Alley 111 Apartments — Local services in Bellevue

I stayed in Alley 111, 3 different times and this was my experience.

First stay was in 2017 .We stayed in Apt 606, a relatively nice stay. The view from the only window was of a lower roof deck and a hotel offices. That roof was littered with cigarette butts and the apartment was relatively the same level with a roof so a view from the only window was not great. This apartment's bedroom bordered the garbage chute so during the day, it could be noisy. Overall, the stay was good, staff were nice and the building is in a great location so we had no complaints. Apartments have an air con too.

Second stay was in 2020. We put our condo up for sale and needed to stay somewhere while it is staged and sold. We chose Apt 1213, which has a lovely view of the courtyard (quietest aspect). We loved that apartment but as soon as we moved in, we found out that next door to us, was a weed smoker who defiantly broke the rules, smoking inside. The weed smell would permeate our apartment through electrical outlets and cracks. Apartments are not well protected against this - you will smell other people's cooking & anything else they do in the apartment. It was unbearable. The management would not evict the tenant, citing covid eviction rules and were powerless to stop him. He smoked weed all day and night. We had to move our bed into the living room to be as far away from the bedroom as possible, where smoke was strongest (bordering wall). Even with doors shut, outlets covered with duct tape, cracks filled with tissues, we got quite a lot on weed smell throughout the apartment. We later found out this was a known issue on the floor but Alley didn't warn us upon signing the lease, letting us incur moving costs. I demanded they do something. At that point, they moved us to another apartment on the same floor. I don't fault them for this, apart from not disclosing they have a problem tenant when we took an apartment. We incurred extra costs moving twice.

The last time we stayed was in 2022 - we needed a short stay and moved to apt 408, which is very large and sits above the garage entrance. This was by far the worst stay. Trucks that deliver to a building opposite or to a hotel next door, frequently run engines for ages. There is a constant stream of carpet cleaning vehicles doing the same. Bedrooms backs to a narrow Marriott alley used for dragging garbage and sometimes employees do this very late at night, shutting and banging a loud metal gate. Every Wednesdays, generator runs a test. Fumes would trickle to our apartment through a faulty window, which was never addressed after we complained. Apt next door was used by a company that arranges short lets and we had several neighbors move in and out. One couple played loud video games every weekend (Friday to Sunday night) so there was no sleeping. We complained to Alley and called their security service, which is a joke. They come out, tell the person to turn it down and leave. Nothing happens after, and behavior continues. One night I call them 3 times. Alley takes no action against problem tenants and make it hard to lodge official complaints. Another tenant cooked meals that smelled like rotting socks. Smell would carry into our bedroom making us nauseous before bed.

On the same floor, there was a crazy woman which walked the hallway like a zombie, periodically screaming and running through the hallway as if she was being murdered, freaking our pets out. When police were called she told them she was frustrated. At that point, so was I. Another tenant that could not be evicted.

Garbage chute was blocked or broken most days and it would take ages to fix it, only for it to break again. People would dump garbage in there, without bothering to sort or chute it. Seems like quality of tenants has seriously declined. Additionally, parking and moving in is also tricky as service elevator cannot be locked for a move since they allow non building people to park in the garage. We also had problems with billing, which we had to chase. We were relieved to move out and won't be...

I've lived here for a year, and overall I really liked my time at Alley. The staff was always responsive and prompt, from the beginning of my application process to my move-out last month. I see someone on here complaining about the long approval process -- I had no such issues. When I moved in the whole process was very quick and only took a day or two.

