NorthXNorthwest — Local services in Philadelphia

If you want to rent from here think twice. Not only is the 80's era older building ridiculously over-priced, but their newer building is also full of problems.

In the old building, units have carpet throughout and the carpet is so cheap it falls apart as you walk on it. Units have in-wall HVAC which are original to the building. The HVAC unit in the apartment above me leaked condensation every summer and causes the popcorn ceiling to crumble and fall all over the place (I reported this issue 4 separate times but each time they just re-plastered the ceiling). The HVAC units also allow ALL breezes right through so in wintertime it's best if you block off the vents when not in use. That brings me to the windows--they're old, aluminum, and they have holes in the frame to drain water (but this just lets more air in). Every winter I taped up all window edges and stuff bubble wrap in the tracks to stop the draft. You can feel the draft blowing through the att. The breeze will keep triggering your heat causing the apt to heat up to 80+ deg, so be prepared to constantly turn your heat on and off just so you don't freeze or pay out your nose for electric. Speaking of which, the hot water heater was over 15 years old. I played a little experiment once...I flipped the circuit breaker for the heater and only turned it on one hour before taking a shower. By doing this my electric bill was cut in half just by not running the old hot water heater!!

Overall, amenities are poor/limited. When I first moved in they had 2 shuttle buses going into center city, to old city, and then over to University City; not anymore. Once the pandemic hit, they took the opportunity to fire the drivers and park the minibuses over by the trash. They then sold one of the buses so it looks like that's not coming back. No reduction in rent. The gym is ok, it used to be open 24hrs, but once the pandemic hit they limited hours to 8am-5pm (when most people work). I get it, the pandemic closed the gyms, but I should be able to work out at 5am when most are asleep. There also used to be an online portal where residents could post comments/suggestions and everyone could see. It was a great place to learn about things going on in the community and a great way to post classifieds if they were moving out and wanted to get rid of their furniture. Not anymore. The portal was great because it let everyone know the lock on the bike room door was damaged and bikes were being stolen among other things.

Parking. The garage is nice and was only about 80% full when I first moved in. After the most recent management change though, something happened because now it's almost always full. Mgmt gives out hangtags to those who pay for parking but if you walk through the garage you can see many vehicles without tags. Cars routinely park along the sides of the columns where no parking spots are and block 3-4 cars from backing out. One car has been parked along a column for over 6 months without moving, covered in dust, a broken window, and flat tires...when reported to mgmt several times all they say is "there's nothing we can do" despite tow signs everywhere. I also noticed a lot of cars coming in the morning and business people walking out towards the city, guy at the front desk told me mgmt is renting out spots to people outside the community and hoping they can get away with it. Mgmt also doesn't provide separate access cards to the garage, so people who don't pay for parking use their building access to avoid street parking sometimes also letting their friends park over the weekend causing severe lack of parking.

Mgmt has a severe lack of knowledge about what's going on around the complex on a daily basis. We are supposed to be a non-smoking community, but cigarette butts are everywhere and I once walked by a small party in the common areas smoking a hookah. Neighborhood gyms have also using the grill area and the garage roof as workout locations clogging the drive with nonresidents and damaging vehicles when moving stationary bikes. So glad...

The good, bad, and ugly after being a resident for a little over 6 years.

The good. Location! The apartment is centrally located. Easy access to all major highways, public transport & a 15 minute ride to the airport. You’re walking distance from the best restaurants, museums, shopping, and more. Honestly, the location could not get any better. Next, is building maintenance. They’re always prompt to respond to request and pleasant. The views from the skydeck of the North tower are simply breathtaking. The grounds are well kept although the roof deck is starting show signs of wear and tear. Closing out the good category with the building being pet friendly. However, being pet friendly falls in both the good and bad categories unfortunately. The good things are the “pet spa” and having the ability to bathe your fur family when it’s convenient for you. There’s a dog park for pups to let off some steam and if you don’t like the dog park, the area is pretty safe for you to comfortably go for walks with them.

Moving on to the bad, there’s literally hundreds of dogs between the two building & some dogs are not suitable for apartment living. I had two extremely loud barkers move to my floor. 1 was a howler that drove me absolutely insane. Next, the amenities are lackluster. NO POOL. Small gym with only 7 treadmills for the more than 500 units. Often times, the air was out in the gym and the equipment was faulty. The air conditioning on the ground-level did not function properly either. With the trash dumpsters housed just behind the elevators and gym on the ground level, on hot days, the smell of garbage would make its way to the lobby & gym which was a bit of an embarrassment when guest arrived and greeted by absolute funk.

