Residences at the Promenade — Attraction in Upper Dublin Township

My current review as of November 2023 is just based on my pre-leasing experiences thus far, and I'll continue to update once I officially begin being a resident.

General apartment info/fees: Upfront/one time fees: = $75 app fee = Deposit (may be more):$1000 deposit vs $199 non-refundable deposit = $200 admin Monthly fee: None. Utilities are not included. Parking: East building has 1 free spot in the garage. $50 for an extra car in the garage. West building you can park outside for free. Under cover (kind of a garage) is $150 a car and reserved. Guest parking: Free Floors: Technically 5, but the 1st floor is reserved for the garage, stories, leasing, etc; There is a mailroom, Amazon lockers, and package room Internet: Verizon Fios and Comcast No appliances use gas. All electric.

Pre-leasing Experience September - October 2023: Staff: This luxury apartment complex has a team to actually pickup the phones! A lot of other apartments in the area seem to have this plaguing problem where they don't have enough staff to pickup calls or returns calls. Maybe the team has missed 1 of my calls, but they have always returned them or picked up the next time I called and has been #1 in doing so. Ileen and Mac were great to talk with about the Promenade and receive tours from.

Tour: I've had 2 tours since I wasn't exactly paying attention to the tee the 1st go around. The tour from Ileen and Mac was great! They showed me 1BD and 2BD model apartments, the various amenities, both buildings, and answered my questions.

Website: For a relatively new and luxury apartment, the website doesn't match. It feels like something designed a decade ago. Maybe my current Apartment spoiled me with their site, but it is lightyears different. The overall website for the Promenade feels clunky and not a consistent experience. Using "Lease Now" to view floor plans or available units is an odd experience. There are no virtual tours available of any units or the apartment complex. Photos on the website appear to have inconsistent quality, copyright text, sizes, and there aren't enough photos to make up for the lack of virtual tours. You miss out on a lot because of that. There is also no specific distinguishers between photos for a 1BD vs 2BD. Why does that matter? It is because a 1BD does not include a fridge with a double door and water dispenser and potentially other amenities. Another complaint of mine is there is no apartment map on the website to easy view where units would be and amenities. They do have paper print out copies, but it still could be an experience that could be improved. There aren't a lot of filters or organization to the floor plan madness on the site. So it can make searching for an apartment to be tedious if you had a specific floorplan in mind. Regardless, I feel like the website is archaic and should have a massive overhaul.

Application/leasing: Was waitlisted for a 1BD for a while, but I won the lottery (a joke) and was able to get through to apply. Overall they require a lot more information for the background/credit check then what I recall doing for previous places, but I guess everywhere is different. Application was quickly accepted, and I was able to place a deposit.

In the end though, I chose Residences at the Promenade because I feel like the location, amenities, the staff, apartments themselves, and more provide the best value. I wholeheartedly recommend this place based on my...

We have been at the Residences for a little more than a Month, and it would be fair to say that the positives significantly outweigh the negatives. On the plus side, the apartments (at least the premium ones) are well appointed and fitted out with quality appliances, and the amenities are plentiful and well maintained. In addition to being extremely convenient, the onsite retail outlets have been selected with care, in the sense that they are ecologically in sync with the functional aesthetic that tends to characterize the overall design of the residential complex. Also in the plus column is the fact that the complex is extremely well situated in terms of proximity to major transportation hubs and major highways, thus adding to the convenience factor. And finally, the onsite staff have thus far proven to be friendly, accommodating and very accessible.

(It goes without saying that all of the above come with the very big caveat that the Residences is essentially brand new, so it remains to be seen whether all of the aforementioned positives will be sustained and maintained over time. Some degree of slippage is to be expected, but how much is very much an open question.)

Now for the negatives. As I noted at the outset, there are not a lot of them, but there are a few. First, and perhaps most significantly, is the matter of the garbage disposal unit. Each floor has at least two of them. The unit closest to our apartment is frequently not working, which means that bags are often left on the floor for the building's maintenance personnel to dispose of. Perhaps even more troubling than the frequent periods of inoperability is the fact the automated doors to the disposal shute are not equipped with sensors to prevent the metal door from trapping hands or other parts of body that happen to be in the way of the closing door. Consequently, it is easy to imagine a scenario in which a young child or an elderly tenant is injured by the closing door. This seems to me to be an accident waiting to happen that is totally predictable and avoidable. The second issue that we have encountered is the problem of barking dogs that are left alone by their owners for extended periods during the day. This is unfair to the dogs and to the neighbors who have to contend with the incessant barking. We would hope that the building managers will impress upon future tenants that an investment is doggie day care is a must for insecure dogs that cannot be trusted to stay home alone without...

UPDATE TO THE BELOW REVIEW: I am coming up on two years here, and I just renewed for a third year. I still love it here overall! I have still not had any major maintenance issues with my apartment, so I cannot speak to how responsive maintenance is. They have performed some routine maintenance in my place - all of that has been well-planned, thoroughly communicated, and executed in an orderly fashion. I have a lovely, diverse mix of neighbors, a place that's still like new, and all the amenities one would expect for this rent price. I'm still happy here!

I moved in about a month ago, and I love it here so far. My move-in day was a bit bumpy due to a non-working elevator that was supposed to be reserved for me that morning. However, we worked through it with the help of the leasing office, and used another elevator.

The building is pretty new, and I'm the second tenant to occupy my apartment. My new home is thoughtfully laid out with plenty of storage, a kitchen that completely meets my needs as an ambitious home cook and big windows that let in tons of natural light. I have part-time custody of my two dogs, and literally steps from the elevator is a fenced in, residents-only dog park where they can run and play until they are ready to go upstairs for a nap. Yes, sometimes I hear dogs barking (sometimes they are mine!) and children playing in the courtyard at night, but I think that's all part of apartment living. Maybe I'll have to update this once I see how noisy it is with the pool open in the summer.

After years of home ownership, I am renting now by choice. I'm grateful to have found this place after being on a wait list for a one bedroom for months with no luck. I am literally bored with no to-do lists to work through on weekends, and I can clean my whole "house" thoroughly in less than one hour. If a lightbulb should go out, I will make a phone call. I think the building is designed well, and I like that I am steps from a very nice grocery (Sprouts). I love the convenience of having my own covered parking space, even at the added cost. Overall, I am very pleased!

Casey was my leasing agent, and she patiently endured all my questions during the process. She is responsive, courteous...