Views from the 51st Floor

Dryer vents into the apartment? Really? Wow, that’s bad.

I live here and it’s been disappointing. Rents are higher than listed. Layout ended up hard to work with. Heat/AC units take up a lot of space, cause big electric bills, and don’t work well, or sometimes at all. A lot of us who live here were told half-truths, so beware when looking here that things may not be what they seem. Tenants haven’t been allowed to see the roofdeck and for the party the building was spruced up with temporary plants etc that speak to a general feeling of bait and switch. Many floors are still construction sites despite promises they would be papered and carpeted long ago: outside your unit it may be dirty drywall and concrete, sawdust and graffiti. Bike storage is not available, along with other amenities listed on the website. The gym is poorly maintained and sometimes without AC. Construction has been crazy noisy and sometimes it’s a long wait for elevators shared by the hard-hat set. I’ve had several maintenance problems, received mistaken paperwork, and am beginning to expect more problems. Some people were told their unit wouldn’t be ready for move-in on the date they signed for; I showed up on moving day and waited hours before getting a key. Pet owners are frustrated because security guards are hassling them in the adjacent paved outdoor area, private property of metrotech businesses. Because it’s in a secure area you can’t drive up to the building, which can be very inconvenient. People are complaining that it’s impossible to keep unsealed tile floors and cheaply painted walls clean. If you have laundry in your unit the dryer vents into the apartment, making it pretty unusable in summer. Your newspaper will not be delivered to your door as the website states, but when you come downstairs to get it you can get coffee from the machine that is standing in, indefinitely, for the coffee bar the website describes. The best thing about living here so far is that the people who work here are genuinely awesome, and none of this stuff is their fault. But the owners seem out to coax us in with a nice facade then nickel and dime us in the details. I guess that’s just how it goes, but as someone very disappointed I want to warn those still looking to look carefully.

I live in a corner unit at The Brooklyner with fantastic views. I love it. My friends love it. My dogs love it. And I enjoy experiencing the different vibes and personalities of the surrounding neighborhoods. It’s great. I really have no complaints. I don’t get all the negative comments on this building. Oh well. (Before Brooklyner, I visited Gold and Avalon. Both were lame.)

DH — “Slaving away in an undoubtedly windowless room making organic quinoa for my friends”

Really… not planning on keeping these friends, eh? 🙂

That they are, 11217 and indispensible for tea bagging.