The Olivian

Highly recommend this place if you never have company over and prefer to lock yourself in your apartment. If, however, you enjoy having company this is definitely not the place for you. Customer service is awful. They will let you know, with a smirk on their faces, that they do not care if you stay or not because there are «plenty of people willing to pay the rent». Not to mention the constant construction noises that begin at 7am every day, and won’t be over for at least another 2 years.

I loved the building but hated the staff. I got out of my lease early (without having to give notice or move out fees) because the building manager stated on an audio recording that she enjoyed harassing me (including going to neighboring buildings and trying to look into my unit). It’s my understanding that shes gone now. I also had a concierge staff member who was sexually harassing me (kept grabbing me and touching me). Great building though, excellent location. I really liked the unit I was renting. Walk-​in closet was awesome.

I have been living in The Olivian for a year now and I could not be happier or more satisfied. The building is beautifully run and managed with a super staff, and my apartment is ideal for me and my needs. Just renewed my lease for another year!

We have lived in the Olivian for 3 years. This apartment building is second to none. The location is ideal. The apartments are fantastic. The ceilings are high, they are spacious and QUIET. I live on the 21^st floor, with the windows closed, we hear almost no ambient noise. There is a nice gym, a great theater room and a full kitchen on the club level.
But most importantly, the Olivian excels in professionalism. Resident needs are handled very quickly. The two managers– Lisa Holten and Lani DiJulio deserve a shout for managing this property!

This updated review is 100% for the leasing staff. Lisa & Lani managed — when I pinged them & told them I was moving back to Seattle — to make the timing work so that I could get my old apartment back!
Aside from the fact that I’m ridiculously excited to move back to the Olivian, I have to give huge public kudos to the folks in the office for making this happen. I realize that some of it was fortuitous timing, but it wasn’t just timing. Their responsiveness to me while the building is nearly 100% full allowed us to make this work.
I can’t wait to come back! We’re counting the days :)

Although it is a nice facility, it is very expensive for what you get. Perhaps this would be better posited as a statement about the Seattle housing market in general, but frankly for the money you can do better.

So, a few things: the building is aging and the surrounding area is developing like crazy. Competition for residents with expendable income is fierce. A few things to be aware of when considering renting here:
1. Construction noise everywhere and especially next to the Worldmark Hotel (next to the Olivian) beginning at 7 AM. Nothing can be done despite all the complaints, of which I hear there are many. The construction results in another unpleasant side effect: Dust on the balcony. A nightmare if you have allergies.
2. UDR is corporate to the core and doesn’t treat you like a person. You are a money bag to them so be prepared to be treated as a number or GTFO. Ever since they got their claws in this building, it’s lost its small community feel and the local staff’s hands are tied even though they are wonderful people (Shout out to Lisa, Taylor & Lani!).
3. Rent $$: This year, the rent increase was over 10%. Last time I checked there’s a ton of construction disruptions, you aren’t the only game in town, and most peoples’ salary increases aren’t 10% every year. UDR’s responses are not timely and they basically think they can command New York City prices. UM NO. Greedy greedy greedy!
Note the OFFENSIVE marketing BS responses from UDR below: «We take pride our community and have been working diligently to make The Olivian a place that our residents are proud to call home. We would appreciate the opportunity to discuss your concerns with you, please contact the management office on 206−340−0809.» Umm… Presumably we’ve already contacted the local management office and they directed us to you (UDR) — You who is now redirecting us to a staff whose hands you know you have tied. You who has treated us like a number and are now trying to give the runaround. Shame on you, UDR! WE’RE MOVING.
Other feedback: Building is in a great location that used to be quiet. It is clean and well maintained but can sometimes smell like dog piss either on the roof where there is understandably a rooftop dog park or right outside the front door (WHY DOES IT SMELL LIKE PEE RIGHT OUTSIDE THE FRONT DOOR?!). There’s a ²⁴⁄₇ concierge and attentive staff that are quite wonderful (NOT talking about UDR, who is located in an entirely different state and is extremely out of touch)! The design of the building is conventionally «nice,» modern and quite cohesive, but it is a little «Las Vegas-​y» in feel with some of its failed attempts to be flashy. It kind of reminds me of the Jersey Shore with its hideous sand colored exterior and glass balconies… but hey, we can’t all be beautiful. The details of the place are solid: Hardware in the apartments cannot be beat in terms of quality (Mostly everything feels quite substantial, from the kitchen hardware like drawer pulls to the bathrooms where you’ll find pretty awesome glass showers and separate baths). There also seems to be an attempt to hold community events where free food and wine is offered.

