Portside Towers Apartments — Local services in Jersey City

This building has spectacular views, good location, and decently sized apartments. However, that is where the positives end. I just moved out after two years because they increased our already high rent by an additional 23% - making it impossible to stay. Upon trying to discuss this rent increase, not a single employee responded to my many emails until weeks after the deadline for renewal signing passed. There is no respect for the tenants, and the company will do everything they can to take advantage of you wherever possible. The building has been steadily declining in quality since we moved in, and the management staff is pitiful. Here is just a short list of problems we’ve had in this ‘luxury’ apartment building. When I brought up these concerns to the management staff, they responded many weeks later with an itemized list of excuses as to how my complaints are invalid, and that is the fault of my ineptitude for not understanding how things work. Disregard whatever they respond to this comment, as it will be untruthful. If you are okay with all of these things and paying $4k a month for one bedroom, then sure, the view is worth it.

Regarding the building: There have not been 3 working elevators for well over a year. There have been numerous instances when all elevators are out at a single time, trapping residents who cannot climb as many as 19 flights of stairs. Not only this, the elevators that have been ‘modernized’ continue to breakdown, and are of worse cosmetic condition than prior to renovations. Plan 10 minutes to get from your apartment to your car in the parking garage, at least. Many tenants, myself including, have been overcharged on our water bill for many months due to a broken meter, which management has admitted to by email. Nothing has been done to refund the extra cost we were forced to pay. To this day, they have kept the money and will not do anything about it. Not only this, they do not have individual meters, so you pay for the entire buildings water use divided by the number of apartments. This was around $70-$100 every month. For a one bedroom apartment, this is insane. Management only occasionally communicates with tenants about important matters, such as elevator outages, and does not address noise complaints from the courtyard. Overall poor communication. Prepare to hear screaming children in the courtyard day and night. Alarms happen frequently and are never called off, so you are left unknowing if you need to evacuate. Benefits and amenities are changed at will. These include selling the garage to an external company that increased the parking rate, removing the Avo grocery service, not having the advertised security system or zipcar onsite, and so on. The gym equipment is not maintained or replaced when broken. There was only a single yoga mat for a year, to give an example. In the weeks before I moved out, there was one additional mat purchased.

Regarding the apartments: The unit does not have any luxury finishes. When compared to nearby luxury apartment buildings, Portside towers does not even come close. The flooring and the tile is extremely old, scraped, damaged, chipped, and not level. The oven does not work properly as it did not have 2 heating elements. It was checked out by staff and not replaced. Further, all of the appliances, toilets, and fixtures are extremely outdated. The washer/dryer unit is incredibly small, loud, and damages clothes. The fridge is dented, and when I asked for this to be fixed, it was replaced with another dented fridge. The walls are sloppily painted with matte painting that cannot be touched without staining. There was paint everywhere when we moved in. The AC/heater units barely work, and are hugely expensive. What’s more is that the apartment is not insulated at all. The winters are freezing despite running the heat all day and having a huge electricity bill. We were cold all winter, and hot all summer. Tenants pay between $400 and $800 a month in electricity for heating and cooling - for a one or two...

It really is too bad i need to write this post but enough is enough. I moved in in August 2021 and loved living here- I didn't think I could find a place that better suited my lifestyle- big gym, tennis courts with a FREE reservation system (this is a huge reason why I chose this building), spacious apartment, security, location. My opinion and experience has since changed and I FEEL BAD FOR THE PROSPECTS who will agree to sign a lease only to be wronged after moving in.

-Management is purely DECEITFUL and unable to manage a building of this size with INTEGRITY and CARE to create a place where PEOPLE CAN THRIVE (what EQR claims on their corporate website for this building). Noone is thriving here anymore. -elevators are out of service every other day- I have lived in "luxury" buildings the past decade and I have experienced elevator upgrades, modernizations and NOTHING compares to this inadequacy. I am lucky to live on a lower floor and I take the stairs most of the time to avoid getting stuck. Noone should have to experience this on a regular basis with no end in site. Management also blames tenants for an elevator stopping and claims we can only be 4 people to an elevator- good luck enforcing that. The shut downs will keep happening with the same excuses.

