I despise nothing more than a worthless review on this site. Therefore, I hope to be an accurate resource for those of you who are looking.

Lived here for 1 year (moving out next week)
Lived in 2 Bedroom 1 Bath with Roommate
20 something female

Pros:
Newer apartments/renovated
Nice looking
New appliances
wash/dry in apt = awesome
Fast/good maintenance
Safe* (see below)
NOT a high rise
Location - Close to DC while still in suburbs
Pet friendly
Concierge - convenient
utilities separate

Cons:
very cheap materials for renovating - some things are falling apart fast
OVERPRICED
nickle and diming
street parking slim
virtually every apartment/building is a different size - be careful when renting! (see below)
Pet deposit/rent is ridiculous
thin walls
Concierge - rude, let anyone sign for packages

Details:

Location: South Arlington
- approx. 2.5 miles from Pentagon City Metro (and Pentagon City Mall. There is a parking garage in the mall that I park in quite often as well (when I ride the metro into DC) - a couple of bucks for a few hours, $14 a day (ick)
-Metro is a good 30 minute walk - even the back way. Fine on a nice day, if you have nothing to do.
- very short walk (depending on where you live on the huge grounds) to large plaza with Giant Supermarket, 2 restaurants (which I have eaten in and love - especially the little Greek diner!), Dominos, Blockbuster, dry cleaners, gym, liquor store
-2 miles away from Potomac Yards shopping center - Target, Best Buy, Petsmart, Shoppers Discount Food Supermarket, Sports Authority, Pier 1, Regal Cinemas, Old Navy, Barnes and Noble, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks....the place is huge!
- 2 Bus lines hit a couple stops on the property - I ride 22B quite frequently to the Pentagon Metro (blue/yellow) - approx 10 min ride. The other is 10B to the Orange line - significantly longer ride.
-4 miles north of Old Towne Alexandria
-Everyone I know here has a car. It would be hard to not have one but doable I think.

Amenities:
Hefty amenity fee is worth it if you make it worth it!
-nice pool
-nice gym - can seem a little small but you'll get the hang of what times to go etc.
-free shuttle during rush hour to the Pentagon City metro stop. There was some drama with the shuttle when they switched companies and had these terrible vehicles and bad drivers but they have since fixed that.
-grounds are nicely kept though I agree with an earlier post that around renting season (mid to later summer) they work a whole lot harder to keep them pretty!

Utilities separate:
This may be hassle for some people, but after hearing stories from friends in places where "utilities are included" or there is "community metering," I am thrilled we pay our own. You control how much you spend.
BIGGEST CON: COMCAST - I have yet to talk to someone in my entire complex who hasn't had incredibly dumbfounding stories about overcharges and shoddy customer service. And trust me, I have talked to A LOT of people in my complex! Just thought I would share because you're stuck with it - Park won't allow satellite dishes.

Parking:
My roommate got the parking sticker and I chose to park on the street instead of get a spot in the garage ($60/month I think). The lot is alright - she's never had to walk for more than 5 minutes to our apt. The towing people are nuts too - don't park in those lots without a sticker! The street can get really tight, however. Depends on the time of year, day of the week, and time of day. If you want to park on a Sunday night at 10 P.M. - good luck. I've driven up and down 28th St for 25 minutes before finding a spot - on several occasions. Also, I live on 28th st so I can park on the street and be right in front of my apt. The other places set far back from the road would have a longer walk to street parking.

Safety:
Not a day goes by that I don't see a cop car driving up and down the street. Good thing! I have heard some reports of crime (peeping toms, car thefts) but these are very few and far between - I would not say this area is any worse than any other suburb. I have heard some pretty terrible stories about how this area used to be but with the new Avalaon condos down the street and GHA tearing all these apartments apart and raising the rent, the crime in the little Arlington Ridge area has decreased quite a bit. All in all, as a young female, I feel safe walking alone at night down the street or wherever.

Pets:
Very pet friendly - they even have little poop stations with poop bags and garbage cans. The pet deposit is $500 (non refundable) and the pet rent is $50 - comparable to some other places in the area but also more expensive than many places in the area! Alot of people don't report their pets because its so expensive. GHA should consider revising this policy!

Concierge desk:
-Convenient and there 24 hours a day. Unfortunately, I have never been ID'd when I pick up packages. They were just given to me and I signed for them. Since UPS and FedEx put stickers on your mailbox when you get a package, it is easy for someone to come in and steal your packages. Never happenned to me, but I've talked to some people it has.

APARTMENTS THEMSELVES:
Here is the part that really sucks:
NOT ALL APARTMENTS IN THIS COMPLEX ARE CREATED EQUAL!!!

You think that you are looking at a standard floorplan for all 2 bedroom/1 baths. Then you move in in August, find out you're paying more rent for the "same size" apartment than others who move in after you (gotta love the DC tendency to fluctuate rent prices) AND they have far more storage space than you and bigger bedrooms or more equal sized bedrooms!

