Alden Park Luxury Apartments — Local services in Philadelphia

I just found out my car was towed yesterday when i parked in a spot near the tree line as they are unable to make more parking spots due to some historical zoning issue or whatever. I had no way to contact the towing company and was not notified of this and actually thought someone stole my car since there have been break ins in the parking lot including people smashing windows to steal handicap stickers.

After all of the things I have gone through with this apartment and just let go, this is by far the worst. I moved in on 5/30/18 and my HVAC died within hours of me moving in. When i moved in I noticed that the HVAC was turning on but not blowing out air. I submitted maintenance request on 6/1 for this issue. The next day I came back to my apartment with a note saying "AC working". The AC worked for maybe two days before it started making a screeching noise like a dying cat throughout the entire floor. Clearly i was unable to sleep in my apartment with the AC on. I submitted a new maintenance request on 6/4 about the screeching noise and then another on 6/8 when the unit stopped working all together. No one came to the apartment to check until 6/13 even though my original request was submitted on 6/4 and the note said it needed to be replaced and "will get back to you asap”. On 6/21, over a week after they visited, I received a knock on my door asking if my apartment was the one that needed a replacement. I confirmed and have not heard back since 6/28. I emailed leasing 2 days later asking to escalate this and was told that it can take up to 4 weeks to receive a new unit. If you check the weather history around this time there was a heat wave with temperatures continuously reaching the mid-90s and I live on the 8th floor. I'm not sure how I was supposed to live in my apartment that no doubt go up to the 100 degrees.

That was not the only issue I had in less than a month since I had moved in. My guest code did not work and still only works on occasion. To be clear I have now live in Kenilworth for 5 months. This has been ongoing for AT LEAST 5 months.

I thought my issues were behind me once the HVAC which was replaced in August 2 months after i moved in. To clarify they gave me a portable AC that they had to tape cardboard to my open window to prevent bugs getting. This was like this for at least a month and continued to get blown out of my window any time it rained which almost water damaged my TV.

In addition when they tried to fix my air conditioning (months after it broke) They left huge hole in my wall for over a month, which let mice get in. BUT WAIT, there's more... This wasn't the last time i had to deal with mice. There was a hole behind my stove which a mouse got in and proceeded to eat my dogs food contaminating it. Maintenance surprisingly sealed up the hole within a week (quick for them) but made a joke about the mice probably getting in somewhere else... So we I guess they are just going to ignore the problem. Noted.

After all of these issues and me being extremely patient regarding everything but the HVAC (for obvious reasons) they proceed to tow my car and not notify me. I had to go to downtown Temple to get my car and was met with a line of residents from Alden park. The place was cash only (questionable), $205.00, but nice an helpful enough (it isn't their fault). While chatting with another woman in line she told me she went to the Alden office and they told her they didn't even ticket the cars which I was under the impression was step number 1 for towing, but who am I. They just did a full sweep and didn't notify any residents or send out an FYI.

When I was looking for apartments I will admit I saw all of these terrible reviews but ignored them thinking, "Hey it can’t be that bad." I was wrong and now I am stuck in a 15 month lease with this ridiculous management company that doesn't care at all. Do yourself a favor and steer clear.

UPDATE My favorite part is definitely when I am UNABLE to shower due to the water heaters being broken for the past two months or more. Ice...

Let me begin by telling you that I am currently writing this because I have finally had it with this apartment complex.

I moved here in March of 2015, to which I was "sucked in" by the sights of this historically registered building in Philadelphia. I have been here for 14 months now and I am ready to pay what I have to just to break the lease.

There are plenty of great things to be said about Alden Park, such as it's closeness to the SEPTA train station, the great views and the large apartments that are not over the top with rent prices. My apartment has a fireplace, walk in closet, and plenty of space I don't even use. The area even has great running trails, since I love to run and keep active.

Unfortunately, my experience as far as living here has not been all what it is cracked out to be. The following has happened since I moved here in March of 2015:

-mail packages were tampered with - they had a contract security officer run the package room, and packages were never handed out on time or went missing. I had medication shipped from my doctor and the package room "lost it", only to find it hours later opened up. The new management has since fixed this issue with handling packages themselves.

-New management company - a new management company took over the complex, to which at first was a great idea, since the old management was really letting the place fall apart with the common areas and the grounds. To my surprise the new management was / is just as bad as the past one, with the same poor attitude of only caring about potential residents. Once you are here you are just another sucker paying the rent.

