Courthouse Plaza Apartments — Local services in Arlington

Wanted to wait until ~1 year of living here to write an honest review. Was very hesitant moving here due to some of the neg. reviews and the general feeling of renting from a giant property management company (Equity), but so far, no regrets.

Overall-- love living here. Location is amazing, no major issues. It's not the fanciest of apartments (and to me the outside is actually pretty ugly) but it has basic amenities like gym and a front desk, and the location really can't be beat, esp. if you compare the prices around the area. Our main priorities were to find someplace near a metro, have a balcony, and allow dogs over 50 lbs (although still don't have a dog). This fits the bill and the small complaints I do have don't outweigh the pros.

Biggest issue-- rent increases. We knew this would be coming but obviously were hoping it wouldn't be that bad/would be negotiable. Their renewal offer came in about 2-3 months before our lease was up, and was an 8% increase. This is ridiculous if they're trying to keep tenants for long-term periods and honestly is a reflection of not caring about building a community that loves living here. We did some hardball negotiating and got the increase down to 6% (you have to go through the leasing agents who in turn submit a request to corporate), but in no way is this sustainable for 2+ years. Disappointing, because at the moment I could see myself living here for longer. You hear stories of people switching to a new apartment unit just to start rent back from a reasonable rate since the yearly increases are ridiculous.

Other small issues-- yes, elevators aren't the best. This really doesn't bother me that much (even on a higher floor) but maybe once or twice in the past year they've been awful and you wait for 5 minutes. They're not fast, but they're not that terrible most of the time. I say this even after getting stuck in the elevator once (fire department had to come, took about 20 min) which was a shaking experience, but still not enough to make me want to move.

We also did have a small mold issue in our apartment (the winters are super dry but the summers the apartment gets HUMID). We had to go and buy our own de-humidifier and maintenance wasn't super helpful, but once we did get a de-humidifier it was under control. Again, though this seems like a negative experience the pros still outweigh the cons.

Seems like there's been a lot of staff turnover since we moved in, which is a little concerning. The staff when we moved in was great-- front desk guy was wonderful, we loved our leasing agent (thanks Thida!) but lately people seem to be switching all the time. The new staff isn't as engaging and hasn't built up relationships with the residents. The front desk seems to be switching pretty frequently and they don't seem to care about efficiency when there's a large number of people waiting for packages.

HOWEVER, corporate landlords + small maintenance issues aside, this place is great. Love the location, and actually have high praise for the maintenance staff that have helped us with a lot of other issues. Our washer broke and flooded the night before Thanksgiving, and they came at 10PM to assess the situation and replaced the whole unit by the time I returned to the apartment on the following Sun. afternoon. We've had other small maintenance requests and they're always addressed super timely (next day) and actually fixed. We don't have issues with parking (but note the garage is kind of oddly-shaped so if you have a large car, your spots are a bit more limited). The gym has never been so packed that you can't use a machine. The pool/rooftop is pretty nice during summer months (just note that the pool is open Memorial Day - Labor Day, which was a surprise to us) and the grills are usually open.

We live on the plaza side and have no complaints about noise. I would not recommend living on Floor 1 (which is the same floor as the loading dock/trash) or 3rd Floor (plaza level, which doesn't seem super secure) but maybe this is fine and just...

I have lived at Courthouse Plaza for just under a year now. While the price of this building is a bit cheaper than a couple of buildings in Clarendon and Courthouse, the location is pretty much unbeatable, and the views from the roof are great, it may not be worth the lower costs with other options popping up all around, depending on what's important to you.

I want to begin with the lack of security and other safety-related issues. To preface, the area itself is extremely safe, especially when compared to DC. Over the past year, though, there have been main doors left open due to systems being down, our garage door being wide open for months (it broke around Christmas time), a period of a couple of months where we had the building fire alarm going off at all hours of the night and day multiple times a week, and more.

