The Melar

I lived in the Melar for 8 or 9 years, basically since the building opened. It’s really a phenomenal building with an amazing staff. Everyone who works there is focused on making it a great home for the residents, and the condition of the apartments and common areas is really terrific. The renovation choices they made have been really good, and the apartment finishes are super classy and high-​end looking (and the apartments are quiet!). The gym is large and modern (and usually pretty empty). You’ll read it in other reviews as well — the guys who work here are the best in the city. It’s a total five-​star building with a six star staff.
So why the four-​star review? It’s a 4.8-star review that I’ve rounded down. The rental office can be tricky to work with, and overall the rents are bordering on unreasonable. My personal experience with the renewal process was very challenging, pretty much every time. The initial renewal offers are generally in the neighborhood of offensive, followed by a period of aggressive negotiating on Rose’s part. I’m not sure why they do that — they could just offer a reasonable renewal at the price they’re anticipating negotiating down to, and everyone would leave the process more satisfied. They can change that approach easily, so maybe they’ll make it less contentious in the future. The only other drawbacks a potential renter might want to consider are the lack of washer/​dryer in one bedrooms, which seems to be unusual for an apartment at $ 5k/​month, and a neighborhood that isn’t for everyone. I loved it, but there’s no denying that there is a high density of projects and supportive housing in the immediate area.
I’d like to move back to the Melar in the future, and hopefully can change the review to 5 stars at that time, if they can tweak their revenue strategy. I get the sense that they fundamentally don’t want to chase people away, so I’m optimistic.
And just one word about the ⁸⁰⁄₂₀ situation. Like I said, I lived there for close to a decade, and other than one person, I couldn’t tell you who was market rate and who was low– and moderate-​income (and I honestly don’t know why that would matter, anyway). It’s a friendly community with friendly tenants, all of whom belong there.

Me and my wife lived here for two years and it really felt like home. The apartment was recently renovated with a great kitchen, and nice wooden floors. We were on the 6^th floor but the windows kept most of the noise out. The gym is spacious and clean and always pretty empty. The location can’t be beat with an express stop less than 30 seconds from the building entrance. But what really made the building feel like home was the staff. The doormen and maintenance staff were spectacular, friendly, and always helpful. Brian, Francisco, Tommie, Juan, Marc, Andy, Jose, and I’m sure I’m forgetting others. Amazing service, we were sad to leave. Rent is definitely high, and was increasing to what we thought was too high at the time we left, but a worthwhile building.

Saw that other review and totally agree, it’s a partial Housing Project! Can’t believe that they give 1 out of every 5 apartments to the city and then charge «luxury» rents to the other 4 suckers. It would be nice if they let the tenants use the patio instead of the school next door. Very nice Rose Associates.

The building staff is great, and we really enjoyed living here.
Unfortunately the management does not treat their tenants as well as the building staff. After one year in the Melar the management decided to make huge increases in the already above market price rents. We got an increase around 25% — with no room for negotiation. In the last couple of month it is not uncommon that you have to wait for an elevator up to 5 minutes because of the moving exodus from the building.
As much as I liked living here, I can t recommend the Melar (Rose Associates) until they have changed management.

BEST BUILDING STAFF EVER. Seriously. You won’t find a set of friendlier or more helpful people. Santos and his team are fantastic. All the doormen knew my name and, after 2 years of living there, it really came to feel like home. Jose, the handyman, was also super helpful with anything I ever needed, from changing a showerhead to clearing out the bathroom drain. These guys know really service — always helpful, always friendly, never pretentious.
Of the 4 buildings I’ve lived in so far in NYC, this has been my favorite. The 1-​bedroom unit I rented was modern, bright, and new (I think I was only the 2^nd tenant to live there). Gorgeous wood floors (not parkay, which I hate), plenty of closet space, including a large linen closet by the bathroom (score!), modern kitchen with an open layout (great for accomodating high bar stools and making the apt feel more spacious), pristine bathroom, and windows that blocked out street noise well.
The location speaks for itself. As a grad student at Columbia at the time, I loved that the 96^th street express stop was right outside my door. That made it a breeze to head uptown to campus in just 3 easy local stops. And if I needed to head downtown to meet friends, that was easy too, despite being so «far» uptown. The 1−2−3 is a good subway line, and Penn Station was just 3 quick express stops away. Plenty of grocery stores in the area and an Equinox around the corner. Also, just a few steps to Riverside Park to go for a quick run. I really couldn’t ask for more, except for a W/​D in the unit :-)
Rosewood is also a good mgmt company to deal with. When I got a job on the east side and needed to get out of my lease early, they said it wouldn’t be a problem so long as they found another renter. Well — they found one in 3 days. That should speak for itself. If you’re lucky enough to find availability at the Melar, I’d jump on it!
My *only* complaint is that they allow dogs in the building. I have no issue with dogs — but when it came to the communal laundry space, it was not uncommon to find dog hairs in the laundry machines. Ick. Other than that, however, I’m a big, big fan of the Melar and was sooo sad to move!

We have evaluated a lot of different apartment buildings when we moved to NYC in 2011. I have lived here for a couple of months now, and must say that I am very happy we have decided on The Melar. Contrary to most other places, the management here absolutely rocks! Everyone from the lease manager, the service staff, to the doormen and everyone else are extremely nice and courteous. We are all on a first-​name basis and know each other. Whenever I have any problems with the apartment, the staff usually takes care of it very quickly.
The apartment itself is very clean and bright given the big windows, and the kitchen and bathroom are very modern. It sometimes feels like I am in a nice hotel. There are even luggage carts for you to use. ;-)
There is a decent-​size gym here that I use every day, and the ability to register guests via an online portal or have rent automatically deducted from your checking account is a nice plus too. There is also a lounge with a TV, and a terrace where you can sunbathe in the summer.
As for the neighborhood, I really can’t ask for anything better. It’s a 30 second walk from the front door to the 96^th subway station, and you are surrounded by (multiple) Starbucks, CVS, Duane Reade, Subway, Blockbuster video.
The only downside I found was that you can only move in big items during business hours (you cannot move in on the weekend), but I suppose this policy is to protect residents from loud noises during the weekend.
Update Fall 2013: We now lived at the Melar for a total of two years, and ended up moving out because of a job relocation back to California. Despite the Melar being a bit on the more expensive side (our rent did increase a lot recently with the general high rent increases in the city), I still highly recommend it. The staff is super nice, maintenance is taken care of quickly, and when we moved out, we got the full security deposit back. Overall, we loved living here.