Elan 41 Apartments — Local services in Seattle

UPDATE: it's 4yrs later and I just talked to another person who moved to my building from Elon 41 due to major water leak issues and shady landlords. DO NOT MOVE HERE!

Starting from the first day of my lease with hardware falling off the walls and the requested fixes done wrong (they fell off again)... It was clear that Elan 41 does not keep up maintenance on the building. A couple weeks into being there I started noticing mold on the bathroom ceiling, which the maintenance person just painted over when I requested cleanup (that is illegal per Seattle tenant law). At that time I notified the management that this is a violation and could lead to ending my lease.

There is no insulation in the walls so you will hear all the neighbors including their domestic disputes, booming weeknight parties, and loud sex. Police came multiple times while I was living there (6mo).

Persistent electric problems with the fire alarms either not working or randomly going off.

In April my upstairs neighbor's washing machine kept overflowing into the wall and getting my floor wet. They said they fixed it but it was not fixed. After several more weeks around 2am it was a waterfall through the ceiling/over the electrical box as well. It took them multiple weeks to attempt a fix and they refused to admit mold and did not take proactive moves to cut into the ceiling and more rapidly dry it out. I had to do that. The contractor who evaluated said mold could start growing in three days so my impression was that it was moldy. I moved out in June and while moving out saw piles of debris and the wood in the wall which definitely had mold on it. Took photographs. I had to get a doctor's note and CC my attorney to get out of the lease but thankfully they let me go with no repercussions (why this is a 2 star not 1 star review).

It seems that the office staff were nice but their bosses are terrible and don't fund the complex.

Additionally, the trash room is a health hazard. They do not provide adequate bins/entry points for anything (recycling, trash, and compost) so when things are blocked or frequently full, the room is just piles and it flows out the door and into the courtyard. I contacted waste management, the city, and informed the building office. The city said they need to pay for appropriate bins and waste management has reported them too. The building office said they are working on it and occasionally the maintenance guy would clean but residents said this is an issue that goes back years.

Shortly after moving in I also started to see a large amount of cracks in the paint and ceiling of all the walls, signifying that the building's foundation is damaged. There was a very intense wind and rain storm which caused the cracks to increase.

It is a bad decision to move here, despite the cheaper price for the size, don't do it. It's not safe. I regretted the decision and...

Finally processed the move out, took long enough. They didn't even out our new address on the deposit check so it arrived after the legal window. They also took out 50% more than average utility costs for our final month, 102 for March and 153 for April. Can't contest as they shut down our access to the rent pay site asap without disabling notifications or anything. I am so glad to be moved out.

The office here is about as clumsy as it gets from not having an online or working maintenance system (you have to email the office and the ticket system via rent pay site goes to a black hole) to mixing up our renewal letters with an illegal rent increase. We also had a package delivered possibly to the wrong address and had no recourse through the office and had to charge back the purchase after getting he run around from everyone, including the cold shoulder from the office. I ended up having packages delivered to my work or the Amazon locker at Safeway because I couldn't trust the office systems. Parking is a whole other issue as the city recently expanded 2 hour parking so we had to leave our cars several blocks away and even then had them towed a few times as any car left for more than 7 days is considered abandoned and the locals are happy to report your vehicle. Consider setting aside $600 for a random tow if you don't pay the exorbitant amount for a spot on the garage.

Although the apartments are definitely nicer, the stairways up are always gross with trash, half empty bottles, and worse including broken glass spread around for months. People don't clean up after their pets quite often either. I would call the exercise equipment cheap especially when the novelty boxing machine was constantly broken or out of order.

Interior design was not a priority. Our kitchen sink couldn't turn all the way hot as the handle hit the counter and marked it up. Most choices appeared to be picked for their low cost including a new dryer that couldn't dry a full load out of the washer and a lack of overhead lighting. Where there was overhead lighting, it was dim or not effective like of you stand at the sink the sink itself is shadow.

Overall, I would choose a different location of given the chance. From the office mix-ups and low quality support (you aren't their priority) to lack of clean/safe stairwells and other issues, this place just isn't "luxury" other than the location. And even then parking is a pain.

Edit: not worth replying. Delaying deposit refund isn't part of policy, it's illegal. We didn't report it to just move on. The lease renewal mixup also borders on illegal as it was an illegal increase if meant for us. If we didn't know our rights we might have signed off without knowing they were breaking the law with a cover story on the mixup if asked,...

When we initially moved in it was rushed only for the apartment to not be ready. The communication with management was terrible which made the move in process a little more stressful than it should’ve been but as far our stay went, we LOVED living at Elan 41.

Carl is an absolute star! I imagine there are a lot of management shifts but Carl does an amazing job at communicating and remembering small details that we asked for. I feel like I need to give 5 stars because someone being available and does his best trying to resolve issues despite things being out of his control.

Pros: Location, the view, for the most part the units have space and are mostly updated, mostly quiet, very comfortable living space. Staff (Carl is great!), cool grill area, pet friendly, pretty private since it is closed off.

Cons: Elevator broke often (we lived on the 3rd floor so that was a lot of stairs from the parking lot), the parking garage is not owned by the building so you pay extra for parking $150/parking spot per month. It can get noisy sometimes above the Safeway, but it’s close to the city what do you expect?

Neutral: I guess if you’re looking for a community, this place isn’t really community oriented. It’s mostly working class people and I think they just work and come home and keep to themselves. However people are friendly enough.

Overall we had a great experience...