The Olivian — Local services in Seattle

The Olivian is very conveniently located, close to the Westlake light rail station and close to different neighborhoods like the downtown area, South Lake Union, Capitol Hill, and First Hill. It’s a little bit more of a walk to Belltown but 20 or so minutes is very walkable. I love that there are so many cafes and restaurants close by, and for groceries, I can either walk to Whole Foods in SLU, walk to QFC in Cap Hill, go to H-Mart downtown, take the light rail down to the International District to Uwajimaya, or I could drive a short 10-15 minutes to Costco for bulk items. There are probably a ton of other options too that I haven’t listed but the fact that there are so many options just goes to show how convenient the area is.

The actual building itself doesn’t scream modern in the sense that it was cheaply built and only made to look expensive. Some of the finishings are a little on the older side, but that’s a non-issue. I feel like the apartment is well-built. The walls are really thick, I can barely hear my neighbors at all while in my apartment. It is easier to hear people from the common hallways though, but other than that, once you’re inside your home the noise just vanishes for the most part. I never hear my upstairs neighbors either. The wood floors feel pretty sturdy! They don’t seem to be cheap laminate, and if you do a lot of at-home exercise, you can jump around all you want and you’re not going to feel your apartment rumble nor will you probably disturb your downstairs neighbors. (Don’t quote me on that, but I haven’t been called out yet.)

Overall, I’ve been relatively happy as a resident here. It helps that there are some friendly faces in the office. Terri has been incredible! She’s helped me with my packages on more than one occasion when the new package system was being worked on, and she’s helped me when I forgot my keys at home (it was just one of those days). In my two years of living here, I’ve never had to bother anyone so often as I did Terri but she was always happy to help, so I’m really grateful for that. The maintenance crew are also extremely responsive and friendly! I’ll write up a maintenance request and all of a sudden, they’re at the door before I can even press “submit.” (It goes without saying that I’m exaggerating but they...

Lived here for 5 years.

When I first moved in, it was great. The building amenities were well maintained, the concierge was great, and the sky lounge was always open. FYI, the apartment appliances were not replaced/upgraded in the five years though.

Over the past year or so, there was a decline in quality. The concierge hours were reduced (majority of the times I never saw a concierge person in the mornings), the sky lounge was closed because of a flood leak (this is after it had been closed for a year for upgrade), and elevators had a long wait time. The elevators were eventually fixed after about 3 or 4 months but initially the communication was not great. We didn't know when or if the situation would even be resolved. The building manager eventually started sending out weekly updates after a few weeks (probably because of resident complaints).

I would have been okay renewing my lease despite all of these issues, but what really sealed the deal was the complete lack of interest on the leasing office's part to renew my lease. They sent out a generic lease renewal email about 6 months before my lease expires, and then there was no follow up. Despite reduction in building amenities, there was no reduction in rent. When I asked if I could move to any other 1 bedroom units and if I could check out any, Emily (one of the leasing agents) replied with just stop by and shared 1 unit info. They never shared any info about its rent or any of its specs. Honestly, it felt as though I was not worth their time. As a paying customer, this is not the experience you'd expect especially if you have been staying with the property for 5 years.

Also, this building rarely hosts any events. The month I was moving out was when they actually started hosting 1-2 events. Don't know if they have improved since then. I do know they have brought back their concierge service now.This building was great in the past, but for the same rent there are much better options out there.

The one thing that was consistent all these years though were the maintenance folks. They were always outstanding and extremely efficient when I placed service requests. Would always resolve any issues...

My experience was even better than the first time I moved in! I lived here for several years, moved away for one year and came right back. Of course the shining star is Lani Dijulio. She always goes above and beyond to accommodate anyone who walks through the door with a beautiful smile, contagious positive energy and knowledge about every detail about every detail regarding The Olivian down to the memorization of bank routing numbers needed on the application! Her office is behind closed doors but she is ever present to the community with a line of people waiting to see her whether it is regarding a question about the building, the chance to say hello and to share experiences about the day, their lives, their dogs or kids just to name a few. She knows every resident in this building and even though she is part of the management team she is always the first to cover any position to help when things are busy, to cover for a colleague to have lunch or a break, answer questions in detail and most importantly to add contagious positivity to the community. Every resident that speaks to her leaves with a smile, has his/her question answered and knows that the entire Olivian team cares about each resident and will go above and beyond to make the property a home. I met her several years ago when I first moved in and placed a deposit within 5 to 10 minutes because I was certain I would be happy. Sure enough after leaving for a year I went straight back to the Olivian because this is home. She is a shining star. Most certainly she is joined by colleagues that are similar in nature. The manager , Russell, also makes every effort to come out of his office to greet the residents, socialize and of course is incredibly knowledgeable about the property, the city, other properties and Seattle in general. I didnt even have to fully move in to know that the move in experience...