Colonial Square — Local services in Bellevue

Gave it a star for the location. Absolutely loved living in the area, hated living here.

-The active cockroach infestations (that management reassured me that I was overexagerating the problem but at the same time self-reported that she hadn't managed a complex with cockroaches. German cockroaches will indeed ruin everything you own, and itll be incredibly difficililt to walk away because you'll bring them with you to your next place. My neighbors necer self-reported and they didn't deal with all the apt all at once so the roaches just wonder to the next place and the cycle repeats. Doesn't matter how clean you are, you'll inherit your neighbors roaches. And yes I spent over $300 taking care of the problem myself becusse their pest control threw a glue trap on the fridge and some powder in a corner and called it good.)

-The laundry staining and burning my clothes (I used a offsite laundromat the last 6 months of my lease since I was so upset that every single load at CS smelled worse, had weird stains and no matter what temp, the dryer would burn my clothes. The washer machines are absolutely disgusting. I would also sweep and clean the laundry room because it was dirty and thrashed too)

-Cops arresting residents and unmarked police cars every month or so. It's an affordable place and most units had 2-4 people in them, making it a good hideout place from the law.

-the fire alarms going off for 20 min at a time in the middle of the night (happened over 4 times while living there for a year. Management weren't empathy that residents were evacuating at 2:00am at night)

-the garbage that overflows and goes into the parking lot. Mostly happens on the weekend, the time when you bring friends over. I was always pretty embarrassed.

-the loud music and cars gunning it through the parking lot at 2:00am. And you'll ne woken up because you'll sleep with the windows open because it's always hot and there's no AC. When you do have AC the power will trip because everything is on basically on one breaker. You'll have to choose which bedroom you want to cool because both will trip the breaker. Turn the microwave on, breaker. Turn the lamp on, breaker. Try to blow dry your hair, breaker.

-people constantly looking in your windows as they walk the hallways -the frequent notices to come into the apartment for no legitimate reasons.

-the promise of a security guard at night but never saw them. There was always shady characters lowering around the stairs and in un-lit areas at night.

-management turnover. They use this place for a training ground so get used to being the...

EDIT: Upon moving out, my experience with Weidner has been tarnished significantly.

After spending roughly 12 hours over the course of two days in thoroughly cleaning the apartment as per the move-out guidelines given to me in paper, my full security deposit is being withheld and I am being asked to pay an additional fee of $100 (ish). Management has continued to ignore the laws quoted to them (particularly RCW 59.18.280 section 1a concerning security deposits and ordinary wear to the premises) and I've had to get in touch with an attorney to help me fight my case should the very likely event of having to go to court come to pass.

For ordinary wear to the unit (resting a chair and an end table against the wall resulting in wear to the paint's finish), a few loose hairs in cabinets, and a microwave with a dirty oil catch (which was deemed not my fault by maintenance since I already made a support ticket for ominously colored fluid dripping onto my food), I am on the hook for almost $500.

While my time living here was for the most part a positive experience, the move out has left such a sour taste in my mouth that I would recommend living elsewhere. For the same price (or less) you can get more modern, better equipped, larger units elsewhere, that are not managed by rookie/inexperienced teams. Weidner uses Colonial Square as a training grounds/launchpad for managerial upward mobility and nobody lasts longer than a year or so before moving on to other (and better) locations.

TLDR: Management is trying to keep my security deposit and refuses to address landlord/tenant laws which have been cited directly to them. As such, I have had to lawyer up and will now have to be on the hook for attorney's fees to bring Weidner to court unless we settle on a more mutually amenable agreement concerning my move out. I suggest you pay to live elsewhere.

ORIGINAL POST:

Management has always been fun and professional. Maintenance is fast and knowledgeable. The grounds are well kept and the community is...

In short, the staff are really polite, but the apartment is so bad it’ll leave you yearning to move.

PROs: Management and staff are super responsive. They respond by phone, email and text! They’re very polite and easy to work with. they offer short term leases. indoor heated swimming pool. 2 stars are just for this feature!

CONs: This is the most inconvenient apartment I’ve ever lived in. ZERO PRIVACY. The only window in the living room is on a long corridor. This is the only corridor that gets people to their houses. People will invariably end up looking into your apartment as they pass. NO DISHWASHER! I’ve seen apartments without washer dryers and I’m fine with that. This is the first apartment I’m seeing that doesn’t have a dishwasher. The kitchen also doesn’t have an insinkerator. All in all, really inconvenient! Do not assume that the badminton court is good to play in. It doesn’t come with a net. Even when I took my own net, the surface was super hard to play in. It could cause serious knee/ankle injuries CIGARETTE STUBS: There is a designated smoking area, but the community is really small, and you can smell the smoke everywhere! People throw cigarette stubs all over the place. ROACHES. It gets regularly infested with roaches. It’s your responsibility to remove everything from the cabinets and move them out so they can do a mandatory pest control. They send you with a copy of the pest control addendum in the lease so that you are reminded that if you don’t cooperate, you will be charged for pest control. I didn’t even ask for pest control. I still had to do this super inconvenient mandatory pest...