have a lot of misc. construction noise coming at some point.)

Easy Metro access, Potbellies, the shops below

Apt is extremely safe. Half the time I can't get myself into my own place. I feel very secure in the area which is a major bonus.

Apartments are clean, I don't think I've seen a single bug in over half a year
living there.

New staff. The old staff were some of the meanest people I've ever dealt with. I'm glad they are all gone. When I raised an issue with the water being extremely hot I
was treated like a child by some entry level desk worker with 1/3 of the education I have. A month later they have someone fixing the entire floor because the water heater was broken. The new staff is considerably nicer, but for the most part incompetent or in WAY over their head. Not sure if I preferred the nasty people who got the job done, or the nicer people who don't know what they are doing.


Cons:

New Management is incompetent and sent eviction notices to a couple dozen residents because of "computer" error. Angry residents were lined up 12 deep in the lobby within an hour.

New Management has had major issues with taking care of the apartment complex. There was a flood of the first floor causing ridiculous amounts of damage (people who were brought in to fix the water main burst it and flooded the entire first floor, it wasn't a pretty picture.) The biggest loss being two of the elevators are now inoperable. This was in January and they claim they will be up and running by the middle of April. This is a MAJOR problem if you live on the higher floors as it adds another 3 - 5 minutes to everything you do. Rent here isn't exactly cheap, and a lot of the promises from old management are gone.

RE: Rent, if some of these sites on Crystal Square accurately reflect the going rate for apartments then the rent has gone up considerably since I moved in 6 months ago. 1 BRs were 1400-1600 when I moved in. The old management had a full service website where we could track rents but the new people don't. I like the place enough and have little interest in moving but if my rent is going to go up $300 - $500 then I'll move on. This is by no means a "luxury" apt building. Its above average and very nice, but if I'm gonna pay $1900 a month I'll move up to one of the higher end complexes in the area.

We can no longer pay our rent online, we have to cobble together how much we owe from a myriad of sources (utilities mailings etc.)

And utility prices are soaring right now to ridiculous levels. For utilities and a parking spot add another $125 to your rent (when I was "pitched" the complex originally I was told to factor in $50 for utilities but I have yet to see a utilities bill under $75)

Why did Archstone sell this building like a thief in the night over the holidays' People seem to be moving out. There are also grumbles about the new management and most people are not happy. I'm still waiting for new management to extend an olive branch of some sort. Things have pretty much gone down hill since they came but I think once they get their feet under them things will change.

