140 Stanhope Street,

Brooklyn, NY 11221

This building is relatively newly renovated, but they did a good job maintaining character. Real hardwood floors and doors. Beautiful french doors, green walls that feel homey and not like a rental. The layout is very open and spacious with tall ceilings. There are dishwashers in unit which is such a nice perk. There is also laundry in the building; however, there is only one machine shared between 10 units. The laundry room is often dirty and the software to use the machine is finicky and difficult to use. The hallways and common areas (besides the laundry room) are generally clean and well maintained. The location is convenient; however, the M train runs very near the windows which can be quite loud. Originally, when we moved in, the rent was a very affordable deal. However, the rent has risen every year that we have been here, despite construction in the area and the managements lack of attention to maintenance. It now feels at market rate if not above.

The management is unresponsive and, at times, difficult or even hostile. They are hard to contact: Calls will come from various, unlisted phone numbers. Callers will refuse to identify themselves. They will ignore multiple emails, preferring to only communicate via phone so that there is no written record. You pretty much have to threaten to withhold rent or file a complaint with 311 in order to motivate them to perform even the most basic maintenance tasks. Luckily, thus far, our unit is in good enough condition that we have only had to deal with them a handful of times. However, I can imagine dealing with them on any sort of regular basis would be a nightmare.

We have gotten multiple posted notices from Coned that the management company has not paid the electricity for the common areas of the building. So far they have not turned our electricity off, but perhaps they will in the future.

Most of the neighbors are nice aside from a few: One tenant regularly leaves dog poop on the roof. Another unit almost constantly hosts large gatherings and plays EDM music at club-level volume, all hours of the day and night.

While we have not seen bed bugs in our unit, there was recently mattresses and furniture on the curb spray painted with the words, "bed bugs." Given the management's general lack of communication, I do not trust them to take the appropriate steps to eradicate any potential pest issues.

You have a beautiful building in an in-demand area! Hire a management company that is more organized so that you are not faced with legal issues or tenant revolts!

Great construction quality. Great thermal and noise insulation. Decent appliances. Mostly respectful neighbors.

When we moved in, the building was clean and well-maintained. By the time we left a year and a half later in 2022, it was a mess. So glad we left.

Also get ready to have your rent skyrocket year after year. Ours started at $2300 and they wanted to increase it to $3700 at the end of the lease. Again, glad we left.

At one point, the main fire alarm went off, blaring loudly. Fire department rushed in and told us the owner had to disable it. It wasn't disabled for DAYS. Door got broken into and stayed that way for a few days. Smoke/CO2 detectors with low batteries beeping all over the common areas. Door to the roof never worked. Roof is dominated (and cluttered) by a couple neighbors who used to leave their door up there to do their business.

Some tenants (mostly young Bushwick crowd), put trash in front of the building or dump their stuff in the common areas. Owner never did anything.

Really hard to get ahold of management and maintenance, bordering on impossible. Too many numbers to call and poor communication between them.

Be more responsive to tenants. Fix your new building or it will look like a dump soon.