I've been a tenant of San Marino Apartments for about 5 years (going on 6 if I renew this month). In that time, there have been three different on-site apartment managers, and the rental office (Gibraltar, LLC) moved from an office on the 1st floor of the building to downtown Seattle. I've had a few issues with management in the past, but a few phone calls and conversations usually squared them away. The management company tends to take the legal notice (e.g., landlord notifications in writing) first rather than do a phone call to try to figure out what's happening. On at least two occassions, I had to provide cancelled checks as proof of payment for utilities. To give them some credit, though, the issues mostly occured during management changes (typical).
The apartments are clean and well kept. Maintenence is performed between every tenant change and include repainting, carpet cleaning and/or replacement, and fixture and appliance repair and/or replacement. The mainenence company is located right on the corner, too. The building internally is starting to show its age, though. The hall light fixtures are problematic (covers keep falling off or coming loose) and the halls (overall) are rather dim; the carpeting in public areas (e.g., halls and lobby space) is dingy and worn; and the public spaces (decks on roof and 2nd floor) aren't cleaned very frequently.
There weren't emergency lights put in the stairwells or hallways until a few years ago, and they are cheap -- providing only sufficient lighting for a few hours then all goes pitch black. The area used to be prone to black-outs suring periods of high wind, so it was a problem -- Seattle City Light has since fixed the problem and things are much better. There have been some issues with the fire alarm system that has required repeated testing of the past year (testing which was never announced to the residents in advance) and a couple of false alarms. I'm confident that with the building's sprinkler system, local smoke detectors in each apartment, and the building-wise fire alarm that any potential (real) fire would be evacuatable. There's no way anyone could sleep through the alarms...
The biggest negative is the pricing. While the apartments are all fully applianced including a washer/dryer and dishwashre, the lack of other community amenities makes me wonder why the management company raises rents annually (anywhere between $50 and $150 per month) with the justification that "expenses are increasing"... since, well, they're not doing anything different today than they did five years ago and the lack of amenities in the building means that there should be lower overhead maintenence costs. The rents are not justified given that similar apartments in the area (with additional community amenities like a weight room, pool, etc.) or located closer to downtown are comparable in price. I mean, why pay this much when you can get more bang for your buck elsewhere'
Another (annoying) negative is the parking. While there is a garage with assigned parking, it is shared with the business located on the first floor. This means that between 8 AM and 6 PM, someone else could be using your spot (which is fine if you have a day job, drive to work, and don't get home before 6 PM). Often, I've come home at 5:30 to have my spot taken, to "temporarily" park in a different spot, then having to return to the garage 30 minutes later to move my car. Oh, and there is no guest parking available (Gibralter owns the property next door which has a parking lot, but its risky to park a car overnight there as it could get towed). Two bedrooms get two spots, one bedrooms get one... but I elected to just have one spot. Might be a reason why my rent is lower than the other apartments with the same floor plan (well, that and I've been in the building so long, I think).
The last observation is related to noise. This is an apartment building. Personally, I expect there to be noise from my neighbors. I mean, we are seperated by only several inches of wood and plasterboard. That said, there's a building rule of "quite after 10PM"... which is sometimes enforces, sometimes not. Mostly, the building is relatively quiet. I can hear the upstairs neighbors walking around their apartment in shoes (and I heard the prior tenants' dog), and I'm sure my downstairs neighbors have heard my son thumping around the apartment on occassion. Par for the course... loud music (mostly background noise) can sometimes waft through open windows (as can the activity of couples or family gatherings or parties), but that's normal as well. There are families, couples and singles living in the building who mostly all keep to themselves (partly due to the lack of community spaces and amenties!)
Not a bad place, overall.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/20/2009
i also lived in san marino for a year and half and i agree with every thing you said except the noise part. you should be thankfull for not having an irrisponsible teenagers leaving right above you keeping you awake all night i mean all night long. you would not know it unless you experiecne it. i have also talked to a tenant who lives here who bought an ear plug just to get some sleep i also can't sleep with out them , how can you if the teneatns that live above you seems like they are moving their furnitures every night ?? i would like to say for any one who is planing to move here i suggest you get yourself a mac ear plug.

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