Locust on the Park — Local services in Philadelphia

Updates as of 4.16.25 Sareen (property manager) has done a good job of responding to concerns.

Also, I had my bike stolen straight out of the bike cage. "Inconceivable"

Original Post:

Would not recommend moving into this building.

I come from a background of Real Estate and would say that this is one of the worst-run buildings I have ever witnessed. Issues across the property include Flooding (which management handled very poorly and never truly resolved) Mold (caused by management's inadequate attempt to dry the flooding, no resolution here either) Mice (Has happened repeatedly, no remuneration offered to the residents by management) Rundown amenities (even though we pay premium rent compared to the market) including poor conditions inside the units, (see the pictures attached when we moved in of pain marks, scratches, even a broken window that management claimed they didn't have budget to fix and handles that were cut off from past robbery attempts which management did not fix) Smoking on the second and sixth floors (Marijuana and Tobacco) which has persisted for almost a full year in spite of resident complaints. A clear violation of the building contract and hazardous to the health of many families who live here Break-ins (Apartment and Bike locker) Broken gates in and out, this is not an invitation, but it's not hard to push open a gate that is not locked. No 24/7 Doorman, even though it was originally advertised, and their sister property, Riverloft, has a doorman 24/7 and they pay less for rent Misleading rental unit postings (you will be promised one layout and get another, including a massive support beam in the middle of your kitchen or only 1.5 baths instead of 2). This was a massive issue They barely put in air filters in the communities (see photo of vent) which they did not have for a long time Gym is run down, have almost hurt myself on the treadmill and smith machine, we have reported this to management several times but to no avail Reviews claim there is a leasing office, but there is no physical leasing office on the premise, you can only schedule a tour. When you call the "front office" you end up reaching the next property over, the Riverloft, and their front office people are very rude and will not help at all for anything related to Locust.

Each of these issues could have been resolved to the satisfaction of the residents if management had properly handled it, but a revolving door of managers over the past year and a half has compounded each issue. Even now there is a new manager who does well to respond to residents, but has no power at all to fix anything around the community or spend a dime to resolve issues.

Now lets explain from a corporate standpoint why AIR communities, the owner of this building, has continued to be okay with poor management. You see, AIR recently sold their whole portfolio of buildings to another big Private Equity company, Blackstone. In order to prepare for the sale, they wanted to increase revenues and decrease costs, so they essentially stopped spending any money on properties, and stopped granting any concessions to residents so that they were maxing all revenues, and would not deal with problematic tenants since they needed high occupancy. So this has made the living experience deteriorate tremendously.

To a few people’s credit: Sareen (property manager) is responsive and nice but her supervisors don’t empower her with decision making.

Update: Turns out we had someone living in the building maintenance room for two weeks, management ignored initial communication for a whole week, and finally took care of it after there were issues directly with their staff. But didn’t worry about it when residents reported it…

Update 06/2025: Moving out, the property charged us almost our full deposit for “wear and tear”. We had patched and repainted the whole apartment, only leaving two small holes which were within Penn “wear and tear” laws, but they charged us our full apartment damage and repainting....

My family has been at LOTP for four years now. I feel slightly conflicted when writing this review. We have felt strong community and made life-long friendships, but I can no longer recommend this complex because of a long and consistent history of management injustices (some of which are violations of fair housing law).

Security issues. LOTP management has been notified for months (since July 9th!) about the malfunctioning pedestrian gate to our building. It does not lock. The building is located in Center City, Philadelphia. Homelessness abounds. Management has still not fixed the gate. As a result, we have personally seen homeless people (and other nonresidents) roaming the lobby and floors. When we bring it up to management, they gaslight us and demand proof. They seem to disagree that the gate is broken! Please see attached video to see how it opens with no lock.