The ugly truth about why I decided to ultimately move on after 6 years & it wasn’t the crowbars used to pry open doors to burglarize units in the North tower which could have been prevented if management had not ended the security patrol it once offered. It was building Management and their lack of professionalism. The amount of emails sent to the residents scolding tenants in recent years was simply unbearable. In the rare occasion that I reached out to the management team with a noise complaint about the howling dog, I was ignored completely. I tried speaking with the onsite property manager Sharita directly before giving notice but was ignored once again and it was extremely difficult to work with Jailyn. She has a reputation with tenants for being rude, condescending, and dismissive which is unacceptable. I paid just over $3k monthly for a 1 bedroom 1 bath. As the rent jumped, amenities like security removal & shuttle service were steadily stripped away and new charges tacked on or the cost of existing amenities increased like parking fees. Although, I maintained renters insurance the full 6 years, apparently building management changed the required language for policies causing me to pay both the property and the insurance carrier for coverage for several months with no refund. And I would be remised if I did not mention the monthly fee that we were forced to pay to receive our packages in the last couple of years. A lot of poorly made management decisions has pushed me on to find a new residence.

So, would I recommend this place? I would have 5 years ago but not today. With paying more than $36k annually on rent and fees, the constant and significant rent increases, lack of professionalism from the senior manager and the management staff, and the lack of amenities, it’s NOT worth the hefty price tag any longer. I was sad to go because I was comfortable and this was my home for 6 years but the time came to move on. If there’s ever a change in management, I may consider checking them out again due to the convenience of location but truthfully speaking, there are many new buildings in the area with more amenities to offer which makes this place feel less competitive in...

In short - I absolutely would not recommend living here. Biggest reason is the horrendous building management. You're paying top rent ($3k++ per month for a 1 bedroom) and treated like garbage. There are far too many nice buildings in the area where you'll actually get your money's worth. My biggest issues why I'm moving are below:

Front desk staff: The front desk staff LITERALLY go out of their way to make your life difficult. They're essentially Phila park authority/power tripped security guard masquerading as "front desk staff". They continually leave the front desk to write down license plate numbers and slap huge orange stickers on your windshield. One time the girl literally saw me walking in from my car outside, hands were full of grocery bags. I came back downstairs less than 10 minutes later to find an orange tow sticker on my window, to this day I still have the residue on my window. They returned several packages back to the sender, even when I informed them I had a package coming. I had flowers and weekly food delivery boxes refused. So yes, they have a front desk person, but they are of no help to the residents.

Fetch/package delivery: One of the biggest inconveniences is YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY PACKAGES DELIVERED TO THE BUILDING! THEY LIED telling me some packages could be sent to the building, only to turn around and tell me "legally we can refuse any packages other than USPS". They use a 3rd party called "Fetch". Please, look up the reviews for Fetch delivery. In short, NxNW, nor Fetch takes responsibility for your packages. In addition, if you have any returns, you'll have to physically bring them yourself to UPS/Fedex/USPS.

Management: The management is HORRIBLE. They will LIE TO YOUR FACE just to get you to sign a lease. The worst of the group being Blaise. He's smug and a snake. I bought a parking spot and his literal words were "we will have an indoor parking spot within the next few days". When I tried getting said indoor parking spot, he said I never said that. When I signed my lease, I had one stipulation that I could have an occasional package sent to the building if it was high value.They agreed to this, in writing. When I had a package sent to the building, the girl at the front desk returned it to the sender. When I went to Blaise about this, showing him the agreement in writing, he refused. His excuse was that leasing agent doesn't work here anymore. The management staff are horrible and don't care about the residents. Sharita the "building manager" straight up ignores the majority of emails and is of no help. Grey star has recently taken over the building. They essentially fired 75% of the staff, but kept management staff (Sharita, Blaise, Joselyn) who are the worst part of the building.

I was reminded why I'm leaving the days leading up to my move out. I needed a cart to move some bags. They recently implemented a new rule you have to give your DL to get a cart. I had left my license at my new apartment. The girl refused to give me a cart, then sat and watched as I dragged bags to my car. When I was hiring a moving company nearly all were booked the day I needed. I asked Blaise if I could extend my lease ONE SINGLE DAY as several companies had openings on the 1st (my lease was up on the 30th). I of course offered to pay whatever additional fee for this. Blaise refused saying someone is moving in. I later found out my apartment sat vacant for nearly 2 weeks till someone moved in. He could have easily accommodated my request, but he chose not to.

It truly is a shame, because I loved my neighbors and the building is in a great location. Long time tenants are leaving in droves. This building is a sinking ship. I'm so happy I moved out and love my new apartment. Please take this warning, do not be fooled by the leasing agents. There are far too many nicer options in the area with more amenities and actually treat residents...