The Ayer — Attraction in Seattle

[Updated 7/7/24] After living here for three months, I am updating my review from five stars to one star (-1 Star if possible). And as you can see from the other reviews, the leasing office has replied to every other review here but has ignored mine. I’m not sure if this is some form of discrimination, but they have chosen to ignore my review...

I am providing a review based on my genuine experience of living here for two months. I paid about $5K per month for one of their signature 2B2B homes on a 35+ floor, with a direct view of the Space Needle. If you want to spend $5K to help the management discover and fix issues, this is the place for you.

First, let’s talk about the extremely loud dryer. When I moved in, I noticed the loud noise from the dryer. I never expected a brand new apartment with brand new appliances to have faulty equipment. After a month, the noise became unbearable, so I contacted maintenance. It took them a week to schedule a vendor to inspect the dryer, and to my surprise, the vendor said three parts needed to be replaced. Maintenance responded by saying, "You know, for high-rise buildings with hundreds of apartments, some of them have some flaws." Am I paying $5K a month for these flaws? On the day of the vendor inspection, I contacted the management team because the building's occupancy rate isn't high, and there are many vacant units. I asked if they could swap my faulty dryer with one from a vacant unit so that residents could use a working dryer while they repaired the faulty one at their leisure. However, I have NEVER heard back from them.

[7/7] During this unusually hot weekend in Seattle, AC in my unit broke down. As shown in the attached photo, the indoor temperature is now 83 F. I can't imagine a brand-new apartment with $5K monthly rent having the AC fail in its FIRST summer.

Next, the constantly broken trash chute. Can you imagine that in a brand new building with few residents on each floor, the trash chute is already broken about four or five days a week? They use the same chute for both recycling and trash, and there's a button to switch between the two. However, the button on my floor has been broken since day one and no one has ever fixed it.

When I first moved in, the rooftop was still under construction, causing a lot of dust to fall onto the apartment windows below, making them very dirty. They did schedule a window cleaning, and the following picture shows the window the day after it was cleaned. As you can see, it was still dirty. Trying to be a good resident, I emailed the leasing office about it. Surprisingly, they responded quickly and said the cleaners would come back to clean the window again. It sounded too good to be true, and it was. A week has passed, and the cleaners have already finished cleaning all the windows in the building and left, but no one came to clean my window. Can you trust what the "Management" claims?

The narrow one-way street, Terry Avenue, in front of the building is also an issue. As of now, the building has only one parking spot for loading and unloading. As a downtown resident, I frequently use Uber and Lyft. You can expect that drivers often cancel rides because there is no place for them to park, even briefly. They either have to circle around or cancel the ride altogether. This also applies to food and grocery deliveries, as drivers often complain about the lack of street parking. For a high-rise building, having only one loading and unloading spot, which is often occupied, is VERY inconvenient.

Overall, from the management team to the concierge and maintenance, genuine friendliness and care for residents do not seem to be part of their work ethic. The experience is far from what I would expect from a high-end apartment building.

The overall living experience and service quality here have made me feel like I'm paying Four Seasons Hotel prices for Holiday Inn service. And yes, I already regret moving here and I plan to give notice...

It's been a week since I moved in, and my experiences so far have been terrific. The management team here is on another level compared to other apartments, especially for my associate Branden. The leasing team is the most responsive I have ever encountered. I've stayed in many luxury apartments in Boston and Seattle, but the only place that matched this level of outstanding service was Hub50, managed by Bozzuto, which I consider the best in Boston. Now, I would credit the management team here as the best in Seattle.

A key feature of a truly luxurious apartment is 24-hour concierge service, and you can always receive warm, helpful assistance here at any time. Another detail I greatly appreciate is that the concierge places all my grocery orders into the refrigerator to keep them fresh.

The decor of this building is modern and elegant. It's evident that the management company put serious thought into maintaining a consistent design. Black-painted metals are used throughout instead of the traditionally exposed stainless steel, as shown in the attached pictures. The smart electrical appliances are user-friendly and uncommon in other apartments. I can use my phone to unlock all doors from the main entrance to my unit and control the lights, refrigerator, and A/C. These unique features make everything smoother and more convenient and I can hardly find them in other luxury aparments.

While there are some genuine flaws mentioned in other reviews, such as noise from the A/C and the narrow street in front of the building, they haven't significantly impacted my experience. Since I rarely use the A/C in Seattle and typically park or Uber around the corner instead of on that narrow street, these issues haven't bothered me much. Therefore, I still rate The Ayer 5 out of 5.

I've never written such a long review before, and I hope the management team and concierge can maintain this high...

I moved in here right in the beginning when they opened last year! I love it so much here I renewed my lease. I feel like after living here a year I can give my honest review.

STAFF: When I first booked a tour for The Ayer I was really nervous because I was touring MFTE and thought the staff would be rude, but NOPE Michael was my leasing agent and he was so kind, warm, welcoming and professional I felt at home and knew instantly I would lease. What really impresses me about the staff is they remember your name and treat you all kindly whether you're paying MFTE or Market rate. Farhana is a really kind Property Manager and she really cares about her residents.

The concierge team here is also amazing, all hard workers, kind and so helpful.

MAINTINENCE: Anytime I had a maintenance issue I put in a work order and it was promptly taken care of.

AMENITIES: I am a lover of Architect and design, I frequently tour apartment buildings so I can see what they have to offer in terms of design, The Ayer is thoughtfully designed and beautiful. Not a single square footage was wasted and everything seamlessly flows together. It's very mindful and demure in design and you can especially see this in their 6th floor and 41st floor amenity spaces. If you love pretty rooftop views especially during golden hour than this place is it! Fun fact it is named after Elizabeth Ayer the first woman architect registered here in the state of Washington!

I do like do go to the gym and the gym has everything I need.

In terms of noise and safety as some previous reviews mentioned. I haven't dealt with crazy noise other than typical living in the city noise. It's kinda expected when living in a thriving neighborhood close to downtown. As for safety it's a pretty safe building at least I feel safe enough I never lock my apartment doors lol.

Overall I really love this building and don't see...