West Edge Apartments — Local services in Seattle

This review is based on my experience AFTER the management change; I see that the new team is making a concerted effort to improve resident experience.

Management (5/5): First off, Savannah and her team are highly competent, altruistic professionals. The lead concierge, Isabel, is also so wonderful and friendly, and the security guard, Devante, is so kind! After stressing out about renewing our lease on a tight deadline, leasing was really reassuring. Not only was the process really easy and fast, they were also very fair. I walked away really happy with the outcome; a stark change from when I moved in. Last year, we arrived during our move-in time slot only for management to inform us that the loading dock manager went home. Kaleb turned us away with our U-Haul and cat in 100 degree weather, leaving me sobbing on the sidewalk. Ultimately, we had to stay in a hotel for the night and pay movers double and the entire time, Kaleb was bad mouthing me to my partner and other leasing agents, which was completely unprofessional. We were compensated for a day of rent and a concessionary gift card but still did not quite cover the extra costs incurred and it just left a really sour taste. I think that the management change has been very beneficial because now, I always feel heard when raising issues. The new leasing team is very caring and I don’t quite understand the other bad reviews regarding management; sometimes they’re just dealt with bad situations but ultimately it’s not their fault. I have always walked away from interactions with leasing staff feeling relieved and satisfied.

Location (4/5): On one hand, living downtown has been really convenient as someone who does not own a car. I can’t comment on the parking situation, but being close to transit, shops and restaurants is really what made me choose to live downtown. I love living two blocks from H-Mart, Pike Place, the ferries, etc. On the other hand, as many other reviews pointed out, the crime rate in this area has increased and can feel unsafe. The smell on the streets isn’t great, and at times I’ve been woken up at night by people screaming on the streets. I think that this mostly comes with the area and there isn’t much that the building can do about it except provide 24/7 security, which they do.

Building/Amenities(4/5): The building and architecture is beautiful. Concierge is so friendly and Apollo maintenance has been very kind in addressing my issues with my unit. The trash chute has been jammed up lately, which leads to trash smells building up in places and unfortunately, this building does use Fetch. We pay $20 extra a month for a service that we don’t want and there have been times where my packages were delivered late or have gone missing. I wish there was a way to opt out of it.

Apartment walls are not super soundproof also, there was a time last year where music was being blasted and we had to file noise complaints every week. There were also issues with dirty carpets and suspended water service, but both got resolved in due time, and management has been introducing new policies to handle these. For instance, residents have regularly trashed the rooftop lounge, and management has implemented a reservation/deposit system to keep people accountable. People complain about concierge not being at the desk 24/7… they need to eat, they need to go to the bathroom? They are humans and their shifts can be incredibly long.

As for my individual unit, my only complaints are the fridge being too small and that my A/C unit stopped working during a heat wave. As someone who is super sensitive to heat, it was not fun, but maintenance came back 3 days in a row to try and fix it and I appreciated the effort. For this building, the current AC models are not being produced anymore as well as their parts, so in the future, repairs might consist of complete overhaul which is not current management’s fault.

At the end of the day, there are pros and cons to living here, but for me, the pros have...

In my one year at West Edge, I’d say it’s a pretty great apartment building in a pretty good area.

THE GOOD - The communal spaces and amenities were always well kept which I appreciated. Something I really liked about West Edge that our previous building didn’t have was a 360° rooftop space and the yoga studio with amazing views and natural light. But of all the amazing things about West Edge, my favorite by far is the concierge. They made a clear effort in fostering their relationship with not just my partner and me but our dog too, to the point where he would be excited coming home and walking into the lobby because he was excited to say hi to his “friends.”

The team also started bringing back social events to help build community which was a nice touch to our experience at West Edge. A memorable community event for us was the dog event on the 8th floor patio. Not only did they have a bunch of treats and activities for dogs, they decorated sugar cookies and made sure to have a shiba inu one for our dog :’)

When we first moved in, the building was still using Fetch services for packages which the community wasn’t too fond of, but by the end of our term, the building switched over to package lockers which really improved satisfaction.

We never had any issues inside our apartments. The appliances, flooring, etc. were all very nice and worked well. If I remember correctly, we only had to call maintenance once and it was a false alarm. So that was a huge win!

THE BAD - Almost every experience with the leasing office and management was pretty negative. I've also heard that quality in management dropped significantly ever since Greystar took over as they're not great with managing larger buildings like this.

