East 4th Street — Local services in Cleveland

I recently moved out after living in the Buckeye Building on East 4th Street for 7 years, residing on both the 2nd and 5th floors. See the below highlights and lowlights of my experience on East 4th:

Pros:

Location and Accessibility: Just a 2-5 minute walk to Progressive Field and Rocket Mortgage Field House.

Community Feel: The single entrance/exit unintentionally creates a sense of community, with getting to know people in the building via waiting for the elevator or holding the door etc. Most residents are in their 20s-30s, with some families and older residents.

Value and Price: Rent is reasonable given the prime location, with predictable yearly increases. Utilities are electric-only and affordable, even during peak HVAC months. The HVAC units are efficient despite the large windows and high ceilings. Amenities are modest but have been recently upgraded, with a newer gym and rooftop area that are shared by multiple buildings.

Maintenance Staff: The building is well-maintained, with regular cleaning. Maintenance is responsive, typically addressing issues within 2-3 days, and the staff is friendly and communicative. Con: I have had several occasions where the staff doesn't clean up after work order completion; appliance boxes left, saw dust, walls needing repainted after appliance replacement etc.

Cons:

Laundry: (Largest Con): One washer/dryer per floor is insufficient for the number of residents, and machines often break down, taking 1-2 weeks to repair. The payment app is clunky and often times out. Including laundry fees in the rent would be an improvement.

Elevator: The elevator is old, slow, and often out of service, especially on the weekends. It’s also loud/rickety, which has concerned my guests / parents, and it’s undersized, making it difficult to move large furniture.

Parking: The complex offers several garage options, but spaces are tight with narrow column clearance, not recommended for cars larger than a compact SUV. The steep ramps make backing out impossible and causes you to have to turn around between columns, and event nights can cause delays due to valet activity / crowds. Parking costs around $200 monthly, separate from rent.

Weekday-Only Maintenance: Issues occurring over the weekend aren’t addressed until Monday, (unless its an "emergency") which is inconvenient for things like elevator or HVAC issues.

Interior Noise: Thin walls between units and bordering hallways mean you’ll hear neighbors, entry doors slamming, and maintenance staff vacuuming. If you value sleep, especially late night on the weekends, choose a unit that doesn’t have a bedroom next to the hallway if possible. If noise becomes consistent / reoccurring, suggest reaching out to the property manager who will send out building wide emails or file warnings / noise complaints on...

I started looking for my first apartment not too long ago. I found the lofts at 629 on Zillow and immediately became intrigued by how clean and put together the entire profile was. I called and scheduled a tour with Alexandria. We had two different tour dates, one on a Monday and the other on a Friday. The one on Monday was very pleasant, she answered any questions we had and showed us the one unit we came to look at at that location. When Friday came, I showed up at the address she had gave me on time and waited patiently for her outside. She never gave me any instructions to go to the leasing office or anything. Spent 20 minutes waiting and calling the office only for no answer. Mind you, the door for the building was locked and only accessible through a key fob, which as a non-resident I did not posses. A kind maintenance man opened the door for us and I found my way to the office. When I got in there she handed me a key fob and given me a packet for a self guided tour, which I didn’t know was how the tour would be conducted. A little confused and discouraged, I went on my way with my mom and we looked at the four different apartments. Apartment 1: In the middle of renovation, broken window on the floor and a terrible stench. Apartment 2: Cleanest of them all no big complaints about it. Apartment 3: For the most part clean, but had nothing in which I had said I was looking for. Floor was warped so bad that you could see it separating from the baseboards and forming a massive bump. Windows were globbed with so much paint the drip had dried and were hanging from the hinges, not to mention you couldn’t even open the windows. Apartment 4: By far the closest to what I had been looking for but the mere smell of the hallway and room made me want to vomit. The unit wasn’t clean and the tub was splattered with black slop and had dead bugs. After leaving the last apartment I was extremely underwhelmed and disappointed. Went back to the leasing office to return the fob and grab my I.D and the same girl asked me how it was and I had responded in a way to express it wasn’t the best experience. She never asked what was the matter. Didn’t bother to know anymore details, gave me my I.D, and gave me the impression that she knew I wasn’t very happy so she shouldn’t give me the time of day because I wasn’t interested in buying anything. Very unprofessional staff, disgusting overpriced apartments, and lack of attention. I don’t recommend even bothering to visit and I feel sorry for those...

Never had an issue with a rental company until MRN. Moved into an apartment on east fourth that was filthy, appliances weren't working, etc. and took weeks to be fixed. Throughout my lease term the maintenance men routinely tracked dirt onto my area rug and the company refused to clean or replace it. Consistently had a bug/centipede problem that was never resolved. The ceiling was crumbling onto my couch and destroying it, company attempted to fix it but ultimately didn't stop the crumbling. Heat was turned off for a weekend when the temperatures outside fell to 37 degrees F, I complained and they gave me space heaters. I didn't feel comfortable using them as it is a fire hazard in an old building and this would create a large expense. After complaining about not providing heat in cold temperatures, they delivered me a notice the following business day stating I could not renew my lease. They also stated they would deduct the cost of cleaning the carpet in their unit from my security deposit once my lease was over, despite keeping the carpet clean throughout my lease term and no mention of this deduction in the original lease contract. Ironically enough, their company routinely soiled my area rug during maintenance calls and never cleaned it. Parking fees went up during lease, which is anticipated, but the parking garage was never clean enough to see the dividing lines. I was shown an apartment with hardwood floors but moved into a unit with unlevel concrete. Very difficult company to deal with, the rent is reasonable for the area but it is not worth the headache. Expect to move into a filthy apartment, not have anything fixed adequately, and you will have to fight for your security deposit back.

EDIT: In response to the company’s comment, I lived in the complex from 2016 to late 2017. The apartment owners and staff are the same, do...