The Metropolitan — Local services in Washington

I lived at the Metropolitan for two years in two different units. While they are the most affordable apartments you'll find in DC for a “luxury” rent controlled apartment, there are a few pitfalls.

Each summer, the AC (wall units, not central AC) would leak. Maintenance was fairly delayed in resolving this issue both summers (due to volume of maintenance requests coming in), and did not replace the fan in one AC unit this last summer after multiple requests. During peak heat, the bedroom with this faulty AC unit was at a steady 78 degrees, though the AC was running on full blast. Having three different wall AC units in our two bedroom apartment led to some hefty electric bills. We paid $300 a month during the summer because if you don't keep all AC units running, the apartment starts to warm up, this is not the fault of the staff but the parent company of the metropolitan simply needs to update to central AC.

Maintenance delays can be common here, and folks should expect ~3-7 business days to have requests acknowledged. This may be standard for rent controlled apartments, but was a bit slower compared to other complexes I’ve lived in.

While each unit contains a 2-in-1 washer/dryer, these are very difficult to use if you are not used to it. In order to wash and dry properly, the load needs to be about 1/3 of the standard load size and takes multiple hours to dry (anywhere between 6-12 hours). While the Metropolitan has a laundry room of full size washers (4) and dryers (5) for the standard price, more times than not, at least one machine has been out of order.

To ensure security, you are only able to pick up packages when the leasing/management office is open. I understand their thought process, though this can be difficult for folks working 9-5s with long commutes. There were a few occasions when folks were given our unit’s packages, but that is understandable human error when using a system like this.

While there is a call box on the outside of the building, it is not updated regularly and therefore you can't open the door remotely for your guests. And with the new door locks recently installed in all units, there was supposed to be a mobile option for locking/unlocking your apartment door. This would have been very convenient, but requests for this seemed to overwhelm the management office staff during the system change.

FYI that this building is NOT located in a super walkable area. If you are looking for the "DC experience" where you can walk 10 minutes and be by a bunch of restaurants and pick up your groceries around the corner, this is not the apartment complex for you. There is a small market that is close that you can grab some essentials but certainly not your entire grocery list and there are a few take out restaurants in the area but that is it. This is a good place if you just need a place to store your stuff and sleep. When I was working 12 hour days, that was fine but if you want to experience all that the city has to offer, I'd recommend renting elsewhere. Also, they always raise rent by $100 and we noticed that they were charging less to get someone to rent our apartment after we committed to leaving even though their offer to us to resign our lease increased our rent. It's all about profit which is really annoying considering this is a rent controlled building. I definitely recommend that if you do move here and this happens to you where they keep raising their rents even though they are offering a lower price to get folks in to bring to your city council member because you're able to negotiate your rent in a rent controlled building.

Overall takeaway is that the staff in the building were great, I adored all of them it really is their parent company - Dreyfuss Management that needs to hire more staff and invest more in the building to resolve many of the issues...

I've lived here since September 2021, and I agree with all of the negative reviews here. If you'd asked for my opinion 2-3 years ago, I would've rated it highly. However, things have gone downhill considerably since then.

A few things: -Rent increases: Despite this being a rent-controlled building, Dreyfuss will increase your rent to the maximum they're allowed. Since I've been here, they've made no improvements to the building. Well, unless you include the crappy furniture in the lobby that hardly anyone uses and the new vending machines selling overpriced detergents, candy and snacks.

-Upkeep: The elevators break down frequently, and I've heard some people have been stranded. I'm on the third floor and always try to take the stairs when I can.

Apartment features: They have a nice vintage design, but appliances are showing their age. Each one has a very outdated European-style washer/dryer combo. They're loud, break down frequently, and often take a long time to dry your clothes. Mine has broken down once a year and it usually takes weeks before it's fixed. There are newer, quieter versions that dry better, but Dreyfuss just doesn't care. There's a laundry room, but many of the washers are frequently offline.

Security: There's no 24-hour concierge and a lot of times random people are allowed into the building by residents. I've seen some shady characters around here. Also, some of the side doors don't lock securely. Packages are frequently stolen, even in broad daylight.

Management: The staff who were here when I moved in are good and work hard to keep this place running. The problem is the new building manager, who isn't friendly and is hardly around (unlike her predecessor). It can take a while for maintenance requests to be handled because there's only one person; Dreyfus refuses to hire anyone else.

Also, the office is frequently closed at odd times during the day and closes early. I guess they just decide to go home and don't bother to tell anyone. Quite a few times I've had packages delivered and have been unable to get them because no one was around. Just today I went to get packages at around 4:30 pm. The sales office and management offices were closed and locked up.

Residents: Lately people have been moving in who are loud, smoke weed, leave trash in the hallways, fight with their lovers, etc. I feel sorry for the cleaning crew who have to clean up after the messes these pigs leave behind.

Location: It's about a 12-minute walk to the RI Metro Station. I got rid of my car earlier this year, and generally don't mind biking or walking to where I need to go, or walking to the Metro. However, if you don't have a car and can't/don't want to walk or bike, then this place isn't for you. Also, there's more stuff around here than there were, like breweries, a movie theater, a few restaurants, but there still isn't much around.

I could go on, but you get the idea. I've spoken to other residents who've complained to the highest levels of Dreyfuss and they don't care. Nothing will change, so I'm leaving.

For what Dreyfuss is charging in rent, you can find a newer building with more amenities. It's sad because the building itself is nice and has potential, but it...

Current resident for almost two years, but reluctantly starting to look at new places due to terrible property management... Simply put, these units are not even close to worth their cost of rent, and management is definitely going to try to surge prices again to make up for post-COVID losses they continue to fail to recoup as the list of vacant units grows. The cycle will continue until Dreyfuss (the corporate parent company) either gets a clue, or gives up and sells the property to another firm. Other tenant reviews (dating back to well before I moved in) indicate that Dreyfuss Management is lazy and wholly uninvested in running this specific property well, despite high regard for the management of their other properties in the area. And as far as I can tell, that is still 100% true for this property. Dreyfuss treats this building like an afterthought, and onsite staff is just doing their best trying to keep it together with zero support. (That's if you can even catch them in the office, though.)

Dreyfuss has gotten repeated complaints about inaccessible and inconsistent mail/office hours, key restrictions that cause serious safety issues, and more, but the regional manager Meaghan Pacious is largely unresponsive and uncommunicative. These issues have persisted for years, and yet, not a single thing has changed. The higher ups that ignore these problems cause them to become further exacerbated by high onsite staff turnover and overwhelmed maintenance management. As a result, the feedback residents repeatedly provide is completely and cyclically ignored and unaddressed until the tenants just give up and leave, and it starts all over again.

For some topical examples, the gym has two machines currently broken, (it's been about six months now) and no indication has been made on when that will be addressed. And when someone broke into the lobby a month or so ago, there was no communication or acknowledgment whatsoever that 1) it happened, nor 2) that the front entrance door was no longer closing. So much for keeping residents safe? There wasn't even an update when it was finally fixed, and basic communication really is the bare minimum.

So all that to say, priorities are just not at all aligned with residents' needs. If you're in the market for a new place, I'd suggest saving yourself the trouble and looking at one of Dreyfuss's other properties... it'll be painfully obvious which ones they care enough to put time and resources into managing well. Sadly, this is just not one of them. Plus, seeing as WMATA is changing all the buses within the next year anyway, commuting value (and actual property value) here is going to plummet. A shame, but it...