Anti-Recommendations - The Consulate

The Consulate - DC - Posts from 2007
1. I've been living at The Consulate for almost 3 years now, and though I was initially happy here, I've experienced enough problems that I'm really looking forward to moving. The pros of living here have been the convenient location . . . However, the cons have slowly added up to the point that this place is no longer worth the now overpriced rent.

The cons that have driven me away include . . . the neglectful, nonresponsive, and disinterested Management of the building. When my air conditioning failed to work properly in the height of the horrendous DC summer heat, I had to battle it out with them through repeated emails and service requests and unhelpful "repairs" before they finally replaced my HVAC unit with one that actually works. . . . . My electric bill for my small 1-bedroom apartment was almost $250 one month! And yet the building maintenance and management team tried to tell me that it was working fine. Only through persistent complaints did I finally manage to get a functioning air conditioner.

In the past year, Management has replaced all the washers & dryers with new ones that are more expensive per load yet have fewer cycle options; they installed a laundry charge card machine that failed to work for months (and yet they never informed residents that it wasn't working, nor updated residents when it finally was working); they wasted who knows how much money on an unappealing renovation of the previously lovely lobby . . . they began construction and renovation of the pool and tennis court only after the pool failed to drain after last summer and sat stagnant like a cess pool for a couple of months (again, residents received no communication at the time regarding why we were staring out our windows at said cess pool) . . . they have been in the process of replacing the old, nonresponsive elevators for many months now and so far not even one replacement elevator has been installed . . . And despite all of the frustrations over the past year, they dared to inform residents that the next rent increase would be at least $200/month for a 1-year lease (higher for shorter term leases)!! That's approximately a 14% increase in just one year -- completely unreasonable under the best of circumstances, let alone after experiencing such deficient service and living conditions.

The general theme of most of the cons is the neglectful attitude of the Management, which manifests itself in different adverse ways on a daily basis. Of course, maybe I should thank the Management Team for motivating me to finally get out of here and buy my own place!

2. I've lived here for 3 years so I guess it can't be that bad! The location is great--the metro is steps from the doorway along with a CVS and newly renovated Giant. The things we really loved when we moved into this building were the following: 1)Pool; 2)Exercise facility; 3)Doorman; 4)Friendly staff. Since moving in, the quality of all of this has plummeted. The pool opened an entire MONTH late this year! We pay a premium to live here and not having that amenity for an entire month was outrageous. The TVs in the exercise facility were broken for months--we had to shove pencils into the holes to try to change the channel and turn them on and off--a bit ridiculous when you're paying over 2 grand in rent per month. I have never seen any of the current door people ask anyone who is not a resident to sign in. There was a break-in recently. Big surprise! The people at the desk--one woman in particular--are unfriendly and act bothered when you ask questions. Besides that, the place has been being renovated for about 2 years now! The elevators are slower than any I've ever seen. The lobby when we moved in was rather stately, with a big chandelier and bright walls etc. With the new "renovated" look, it feels like a dungeon (gray brick walls). It is sad because it's a really great location and the first year was so great. Hopefully they can pull it back together. If you move in, just be prepared to pay extremely high rent for substandard service.3. You will regret moving to the Consulate. I have lived there for four years and am moving out in about a month. I was happy with the place up until our last year here. When we signed our last lease, management gave us no warning at all that they had plans to do construction on the pool within the next several months literally right outside of our apartment. The jackhammering for the pool construction went on for about 6 months. It was so loud in our one bedroom apartment, my fiance and I had to yell to hear each other across the room. Watching TV was not even an option -- our TV wouldn't go up loud enough to hear it over the noise. The vibrations from the jackhammering broke several items in our apartment. It was absolutely hell. . . . The apartment management treated me very rudely when I asked for a rent abatement for putting up with their construction noise. We received no rent abatement, and in fact every year I have lived here with the exception of the first year, they have increased our rent significantly. For what the Consulate charges, there are much better finds in the city. . . . Almost everyone I know that lives here right now is planning on moving out as soon as their lease is up.

Also, like other people have written, the electricity bill is outrageous. When you're figuring out rent, add at least another $150 each month to equate for the added cost of electricity that you would not pay elsewhere. So, if you take my situation -- we pay $1450 for rent for a one-bedroom, $150 for parking, and an extra $150 for the added cost of electricity, we are paying about $1750 to live in this crap hole.

If you want to know the good things, the maintenance is pretty good, the desk people in the lobby are nice, the neighborhood is safe and close to the metro. But if you're looking for those things, I'd look at one of the other apartments down the street.

4. My electricity bills this winter averaged about $300 a month. This is outrageous for a one bedroom apartment. I use very little electricity and always keep my thermostat at a reasonable temperature. (Even if turn your thermostat up on very cold days, your apartment will still be freezing cold because the heat pumps are so old and inefficient and the building is so poorly insulated. I spent most of the winter having to wear two pairs of wool socks and long underwear to keep warm in my apartment, yet I was still paying $300/month on electricity. I called maintenance repeatedly to look at the heat pump, but nothing they did made any difference in my electricity bill or in the warmth of my apartment.)

If you don't mind noise and outrageous electricity bills, the Consulate isn't a bad place to live. But I do mind these things and can't wait to move. I also have heard that people are moving out because rents are being raised significantly.

5. [Poster liked it except for...] I lived at The Consulate for 15 months and never really had major problems except the following;
--When my A/C was working correctly, my electric bill was almost as much as parking.
-- When my A/c was not working correctly I had the honor of a lower electric bill and a small pool in my living room where the drain pan deposited the condensation.
-- The last three months I lived there I was paying more in rent than my parents pay in a year for their house payment (rent went up almost 30% from when I moved in till when I left).
-- Parking price is ridiculous. You will soon notice that the garage is almost completely empty because the fee is too high. Why they don't lower the price and fill up all the spots, is a mystery to me.

6. I lived in the Consulate for several years. Loved the big apartments, the "sunken" living room and long balcony with entrance from living room & bedroom. Also the big bedroom window. I liked it enough that I would not have left except management increased my rent by over $300/month. When I asked about rent control they assured me that since they were a newer building, they were exempt.

From another site

7. I moved into the Consulate because the management seemed friendly and I was under the impression from the advertisement and management's representation that part of the bills were paid by the Consulate. I asked several times what was paid and the answer was always the Consulate paid the gas bill - when I asked what in the apartment was gas, I was told 1) the heat 2) the water heater 3) nothing (the only thing that is gas at the Consulate is the back-up generator according to my third conversation with management).

I was told by management before I moved in that the electric bill would average about $130 for the apartment but I have never had a bill even close to that. My average was $212 and once had a $300 electric bill. Since I'm only home for about 2 hours in the evening before I go to sleep and 1 hour in the morning before I leave, this was unbelievable. The apartments are not well insulated (evidenced by the constant breeze you could see and feel near the sliding glass doors that are in every room), which causes the apartment to be an "energy-suck".