I worry that some of the major screw ups by management will cause them to raise rents and we'll end up paying for their mistakes. They claim it will cost 180k to fix the elevators, I hope they aren't awarding the contract to the lowest bidder without considering other factors.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/05/2008
I disagree. The new management has done a great take over-Transition. I believe the prior management had lack of communitcation, lack of staff and lack of property management. The new company have great staff and knows how to manage. They communicate on property updates and even done great changes so far in the little time they taken over. Great customer service and great resident awareness. They even extended breakfest brunch to every staurday and now have starbucks coffee freshly brewed. -NEW MANAGEMENT ARE GREAT AND LO0KING FORWARD FOR MORE TO COME!!
From: kimmy04	Date: 03/06/2008
I could not agree more with "anonymous." Whoever had good things to say about the new management company is definitely in the MINORITY and probably does work for the company. Have they not been on the elevator and heard anyone in the building talking over the last few months? Seriously? We got ZERO warning that our building was going to be taken over during the holidays, and I have been forewarned that our rent may go up as much as $300 per person, $900 total for our three bedroom apartment. I have lived in Crystal City since July 2002, in another archestone building, and I find that complete obsurd. Rent should never go up more than about 12%. I agree that we don't exactly live in a "luxury" apartment, even if the location is decent. For that much people are going to move or buy. The business center is just a few computers and a printer that only sometimes works and the pool only gets sun until 4 PM. Management owes an explaination to each and every resident as to why it is going to take 3 months to fix 2/4 elevators. It is frustrating and we should at least have been given some incentive to stay- what is it?? Also, I do not drink coffee but I can tell you that the tea is not very good downstairs. There have been no building activities whatsoever, which would be nice for young single people in the building or for families to interact. The garage has SO much room on the weekends so why can't we have guests come and park for FREE? Seriously, writing a check for $5 per day is also obsurd. I don't own a car, but I rent from time to time and it would be nice to park it downstairs for even a day or half a day. There are about 5 visitor spots which makes no sense when there are a few hundred empty spots down there. HELLO? I find the people behind the front desk are much more friendly now, but again- who cares if you can't really do your job? Maybe things will get better in time, but most of us won't be around to see these changes. I can tell you that.
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/09/2008
This place is going to hell in a handbasket! Half of the elevators do not work. This is an apartment complex with sixteen floors and four wings, so elevators not operating properly are a HUGE problem. Yesterday (Saturday), only one of 4 elevators was working at all. We can't pay rent online - 3 months after the takeover and they STILL have not gotten around getting a computer system which would allow us to pay rent online. What is up with that? I travel abroad all the time and it is extremely difficult for me to have to arrange before every trip to have my friends mail my rent check every month. This is ridiculous. It's 2008, not 1978, for crying out loud. I don't really care how friendly or unfriendly the receptionists are or whether there's coffee in the lobby, but it would be nice to have competent people in charge. As for the upcoming rent hike, I will certainly pack up and leave if that's what they plan to do. The place is no longer worth staying.
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/12/2008
I'm a resident and I totally agree with the reviewers (minus the idiot who works for Bainbridge). I love my apartment but am furious with this current management. My biggest fear is the rumored rent hike. They are currently advertising one bedrooms for about $1950 parking utilities. That's a $400 rent increase over 2007 prices AND $400 more than any other Crystal City apartment. New tenants who rent apartments here for that must be total idiots or don't realize how badly they are being screwed. If I get hit with that charge on my renewal, I'm moving out. The new management is totally incompetent. So dumb that they even spell their own company name wrong on their press releases. For those of you who have read the elevator notices during your 20 min wait for service - you may notice that is says "Bainbridge Comanies" (notice no "p") and they also spell the building name wrong in the web address "Crystal Sqware." (no "w" in square...). Maybe the rent hikes are to cover the salaries of people who have graduated the 8th grade and know how to click the "spell check" button on the computer. Plus, they keep advertising that everything is "new" and "renovated" - our apartment hasn't been repainted or carpeted since 2002, our stove/dishwasher/fridge/flooring/counters/bathroom haven't been remodeled since the mid 1980's. As a professional Marketer, I would get fired and my company would get sued if I lied so much in my advertisements. Also, nice stock photos from Istockphoto.com - they charge $2k a month for a 1 bdrm and they can't even afford more than a $5 photo... Ok, professional gripe...
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/13/2008
I don't understand why everyone is so concerned with the rumored $300 - $900 rent hikes. The rumors are false. I just renewed my 1 bedroom lease for another 12 months and I only received a 6% increase or $80/ month increase.
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/16/2008
As a resident for 3 years and going into 4th year as of April. My renewal wasn't a dramatic change. Last year Charles E. Smith raised it up 10%. New management offer great renewal offers and they still have flexible lease terms. Who ever is spreading the renewal increase is false. I agree with most about the elevators. It is hassle with just two running. But I did notice contractors working on the elevators last week looks like they started. As for the comment dated on 3/12/08 about the elevator notices is false. Nothing is misspelled.
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/19/2008
In response to the comment posted on 3/16/2008 Are you high or just illiterate? There are two misspellings on the elevator notice. "Companies" is spelled "comanies" and "square" is spelled "sqwuare". You'd think they would at least proof read that notice before they posted it outside the elevator doors like it was the Ninety-Five Theses. You agree with "most" about the elevators? Who do you disagree with?
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/30/2008
Maybe they pick favorites but I can be a witness to the fact that they initially tried to raise our rent from $2810 to $3625 for a 3 bedroom, not to mention the increase in parking, utilities, etc. The claim that there are no errors in the notices is mind boggling, nearly everything we have ever received from them has been filled with errors

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