Good Building But Very Thin Walls
Pros
I lived in a studio apartment on the top floor for 5 years. The studio was on the top floor, so it got a lot of light, which was great and worth the 5 flight walk-up. My studio was in the back of the building, so it was insulated from most street noise. There's also a pretty good view of the skyline in this studio. Also, being on the top floor, meant there was no tenant above to hear walking above you. The stairwells and trash were well maintained, and the dry cleaner next door was often gracious enough to accept packages (even when tenants weren't using their service, which I thought was incredibly gracious of them. Management Company: I thought they ran things fairly well. Paying rent was easy through their web portal. I didn't have too much contact with them over the 5 years. I left the apartment in perfect condition and got my full security deposit back.
Cons
There's a few minor ones and one major one. As mentioned above, I didn't have to deal with the management company often and I rarely if ever needed the super. However, I found the older woman who ran the lease renewal department to be quite prickly. She may no longer be there but I had to deal with her a few times. One year, I called and politely asked her a question regarding my lease renewal. She was very impatient and scolded me for not knowing that my particular unit didn't qualify for rent stabilization, even though the building itself is rent-stabilized. Also, at the end of my tenancy, when I contacted the office to say I wasn't renewing, the leasing agent, Ava, was very abrupt and a bit nasty in her email response, which I found odd, as I had always paid my rent on time and never given anyone any trouble. But the biggest drawback to this studio, by far, was that the wall separating it from the neighboring studio apartment was very thin; almost paper thin. I didn't realize this during my first 4 years because the woman next to me was super quiet and she also probably had lots of rugs to dampen the noise. But a new tenant moved in (a younger guy), during my last year, and suddenly I could hear everything: phone calls, conversations, tv, music, microwave, sneezes, coughs, you name it. I could hear these things so clearly, it was as if they were happening in my own apartment. He also had a habit of cranking his tv at 1 am, but after I spoke to him about it, he was gracious enough to resolve it, which I appreciated. Unfortunately, he was also an extremely heavy walker, and the floors are not thick to begin with. If a tenant doesn't put down any rugs, which all the leases require, you will definitely hear them. Every time my neighbor walked through his apartment, my entire apartment would shake (my bed and sofa included). This is no exaggeration. Obviously, you can't ask someone to walk lighter, but with floors as thin as they were, it would've been great if he had put down some rugs. I never got used to it. The 1BRs in the front of the building probably don't have this issue as they don't share a wall. If you can afford it, definitely go for a 1BR and avoid the studios. The only other drawback is that the top-floor apartments get very HOT. There is no cross breeze. I pretty much had to run my A/C from May through October, but the AC unit worked well. Altogether, I found it to be a good building, clean, and nicely renovated for the price. But the thin walls are definitely something to consider.
Advice to the owners
Remind all staff members of the importance of civility when dealing with tenants, even if they're having a bad day. Either tear down the paper-thin walls between the studios and make them to 1BR units again or find a way to soundproof them. Have the Super check that all new tenants have at least partially covered their floors with a few rugs, as per lease requirement. I had a super thick rugs and am a very light walker and my downstairs neighbor still said she could often hear me.
Fifth floor walk up
Pros
Management is great about getting back to me on time!
Cons
Super stole from me when I was in the process of moving out
Advice to the owners
Fire the super
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