Oh, where to begin. Well, this is an update to my prior review. All that was written still stands but there’s a sad, horrible addendum which brings this place to it’s knees: the building is now owned and managed by a giant, faceless company known as UDR.
Prior to this change, the local staff would work with you by taking heed of the circumstances around your rented property and did so in a personable and timely manner. This was a rather pleasant experience that yielded results both sides of the table would be happy with. Before moving on, I want to be clear: the local staff is pretty great.
That said and done, let’s do some roleplaying so you can get a feel for what it’s like living under UDR: It’s time to renew your lease and surprise, surprise; the rent’s gone up again. It can only be a little bit, right? I mean, it went up 10% last year so it can’t be that much. This is a cost of living increase and nothing more… what the what?! It’s a 12% increase. Something’s wrong here. Let’s contact someone about this and see what the deal is.
Fast forward a couple weeks because, you know, you’re not important and your email is even less so. Hm, apparently the local staff can’t help you because they’re beholden to the parent company so you’ve got to wait some more while your email sits in another inbox. Why is this? Because UDR has a mandatory waiting time of no less than forever while an email ripens. Maybe we should start looking into renting at other places, just to be safe. No, no… we were promised this would be taken care of. Let’s be good tenants and give them the benefit of the doubt.
Score, we got a reply. Thankfully it was just before our lease expired. What’s the email say? Oh, it pretty much says that we should go sit on a spike and spin. Delightful. Let’s go push to talk to someone because all this polite waiting has gotten us nowhere and it’s now down to the wire.
Hi there, I’m from UDR. Cough up 12% more to stay where you’re at. Huh? You don’t want to because you can’t get any peace and quiet due to the high rises being built outside your window? Well, I’m at UDR’s headquarters in Colorado and I didn’t hear any jackhammers at 7:00AM last Saturday so I suggest you pretend you didn’t either. Oh, the dust and noise makes it so you can’t open your windows or use your balcony? Wait, wait, wait… you want to use things you’re paying for? That’s weird. You’re weird. Why bother with the outdoors when we have so many lovely amenities inside to enjoy? Sure, they’re dominated by screaming children and oblivious stay-​at-​homes but that’s luxury, baby. You just don’t seem to appreciate the finer things in life. Also, don’t forget that we don’t care about you, just your money. Pay up or we’ll trick someone else into renting your place by giving tours while the construction crews are at lunch or after they’ve gone home for the evening.
Oh, now you’re upset that we’ve blown you off fifty times? I’m so sad to hear that but please understand that I was busy trying to figure out how to raise prices on the things you’ve become accustomed to. Speaking of which: pucker up them butt-​cheeks because we’ve got a new water metering system in place to make sure you’ll be subsidizing all those amenities you don’t use. Anyway, time’s up. Better sign this lease because there’s no way for you to find another place now.
And, end scene.
So, this is the second year I’ve renewed my lease under UDR and it’s more of the same: a major rent increase coupled with a stern «shut up and sit down» wall of text about how you should be grateful that you’re allowed such luxury at the price you’re paying. Of course, don’t bother trying to negotiate because, no matter how early you start, you can be guaranteed that you won’t hear back until right before your renewal is due ensuring that you won’t have time to find a new place. Also, if you do miss this small window they auto-​magically push you into month-​to-​month; a whopping 80% increase. Amazing.
Look, I get that Seattle is growing and that prices will go up but let’s be real here: the building’s aging and it is starting to show. Moreover, the constant construction is awful and the fact that UDR openly doesn’t care is infuriating. Finally, most people don’t get a 10% raise every year so it’s a real treat knowing that your housing costs are outpacing your earnings and slowly eating away at your finances. Of course, this is all made well by the fact that UDR couldn’t care about you in the least. But, hey, at least the insides of the apartments are nice, even if the outsides are covered in dust and you can’t get a decent night’s sleep.
All that said, why am I still here? Because I’m too lazy to move. You win this time, UDR.
Oh yeah, I’m taking bets for a pool on how long it takes for a UDR employee to reply to this with some good-​natured PR nonsense about how I am mistaken and that all will be made well if I just reach out to the right person — don’t believe it, they’re blood suckers.

