I've lived in 10 apartments across 3 states (CA, NY & VA) from my college days through to today, and where I am currently living is far and away the best experience I've ever had in an apartment.

I'll list what I deem some of what makes Riverhouse great:
1) Location - One block from the DC Metro.
2) Huge apartments. Newer buildings tend to pack in the units. This building was built back when hallways and apartments were more spacious. They also do a great job keeping with the upkeep (new carpets/windows 2004/2005) so that it all looks current. Also, the windows are Huge and you can open over half of the window coverage area.
3) Large pool. Many apartments have pools, but they can get crowded. There are 2 pools and one of them is huge with lifeguards on duty every weekend.
4) Large gym. Now the gym is not as large as the new Bally's across the street, but it's the largest and nicest gym I've seen in an apartment.
5) Front desk staff on 24/7 & repair people living on the premises. We had a faucet break at 5pm on a Sunday evening, and had the repair guy in our place by 6pm repairing it. I don't know if this is the norm, but I was impressed.
6) Proximity to Restaurants - I already mentioned the metro being close, but how about 15 restaurnats across the street in Pentagon Row, and that's not counting all the places to eat in the Pentagon City Mall which is in the same block (we actually don't eat in the mall often - it's a mall - but we often eat at the nice restaurants at Pentagon Row across the street.) Pentagon Row offers everything from Starbucks to an Irish Pub, from a Sports Bar to Wolfgang Puck as well as 5 or 6 ethnic restaurants (Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, etc.).
7) Shopping. While this isn't often a priority in choosing apartments, at least for me it isn't, having an Eckard and a Harris Teeter (high end supermarket) in the next block is as convenient as heck. I actually walk to the store to get milk or other stuff instead of driving. That's a change from CA. As for other types of shopping, there's a huge shopping mall anchored with a Macy's and Nordstrom??s a block away, not to mention the Best Buy, Borders and Costco 2 blocks away.
8) Reasonable Rents - I'm not claiming rents in Arlington are cheap - they aren't. But because Riverhouse has 3 large buildings in the complex with over 1200 units they are constantly under pressure to keep renting them as normal apartment turnover occurs and people move out. Even with normal apartment turnover (my guess is 15-20% turnover a year) they would have to rent 20 units a month just to keep up. You can't charge market rents and keep enough people coming through the door to rent 20 units a month, so they have to reduce the rents a bit to draw more people in the door. For comparison sake, check out the apartments across the street which rent for 60-70% more. Yes, they are brand new, but they are also offer much smaller floorplans for a lot more money. As I said before, Riverhouse isn't cheap; but I consider ita bargain for the features and location.
9) Security - Many buildings have security. I'm talking secure access points, 24/7 front desk staff, etc. But this is the first apartment that has its own security staff driving around the premises. While security isn't a priority for me because I??m a guy, being married, it adds to my piece of mind seeing the security people driving around the buildings in their little green Neon's all night, every night.
10) Location, location, location ?? While the apartment is in Virginia, I can make it from my front door to the Lincoln Memorial or Washington Monument in under 7 min??s tops. The location is probably 5 minutes from the 66 freeway and 3 blocks from the 395 freeway. An additional benefit to living here which people may or may not find relevant is that Virginia??s state income tax is ?? that of Washington DC. So while we??re living 5-10 min??s from the city, we save thousands on my tax bill. .
10) A bunch of misc. little things. Every Monday morning the management provides free coffee and donuts in the lobby. They have a book exchange every month. They have a drycleaner in the basement run by an incredibly sweet woman. They have catered parties & bar-b-q's either in the lobby or in big tents outside 6-8 times a year. Catered food, free beer and wine, etc. (I've never seen an apt do this before and it??s a nice touch.)

It??s probably appropriate that I list some negatives for balance, though honestly it??s hard to come up with some.
1)Parking ?? There is a choice between paid underground parking and free parking behind the building. 90% of tenants opt for the free parking because it??s pretty convenient but if you get home at the wrong time sometimes you have to part a little bit away from the building. I don??t mind, but my wife sometimes gets annoyed.
2)The buildings are big. Before we moved in, back when we were looking at apartments my wife said ??I??d never live in a big building like that?? and pointed at the building where we currently live. Famous last words. Now she loves the place. But if you have an aversion to big buildings then Riverhouse isn??t for you. A note though: Even though the building is large, you almost never see that many people. I can??t explain it, but in over 2 years we??ve only bumped into half the people who live on our hallway.
3) No way around it, the building, despite a recent face lift, all new windows, carpets, paint, etc. is starting to show it's age. While occasionally a faucet might leak, management is very attentive about getting repairs made quickly.

In summary, overall I??m thoroughly impressed with the management and operation of the Riverhouse apartments and I??d be hard pressed to think of how it might get better aside from lowing the rents. =)
That??s my write-up. Hope it helps.

User Responses
From: grandarch	Date: 07/27/2006
The safety mentioned is no longer quite on par. In New York city, the front desk greets each person and knows the residents coming in. At the very least, they verify that each person does have a key or was buzzed up. In the James, ever since they remodeled, the front desk has been out of site from the actual door. Though they do have a camera, they do not ever inquire when people wait around outside the front door for someone with a key and then all enter at once. When I enter, I just can't seem to keep people from entering behind me. It's probably just residents whose keys are not working (which is a chronic problem when they keep recycling those electric key-passes), but you never know. In addition, I've had the experience where the front desk gives me the spare key I had asked for without actually checking my ID. They probably recognize me by now, but they should check that I do live in the right apartment. They did have me sign for it (but they didn't actually see that my signature matches up to anything). But that might have just been a random oversight. I've only asked for a key once. Finally, a guy was recently murdered across the street (June 30, 2006 - see the Washington Post for details). The "courtesy patrol" does reassure me, but completely reassured that their security practices will stop a determined thief or mugger. For balance, I'm not sure how good other apartment buildings in the area are.

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