Stuart Venner

This review is from before the new big building went up.

The lofted apartment space was fantastic. Having proper laundry in the unit and a large space that you can configure lots of different ways.

Lots of noise from the street in the late afternoon through into the night. You basically had to keep the front windows closed at all times. In the lower unit there are no proper windows on the side.

The liason for the landlord is a real pain to deal with if you need anything and isn't always the most responsive. When there is a major issue (heat stopped working in the middle of a polar vortex), it can take them a day to respond to you (not great), but they do respond and fix quickly. They use on super for multiple buildings, so it's hit of miss if/when they can get to you.

You can also google the actual property owner - there have been plenty of news articles written about them.

The neighbors and the location are the best parts

Maintenance of the building.

Apartment are a pretty good size and get a good amount of sunlight.

Water bugs keep coming back even though the exterminator has come back a few times. Also mildew and mold grow pretty easily in the bathrooms. There is no exhaust so it’s hard to prevent moisture.

Trash is collected regularly and the building hallways are kept clean. Owner's rep (Hunter) is prompt to respond.

Water pressure in not ideal

We lived on the top floor. It had an amazing patio, and a spacious duplex 2b/2ba at a reasonable price per square foot. The location was incredible. The house got nice light.

The trash management situation was bad - they just piled trash at the bottom of the staircase. We had mice and cockroaches, and when we didn’t have roaches in the apartment they were in the lobby or basement. The laundry never worked. We had water leaking into our bedroom for 3mo.

The unit itself is a beautiful brownstone with a backyard and laundry - a dream for NYC renters.

The management was TERRIBLE. Stay way from any properties owned by Stuart or Grace Venner. Zero responsiveness, even when situations were dire. Very often a lack of hot water. At one point during an extremely cold winter storm,, we had no heat or hot water for over a month. Because of this, pipes froze and then burst, flooding our apartment. Management did not provide any compensation or pay for hotels while the unit was unliveable. We had to rally the other tenants to strike and get on local news in order to get a response from management. After these floods, we had persistent mold problems that were not adequately addresses. Shameful negligent slumlords.

Future tenants should be aware of this article about Stuart Venner who previously sold rent in exchange for sex with a mistress.
https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/20150122_Wife_s_lawsuit__Mistress_paid_with_sex_for_Society_Hill_condo.html

Pick a different career

I like that most of my neighbors have lived here for 2+ years. Shows loyalty and that I got a good deal.
We have a laundry room in the building.
Shout out to my landlord who handles my requests in a timely manner.
Love the location and safety of the unit.
Does not get too crazy hot in the winter.
My appliances are all new, so that is nice.

There’s a bit of a pest problem, but after having the exterminator come in a couple of times this summer, it seems to be improving.
I wish the laundry room machines didn’t need coins.
I would prefer paying rent through an online system versus check.

Please update the system where we could pay rent electronically

The neighborhood is great and the location is close to a number of trains. Big dog friendly.

I would not recommend living in this apartment building. The management company is notoriously difficult to get ahold of and extremely rude. There were many times my heat did not work in my apartment and the temperature inside fell below 40 degrees in the winter and the management company refused to do anything about it. The unit had a terrible cockroach infestation (hundreds of roaches) and the management company did not resolve the problem. They hired shitty exterminators who barely spent 30 seconds inside the apartment and were extremely unprofessional. There is no super and anytime something breaks you’re guaranteed to wait weeks to get a response over email (no phone number to call). The apartment is super loud 24/7 from the traffic on Atlantic Ave. and shakes from the G/F train underneath the building. It’s impossible to sleep here. Definitely not worth the price.

very pretty, great location, great price, outdoor space, close to so many trains, good bones so to speak

i have not had gas for the stove since moving in 4 months ago. the building has been incredibly slow and unresponsive. the super is incredibly hard to get a hold of and unreliable. there is constantly loud base music coming from some unknown source—literally everyday all day. the toilet has broken 3 times, none of which the building responded to. we did not have a fire alarm when we moved in.

get a better super and give tenants their phone number. stay on top of gas and fire alarms.

Liked the split levels in one unit and the rooftop access; heat and hot water were fine; good location

Super was nice but management was the worst encountered in NYC. Management is unresponsive and selective. Male landlord is also questionable. Problems were never really fixed but patched like when the ceiling fell to the floor during a bad storm. Getting the security deposit back was a headache from hell and an unnecessarily drawn out ordeal.

I really liked the location of the building, super close to everything you need!

I don't like that it can somtimes be noisy but that is the price of living in a great lovation downtown

Please have more info ready for your tenants and people interested in renting the unit

Great location, there's an elevator and the upkeep for the apartment building is pretty consistent.
Super comes almost immediately to fix issues.
Neighbors are great, really chill building.

The elevator door gets stuck every day and sometimes people get stuck in it.
Mouse problem for a few months.
75% of the tenants are being ghosted by the landlord on renewing leases. They will not respond to any of us or will say some excuse saying they're busy and haven't gotten to it. We're all almost a year without a lease renewal sitting on the edge nervous that we'll be kicked out at any moment.

Answer us.

Many units are multiple floors and in great condition.

Management company is rude, slow to respond and arrogant. Their attitude toward building safety and upkeep makes the units’ uniqueness potentially not worth it. Was told roof would be “remodeled;” result was to strip lining and put down a mat of astroturf. Resulted in ceiling leaks and pests.

Mind your manners. It’s a tough economy, good tenants are hard to come by.