PROS: -- While the apartments aren't the nicest ones you'll find in this area, they're good quality for the price, and still a lot better than some of the nearby buildings (like City Square, Ellington, or Avalon) -- Nice quality apartments. They aren't the very best apartments around, but they're a good price and a lot better than many other buildings in the area (like City Square or Ellington). Appliances are all great, and I liked having the induction stovetop since it was so easy to clean. Appliances are all new, and everything worked great. Having a good size washer & dryer was very nice, as they were large enough even to wash and dry large duvets and blankets. -- The units and common areas all have a cool, modern design, and if you're on or below the 4th floor you'll get great 14' ceilings which really help make the small spaces feel larger. -- Almost zero noise from neighbors. There is 6" of concrete in between each unit (at least on the lower floors where my apartment is located), and even with loud TVs, music, or pets I heard almost nothing from the other apartments around me (every once in a while hammering or a dropped item would come through, but otherwise it was largely silent). -- Convenient location, with grocery stores, coffee shops, and transit center very close -- Rent prices were a lot more reasonable than many other buildings nearby, and when I went to renew my lease it was a very minor increase -- Concierge and maintenance staff is always very friendly and prompt in answering requests, and the package acceptance/egg locker system is really nice. -- The Nest thermostats are pretty cool, and my utility bills were quite low even when running heat or AC most of the time. It's very nice to be able to control the thermostat from a mobile app, to turn on the heater as you're on your way home or have it automatically turn off if you're out of town. -- The roof/community room area is really nice, and during the summer it was wonderful to have an outdoor area to hang out in and enjoy the sun -- The gym is outfitted pretty well, and is empty during most times of day.

CONS: -- The parking garage situation absolutely sucks. The garage is shared between retail & residential parking, and nothing is assigned. The normal-sized spots would be considered 'compact' spots anywhere else, and even though I had a small car I was never comfortable parking in the compact spots (unless there was no one in the next stall). There are a very large # of spots reserved for electric vehicles, even though there are very few of those at the building, and many, MANY people park way over the line. Building management said they would start ticketing/towing violators, but I never saw this happen. Anytime I would come home after 8pm, it would be an ordeal to find a parking spot. And though it never happened to me, I've heard of people coming back late at night and not being able to find ANY open spots that would fit their vehicle. -- The apartments are kind of small. This wasn't a problem for me since I was living by myself, but for those who live with an SO or roommate, or even people with a lot of stuff, the space can get rather cramped. -- There's not much closet space. My 1-bedroom unit only had a single closet, which again was just enough for me but I also don't have very many belongings. All of the other people I know living at Alley either had completely full closet(s) or ended up renting one of the storage lockers. -- Installed lighting is pretty minimal. There were no lights in the bedroom, and only some overhead spotlights in the kitchen. Not a huge deal, but means lots of lamps are more of a necessity and it would have been nice to have more...

Lived here for 3.5 years and moving out soon.

Pros:

A/C in all the apartments. It's probably the best thing about these apartments. Nest thermostats. Location - close to 520, I90, walking distance to Overlake hospital, Bellevue Square, Bellevue transit center. Modern appliances. Solid price considering the area, and it always increased by just a little bit, which was great and a huge reason to stay (on top of moving itself being a huge pain).

Cons: Bad storage situation. The apartments are poorly designed and there is a big lack of storage space in general. The bathrooms are unnecessarily huge, they could've architected it better and created more storage space instead. Didn't bother me until I really had to start spending a lot more time inside. The kitchen cabinets are also poorly designed. They are very deep, but narrow and there is a huge waste of space inside the cabinets. When I asked for additional shelves to make better usage of the space inside, I was told they don't have any.

Parking lot situation is a complete disaster. No reserved parking spots, so you never know where you'll be able to park the next time you come back. Things were much better when I moved in, it felt like there was less cars back then. It's been getting worse over time.

The parking entry ramp breaks at least twice a week. Impark manages the parking lot and they are the worst of the worst as well. Since it's a paid parking lot, non-residents have to pay at the exit. The machine setup to pay is so confusing and works so poorly that every now and then you'll get a 4-5 car pileup waiting to exit because someone's card is not going through and impark operators can't help them. If you own a car, really try to live somewhere else.

They technically have EV reserved spaces. For a while I had an EV, and at least 5 times I witnessed some gas car parked in my or other people's EV space to which Impark/Alley staff responded with mostly nothing.

I was once fined by Impark for overstaying in a reserved "retail" parking spot in the building, because I came home late and didn't have anywhere else to park. There was no understanding from either Impark or the management about this so I just paid the fine and moved on.

The guest parking situation is also not great. You get 4 3-hour vouchers per month that you can give your guests to use when they exit.

The new management is disappointing. The former manager Megan was great, I wish she had stayed. The new one ignores communication and in general just seems to be completely absent. Additionally, after 3.5 years of living here, I thought it shouldn't be a problem to end my lease 1 month early, but it was not granted. Very disappointing. I also had a moth issue at which the management mostly just shrugged their shoulders and put the responsibility on me to figure it out. Fantastic approach for something that could spread through...