Meridia Lifestyles Apartments — Local services in Linden

I have lived at Meridia Lifestyles Linden for about 3 years nearly since opening of the building. While the location of the property is ideal regarding easy local commuting and especially to and from NYC via NJT, there are as any the pros and cons. Over the years Ive succumbed to more Cons than Pros. The cleanliness of the building isn't always kept up to par as expected. During the weekday when the leasing office and corporate offices are open the building is in top condition. Over the weekend when there's more in and out traffic in the lobby and hallways are times where it seems a tornado touched the building itself. Elevators are not maintained, lobby in disarray, carpet by elevators severely stained, floods of resident packages scattered about the mailroom area, garbage overflowing in trash bin outside front entrance and the list goes on!! There has been multiple changes within management and I must say they ARE not for many tenants accommodating to residents at all! Tenants repeatedly says the PM is actually quite rude and not as friendly as the original PM; Chris and his staff! The maintenance crew; which are one of the Pros; specifically Darren and Voltek are extremely helpful, professional, hard working gents. I would hire them hands down if my company were recruiting!! I don't believe Meridia shows their appreciation to them and should understand how they both have created a connection with the tenants as well so did Gene! The structure of the building most likely are meeting just the standard building codes regarding building materials. Walls have NO insulation and neither do the hardwood floors, so you will hear everything and I mean everything from a tenant above, below or in the unit next door! No utilities to pay except electric. Certain fees waived upon lease signing, all great incentives. The strategy used in determining the rate structure for the building 1 and 2 bedrooms requires a serious review. Many many tenants have moved due to rising rental cost. Many buildings of this stature in the area does not allow pets of any kind I guess due to possible apt. damage, etc and I don't feel this building in the sense of how its managed should have either! Not a pet hater nor lover, but when you have to step over urine in the elevator at times or a tenant trying to restrain their dog from jumping on you, its a vote of NO pets allowed! There will be Meridia Lifestyle #2 building now in the construction phases directly across the street on Wood Ave, completed in 2020, so the area will no doubt become more congested. I would suggest anyone who does read this review to carefully weigh your options before considering a lease. Take whatever time you have and shop around because what appears nice on the outside can be a total mess on the inside!!! As for me, my goal is to hopefully not sign a 4th year...

First, I do want to preface my review before I begin by saying the following:

The staff of the Meridia is by far the best that I've experienced being there and I commend them for the job well done. They deserve a 5 out of 5.

Gene is the man. Always willing to help especially when it comes to any repairs in your apartment. I hope he doesn't leave but the place really functions well when he's there. I hope they do everything in their power to keep him. Rob - can only say that he is a cool person and is always willing to help residents have a great stay. When a package was stolen, Rob was already tracking down the person to find out what happened. Hands down a pleasure meeting. Carls - nice guy as well. Always a pleasure to talk to. Always helpful as well.

In regards to the building, I want to give it a 3.5 out of 5. I think it could've been better but I've stated pros and cons below:

pros: 1. Staff was excellent, again they were exceptional. 2. Walk to the train station. This was an easy commute to get into New York and I will miss this by far. 3. Mail room for packages. Yes, in the past there were packages that were stolen from the mail room but they were addressed by a camera being put into the mail room and the person being caught. 4. For the most part it's a quite residence. I have heard of residents stating that it has been loud (especially in the lounge area if you live by there). Where I was on the first floor it was quite at night. I guess that contributes to my neighbors. cons: 1. the main entrance to get into the building, could've been designed better. There were several times that we noticed individuals who weren't residents come into the building to meet residents there but they should've been guided instead of roaming around. There was an aroma of cannabis in the hallway but this was mainly at night when all staff was gone. The experience (amenities) could be better for what you are paying I will say. Such as a bigger lounge space, bigger gym, more laundry space but I know with the other facility that they are building across the street, it should have that. There were several occasions where the dryers and washers were broken and it was frustrating I will say the least. It took quite some time for it to be fixed as well. Walls I can say are a little thin but I guess this is no matter where you go when it comes to apartments. I do wish there were more communication with residents through email and or text. Just in general if washers/dryers were down, any building maintenance that we should be aware of or anything else. I wouldn't say a con but a suggestion. Before I left however, this was getting better.

I hope this honest review helps with anyone making a decision to live here. Things can be improved on but I know it's in the early stages so overtime they can...

Generally, Meridia is not such a bad place to live. However, there are several reasons as to why many tenants (including myself), may elect to not renew their lease. The cons certainly outweigh the pros at this residence.

Pros: Gene the maintenance man is awesome. Although at times he may be overloaded with work as there are only two maintenance men to service the entire building. Beautiful apartment layout and aesthetics. The cleaning ladies do a wonderful job with maintaining the building.

Cons: There are no soundproof barriers for the apartments. You can hear EVERYTHING. From the loud trucks that travel via E Linden, to your neighbors fornicating at 4am. (Yes this happened.) The cold draft in the apartments, especially during the winter time, is unbearable. It feels as though the apartment does not have any insulation whatsoever. So expect high heating costs from your energy supplier. There are no washer/dryer units in the 1 bedroom apartments. Only in the 2 bedrooms. The laundry facility is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad THING! The machines do not wash clothes properly and constantly break down. The gym shouldn't be considered an "amenity". It has horrible/outdated/cheap equipment and It is extremely small for the amount of occupants in the building. The building has carpeting all throughout; they allow pets (including large dogs) that urinate freely and have poor hygiene (blame the owners), so therefore the building hallways and common areas smell terrible. Especially in the entrance lobby. (Thankfully they just got rid of the carpets in the elevators.) The package room is another horrible "amenity". There was a theft issue that resulted in cameras being installed. Now there are time restrictions that limit the package room's accessibility. This really inconveniences residents. Delivery personnel will leave your packages in the garage area if they do not have access to the package room. If your package requires a signature, forget about receiving it. They will not ring your bell and will just simply leave a door-tag. I have seen crackheads/heroine addicts just lingering around in the building's lounge area/game room. The building generally has a no-smoking policy, but I've unfortunately encountered 10+ individuals smoking marijuana in the dog grooming room towards the rear of the parking garage at 2am. (Go figure.) Trash does not get taken out of the building on the weekends often times leaving a stench throughout the hallways and common areas.

I gave them a 2 star rating because of the apartment's layout/aesthetics. The apartment's are extremely over priced. Especially with regards to other competitors that offer better amenities within the...