Q21 Apartments — Local services in Portland

I lived at Q21 from November 2020 to June 2024. I lived in 2 units beginning with a studio and ending with a small, 1 bedroom apartment with my partner. There was lots of good but also a lot of bad and I’d like to share my experience while living there:

Pros: The staff is super friendly. Anhmy was there since I moved in 2020 and she was wonderful. Quick to help and took care of all of the issues with this complex promptly. The cleaning and maintenance staff would always say good morning or have a nice day in passing and always seemed to be prompt in the first 2 years I lived there. The apartments come at a good rate. Although I think the amenities are lacking now that we live elsewhere, the rate was applicable and the smallest in the area of Slabtown. They updated our apartments to remove the ugliest blue flooring in the bathroom to a white tile look.

Cons: Security and Safety - During my time living here, there were multiple incidents where houseless people wandered into our building. People would randomly leave the front or back door wide open after 9 AM to move in/out. Multiple cars were broken into. At one point, a neighbor caught two people stealing bikes in our bike room (although management added new bolts onto the door). I myself found people putting keying puddy into the doors to try and pry open locks. The back gate was broken for a few days and anyone could just wonder inside. Amenities: Let be real, although there are 3 main amenities (gym, community room, and community kitchen), they aren’t the best. They are located on the 2nd and 3rd floor. They don’t really offer many views. People would trash the gym on occasion or we’d go without sanitation wipes for long periods of time. Floods: In 2021, there was an incident with previous management where a lady broke a sprinkler in her unit. It flooded a majority of the South side of the building. I lived right next to that area and for months we dealt with construction, humidity removing fans, tarps, and dust. It was extreme. A few months later, there was a small fire in a kitchen that caused a second flood. These floods meant that even people below them were affected. Most people had to relocate. Change in Ownership: In 2022 management changed. Although, they have implemented some amazing changes for the vibe and the aesthetic of the building, they forget the people who rent units, are the ones who pay their bills. Often we had attitude from management when having issues. Fire Alarm: I feel like this is a very small gripe, but the fire alarms went off a lot. My cats were afraid of it and had panic attacks through them. Noise: You can absolutely hear your neighbors. I’ll get into it in a second but if you live on the south or north side of the building, you hear your neighbors. Chairs moving, walking, talking, music, TVs, and don’t get me started on the courtyard parties. Apartment Layouts: This is my biggest issue with this space that I don’t think many folks are aware of. I lived on the north and south side of the building while living here. The only section that is noiseless and seems worth it is the middle section (the West/East facing section). We learned that the middle section is actually made out of concrete and has much higher ceilings. The north and west sections, even on the top floor (floor 5 for this section) we had shorter ceilings and no concrete walls. These units are priced sometimes cheaper than the middle section, but they don’t tell you the middle section is nicer until you visit one yourself. If you’re gonna live here, avoid the outer u shaped portion of the building. Vacasa: Yes, there are Vacasa units here. For the most part, people visiting were nice. But a larger majority were loud and would throw parties in the courtyard well past quiet time. Dog and Cat Urine in Hallways: These were spotted frequently and most of the time, owners wouldn’t clean it up.

If this is your first place you are living in your own, this is a good first place to live....

My husband and I moved in to Q21 on May 2019. We recently broke our one year lease and moved out because of the management (mainly Erica). Here is the reason. Our rent was set up as an autopay. Every month we received a utility bill and were manually reminded by an email to pay. About two months ago my husband decided to set up the autopay for utility bill in addition to our rent autopay. In doing so somehow the software got rid of the rent autopay and replaced it with the utility. Therefore, unknowingly we were late in our rent, until we received an email with an additional $100 penalty. My husband immediately went and spoke to Leena. He explained what might have happened to cause this, and she said not to worry and we should speak to Erica and she will wave the $100 since we were never late. Naturally we were waiting to hear from her, until that evening we returned and I saw a envelop on my door saying the same thing that the rent is late. I was very upset, went down and fortunately both Erica and Leena were there. I asked Erica what is this letter and it is so humiliating to get this, and tried to explain what happened using their software, but she was on a power trip and totally ignoring my explanation not to mention her rudeness. I finally called my husband to come down and bring his computer to show her what has happened. Even then she was refusing to accept the software bug and reversing $100 late charge. After half an hour discussion, she decided to wave the late fee. Also, for the FIRST TIME she showed us how to set up the autopay for more than a rent amount to take care of the utility bill. I emphasize “the first time”, because it is their responsibility to go over that at the time of moving. Both of these ladies at the office are not totally there, but they always look very busy!! Anyhow, the apartment is fine and the cleaning staff do a good job. More than likely we would have extended our stay there, but I truly could not stand the management staff and their arrogance. They totally forgot they are in customer service business. Erica desperately needs to take management 101. One more thing, they never answer the office phone, and do not check the messages to...

I lived here for a year and knew I wouldn't be there long so I did not put any holes in the wall and made no noticeable changes to anything in the unit. I specifically asked the maintenance workers if I needed to paint or do anything to my walls prior to moving out and they told me no and that they are only worried about mounting holes and what not. Despite this, I was charged for paint and other various charges related to the unit. Q21 will keep your entire deposit no matter how great you leave the unit. They also have not replied to me in over a month about the discrepancies I had related to the charges. While living there, they were very secretive about safety issues on the premises. We once were forced out of our apartments for several hours due to a fire and they did not inform the tenants for days what had happened and only did after many people asked. They also were not forthcoming about another issue where someone was being threatened with a gun and did not inform us on what was happening or do anything to help tenants keep themselves safe while there were cops swarming the premises. They also allowed hundreds of people to continue paying $215 per month for parking while the parking garage door was broken and people's cars were getting broken into. They allowed us to keep paying and also did not tell the people who park in there that there were cars getting broken into on several occasions. I found out the car right next to mine got the window broken out because it was posted on the tenant portal. There was recently another, possibly intentional, fire that started on the communal grill in which they did not inform tenants about and was also posted on the tenant portal. The building is really nice and the maintenance workers were all great but I'd recommend choosing a different NW apartment building with a different property management company due to the issues experienced and the...