I lived at the River House for eight years before moving recently. The most recent posters have very accurately conveyed the new unfortunate situation at the River House. In a (not-so-small) nutshell:

1. Dramatic rent increases (with no corresponding increase in amenities/quality) - TO continue to stay month-to-month in our unit (as we had been for 7 years) would have cost us an extra 400 dollars, once you lumped in the rent increase (higher than usual), new utility charges, and the fee for going month to month. Really' I found it shocking that management would be so hellbent as to dissuade a long term resident (with a great track record) from staying there.

2. New Utility fees. Not only was the rent increase larger than usual, but it was closer to three times larger than usual once you realize that residents now have to pay utilites. Something that had been covered before under rent was now going to cost 150 to 200 a month, and to add insult to injury, the River HOuse was going to charge a 10 dollar "administrative fee" for the convenience of having the account set up. Give me a break. As previous posters noted, what makes the utility situation more egregious is the fact that individual units are not metered so you pay an amount based on the square footage of your apartment. Travel a lot' Never run the AC' guess what, you'll pay the same amount as the person next door who leaves all lights on 24/7, runs the AC with the window open, etc. The fact that management is touting this as an "energy saving" measure is laughable, as it really just perpetuates the tragedy of the commons.

3. The units are old. The building is old. Now its not "about to be condemned" old, but things are not of the quality that would be supported by the rent. For example the AC and Heat comes through old school convectors...they can either blow cold or hot, and have to be switched centrally twice a year. So ever season change, you have to endure a couple of weeks of broiling (or freezing) before the turnover. These units also run by blowing air over a condenser, which makes them very prone to mildew. I cleaned mine every couple of weeks and always wiped down mildew. When I cpomplained about it they told me that was normal. These units also are prone to leaks - during my tenure, our units leaked not once, not twice, but three times - flooding the carpet, soaking our belongings, etc. Management only reluctantly agreed to replace our (moldy) floorboards and carpet. There are other similar issues due I believe the building age - there are so many coats of paint on the wall that peeling is constant; the appliances are fairly old and busted; the circuit breakers often overload.

4. Pest control is an issue. I lived in a couple of different units, and when I had a major mouse problem in one an went to the management office to complain they looked at me and were like "well, mice happen." Really' I couldnt sleep at night because I had so many crawling around my BEDROOM (no food or other goodies in there) and they looked at me like I was ridiculous for being offended'

5. The new staff is nothing short of horrible. The "manager" of our building is someone who must be related to the Charles E Smith brood because she appears to be about 21 years old... and has as much experience and wherewithall as you would expect for a 21 year old. The building had a LONG TERM staff of maintenence, cleaning, grounds crew that were nothing short of wonderful - friendly, competent, and great people. All of these individuals were unceremoniously fired when new management took over, and were replaced by a new staff that is mediocre at best and wildly incompetent at worst (failing to remove trash, taking 3 hours to unclog a disposal, etc.)

It has been very sad to see the decline of the River House. It was never perfect but it was like an old beat up suitcase - rough around the edges, maybe a zipper was broken, but you were fond of it and it served its purpose and didn't cost an arm and a leg. Now the management suffers under the illusion that the River House is prime real estate when nothing could be further from the truth. Long time residents like myself are fleeing in droves, and the building is running at the lowest occupancy ever. When I first moved in I asked if they had any sort of referral bonus and the leasing office literally laughed saying they have never had a problem renting units and never offered a referral bonus. To show how quickly it has fallen, the River House first started offering a 100$ referral bonus....then a 250 - and when I moved out, was offering a THOUSAND dollars if you referred a friend. Just viewing the parking lot shows how much of a ghost town it is - the back lot used to be pleasantly full and now could serve as overflow parking for a major sporting event.

You'd think at this point that the management would see the writing on the walls and realize something has to give -they are driving out residents and not getting enough new ones with the poor quality and incredible fees.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/06/2008
Yes indeed. Can either or both of you tell me where you moved? My lease in the building with the child property manager is up in Feb and I want to be ready to go. Would appreciate any leads you can give. Thanks!
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/27/2008
To the person who asked... I am now living at Warwick House on South Eads. It's clean, the apartments are better appointed, there are better amenities, the staff is friendly and helpful, the other residents are grown ups. I had been worried a bit about the physical location... River House's is a little bit better as Pentagon Row is directly across the street, but I have found that it doesn't matter in the slightest. In fact, I like being smack between Pentagon City and Crystal City, which gives me more options.
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/27/2009
I agree about Pentagon City. Things have really gone downhill. I am waiting for the day when we can move out!

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