Mercedes House — Local services in New York

We've been living at Mercedes House for 6 months and only have great things to say about the building, staff, and amenities!

If you're coming to Google Maps to check this building out, it's likely cause you're looking to rent. Here are the things we like so far as well as some things to know if you're thinking about living here...

WHAT WE LIKE... The Apartment: Apartments have thoughtful layouts with everything you need (A/C, washer/dryer, dishwasher). Each room has built-in light fixtures which is not always the case for even luxury buildings in NYC. Depending on your unit, you also have gorgeous views of the Hudson River. They also have 1 bed + Home Office layouts which is a nice alternative to full-on 2 bed layouts.

Building Staff: Front Desk staff are incredibly friendly and helpful, no matter what you need. Special shout-out to Dave, Dennis, Elio, Joaquin, Sal, and Steven on the 53rd Street side. Paul and the Maintenance team are also super responsive to whatever issues you submit. They also keep the building super clean.

Amenities: The leasing office will sell you hard on the amenities and honestly they are nice. Mercedes Club is located on the 5th floor and has a full gym, indoor/outdoor pool + jacuzzi + sauna, and workout classes. There's also indoor/outdoor spaces to hang out which is nice if you're working from home and need a break from the apartment. Residents pay an amenities fee ($130 per month) for access but honestly it's pretty worth it to have a full club downstairs (esp during winter months). People living in HK also get a discount if you want to refer your friends.

Parks: Clinton DeWitt Park is across the street which is a great place to walk the dog and it has a dog park. Hudson River Park is less than 5 mins away which has really nice views of the water, a lot of greenery, and great running/biking paths up to Riverside Park or down to Chelsea. Central Park is a 15-20 min walk.

Hell's Kitchen: HK is a great neighborhood filled with restaurants and bars. There is so much good food and nightlight on 9th Ave. Groceries-wide, there are two markets + CVS within 2 mins of the building and Whole Foods at Columbus Circle (15-20 min walk) and Trader Joes up at 72nd & 10th (20-25 min walk).

THINGS TO KNOW... Public Transit: You're going to see some reviewers complain about walking distance to the subway. While you have a lot of options for train lines (ACE + NQRW + BD + 1), any of the stations will take a 12-15 min walk. If you work from home or don't commute to the office every day, this is totally reasonable and sometimes nice to get a walk in. There are also Citi Bikes right outside the building. The M11, M12, and M31 buses also stop right next to the building. If you're commuting, you might want to live closer to 8th or 9th Ave.

Building Layout: Mercedes House is actually two buildings with entrances on 53rd and 54th.This means it's pretty massive and you could end up in a unit facing 53rd St, 54th St, 11th Ave, or 10th. Keep this in mind when touring units. We live facing the 53rd Street side and noise is not an issue at all (considering this is Manhattan after all). However, if you're facing 11th Ave or 10th Ave, you could have noise coming in from the busier avenues + AT&T building. Ansel and the leasing office is super nice and will gladly show you units throughout the building (virtual or in-person).

Management Companies: Mercedes House is also owned by two different leasing companies: Two Trees and Instrata (luxury towers). Also keep that in mind when touring the building. We've had no issues working with Two...

The staff are the most professional and considerate team among all the rental buildings I have lived. I have lived in four similar luxury rental buildings in NY and also NJ. This is the only review I have ever written.

The team of Mercedes House are nice, empathetic, clear, and resourceful. Their level of professionalism is also top-notched.

I’ve lived here for twice in 2017 and 2020.

In 2017, Tony, one of the staff, helped me save a lot of money. I wanted to find an apartment in NYC. I was inexperienced in the Manhattan rental market so I relied on a “fake” brokerage firm run by some Chinese people, which I found on WeChat. But Tony found the application was strange and called me to know more details. It turned out those people were lying about the deal and wanted to swallow some of my rental free months’ credits. They were not a brokerage firm at all. With a very warm heart, Tony helped me through the application process. He is not only professional, but also very kind.

After one year of residence, though I enjoyed the building very much, I decided to move away to live together with my ex.

Last year I had a divorce with my ex, and was looking for an apartment in the neighborhood. I decided to go back to Mercedes House because of my past pleasant experience. Due to the COVID pandemic, I expected the process to be very hard.

Derek and many other members of the team helped me a lot in the process. The point I love most is that they write down everything in an email, and it’s very organized, clear, systematic and considerate. Most other rental buildings don’t communicate those items that well. The other buildings tend to send “one-off” emails for the common items, while Mercedes House summarize everything so well that all the residents can enjoy the benefits.

Because of their professionalism, I had no trouble when moving during the pandemic. The process was smooth and the team were also able to address my questions timely even though it was in the pandemic.

I liked the building a lot, but sadly I decided to go back to Asia this year. The move-out process was also trouble-free. Mariana and Marissa helped me a lot. Mariana provided help for my international relocation and saved me a lot of worries. Marissa did the final move-out inspection. When I left, she kept reminding me of several items and also nicely held the door for me when I moved with my luggage. I found both of them are sweet, considerate, very well-spoken and empathetic. The final inspection was also very transparent. They even provided the pricing and gave you a choice of finding someone else to fix the small damages before you leave. When I lived in the other buildings, I had no idea why my security deposit was deducted, but Mercedes House provides an absolute transparency!

Furthermore, I’m impressed how the team keeps evolving. My 2020 experience is even better than 2017, because they keep refining their processes and things are more and more organized. It’s very difficult to manage such a large building with so many residents and they are doing an amazing job.

One final point is that they have the best gym in the city. (Cheaper than Equinox, but better, larger, and cleaner.) If you love workout, you’ll be amazed and enjoy your exercise experience a lot. Plus, G is always there...

There are certainly worse places to live. (I have no idea what this "Jay" guy is talking about. There were no community amenities yet when he posted. Troll. . . .) It's also pretty transparent that most of the building is still under construction, so should you decide to move in before it's been completely built, just expect a lot of early morning drilling and having to avoid being hit by any of the construction, delivery, or Mercedes vehicles whenever you come or leave the building.

The gym just opened on 7/1, and our outdoor public spaces just opened, though they're open until 6 p.m., but honestly, who really has the luxury of being home before 6 p.m.? Not sure what that's about. The pools are said to be opening next week.

PROS: +You get a nice welcome package! (With soap!) +The neighborhood is awesome. It's about a 15 minute cab ride to the rest of the parts of the city worth going to and about an hour walk otherwise if you're heading to somewhere on the east side. +The building looks cool. +You can potentially rent an apartment with a balcony that is bigger than my entire apartment, and I can watch you have your parties and what not on that porch while I work on my freelance work in between my full-time job. Are your ears burning? +Washer and dryer and dishwasher and garbage disposal. More buildings need these amenities in their apartment ASAP. +Rent includes the public amenities: gym, outdoor space, etc.

CONS: -We had to make our own keys. What?! -The shades offer no privacy. Neighbor, I can see you scratch your butthole and sniff your fingers. Don't think I can't. -The shades don't block the morning sun. Management did offer a discount through their supplier to get the blackout shades though, but it was pretty expensive. -Either the walls are really thin or it's the the floor-to-ceiling windows that help transfer sound, but neighbors, I can hear you have sex, shake your martini shaker, sneeze, converse on the phone, watch television at 4 a.m., etc. And I really wish I couldn't. -It's a fifteen minute walk to the nearest subway. When I asked if there was a shuttle bus, the realtor lady stifled a laugh. When I pointed out that the Helena had a shuttle, she said it was because it was on 11th Avenue. Um, I believe the entrance on 53rd St. is much closer to 11th Avenue than to 10th Avenue,...