Renaissance at the Power Building — Local services in Cincinnati

I moved from New Jersey to Cincinnati with my wife a little over a year ago and the Renaissance was our first apartment, still is. From day one, the management team was very warm and it felt like home immediately. They were exceedingly courteous and extremely professional. Through casual small talk and snippets of facts about the downtown area, we were shown the premises in it's entirety on the guided tour. It was really cold that day, but we still went to the roof. Then Betsy kindly took us to several apartments before we decided on the Shakespeare. It was their smallest apartment and was just what we needed to start out in a new city. On move-in day, everything was in good order. We're pretty sure we didn't inherit our apartment from messy college students, but we did notice an influx of them after we moved in. Our lease will expire in June and we considered moving out to explore the area more. However, we found our search to be very dissatisfying. Now we are looking forward to upgrading to a larger unit. I rediscovered a forgotten appreciation for our power building during our inquiries. Donnie and Rob are always super responsive and work really hard to keep the building clean and at the right temperatures. There was a problem with the gates once, but they hired 24hr security guards to keep watch. Brand new gate systems were then installed. We were minimally inconvenienced. The garage itself is a bit gloomy, but that is how underground garages are. There are a few spots that are questionable to park in, but mostly all other spots are fine. We are not able to find another apartment building with a garage attached to it for the $100/month that we are currently paying. The convenience of not having to deal with the elements and bringing our groceries up to our apartment smoothly with the available shopping carts right by the elevators is not a luxury we're ready to give up. The location is perfect. Everything is within walking distance and if you're too tired to walk everywhere all of the time, the connector is one block away and so are bus stops. The main bus station is 3 blocks away. The only challenge is grocery shopping without a vehicle if you're short on time. The buses make it easily accessible, but it does take some effort for people who are not accustomed to public transportation. Coming from the New York City area, I find the transit system to be clean and mostly reliable. There are also scooter rentals available in addition to the bicycles. A new Kroger is being built within 4 blocks distance and is suppose to open in the summer of 2019. We are really looking forward to that. The riverfront and the banks area is such a nice place to hangout, but that area gets too noisy for us in the evenings. The Renaissance is close enough for us to take advantage of everything, but far enough away where we can still have some peace and quiet. We're on the 8th floor facing the northeast side, so I'm not really sure how the other apartments are. My wife and I love the fact that we can't hear the neighbors at all, but noise does travel through the doors to the hall that is almost always quiet. While the gym isn't the most impressive in size or number of machines, it is adequate and is always clean and orderly. The club room is a nice place to hangout and a great place to throw decent sized events or gatherings. The management team has thrown some nice events on the roof and other venues around town during the warmer months. This past Christmas, the team put on a Christmas mixer and it was a very festive and fun way to meet some new faces in the building. We have used their computers and printers on many occasions. it is so clutch to have that convenience without shelling out extra for it. My overall experiences with my apartment, the building, it's tenants and the management team have been phenomenal. I'm glad to see new personnel to provide some relief for the original team. This is the best property I have ever lived on outside of home ownership and we didn't have to spend a fortune on it. I...

I lived in a two bedroom in the Renaissance for one year while starting my first job in Cincinnati, and now I am happy to say that I am moving back, after a year and a half away-- this time into a one bedroom!

My roommate and I absolutely loved our time here-- we enjoyed cooking dinner and bringing it to the rooftop for sunset dinners, we always worked out in the gym on Bachelor nights so that we could watch cable (we never bothered to connect our apartment because we usually stream), even the party room has a fancy coffee machine, and it was our Sunday morning routine to make lattes there.

The garage has shopping carts that you can use to bring up groceries, which was a life saver during COVID, when we took giant stock-up trips and could never have carried it all.

The location is perfect-- walking distance from both of our downtown jobs, the downtown Kroger, Coffee Emporium, Mt Adams (via the bridge over the freeway), the library, and OTR. I think if you want to live downtown, 8th street is the perfect compromise between the Banks and OTR. And, the Renaissance was the perfect apartment, with large windows and spacious rooms. My friends actually jokingly made fun of me, because my bedroom looked so empty, as I had barely any furniture to fill the massive room.

I was sad when my roommate's job moved her to Boston, and I moved into Academy on Fourth in Newport, KY, with another friend. Although Academy on Fourth was much newer (I had a room that was not updated in the Renaissance), I found the experience subpar, when compared to my time at the Renaissance. Specifically, I realized how good the soundproofing in the Renaissance had been, when I started hearing the frat parties and footsteps from my Newport neighbors.

I'm looking forward to returning to the Renaissance into a new one bedroom, and thank you to Betsy for her help during this process.

The only feedback I have for the Renaissance is that I would love for them to get a stair master in the gym (but maybe this has been added since my exit?). Additionally, the guest parking can be a challenge, as there are only a few available spots during certain...

EDITED IN RESPONSE TO OWNER RESPONSE: “we would never charge for damages without first checking our records” but you did? That’s a blatant lie. You did in fact NOT check your records. ———— 212 tenants beware. Lived here for about 3 years. Amenities were great but management seems to be disorganized. We were almost charged to replace our microwave by staff at the front desk, however when I checked to see the move-in inspection report on the online portal to see if I had marked it broken, the report they had uploaded was a blank and unsigned copy. It wasn’t until I noted this to the staff that my report was missing that they said they had a copy and that I actually DID note the broken microwave and told me I actually didn’t have to pay for it’s replacement. I find that extremely shady - you mean to say if I wasn’t as attentive and remembered the inspection, they would’ve just charged me without checking on THEIR end? Super messy work there. If you’re living in unit 212 be aware if they haven’t updated the unit for you - ac unit was broken for 30 days and we had maintenance logs for proof. We almost had to apply to the city to put our rent in escrow because they were failing to make repairs. Keep in mind this was summer and our temperature inside was reading at 80+ degrees. It wasn’t until we told them that we were considering putting our rent in escrow where they sent someone to fix it. Again, messy and unorganized work. Unprofessional too. Our entry way flooded once from the unit above and they never did anything...