Quimby on 23rd — Attraction in Washington

UPDATED REVIEW:

It’s been about a year since I moved in and I thought I would update my review based on my experience:

TLDR: Updating from 1 star to 3 stars.

• PROS * —Convenient location, especially if you travel a lot for work since DCA is less than a 10 min drive away. Also, a lot of restaurants/food places nearby and close to a metro station — Maintenance is very responsive. I’ve had to put in some minor maintenance requests and they’ve addressed them on the same day or within 24hrs — As military, I like that they participate in the RPP and offer a discount 🇺🇸 — Front desk personnel are friendly. I’m not sure how building access works as I’ve seen people without key fobs get through the main door and elevators (mainly food delivery people). Maybe they get vetted at the front desk? Possibly. — Management and leasing personnel are responsive. I travel a lot for work and when things happen and I’m out of town, an email to the management team usually gets the issue resolved. — They host nice little community events almost every month which is cute. My social anxiety would never let me participate (lol), but I think it’s nice that these things are happening — The housekeeping and cleaning crew are amazing! Very friendly. They clean the common areas daily, which is nice. — Cost wise, I think the price is okay compared to similar apartments in the surrounding area. I’m single and live alone, so I’m in one of their studio apartments and it’s more space than I’m used to that even after a year, it still looks like I barely just moved in 🤣 — Free coffee in the lobby every morning until 1100. Is it the best coffee in the world? No. But if it’s free, its for me ☕️💵

• CONS * [[ Note that some of these things may be out of management’s control, but I figure I bring them up anyway ]] — Elevator outages on average once or twice a month. Usually it’s because an issue the contractors can’t fix or because they are upgrading an elevator. For ME, it’s not a big deal since I live on a lower floor, but I know for residents who live on the top floors it is a huge inconvenience — AC doesn’t turn on until May-ish. They tell you this before you sign your lease, so it’s not something they hide… BUT it would be nice if it came on a little earlier. Global warming is real ya’ll and summer definitely starts early May 👀 — Water outages I’ve experienced, on average, maybe once every 2 months. Again, I travel a lot for work so I’m away for weeks at a time, so they could be happening more frequently. But it’s definitely a rude awakening when you wake up to get ready for work and the water turns off mid-shower. Management does send out emails ahead of time and they’ll leave notices at your door. But if you miss an email, you’re kind of SOL. — The parking garage exit gate is sometimes broken (maybe once a month I’ll see the arm broken). I know management can’t prevent people from breaking them (probably visitors who want to avoid paying) but I wish they had a way to enforce accountability to ensure people don’t keep breaking it. — The gym could use some improvement. They have equipment in there and you could get away with a basic workout, but I feel like they could maximize the space in there by removing the exercise machines and putting in more squat racks, barbells, and free weights. Also, I wish they’d cover the gym floor with actual padding. The entire floor is wooden and it gets slippery when you’re sweating. They DID replace the treadmills and the like with newer ones (the old ones were bulky and half didn’t work), but I wish they’d also install an actual standing cycling bike. I would give this place four stars if they just improved the gym alone. That would be chefs kiss

OVERALL:

After a year here, I think I’ve had a satisfactory stay. My lease ends in a couple of months and I am considering renewing with them. Are there downfalls? Yes. But based on my experience, the good definitely outweighs the bad. I just hope I don’t see a 50% or more rent increase if I decide to renew. That would be...

By April 2017, I will have lived for three years in this building. I am writing this review with the hope that they will improve things, and would like to advise people to stay away from this building unless they seriously upgrade it. I will not be renewing my lease agreement anymore.