The most useful thing I can tell you in this whole review is this:
There is virtually no storage in these places unless you land one of the floorplans that happens to have extra shelving and closets. I believe there are at least 3 apts in my building that have this extra storage space which beats the crap out of my dinky little non-walk-in closets in the bedrooms, linen closet in the bathroom, and small hallway jacket closet. The other floorplan replaces the little hallway jacket closet with a huge hallway closet and a huge area with shelves for storage in place of the small linen closet in the bathroom. My roommate and I had to keep things stored in our cars the entire time we lived here. The storage for rent is ridiculously expensive for the size and is difficult to access - only a certain person has the key. Also, some ground level apartments have a back door. Wish we had that too :(

Hint: Each building in the U-shaped areas (3 buildings with a courtyard) has a different size apartment in it. So my building has all 2 bedroom/1 baths; building to my left has all 2 bedroom/2 baths; building across has 1 bedroom/1 baths.

Also - door in the back of the kitchen is permanantly locked - holds HVAC - not a pantry! You get used to not having a pantry because you have a lot of kitchen cabinet space - BUT because you can't open it, you can't clean in there. If you spill food, drink, anything you can't clean it up. This caused problems for us - suddenly some roaches appeared.... great.... we did everything in our power to get rid of them and never saw them again...thank goodness......

How Park cut corners:
-Renovations were done for the cheapest amount possible! The carpet is very old and was lifting up in several places when we moved in. Now we have rips and tears where the vacuum sucked it up. My nieghbors with pets said that it is impossible for the animal not to destroy it - just walking on it ruins it. We have spilled water on it and a stain appears because the carpets were so dirty before they installed them. I've also seen bugs walking around on the carpet that crawl under it. Creepy!!!
-Dishwashers are sub par - agreed! Also, about every 3-4 months ours leaks water all over the floor and I have to call maintenance.
-Charge you for light bulbs when they blow out and maintenance replaces them (you can't get some of the light fixtures off yourself)
-make you pay $1.50 to bring guests to the pool - what on earth is $1.50 going to do for you Park' All it does is inconvenience us.
-Thin walls - I can hear entire conversations of my neighbors. Dogs barking are pretty terrible as well. O well, I suck it up...it's an apartment complex!

GHA is currently tearing apart the "Colonies at Arlington Ridge" to make them part of this so eventually this complex is going to be unbelievably huge. Could be a good thing or a bad thing - just thought I'd give a heads up.

Who I would recommend this place for:
-People who are new to the area and need a place to live. If it is within your price range, go for it. You will most likely move out after a year (as almost my entire building has done/is doing - my neighbors that are moving out are from various demographics - young, old, families, roommates, etc. - they all agree - short term solution not a long term place to live)

Why am I moving' I moved to the area last year and was frustrated with all the terrible housing in my price range. Park was doable for the short term. I have since found much better places for a couple hundred more and am moving up and getting my own place. The one bedrooms here are just too expensive for what you get - it's almost ridiculous (hence why almost all of them in the building across from me are empty!). But, if I wanted to live with a roommate and was willing to pay the rent increase, I might consider staying here - only if I couldn't get one of more equally priced places close to a metro stop!

User Responses
From: susanfuller123	Date: 09/05/2008
Thanks so much for this GREAT review. They are advertising the heck out of it on C'list. The price is tempting. Did you never use the free shuttle for your daily commute? Why? Also, where are you going now that's so great?!
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/22/2009
Thanks for your review... Are you living someplace that you would recommend strongly? and if So where? My wife and I are planning to move to the area and would greatly appreciate your advice.
From: VADCres21	Date: 02/23/2009
I'm living in Dolley Madison Towers - 2300 24th Rd S in Arlington. Renovated, very well kept and great amenities - office center, gym (small but it still saves you money on a gym membership), convenient store, dry cleaning drop off and pick up (same day too), movie room, game room, common room, pool.... most of this stuff is brand new and just opened up. 24 hr concierge, security guard making rounds at night... every apartment has a large balcony (love mine - on it every day when it's warm and great for entertaining). From what I hear this place used to be crap until bought by new Mgmt and redone. I'm pretty sure they still have rent specials going on. Tons of families and couples. I'm living alone, female 20 something and feel absolutely safe and love my apt. 2 potential drawbacks - 1. another company is building condos in front of the building so there is ongoing construction. This is only a problem when you are driving in and out of the building because you have to maneuver around some construction guys during the day. 2. you must have a car because the Metro is not within walking distance. There is a rush hour ART bus that goes to/from Pent City Metro but it's not a free shuttle and runs a limited schedule. Lots of people from my building ride it on a daily basis. If that's not an issue, then this is a great location - located on 395. Very convenient! If you need to be walking distance to a Metro, I would recommend looking anywhere right in Pentagon City but I warn you, avoid Riverhouse at all costs. I have heard nothing but horror stories - new management there has ruined the place. Your bills are astronomical and the living experience is just plain awful. I know someone in The Metropolitan and it's gorgeous but more expensive. You could also look down in Crystal City - I've been in some great apartments right by that Metro. Happy hunting!

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