I also have had two frustrating experiences with folks the building has contracted work out to. 1) A hired maintenance worker entering my apartment unannounced, without even knocking (I was told this was due to a water issue on the floor above me and him being told that I wouldn't be there), and 2) a contracted team doing planned maintenance in my apartment while I was on a long trip and leaving my door unlocked -- I came home to my door having been left unlocked for a full week.

The building is generally outdated and of lower quality -- I would say substantially when compared to other buildings in the area in the same price range. I have had a variety of maintenance-related issues since moving in (I assume more than average), including a leak in my bathroom that ruined some items I had stored under my sink. I attribute the number of issues to the lack of updates to the building. For the most part, the maintenance team is kind, polite, and very responsive, and I do want to give them a shoutout for that.

I have communicated all of these concerns to the leasing office, and will commend them too for being responsive, professional, and apologetic. I decided to share my experience after a recent disappointing instance of my vehicle being towed from our garage due to it being "double parked." I have seen residents double park in the garage since moving in, and it's because the garage is so poorly designed in many spots that it's truly unavoidable. I was towed to a location 20 minutes away from our building and had to pay more than $250 to get my vehicle back. Given they just raised my rent substantially (which is another point of frustration given the issues I've dealt with) and I pay for parking in the building, I was, of course, unhappy to have to pay that much and find a ride to go get my vehicle -- a written warning or boot on my car seem like reasonable first offense alternatives.

All this to say, I am no longer sure that the cheaper rent and location are worth the headaches I've faced here.

Additional update, May 2024: In the less than two weeks since posting this review, the following have occurred: Fire alarm going off again multiple times multiple nights in a row (in the middle of the night) I've found two roaches in my apartment and one in the hallway outside my room (they were dead and I do have photos) My toilet paper holder and towel holder both came off My washing machine broke (it stops mid-cycle leaving my clothes soaking inside)

For transparency, I've never been offered a rent voucher or reduction for any of these issues and, as alluded to above, my rent is actually about...

I'm writing this review after ~6 months of living here, and everything about this place has been great! The location allows easy access to the surrounding areas: Clarendon is just a fifteen minute walk away, likewise with Rosslyn, and anything beyond that is connected to WMATA is also within reach thanks to the convenient metro stop just inside the plaza. The actual shops/restaurants in the plaza after living here a bit leave a little more to be desired (I've seen the milk and cookies storefront coming soon for ages now), but there are a couple of restaurants within that are a staple whenever we have friends and family visiting us (shoutout to Courthaus Social). The only thing that I really feel like I always need to drive for is a grocery store, as the closest one is Whole Foods, and it's not my favorite place to shop.

In terms of the amenities, things seem pretty standard, but that's not a bad thing. They have a rooftop pool, as well as a decent gym (more cardio than weight machines in my opinion), and they do a decent amount of events for the residents. I think there have been at least one a month if I'm remember correctly and it's a good way to get some free food and chat with some of the office staff. This is also a good segue to my man Tyrelle! He's honestly been a pleasure to work with, but also just chat with in general. When my girlfriend (at the time (now fiancé)) and I were looking for a place in Arlington that would take 3 cats, we initially reached out and Tyrelle gave us so much helpful information, even though we ended up realizing that we wouldn't actually be renting any time soon. And when we were ready to rent 4-5 months later, Courthouse Plaza was still our top choice, and Tyrelle was happy and readily available to help us move forward. I still cross paths with him at various times, and he's always cordial and polite, making time to give a friendly wave and ask how we're doing, even when he's busy helping other residents. I also really like the concierge staff here - they haven't mixed up/lost any packages of mine, and I've ordered a LOT of stuff. They even make time to chitchat and crack a few jokes at times, which is a welcome addition.

Last but not least, the few times we've had to call maintenance, they've been on it. They're usually pretty quick and if they need to come back the next day, they're very clear that they will return to finish up the work in the morning.

Overall, if you're looking for a place to live, with a convenient location, and really nice staff, I would definitely recommend this place. The past 6 months have been a very enjoyable experience and exactly what I thought it'd be like to live closer...