I’ve decided to update my original review now that I’ve moved out and completed my lease. The Olivian is an amazing and luxurious building and a wonderful place to live. The staff is great, other residents are friendly, amenities are top of the line, and the location couldn’t be better. Maintenance requests are handled promptly, sometimes within an hour or two.
Several times a year they have social events that are well attended and we even had one event at the private members-​only Columbia Tower Club.
I do have one complaint and came close to reducing my 5-​star rating to 4-​stars, but ultimately determined that this place is truly 5-​stars so it’s best just to forewarn people of an important issue. It’s great the building allows full-​size dogs, but the hardwood floors are so soft important you can actually scratch them with your fingernail. (I checked.) The combination of dogs on «soft» hardwood floors is not a good one. I even tried putting booties on his paws. Nothing worked to prevent the damage and I take responsibility for it, but anyone with a large dog needs to be prepared for the additional expense at move-​out. For my two-​bedroom apartment the bill came to $ 3,743. If I had known this would likely happen, I may have chosen to live elsewhere.
So if you don’t have a dog, you’ll be just fine and love living here. If you do have a dog and want to live here, plan on the additional expense when moving out.

Have stayed here on several occasions with a friend. The property itself is wonderful and the location can’t be beat, but the service here could be a touch better.
The apartments are top notch and very spacious and they have plenty of community areas for tenants and their guests, such as an exercise room, the computer conference room, the area on the second floor where there’s usually some kind of demo going on, the top floor, etc. Everything here is wonderful in that regard!
Concierge was rude and stuffy once when I was using the community computers on the 2^nd floor and was asked who I was staying with and other questions. I answered all honestly and told the exact apartment number and she very matter of factly told me that this specific room did not exist. LOL. Okay. I mean I guess it’s kind of impressive she was able to lie straight to my face with so much conviction, but so it goes.
My friend settled the matter with the manager and they tried to make it appear as if it were just a simple miscommunication, but I know it wasn’t.
This is a great place to stay as long as you are content playing the role of the type of person they figure should be living here. Been through too much to deal with an idiotic staff member who doesn’t even know a particular room exists on the property.
Will I be back? Nah.

Relocated from SF Bay Area to Seattle for a new job in January 2013, then promptly and happily found and leased at The Olivian. Everything about my experience, from initial tour thorough fine-​tuning after move-​in, has easily exceeded my high expectations. Building, units and amenities are beautiful and well-​maintained; management, concierge and maintenance staff are all top notch! Excellent location, close to a mind-​boggling number of shopping, dining and entertainment options, with easy access to I-​5 and numerous public transit options. Couldn’t be happier!

I live at the Olivian and am a big fan. The units are condo quality and well maintained; I did a lot of searching and it came down to this building or renting from an individual condo owner. I felt more comfortable with a professionally managed building.
The staff is also terrific. They manage my dog walker, the housekeeper, and all my deliveries. If you have a busy life and appreciate having staff available to make things go smoother they are a tremendous help.