The windows are very old; not sure if you will enjoy the wind and the whistle it blows coming through the windows on windy days in winter. The building is in a noisy area and the windows are not sound proof, so all the best with listening to the drunk fights, the noise from the Regan airport and the trains (if you live on the east side), the fire engines and ambulances, and the ventilation machines on the roofs (if you live on the 3rd - 8th floors). In summer, you better spend your night at the bars under the building than being in your bedroom trying to fall asleep (if your apartment is on the 23rd street). Also, you should deal with the alarm from time to time and evacuate because there is something wrong in one of the kitchens of the restaurants under the building. The doors of the closets come off all the time, it is really dangerous if you have children at home. The curtains are rotten, they keep coming off. The radiators are horrible. They make horrible noise, and even shake the dry walls. It is such an old system that they switch between AC and heater, and shut them down for some weeks between switching, doesn’t matter if you freeze off or sweat. The kitchen appliances are so old, we have stopped using the dishwasher long time ago; it doesn’t clean dishes, takes a long time, and makes horrible noise. The microwave is very old, once its handle came off, and we put a work order, had to wait for weeks to be fixed temporarily, with the promise that they would bring the spare part or replace the microwave, but still there is no news. The bugs in the kitchen keep coming back. Two weeks ago, seeing the kitchen table seemed like the ground for ants’ military parade. We are so tired of placing work orders; facing some of the staff at the front desk (you should face them more than once for a work order as it normally gets lost) doesn’t make you feel good – their behavior is not professional. There is constant water shutdown, at least 1 full day water shutdown in every two weeks. There is always problem with hot water; they shut it down to fix the boilers, it gets better for 2 – 3 days, and goes back to old condition. There are no washer and dryer in the unit. You should take your laundry to the laundry room in the hall way; all the best if your arrogant neighbor has left her laundry in the machines and she is out grocery shopping. Or have fun cleaning your neighbor’s dog’s hair from your clothes because they didn’t clean the filter after they used it. Last but not least, it will cost you $4 per each washing and drying, that is only if you get lucky and your card swipe works in one go, otherwise you could be charged twice for one wash. And finally, they don’t clean, but ruin your clothes . You definitely need washer and dryer in your unit if you have kids. The utilities are split among the tenants – there is no meter for each unit, so you should still pay the same amount even if you were out of town the whole month and didn’t use power and gas as usual. The basement where you will park your car gets flooded when it rains; and you will not be able to find space when there is a party at the hotel across the street – they all part here where ever they wish to. There is no business center, and the lobby area is very small. The elevators are so old, slow, and one out of 4 is permanently out of order. The rooms are carpeted, and they are so old. We requested to remove the carpet, but the hardwood underneath is even worse. This building needs serious upgrading, and this piecemeal maintenance has made the lives of tenants miserable, and it doesn’t improve anything. So, stay away from this building unless there is a serious...

If you're thinking about moving here, just don't.

I lived at the Buchanan for three years because it's in a convenient location and I didn't want the hassle of moving, but eventually I couldn't take it anymore. I felt like I had been lied to from the moment I moved in and started discovering all the things they would never mention on a leasing tour. To begin with, moving in and out is a total pain because the "service elevator" is as small or smaller than the regular elevators and is only accessible through a long maze of basement corridors connecting it to the dual loading dock/trash area. That elevator is frequently reserved though and unavailable. The catch with the other elevators is that there is no way to get to them which doesn't involve going around a narrow corner and up stairs, so if you have anything more than a handful of things with you it's very hard getting in and out. When you do finally arrive at the elevator, sweaty and exhausted from hauling anything to it, you'll be greeted on the inside by the most cringey faux-human corporate pandering about whatever minor holiday is happening. Granted that's not the worst thing, but as it became obvious that the management didn't give a darn about their residents it got harder to bear the saccharine hypocrisy of the signs they'd put up.

Then, once you finally make it up to your apartment there's a good chance that it will be over 80 degrees with nothing you can do about it. That's because the AC is only on for a few months each year, with long stretches in the fall and spring where the units are boiling hot. That was easily the worst part of living there. When everyone else I knew was rejoicing at a warm week in March or April, I was dreading that it meant nights on end with unbearable heat and little sleep. Even when the AC was on, I had to use it sparingly in my bedroom because the unit sounded like a diesel engine. I tried getting maintenance to fix it six times during my first year, but they always insisted that it worked just fine, despite the fact that the other HVAC units were virtually silent. The roasting months also produce mealy-mouthed emails from management all saying that they're so sorry but there's just nothing they can do (i.e. "It would be expensive and we don't care").

There are myriad other issues I will only briefly mention. When I first moved in it was easy for guests to visit, but it has become increasingly hard and a total pain, whether you want to bring people to the pool or even have them park there. The area around the building has gotten rougher and less safe. The fire alarms go off all the time for no reason. Then the one time there was a fire they never even told us what caused it. The whole place reeks of weed. There are few days when something important isn't out of order. Etcetera etcetera.

The last straw for me was when they destroyed the one perfect part of the building, which was the lobby. The lobby had beautiful carved wood panelling, marble floors, and crystal light fixtures. So what did they do? Rather than spending money to fix any of the thousand issues which would have made residents' lives better, they spent who knows how much on painting the whole lobby a bland grey, tearing out the beautiful old marble and replacing it with cheap white tile that always looks dirty and putting in ugly, glaring lights. The whole life of the building was disturbed for months by the construction and the end result was hideous. I had had enough and scrambled out as soon as my lease was up.

In conclusion, this is a garbage building run by morons masquerading as luxury living. Stay...