I am helping a friend move to the area and have been reviewing apartment buildings on Apartment Ratings for research. I find that more people complain than compliment (maybe that's to be expected) but I was very surprised to find out how many people complained about my building. I'm almost embarrassed to recommend the place--because I'll look like a fool if anyone trusts these ratings. Here's my message to you: take their complaints with a grain of salt, but visit the building before making your decision.

My wife and I have signed a lease for our third year. We were present during the change in management. I recognize a lot of people were disappointed that the long time owners sold to another management company, however many members of the staff stayed on. In the time we've lived there, our rent has gone up nominally ($50 the first year, $0 the second), although Riverhouse did increase the parking from $10 to $25 and we started paying utilities ($150ish for our one bedroom). Most of my friends had dramatic rent increases, forcing them to weigh the costs of moving with paying higher bills.

Pests. This is a common complaint about Riverhouse, and maybe we've just been lucky. I have never seen a strange bug or cockroach or anything of the sort. In 2 years, I may have had to kill a spider. I have seen one mouse, once, in my apartment, and then never again. We keep our apartment clean, but if a mouse wanted food, I'm sure he could find it. We live above the 10th floor, so seeing a mouse was a bit of a surprise. I suspect the folks who deal with mice regularly aren't maintaining as clean an apartment. Also, we have cats, perhaps they're helping scare away Mickey. If we had a mouse problem, I'd take it on myself to block up any access points to the apartment (primarily where pipes are) and it would probably take care of the problem.

Parking. Riverhouse did have a problem with cars being broken into. They were paying a lousy security company who drove around in Dodge Neons (when they weren't flirting with the receptionist). Management got the message and they are dropping the company. They also installed emergency boxes that are supposed to have cameras (I haven't seen the actual cameras yet, but the boxes are there). Nobody would be smashing and grabbing if there were nothing to grab. I never leave anything of value in my car overnight. It's just stupid. I park close to the lights and as close to the building as possible. It isn't a regular occurrence (can't think of the last time I saw broken glass or a notice about recent robberies). If people are smart, this wouldn't be a problem. Parking is certainly ample. If you want the extra security, pay for the garage.

Noise and neighbors. Again, maybe we're lucky, but I almost never hear our neighbors. To the point that my wife won't let me turn the TV up to loud since she assumes we're surrounded by librarians. I'm pretty sure its the thick plaster walls. I've had to drill through them to hang pictures and such, and no sound is getting through them. I never hear loud music, even though from the activity in the hallways on a Friday night, you can tell someone is having friends over. Noise has never been a problem. The one "complaint" that I haven't read about but I would agree with is that there are some pretty funky smells coming from some of these apartments. Perhaps it is just ethnic food with which I am not familiar, or the dog doesn't get a bath as frequently as he would like, but occasionally the odor in the hallway is a bit strong. It never wafts into our apartment (in fact, the breeze going out from our apartment under the door might be the reason you smell everything in the hallway), but the short walk to the elevator can either make you hungry--or not so hungry. It also might just be my hallway.

Pets. If you like pets, it is a fun place to live. Your dog will meet many other dogs. The pet policy is ridiculous for a cat owner (same monthly cost for a cat or a dog) but I haven't seen it much cheaper anywhere else. Plus there really isn't a way for them to know you have pets, so I imagine you could keep it a secret if the cost really bothered you. At least for the time being the apartment building has empty apartments, so the last thing they want to do is chase away another loyal tenant by demanding their extra $50 per month.

Maintenance. Things break. You'd have to fix them in your own house if they broke, in an apartment building, maintenance handles it. They're not speedy by any means, but it is a big building. I haven't had to call frequently. The only things that have needed fixing are faucet handles and the air conditioning unit (which they check twice a year before turning on heat or air). I fixed the faucets myself. Everything else has held up just fine.

Other than that, our experience with the staff has been nice. The grounds are clean and safe and well kept. And I think this business about new management being bad is unfair. They bought a building right before the market tanked. Maybe they're lousy, but I just don't see it. I'm sure if they had the building in 2006, they'd be making bigger investments in renovations or whatnot. They did upgrade the insides of the elevators, which is nice. I'm willing to give them a chance.