This rating and review has changed. I originally rated it one star but have increased it to four after local management reduced our rent increase.
I agree with the other posters in regards to the friendliness of the staff and quality of the building. Problems are handled promptly.
The rent is relatively high but it was in the same ballpark as some of the other downtown high-​rises we looked at.
One thing to be aware of. Renewals are handled on-​line and our rent was increased by 10%. Luckily there was a problem with our online renewal. When the local management staff reviewed the new terms. they agreed the increase was unreasonable and reduced it substantially.
It’s one of those sweet and sour moments. It’s great they reduced it but if there hadn’t been a problem with the renewal we would have been stuck with a substantial increase. A rave to the local management, a rant to the corporate accountants.
2÷22÷12− As I said before, the staff and local management are great, the building is nice, the location is convenient, and the maintenance staff is superb!
If I were a prospective tenant my only concern would be the renewal increases. Apparently we’re not alone as this has been brought up in non-​prompted conversations with other residents.
As I stated in my earlier post, we received a renewal proposal last September with a 10% increase (that was subsequently reduced by local management). We decided to renew for another 6 months. Well, the 6 months are almost up and our new 12 month lease proposal has a… you guessed it, a 10% increase.
We won’t bother negotiating as we just gave notice that we’re leaving town, The interesting part is our apartment is already listed on the Olivian website at a rate $ 600 less than our proposed renewal.
We were told six months ago that renewal rates are set by local marketing factors. If that were the case, then shouldn’t our rates be the same as what they’re offering to prospective tenants? Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Alternate Universe Alert.
Having read some of the comments here concerning Life at The Olivian I feel somewhat disoriented. We have found management and staff to be helpful but not intrusive. Needs such as any repairs to the apartment have been met with promptness and courtesy with a follow up call to make sure we were satisfied with the repair etc. It’s a very quiet building so much so we had to buy a white noise machine for the bedroom. The dish-​washing machine is a bit noisy — my only kitchen complaint. We have great views, nice neighbours and a mix of age groups living here and the get together events are frequent and pleasant. However, if one wishes to remain private one can do that too. As for vagrants outside I have yet to see any and we go out in the evening a lot. I have often seen police on bikes out during the day. Okay, the pet area needs some TLC mainly by pet owners and the BBQ should be of better quality — two valid points. We lived in a large apartment complex for several years before moving to The Olivian, and it definitely had a rapid turnover of residents with a lot of nosey staff and neighbours. Getting an elevator there was many times an annoying problem because of all the move-​ins and move –outs. So, we appreciate this well kept and pleasant building.

Do NOT live here!!! This building is horrendously managed, and dealing with the amateur management team as well as concierges in the building was a complete nightmare. They are completely disorganized and the rules of the building change every 5 minutes, to THEIR liking. I moved here after living in other luxury residences, and thinking that they would have a clue as to how to run a building. Not so.
The apartments are decent and the common areas are fair. The pet area is disgusting and the rules are so ridiculous for using the roof deck that you would rarely want to venture up there, even though the views are nice. They demand that you use a rent-​a-​cop to have 5 – 10 friends over, if you are serving alcohol?!? Ridiculous. This is how the whole building is run. They are so afraid of getting sued, that they take all the fun out of living in such a building.
Then there is the noise. You can hear EVERYTHING in the adjacent apartments as well as in the hallways. A good night’s sleep is a rarity. The parking garage is disgusting, my lovely white sportscar ended up with black soot all over the hood every time I parked there overnight. They even towed my car (!) in error, sent ME to pick it up, and the same thing happened to a fellow tenant because they «didn’t see» the parking decal. Awful.
I spent 3 hours cleaning my apartment before I moved out, only to be charged a $ 500 cleaning fee. Then, one of their cheap shades fell off the wall while I was at work, and they assured me I would not be charged for the rip in the shade when I moved out. Right. I just got the bill for $ 100 for the blinds, and they will not subtract this from my bill.
The icing on the cake? They told me I could sublet my apt. for my last 2 months of my lease, since I found a home that I wanted to buy. They suggested I find a tenant on Craig’s List, I did so, and when I went to them to ask the next step for this Microsoft intern to take over my last 2 months of my lease, they said «woops! sorry! our assistant manager misinformed you! you cannot sublet AND you need to pay a $ 3500 penalty for moving out early.» I have a lawyer involved now. This is a PRIME example of how this building is managed — horribly.
There are too many other nice buildings downtown. Do NOT waste your time on this horribly-​run place.

