Neglected building with lovely neighbors
Pros
First floor apartment is gut renovated, great location
Cons
Centipedes every night in the summer on bedroom ceiling, building hallway smelled like pee always, neighbors complained of not getting heat in the winter, rent raised in the middle of L train shutdown
Great Unit But No Building Maintenance
Pros
Our neighbors were lovely people. The unit itself that we stayed in was newly renovated with an amazing deep sink, vertically opening cabinets and tons of storage space. The giant window in the living room let in plenty of light throughout the year.
Cons
Packages were stolen often due almost solely to the fob-openable door which was regularly broken for most of the time we stayed. Though we complained often, our complaints about the door were almost always ignored and it was never replaced. At the point at which we moved out the door was still not fixed and our requests had not been heard. It also didn’t seem like the lobby/staircases were being regularly cleaned or maintained: wear and tear and dust/dirt accumulation over time was common. Additionally, we had issues with bugs specifically caterpillars. Only by complaining and following up were we able to have an exterminator come in to spray the apartment. We had two major leaks during our time in the apt which were never really addressed: once in our bathroom and once im our living room. The bathroom leak was more significant and nearly flooded our bathroom. Though building ownership helped, they never offered anything other than superficial repair I.e. painting over the leak stain. To my knowledge this was never completed. The second leak in the living room was persistant and was never resolved before we moved out. Management was not good at providing status updates or responding to us in a timely manner. Finally, management was entirely unwilling to discuss negotiation which ultimately led to a major loss for them in terms of several months vacancy and the eventual new tenant’s rent rate significantly below our own. Management or the lack thereof was the biggest challenge here.
Advice to the owners
Fix the door to make it secure if you haven’t yet. And actually replace it instead of just occasionally putting new locks over old locks which can be easily broken again.