Broken gym equipment. Not to flex here, but I am a gym frequenter. I have never experienced such dangerous equipment – lawsuits waiting to happen. The Smith machine literally gets stuck at random points as you push it up (but it still can move downward!). We emailed management about the risks it poses. They told us that it is older but has no issues. I went to the gym yesterday morning to see if I have been hallucinating. Nope, it still gets stuck. Perhaps even worse, the treadmill will stop at random moments. You can be sprinting on that thing and then in the blink of an eye, the machine is at a full stop. You can imagine the risks posed. In response, more gaslighting from management.

False advertising. The building advertises that there is a 24-hour doorman (which was quite important to us on signing, since we have a young family and live in Center City Philly). There is not. In fact, you would not be surprised to find a homeless man sleeping in the lobby or in the common room at night instead. During some daytime hours, a doorman is present. But I haven't figured out what they do yet. They certainly don't open the door for you. Usually behind a computer or on their phone. Further to this deceptive advertising point, I cannot tell you how many of our friends moved in with a certain layout in mind (i.e., the one they signed for), only to realize that their actual layout was completely different (and inferior). By the time new move-ins realize the deceptive nature of their signing experience, it’s too late to switch. In my personal experience, when we showed up for our move-in day with a moving team and boxes, the apartment was covered in construction – they told us to come back in a week. Finally, please be aware that the utilities you will be paying are astronomical (in part because of the high community utilities). Much more than at other locations. We were gone all summer (i.e., no A/C, gas, electric, etc.), and still paid hundreds a month in utilities...

Mice infestation epidemics, serial flooding in apartments, smoking residents with no management action, etc. There is really no clear way to reach a resolution with this stuff. Management simply deflects. If you complain to someone, they will say they have no power and point you to someone else. That “someone else” says the same line, and the chain continues eternally until you eventually realize that nobody cares about your problems. They will just tell you to hire an attorney, almost mockingly.

If you can live with the above, I highly recommend LOTP. We have loved the location and the friends...

Posting anonymously but DM me for receipts. Management is running this place into the ground. They charge you for everything and the parent company, AIRCO, proudly boasts rising revenues from resident fees to investors. AIRCO’s investment strategy focuses on growth properties and value-adding investments, and as they target higher risk investments like Locust (which was converted from a warehouse), they promise investors higher return rates. They deliver on these higher rates in part by passing on as many costs as possible to residents. You will pay for everything—and some of the monthly fees, which can clock in at $200+ per month, will be characterized, e.g., as “monthly service fees” without any further description. If you complain, as many residents have and continue to do, management will revert to the old adage “we disclosed these fees in the terms and conditions.”

Common area bathrooms are constantly a mess, the soap dispenser in one of them has been empty for months, and the apartment bathroom finishings are cheap. The walls are also very thin.

Again, you need to understand what kind of property this is before you sign a lease. AIRCO’s investment strategy compels it to do the bare minimum to keep residents just happy enough to pay rent and all the fees each month. The idea is that Locust’s location and the attractiveness of the neighborhood, as well as the structural features like the high ceilings and large windows, are the primary selling points and the gamble is that these features are compelling enough for residents to swallow the cheap finishings and high fees. Pay attention to what other reviewers have said. Many residents share these feelings but don’t write reviews because they’re busy or because it’s worth less to them to complain than it is to keep paying. If that’s the kind of experience you’re okay with, Locust does have nice qualities like the ones I mentioned above.

Management will probably respond to this with a similar response to previous reviews. They’ll rattle off platitudes like “we pride ourselves on customer service” but these are empty statements. They’ll selectively respond to complaints while ignoring others and generally give you the run around without addressing your complaints head on and really listening to you. If customer service was really a top priority as is claimed, I find it really hard to believe that the same complaints would continue to come up over and over again. Management does not listen and learn—they placate and defend. I read many of the negative reviews before I moved in and reasoned that every apartment has a few bitter tenants and surely it wasn’t that bad. It’s not inherently awful to deal with bad management, but it is awful when you pay this much to live here. And when management replies that they charge “market rate rent,” go look at the reviews for other complexes of similar caliber. Turns out, a lot of the issues listed in previous reviews have been experienced by us as well.

Do your homework and know what you’re getting—and what you’re not getting—before you sign...