-New "amenity reservation fees" without ANY COMMUNICATION- this apparent change has been in place the past few months and there is still no email about it regarding the change. I have contacted management and was told a BS answer that they are "required"- nothing is required. Last year the reservation system worked fine as a free one- if certain tenants do not show up you cannot severely punish those who routinely book the court and use it. Management wants $75 per TIME YOU RESERVE (no refund!!)- for my 4 lessons a month that would cost me $300 EXTRA! This is absolute insanity for an amenity I already pay for and is advertised as inclusive of the annual amenity fee. The annual fee adendum makes NO CLAIM that there could be a reservation fee or the possibilility of one. Only that this annual fee is subject to change. By the way, this annual fee is also increasing substantially I have heard. What will this increase cover? Because the tennis courts they only paint over them. They currently have tons of bumps and ridges from the winter. I was told I would have an update on my email and that was a month ago- have not heard back since. There are about 30 kids here who will lose their weekly tennis lessons due to this outrageous fee because noone will pay it and there will be no reliable tennis lesson system in place. I also contacted the buildings in the area who have tennis courts and they DO NOT CHARGE RESERVATION FEES. In the end this is upending my lifestyle here at Portside Towers.

-Private co-working room- have an interview? Reservation fee is $150 per hour- who would pay this?! More insanity.

multiple residents complaining of mold, insufficient insulation causing upwards of $500 per month for heat for a 2 bed room apartment, washer/ dryer machines not working, washing machine flooding an apartment, mice! Management regularly keeps on denying actionable assistance to take care of these issues.

The facts are that this new management team does not care about the happiness of residents, their desire to enjoy their home and their safety. They are clearly trying to find ways to profit at the absolute minimum cost. It also appears the regional corporate team in NYC also has the same lack of care and inability to take action based off the experience of tenants who have reached out to them with very serious issues.

I hope the amount of anger by tenants will cause real change in this community because this place could really be amazing if they let it be!

My experience at Avalon communities far exceeds this one.

The only positive notes I can say are; amazing concierge team very efficient and quick maintenance team, also very...

I have been living in Jersey City for over 2 years and finally found a place that truly feels like home! As someone who is very detail oriented and is trying to find the best option and value, I visited most of the buildings in the Paulus Hook neighborhood and this was the best decision I could have made! First Impressions: The building is well established and has gorgeous views all around. The location is perfect and I can confidently say that my view of lower Manhattan (even being on a lower floor) will never be blocked. There is a lot of space! This community doesn't feel like it is trying to put a ton of stuff in a small space. They have tennis courts, a basketball court, children's playground and a large grassy area with grills and patio furniture to spend time outside that is private and fenced in. Parking is usually an issue in Jersey City, but Portside has a large, private parking garage where you will have an assigned spot. It is connected to both towers with elevators on either side. Our leasing consultant Katharine was wonderful! She understood our wants and needs almost immediately and was able to show us our dream apartment in the same visit! I will say it can be challenging to visualize an apartment when it is vacant, but once you add furniture and your own stuff, it really feels like a spacious and wonderful home. It is deceiving how much you can fit!! I love the angles in our home because there are so many ways to change up the space and add pieces that normally would not fit in the basic "cookie cutter" apartments. The large private balcony is what truly sold us on this apartment, and the value per sq foot. We are paying less for a 960sq ft apartment then we did previously for a 700sq ft apartment.

Concierge and Maintenance Teams: They are absolutely wonderful. They work hard to help you in any way they can if you ask. You can submit any maintenance issue through the resident portal where it is responded to within 48 hours MAX. They are friendly and I feel very welcome each day I walk through the lobby or hallways and see one of the team members.

Overall the location is fantastic because you are so close to Exchange Place Path Station and Grove Street Path Station, the Light Rail, and ferry! There are tons of restaurants and bars that are walking distance and a dog park right across the street.

All residents are friendly with each other, whether it is in the lobby, hallway, elevator or gym.

We have had no issues regarding pests, rodents or leaks and the whole community is very clean and you can tell it is tended to on a daily basis.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a wonderful community with great views, large square footage and in a central location with neighborhood vibes, this is the...