— concierge staff have been the best human factor in the building though more reception based than true concierge service
— management team is a joke, if not outright rude and unprofessional
— parking is not sufficient ‘good luck’
— amenities are ok.
— architecture and general design aesthetic are great
— build quality is ok, looks good superficially, but wood flooring buckles and the granite tiles fatigue.
— do you enjoy waiting for elevators?
— being accosted by vagrants almost everytime you walk outside the building (more so in the evening) is graining.
— expect some of your neighbours to be whinging yuppies or classless gaudy nouveau riche.
I was was looking for Luxury rental accommodation when I first moved to Seattle. This is anything but that, luxury isn’t about how a drawer open or close. At this price point its about the experience and convenience of living that is the main feature that one looks for.
I lived in the building for 18 months just after the summer of its opening, I saw the place go from a spectacular to outright themeparkesque. Many people that have vacated or are in the process of leaving have described the building as ‘dorm like’ or living on a carnival holiday cruise, but instead of hospitable management staff, expect the German S.S. in demeanor mixed in with the gossiping of the comings and goings of the residents. This place is an overpriced joke in comparison to other options in the greater Seattle area.

Today we exited the Olivian after one years residence. The units are nice, and the building in theory is nice. Our unit was two bed and two bath with approx 2,000 square feet. We did enjoy living downtown and walking to so many great venues. Most of the tenants were very nice and friendly, but those who are inconsiderate and ill-​mannered make it difficult. The pet area is disgusting due to those who simply are too lazy to clean up after their dog. The hallway leading to the pet area stunk so bad from these people letting their pets urinate and deficate in the hallway.
Some very large parties were hosted by a few residents and attended by all non residents. These parties were jammed with people that clearly just heard about this party in this cool building and showed up. You were supposed to have security hired if your party had over a dozen people in the commons area. This never happened and parties got out of control with excessive drinking. Of course inappropriate language was big at these parties.
With a no smoking policy in the building, there would be cigarette butts, matches and lighters all over the place and overturned patio furniture was typical the next morning in the common areas. The inside lounge would be a disaters with beer cups, cans etc. Building management did nothing about this problem.
When you tried to use the roof top area in good weather, they have one small grill for the building. It was an off brand cheap grill that didnt heat well. There are twenty-​seven floors in this building, you think that is enough grills?
The parking garage was filthy with black tire dust. The dust is tracked into the building and makes the hall carpeting filthy as well. In the year we were there, the parking garage was swept once.
The concierge staff is outsourced and those guys were very nice. The management people were way over impressed with their titles and themselves. When it came time to talk about renewing the lease, they were vague about possible increase. I guess they figured if they put us off until close to the end of the existing lease, we would be forced to accept their new terms. We pushed this and found we were looking at a large rent increase.
While we thought this would be a nice place to live, it really wasnt. We found a nice home that is twice the size of our apartment, with a great view of the sound for just over half of what we paid at the Olivian.
In talking with other tenants, many are leaving for the same reasons we are. The market is in favor of the tenant and I would shop other buildings and ask tough questions on policies of common area parties, cleaning the common areas and pet policies. I would think really hard about moving into the Olivian.

The Olivian has the best concierge staff in Seattle! They are the nicest group of people. They are incredibly welcoming and always strive to go above and beyond for their residents. GREAT Work and such a wonderful group in a beautiful building! WHAT A VIEW! Great place to live :)