So, my personal experience, as one of many Riverhouse tenants, many of whom stay on for years and never come here to write a review, is positive. Our rent has stayed about the same, our apartment is a good size for the rate, parking is cheap and plentiful, staff is friendly, grounds are clean and safe, neighbors are polite. I'm sure there are fancier apartments in the area, but you are going to be paying extra for it. Riverhouse is the best value in the area.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/18/2009
This review was most likely written by apartment management, fyi to all.
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/18/2009
I was a resident as well and went through the management change. Although while living there we never had problems with rodents, smells, sounds from neighbors or anything like that, the new management sent us packing. It wasn't that they were horrible, we actually never had to directly deal with them. It was just the new policies that were put into place. We lived in one of the larger one bedroom apartments and it was a large amount of space. Before the new management we didn't have to pay utilities or for animals. We left before they could raise our rent, charge us for utilities and for our two cats. We moved to the same sized apartment in Shirlington. We don't have to pay utilities or for our animals. It also goes month to month after the first year of living here. The River House used to have that too but with the new management you have to sign a 1 year lease. It's just not worth it for anyone who is thinking about buying after a year or two of living in an apartment.
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/21/2009
I would agree that the review is Vornado-written. I never had problems with my place, it was the new management change that got me to leave. Long time residents got absolutely screwed by Vornado/Charles Smith. This guy claims a $50 price increase, but that is an absolute crock. Unless this guy was an idiot and agreed to a lease amount for 40% more than his neighbors in 2007, his rents went up from 30-50% the instant the Vornado folks renewed. The long-standing month-to-month leases (I had been on one for 5 years in 2007) were almost DOUBLED. There were long-time resident 70 year old retired folks in River House that Charles Smith/Vornado flat out kicked onto the street on 30 days' notice with almost 100% rent increases. Vornado moving in wasn't some minor inconvenience, they tried to bleed those buildings dry, and everyone left. I tried to bargain with the new management, and the new property manager flat out said, "The new rates are what they are, if you don't like it, leave." (Honestly, so many people moved out the same weekend as me, it looked like they were condemning the place. I really thought Vornado was purposefully trying to get people to leave, until I saw the signs begging people to move in a year later.) Bottom line is, Charles Smith/Vornado raised the cost of this place to the point that only a compelte moron would live here. For the same price, you can rent a very nice house in the surrounding neighborhood, and not have to deal with seriously ghetto management in a crumbling high-rise.
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/31/2009
I agree with the posts above. The original post was probably written by management because they truly are deplorable - there are simply no two ways around it. I would never move back there and am SOO much happier in my new apartment. I NEVER felt the management had any concern for my well being or basic hospitality. They were rude, completely stubborn, and 100% dishonest. I was LIED to, mislead, ugh I can't even stand to think about it... My recommendation: Stay away
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/05/2009
The author of the original post put a lot of effort into justifying the crappy service, the unsafe parking, the huge increases in costs, the ridiculous new utility fees, the pests, the lousy maintenance, ... My favorite part of the review is this one: "Riverhouse did have a problem with cars being broken into. They were paying a lousy security company who drove around in Dodge Neons (when they weren't flirting with the receptionist). Management got the message and they are dropping the company. They also installed emergency boxes that are supposed to have cameras (I haven't seen the actual cameras yet, but the boxes are there)". If I understand the person's reasoning correctly: the building has had problems with break-ins and the solution was to fire the security folks and not replace them but promise to put cameras (even through the reviews admits that cameras have not been installed). The security company that the reviewer was referring to had been patrolling the building for many years, they were there when I moved in five years ago and I had never heard of break-ins until the building got sold. As soon as the building got sold and the new management came, one of the first things they did was to shut the lights in the parking lot. Walking in that large parking lot, in the dark, late at night can be dangerous. When I first moved into the building, the parking lot was well lit, there were no break-ins. The security folks were awesome: they provided an escort to your car if you requested it, if your battery died, they'd give you a booster, if you left your lights on, or forgot to pull up your window, they'd report it to the front desk and you'd get a call. Avoid Riverhouse.
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/08/2009
Correction: Riverhouse WAS the best value in the area. However today the same money will get you something a lot better. I left after the huge rent increase, and would recommend the place for the great location, but ONLY if you're going to stay no more than a year..
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/10/2009
Funny how people never seem to name other buildings with similar rent that are "a lot better". That doesn't do those of us researching for apartments any good. Everything that I see that is "a lot better" in this area is 1900 /month for 1 bedrooms.

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