*** This review has been updated as of the beginning of Sept 05, construction is nearly completed. The only remaining projects are the fitness center due to open soon, and the interior of the "E" building.

The units very nice, good sq ft in relation to other comparable modern apts. The exterior/grounds are very nice. They are billed as "luxury apartments", and I think its not an un-true statement, many fixtures are high quality, there are convenient amenities, just don't expect trump palace. You can tell with many things that they are trying to make tenants happy and taken care of.

Lease signing (back in May) was a bit of a process, we spoke w/ management probably 6-7 times before actually getting an apartment, both because of construction and because it seemed you could do a lot of "haggling" over the rent, kinda like a car dealership, which was a new experience in renting for me. In the end, waiting paid off and I think we received a decent discounted rate. The "actual market rates" I saw last seem a bit high to me, and if we have to re-new at those rates I doubt we could either afford or want to pay it.

I rented on the top floor of the D building, facing the south. The view at the top is better yes, but don't expect to really see anything but a glimpse of the water, even from the best angles, don’t kid yourself or believe that its a "lakeview". The main payoff is in privacy (Chelsea can't really see in our apt), and that its the only floor with the high (like 17-18ft i think) vaulted ceiling, extra windows that let in lots of light, w/ ceiling fan, etc. This is a great value. It also has a very large sliding door window, w/ a tiny "romeo" balcony. All the avalon windows/doors are very large in fact, although the subsequent floors have little windows in comparison.

The apartment furnishings are pretty nice, there’s a granite bar, nice kitchen appliances, (although note if you visit, they have a kitchen in the leasing office that I think gives the impression of what tenants get, which is false, it has all the premium stainless steel and whatnot units, while actual in-apartment units are not so nice). I’m sure this varies unit to unit, but the kitchen has a TON of storage space, and it’s hard not to like it, same w/ the huge bathroom. (Lakeview floorplan)

Everything is controlled access w/ a key fob. The fitness center isn't complete yet, will update about that later. In the meantime, they give you a free pass to the Columbia athletic club down the street, which is nice and convenient. Managment is very courteous and helpful, the all try to take care of us as much as possible, no complaints there.

Ok, so sounds good right' Mostly, but weigh in some negatives here. One, the noise. Coming from what I guess you would call a "quiet" apartment complex in the heart of a college town, I didn’t expect there to be so much noise from a little "village community". If you are facing south (maybe north too), there is Considerable road noise from 98th, Bishops bar across the st, and the worst is on 119th (the little parking street dividing Chelsea/Avalon). Windows do a very good job of blocking noise, but who cares when theres constantly bikers, trucks, and drunks creating all kinds of noise basically feet from your window' I guess its a sacrifice of "city living" if you wanna call it that. I definitely will be looking for another unit farther from the streets if possible if we decide to re-sign.

Another issue has been the summer heat. I really don’t know Where the heat comes from, but our unit has NEVER been below 71 degrees, and yes 71 is ok, but thats w/ fans blowing cold air in all night (again noise problem). This was terrible during the little heat-wave you might remember in May, when the units heated up to like 95 deg. I wish a nice place like this would have had air conditioning, I don't think you can call a place "luxury" and not even be able to control your comfort level. I'm hoping this translates to winter and we'll never need the heater. ** Update Sept - w/ cooler temps, biker noise has diminished, and heat is not as bad, although windows/door stays open during the day and part of the night.

What else.. Local amenities such as convenient retail and business around the area is nice, there’s banks, ok restaurants, parks, quiznos ;), starbucks across the st, etc, so that’s nice to be able to just go downstairs for something. Downtown Kirkland is just down the St. & neighboring cities are not hard to reach. The parking garage isn't completed yet, so I can't say about how parking really is because there aren't enough tenants living here to really know what it will be like. The leasing managers claim that when it is open, they hope to give two parking spots to everyone for free, which I think would be awesome, but I'm afraid they'll end up charging like $60 for the extra spot. ** Update Sept - You now get one spot w/ your apt, and the other is Pay reserved parking!! Garage is open.

Internet is on your own, Comcast cable being your only real option, which is disappointing, since Chelsea next door offers T1 for only $25/month! They have this place networked w/ lines though, so I don't know if that means they're leaving if open for the future or what, but again, if you're gonna call it "luxury"...

Tenants have been very nice so far, very pretty private people. I haven't really heard anyone in other units, thru the walls, etc. (Although its worth mentioning, the front doors of units aren't very soundproofed at all, if anything you'll hear people loud & clear when you're walking down the halls.

So in conclusion of this thorough review (which I wish I had before I moved in here), things are pretty happy here. I hope construction finishes quickly, its pretty noisy during the day, (just this morning I was woken up at 7am by a construction workers blaring music.) "Move-in specials" make this a great bargain, so long as you keep things in mind. *** Update Sept - construction noise during the day now has finally become minimal, as they are almost done.

If you need further help you may contact me, atreidex@gmail.com (Alex Lim).

Also, if this review has helped your decision, and you end up signing here, please mention my name & apt # please!!!
Thanks

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