I live next door in the condominiums known as McLean Chase, which were built at the same time and were part of Dolley Madison or whatever it was called originally. In 1986 about one third of the development went condo and this part was named McLean Chase. To illustrate how out of whack the housing market is today. A 2 BR unit was recently listed for $350k. You can rent it for about $1200 either from Dolley or a private owner at McLean Chase. (The condo owner has to pay $200 in fees every month.)

The buildings date from 1964, so among the oldest in this region, and are really badly built so I would heed the warnings about noise. (And I would certainly not buy anything here!) I live on a top floor on a corner unit and I can hear the floor vibrate and creak below when I walk. I am sure that the neighbor downstairs hates me.

To give you an idea of how bad the structures are: when my neighbor next door walks in his apartment I feel how the floor vibrates and my coffee table, paintings, etc. are all shaking! However, I doubt that other wood frame apartment structures in this region are much better but I suspect that these units might be exceptionally bad.

Parking looks like it is pretty bad in the Dolley area adjacent to me and there are some pretty trashy looking people who live over there. You can probably rent a place for the same money at McLean Chase. I saw a 1 BR on the market for $1000 recently. But the privately owned condos might actually be in worse condition if they haven't been updated since 1986! On the other hand you might find a nicely renovated unit like mine. Some of the Dolley buildings look quite grim from the outside while others appear to be renovated, so focus on the latter. If you can find a top floor unit then the location is pretty good.

Remember that it is a renter's market today with vacancy rates having doubled since 2000 in this region. They have started to put up banners, which suggests that their vacancy level has increased.

There has been auto theft, break ins and vandalism, so be aware of that.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/03/2009
mclean chase has a renovation slated to include many facets of the community. to compare mclean chase with dolley madison is difficult. mclean chase indeed shifted from apartment to condo on 1986 or so. mclean chase is busy bulking up their cash reserves and had a renovation slated for the near future. mclean chase has night time security and i would argue that condos are generally in better shape than rental apartments. mclean chase has a high percentage of owners living on site and not renting out their units. the writer of the first post is right that both communities are 'stick and brick' construction. i lived and mclean chase and my friend lived at dolley madison. i found mclean chase to be a much better experience. mclean chase has secure entryways into each building and dolley madison does not. just my two cents.

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