West Edge wanted us to sign our lease by a certain date and we agreed to start our lease at that date (which was 2 weeks earlier than we needed) if they could offer us specific concessions. They agreed to those concessions but we didn’t see one of them (free bike storage) stated on our lease, so we did not sign. When we asked for the lease to be revised, the response we got was “come on, it’s only $10.” That felt quite rude. After signing though, we did get a nice gift (reminded me of real estate closing gifts).

The worst experience of all was right as we were moving out. My partner was exiting the building with our U-Haul and I was following behind with our sedan. I was idling behind the U-Haul at the garage entrance when the steel rolling gate came down and slammed on the trunk of our car, breaking our spoiler off. West Edge took no responsibility for this as it is written in the lease that you should never stop your car there, but the disappointment came from 1. how management handled this situation (we ended up taking it to small claims, which they did not like) and 2. simply the fact that a luxury apartment building that opened in 2018 charging high rent prices doesn’t have a censor to prevent accidents like this from happening. I do want to note that the issue ultimately was resolved, but it did take almost a whole year.

The location is great in that it’s just a block away from Pike Place Market which is a great place to get groceries, pick up some food, or just be outside, but the building is also just a block away from the infamous 3rd street. If you’re concerned about safety, I wouldn’t consider living at West Edge to be necessarily unsafe, but it does require your extra attention when going out or coming home. If always having to be alert and aware of your surroundings seems like too much for you, then I would steer away from this part of Downtown Seattle.

So would I recommend West Edge? Depends on what you value and what your priorities are. But I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and would encourage you to give it more thought if you’re already...

Adjusting my review as the building has continued to make more inconveniences for its residents. This place seems great as there marketing portrays/alludes to professional and welcoming. When the reality is, they don't know what actually matters in Managing Property. Are your residents happy, are the amenities all available that we say were going to be available, and are my residents reporting things that we have answers and solutions for. Not to mention that the cleaning services that they have cleaning the property, stink up the hallway when I open my front door to head to work, I smell cleaner mixed with body order.

Restricting amenities access hours, elevators not working, and packages are inconsistently handled and most the time missing. This has gotten to the point where now we cant receive packages or deliveries. They struggle to keep the concierge service offered to us when we sign up as 24/7, operating at full capacity. Over the 4 1/2 years that I have lived in this building, I have constantly had issues with package delivery or food delivery. Missing packages, Delivered to the wrong building/unit and there was no ownership of this process. Instead, they have decided to, pass this responsibility to a 3P company, what do we pay concierge for? The new 3P company Fetch Package, biased out of Austin, TX. has 1000's of negative reviews and complaints to submitted to the BBB, to deliver our packages. This as many don't have time to read the terms and conditions removes the liability from the building and Fetch Package. So really how can I get Holiday gifts or how can we get critical packages delivered? Again piss poor management decisions, mixed with staffing issues, and the residents are paying for it. Missing gifts that were sent to us from others, receiving mail form old tenets. Luxury apartments, what a joke. They don't even deliver the promised 24hrs Concierge Service, you cant use your address, You are not allowed to access the Amazon Hub, and are forced to use this service that states they might charge you for the service. This is outrageous and unacceptable. Maybe next time Graystar thinks that is a great opportunity for there business, they should confider the customer. Do the research on the company you decide to partner with. Very disappointing for a Luxury apartment complex, managed by a very large Property Management Company to again pass the burden to the residents that are already putting op with the sub par services that I have been paying for almost 5 years.

The area is very dangerous, if you want to live in an area, where constant danger from the neighborhood and walk out to smelling the scent of pharmaceuticals being burned, then this is it. Mangement does not enforce policies, Management does not care about the building upkeep, and the communication from them is very inconsistent. I give this location 2 more years and it will be converted over to condos.

I have finally reached the breaking point, and am moving out citing:

Building Operations, Lack of Ownership, Maintenance, Staff Turnover, Unclear Polices/Unenforced, Neighborhood Safety/Civil Unrest, Area Drug Use/Crime, Minimal Communication, IT Troubles/CCTV Coverage/ Building Infrastructure troubles (Water leaks, garage (leaking and damaging vehicles)

Good Luck.

I would stay away from this building, far away for your safety and health. As the lease agreement (200+ pages), really is not in your best interest either. According to my attorney this place is borderline bending rules, to ensure that they can keep occupancy at the...