Dallas Power & Light Bldg

I have lived at DPL Flats since 2005. I wanted to write this review before I moved. Been thru several management teams and have lived in four different floor plans. If you want to live downtown, this place probably has the largest floor plans for the money. That being said, you really need to decide what’s most important.
The walls are thin and they shake when doors are closed.
Amenities: none to really speak of.
The pool is regularly rented out for private parties. So even though you’re paying for a pool deck area, it is not really yours to use. There is no consideration for residents facing pool deck. Even on week nights.
Fitness room. Small and needs to be updated
That’s it guys. Unless of course you call paying $ 100. Month for parking
Don’t get me wrong I have loved living here until the pool parties started which by the way comes along with the trash that people who are not residents leave behind. Classy huh?
Now for Maintenance Service. Curtis along with his team are great. Could not ask for better.
Courtesy officer. Don’t bother. Just call 911. At least they will respond.
Office team. Lacy is awesome. If you want it done ask for her.
John is the current manager. Nice enough.
So even though I’ve called DPL home for many years, this new way of treating residents to unwanted noise and the lack of updates to the buildings has made my decision to move on a necessary one.

I’ve lived in this building for two years and just relocated out of state this week, but wanted to put in a review about this place because it was an important part of my life for my two years in Dallas. When initially moving here, I had to make a fast move from Seattle for a job that wanted me to relocate very quickly and I didn’t have a chance to fly down to Dallas to find housing before I had to move. After reading tons of reviews online about every neighborhood and apartment complex I could find, I signed a one-​year lease here without ever having set foot inside and just prayed it would work out okay. I was not disappointed.
I originally moved in to a one-​bedroom unit on the third floor in the Browder building. This is a historic building in downtown, so it’s definitely different than the types of places you would find in uptown. My unit was very large for a one-​bedroom and had giant windows, a huge walk-​in closet, and polished concrete floors throughout. When I entered for the first time, I felt a huge sigh of relief because it was beautiful and way more space than I was expecting.
Being brand new to Dallas, I didn’t know a single person except for my coworkers who I did not want to socialize with, so I decided to try out a building social event just to see what it was like. I was a little worried that the people might be cliquey or too cool for me, but I decided to give it 30 minutes and would leave early if I didn’t like it. The social event was a building happy hour at Dallas Chop House. I was nervous walking over because I didn’t know a single person in our building or in Dallas and I really didn’t know what to expect. I walked in and instantly met Andrew and Naveen, the building social directors who were amazing and fun and friendly. They put me at ease instantly and handed me two free drink tickets and I sat there and got to know about 10 of my neighbors in a very relaxed setting with free drinks and appetizers. It was actually really fun. There were other people who also came by themselves. I actually made a few friends that night and was really glad I stopped by.
The next month, I decided I would attend another building social event. (They have about 2 social events per month — very fun.) It was October, and every Halloween, the building hosts this awesome Halloween party-​crawl through different apartments in the building. Residents can either sign up to throw a party or can show up in the lobby to go on the party crawl. What an amazing idea! I showed up in the lobby and got my little «party passport» and joined a large group of people visiting each stop on the building party tour. We went to about 6 apartment parties that night and then went back to the lobby to vote for our favorite party and favorite costumes of the evening. What’s really awesome about this is that you get to see all kinds of different apartments in the two buildings. We saw apartments that were two stories, penthouse apartments that had hot tubs on balconies, apartments that had amazing views of downtown, etc. That night, I learned that you can pay an apartment change fee and move to different unit if you find one that you like!
Anyway, I made more new friends that night and at the end of my first year’s lease, I ended up moving to the 17^th floor to this amazing unit that I had seen on the Halloween party tour. And the next year, I ended up a hosting a Halloween party myself and winning the prize for best party of the night!
This is the first place that I’ve ever lived where I actually got to know all my neighbors and liked them. The social events were creative and very fun. Maintenance service was always very prompt and well-​done. Marcella and Lacey in the main office are so professional and friendly and can help you with anything you need. My experience living at DPL was the best apartment experience that I’ve had in my 15+ years of apartment living and I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for downtown living in Dallas.

We lived in one of the Penthouse units in the Browder building. During the summer, we could not cool the place below 87 degrees with the A/​C on full blast. There were also times when the A/​C did not work at all. The building did try to help the situation with installing window film and additional vents. This did help a little, but did not solve the issue at all. Our highest electric bill was $ 450! Even during the winter, the upstairs area of the unit still gets up into the 80 and 90 degree range… without the heat or a/​c on. We put up curtains to help, but were bummed that we had to cover up the big beautiful windows upstairs. We also had multiple incidents with our neighbor for noise complaints. This situation was quickly handled by management. The walls are not thin, but if the neighbor has a surround sound system, you will hear it!!! Our only other minor problem was that the heater in the hot tub is only effective if the cover is on. After sitting in it for a time, it begins to get cold.

DP&L consists of two early/​mid 1900s buildings set perfectly in Downtown Dallas. Immediate neighbors of the complex include the original Neiman Marcus, the Magnolia Hotel, the Joule Hotel and affiliated businesses (PM Lounge, Charlie Palmer), AT&T HQ, etc. The buildings themselves are old school with modern touches; 222 Browder is an art deco shrine, complete with beautiful façade work and original lift housings. 1512 Commerce is a more simple building from the outside. Inside, the accoutrements are the same on both sides. Tall ceilings, concrete floors, updated cabinetry with marble counter tops (in kitchen and bathrooms), and lots of natural light afforded by large windows. Additionally, amenities are nice; rooftop pool/​spa with cabana seating, fitness center, gated parking garage, on site event space available to residents (Magnolia Room run in conjunction with the Magnolia Hotel). Most of the residents are quiet, friendly and respectful. A nice cherry on top is the recent reopening of Fuse Japan, an Asian inspired eatery on the Commerce side, which makes for quick, easy, and tasty food.
All the above are very positive items. The other side of the equation, which unfortunately balances those items out, is the management of the property. Apparently the building is run by a large property management firm which seemingly has little influence in assisting the leasing office’s personnel. Whether that’s the case or not, I have experienced far too many negative occurrences since living in this building and am unfortunately considering relocating (I love the space and location but am tired of what I’m about to describe). For instance: on multiple occasions, we’ve had to ask for our rent and utilities bills to be delivered AFTER the due date has passed (not a huge deal because we know our monthly rent, but our utilities vary month-​to-​month); we’ve received noise complaints after being out of town, and after expressing this to the accuser and the police officer involved, were AGAIN accused of the same (the accuser actually knocked on our door instead of utilizing the services available to him, and upon telling our management, they said they’d warn him not to repeat, but they clearly didn’t as he marched back upstairs 3 months later and more or less threatened me, then sent police to my door in spite of the fact that we’d just discussed the matter for 15 minutes) without the investigation being expanded to include the other apartments on the floor; we were served a notice to vacate after our rent was supposedly past-​due for 6 days, and when I explained that we had been on an auto-​payment system for 6 months, the management explained that they didn’t look before telling us we had to leave IN FRONT OF our neighbors, then further explained how little information they’d been given by their management during employee transitions. I understand that they have turnover and that new employees are just trying to do their jobs, but they still don’t give much thought to what they’re doing, and their superiors in the company, wherever they may be, have done a terrible job smoothing things out.
I’m still giving a 3 rating because we love our apartment and where it’s located, but the caveat emptor is included because potential renters should be aware of the current state of operation. I hope that things get better so that 1) we don’t feel the need to leave and 2) I can improve this rating.