Harvard Tower — Local services in Cambridge

You might think this is in a great location seeing as this is right next to Central Square, but don't even think about moving here for the following reasons: Heating the unit costs an arm and a leg. It's all electric heating (way more expensive than gas) and the units are drafty. In our previous apartment we were spending $50-$100 on electric each month. Here it was $300 and got up to almost $400 in the winter even though we had the thermostat set to 65F. There have been multiple bike and part thefts in this building in the LOCKED garage where the thief has been cutting through locks or taking parts not locked up like wheels. I emailed management about this without ever getting a response. You basically have to store any of your bikes in your abysmally small unit and hope the elevator is working so you don't have to lug it up and down the stairs. I've had multiple other requests to management regarding the tenant portal and parking space reservations with no response. The mail room is an absolute mess with piles of packages everywhere so it's hard to find your items. Oftentimes packages are left right inside the unlocked building doors so it's easy for them to be stolen as well. We've had multiple packages go missing so I decided to ship to a friend and pick them up from his house instead. There are no package lockers or organized shelving of any kind so expect to spend a decent amount of time digging through packages if you get a delivery, even outside of the holiday season. The rent is way too high for such an awfully managed building. We didn't dare renew as we never got the price for a new lease even though management claimed they sent it out. Out of the 4 apartments I've lived in so far, this one was the...

We lived here for a year and would happily have renewed if not for moving to another city.

Positives: -great light, good size, and large balcony (we were on floor 9) -maintenance requests were rare and quickly addressed (we had a heater/AC replaced and water pressure fixed) -good location (~7 mins to Central T stop and walkable to Harvard, Kendall, and Charles River) -we received our full security deposit back within a month

Negatives: -electric bill will be several hundred $ in winter months -package room can be chaotic (though we personally never had issues with theft) -occasionally laundry machines are broken/taken or an elevator was out of service (I never found this to be more than a minor inconvenience) -back office/mgmt company sometimes slower to respond to email

In short, this isn't a perfect apartment, but overall we were very happy here. If you've lived in a city before, I think the issues are ~normal given the price point and age of the building. I saw in other reviews people had some extreme negative experiences. I can only speak for my own but 1 star seems unfairly...

I lived at Harvard Towers for two years, and my experience was extremely disappointing. The building is constantly under maintenance, the elevators are frequently out of service, and the overall management is poor.

Emails are rarely answered unless it's about billing. I requested an access chip and had to wait over a month with no response. When it was time to move out, no information was provided about the exit process or any move-out package.

Electric bills are extremely high, especially in north-facing units. These apartments receive almost no sunlight year-round, forcing you to rely heavily on heating and artificial lighting. There are also constant air leaks, making the units uncomfortable and inefficient.

I’ve been emailing for three weeks regarding my security deposit and have received no reply. I left the apartment in better condition than when I moved in.

I would not recommend this building to anyone. The management is unresponsive and...