-Car vandalized- My vehicle was vandalized on numerous occasions in the alden park parking lot. I complained to management, to which their response was "we are not responsible for damage or theft to cars" and advised me to park on the other side of the lot under a camera (which management advised me the camera is inoperable, but works as a great deterrent)

-stolen bicycles- not just one or two bikes, but a WHOLE RACK of bicycles was stolen from our bike area. Managements response was the usual "we are not responsible"

-PERSON SHOT IN LOBBY- a male was shot in our lobby in December of 2015. Alden Parks response was a letter placed randomly in the hallways regarding the incident. They also made sure to stress that the victim who was shot 3 times was NOT a resident of Alden Park. The gunman was never caught.

-Fire Alarm issues - the fire alarm system is an ancient system that goes off in every apartment, and deafens anyone near it. Numerous false alarms in the day and during the evening and overnight.

-Lack of notifications via management- The new management decided to upgrade all of the apartments for the next 2-3 years. I happen to work odd hours, so on my off days I will have constant drilling, banging and grinding above me. I called management to ask how long this will be occurring for to which their response is "we don't have that answer". water shut off - Water has been shut off without notifications. Most recent was coming home from a run, and having to go to work, and not having water to shower or brush my teeth. When I called management to see what was going on, their response was "we don't have a valid email to send to you to let you know". When I asked what could be done, the response was "nothing we can do, you'll have to wait till about 4:30 for the water to get turned back on". The last management had my email, and apparently the new management never asked them for the list. I find it hard to believe they have everyones email here in the building.

-Single pane windows - this is my own fault, for I should have known better than to move into a building with single pane windows. The winters here are horrendous with the cold. You can have a heater, or even tape up the windows, the place does not get warm enough.

-surrounding area / neighborhood - again, my own fault, for I should have checked the crime stats prior to moving. Numerous shooting, robberies...

We lived in 3 different apartments (in 2 separate bldgs) over the course of 1 year at Alden Park due in part to the deteriorating conditions of the property.

Lead Paint and Asbestos Disclosure All residents must sign a robust, detailed lead paint and asbestos disclosure before moving in, due to exposure throughout all buildings on the property.

Mold Growing On Walls The mold and moisture in our apartment was so bad, black streaks of mold cultures were growing down the walls and water was seeping up through our floor boards. Leaky old pipes are ignored and the company continuously "patches" the pipes instead of replacing what should be replaced--we also had water coming up through the floor underneath our carpet in the bedroom (which when lifted up shows the uneven pieces you walk directly on because they're too cheap to put padding down or they know it'll get wet so they simply don't bother). The walls are so damp, they are soft to the touch and mold spores can be seen breaking through the dry wall and plaster. They never tear apart the plaster and fix the root of the problem, but rather re-plaster over the mold and paint it. Our apartment got so bad, that we had to be relocated to another unit on the same floor on Christmas of all days. They acted like they were "doing us a favor" because the new unit was larger than the other unit we were previously breathing life-threatening mold in. **pictures provided at the end of my review

Moving Dock We were not shown the moving dock before moving in or signing a lease with Alden Park (and now we know why). The loading dock is so old that regular truck heights do not "level up" and "meet" the dock because the dock height is too high. When you back the truck into the loading zone and open the truck door, you have to step up 1 foot and then another 4 feet to get to the top. While the first step isn't so bad, the second 4-foot step is nearly impossible and there is no ramp to easily walk on. There is a 4 inch platform with shaky boards that doesn't help at all. When unloading furniture it is actually back-breaking work. What's worse, is they have no dolly system. What they also don't show you is that there are hundreds of feet of narrow tunnels from the loading zone to the freight elevator, so you have to manually have 2 people carry a couch or mattress (etc) by hand, down LONG, winding, narrow tunnels before you even reach an elevator to load in. The tunnels are underground and there are multiple exposed pipes, so you have to step over several puddles and everything is soaking wet. The floor of the freight elevator is so disgusting (it's what they use to pull down trash from the floors and I've seen them toss the bags into the elevator and food, liquids and rotting juices get splashed all over the walls and floor. The day we moved out there were actually used tampons on the floor that they didn't care to pick up.

Package System On 17 occasions I had packages go missing. The only reason I know the number was actually 17 is because I went back to tally my emails to the Resident Manager. They do not have enough lockers to put the packages in, so ultimately they throw the packages on the floor for any one to take. Their locker system (Luxer One) is very frustrating in that it sends you a code for your package. On several occasions we never received a code but showed that the package was delivered, and visa versa.

Mice Everywhere I wish I was kidding when I say there are mice EVERYWHERE. In the basement you can see big rats but in the middle of the day no matter what time, you can hear the mice inside of the walls running on all of the pipes. Despite our best efforts to keep a clean home with no food accessible on the counters, the mice get in and eat right through your packages and boxes to get to your food (including your dog food).

Piles of Poop They never empty the dog poops bins so this is what the entrance...