Residences on the Avenue

The apartment has a peculiar odor that has penetrated everything in it from furniture to clothing. Repeated requests to resolve the issue have done nothing. It is obviously something in the ventilation system because it never goes away. The air conditioning in the summer also took a long time to cool the one bedroom unit. 700 sq ft should cool quickly. I can’t help but wonder what impact the odor way have when breathed in. Happy that the lease is over next month.

Incredibly overpriced, no respect for tenants by building. The «sell» their amenities very well when you are visiting and then load you with ridiculous restrictions, fees and limitations after you have signed a lease.

Residences on the avenue has been one of the most enjoyable apartment communities I have ever lived in. Everyone from the front desk to maintenance to the management team work tirelessly to ensure every need residents have is meet or exceeded. Me and my girlfriend have been here since December and each and every day the team continues to surprise me with their high level of professionalism. Especially Ken Fishe! He really goes the extra mile for everyone. I never feel like I’m bothering him and he is simply wonderful! I highly recommend t avenue to anyone looking to enjoy where they live!!!

I’ve thought a long time about how to write this review, so I’m just going to do it in the most blasé way possible. Here is a list of 10 things that happened or that I noticed while renting a ~$ 4,000 one-​bedroom apartment at The Avenue:
1) My next-​door neighbors threw lit cigarettes, trash, and other disgusting objects into my balcony for about a year.
2) They then proceeded to fill the balcony with litter and let their dog poop/​pee in it. The litter would blow into my balcony daily.
3) I saw numerous frat boys treat the (hard-​working) cleaning staff horribly, including throwing beer cans at them.
4) Numerous GWU students would leave rotting trash — and once, a huge freakin’ couch — out in the hallways for the (overworked) cleaning staff to deal with, rather than walk an additional two steps to a garbage chute.
5) Speaking of GWU students, they (i.e. nonresidents) routinely break the elevator to circumvent the key fob security system. This not only allows them to access any floor (a security concern), but it sometimes knocks the elevator out of commission.
6) Despite the obvious security circumvention, I was never given a duplicate key fob, meaning I had to escort my parents/​girlfriend in and out of the building like it was a maximum security prison, every single time.
7) Drunk students would yell at the top of their lungs in the courtyard, echoing into my bedroom perpetually. I once heard every word of a drunk guy getting shut down for sex by an equally drunk girl.
8) A guy in a sports car would tool around the basement parking lot with his (apparently unimpressed) girlfriend in the passenger seat, revving the engine the entire time, and almost hitting a few cars.
9) Homeless people camp outside the main door, meaning that seemingly every time you leave, you are accosted for money or to download an app on your phone.
10) Once the leasing office knew I was going to leave, they began to enter my apartment — without my permission, AND WITH ME IN IT UNDRESSED — to show it to potential lessors.
In short: the students are spoiled assholes lucky enough to live in a luxury apartment. The staff, who work incredibly hard to try to keep the luxury image up, can barely keep up. This place is falling apart, fast, and Bozzuto is too big to notice it before it becomes a serious issue.
I decided instead to purchase a luxury condo for half the monthly cost on a mortgage. Easy choice.

My only complaint would be that the pool is closed and it’s 95 out… I know it’s a city issue, but still wish I would’ve know this before visiting.

The residences at the avenue is a fantastic place to stay. They have a amazing staff and and outstanding front desk receptionist. The amenities are absolutely magnificent and top of the line. It’s a great place for not only for young professionals but also for GW students as well!

The Avenue is a great building and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new place to live in DC. You are not going to find a better building that has closer access to all the monuments and Georgetown, top-​notch amenities and an extremely nice staff.
You won’t need to walk more than a block to get to a handful of restaurants and bars, Citibank or the Whole Foods that is literally in your basement. The leasing office staff (Tara, Heidi, Lexi, Tim and Maryam) are great to work with, the concierges know your name and the maintenance staff is extremely hard-​working and always quick to fix
anything you need.
The building has a good mix of young professionals, families and students, but everyone is always friendly and are fun to meet at events hosted by the building or on the two building rooftops, one of which has a pool and some of the nicest views in the city.
On a personal note, as someone who deals with physical mobility challenges, this building has gone above and beyond in ensuring that the building is as easy for me to maneuver and utilize as possible. They continue to assess areas where things can be approved for me and have always worked with me to ensure all reasonable accommodations are met both inside my apartment and throughout the building.
Overall, The Avenue is a place you need to come look during your apartment search process because of its location, great building amenities, friendly staff and a price point that is worth all the benefits.

Despite the incredibly high rent, this is a glorified dorm for GWU students. Working professionals who live here have to suffer through loud parties, drunk students in the elevators, and interesting «smells» from balconies. Complaining to the management does nothing.

Hi,
I lived in The Avenue for one year, and I highly recommend you find somewhere else to live. There are a lot of other places in the area that are certainly more affordable. The staff is flighty and unorganized. They lost a lot of my forms, for which I had to fill out duplicate copies, and billed me for a pet I did not keep here. Furthermore they are very unclear about your 60 day policy and will extend your rent (and your fees) into the next month without warning. Do not live here, avoid at all costs.

I would absolutely give this building zero stars if there was an option. I was dying to get out of this building and very happy I did. The staff is rude, unresponsive, and incompetent. It often would take at least two email attempts to the office before I’d hear back. The communication is inconsistent and I often felt like I was paying more than the value of the building provided. Whenever I would walk by ANY of the staff, they would put their head down and pretend I wasn’t there. The amount of college kids in the building is a major problem. I was told when I moved in that the walls were «sound proof,» but could often hear music and parties going on on my floor. Moving into this building was a complete mistake and WOULD NOT recommend to ANYONE looking for a new apartment. Do not let the amenities and location fool you into believing this is a good spot.

The one star review is basically consistent with what others say about this place. Moved in end of 2011 and still here. But absolutely have to move out when the lease ends next year.
It is totally like a dorm. And staff working there are really not easy to deal with. I am absolutely not a picky person at all by any standard. Those maintenance people could get into your apt without any prior notice and mess up things. They never apologize for whatever inconvenience they brought to you. And people working in the leasing office are also not polite or friendly at all.
Was too busy to find a new place when I had to renew my lease but absolutely will move out.

If you are looking for an upscale dorm filled with privileged college aged students managed by incompetent snide employees please, look no further, you’ve found your new home!
Where shall I begin…
My husband and I moved into the building shortly after it’s opening in May 2011. The building was pristine, with gorgeous common areas, a lovely pool, working gym equipment, polite and helpful staff. We began to notice a distinct change in the building around August 2011 when literally 100’s of college aged children invaded the building. Packed 5+ into a two bedroom unit, the building became over crowded with teens. Natty-​ice beer cans left strewn in the elevators, food spilled in the common area hallways, vomit (I kid you not) frequently left by the main elevators all night, until the morning staff arrived to clean up after those to immature to clean up after themselves. So inundated with college students, it became near impossible to utilize any of the amenities offered by the building. Want to bring a guest to the pool? That will cost you 20 $ per guest per day. Want to use the gym? You’ll have to do that at 6am, when the college freshmen are just getting home for the night. Of course, that is if you can find a working machine.
Yet, my problem with the building doesn’t stop at it’s clientele. For instance, there was a good 2 month period when the mailman had «by accident» broken his key inside the mailbox, rendering the mailboxes unable to be opened. A full week went by where we received no mail, and I began to get curious as to what was happening. I perused the mail room only to find several bills of mine left out in the open, along with a package of mine also unaccounted for. The building never officially let its residents know about this. 5 star service? I don’t think so…
Or how about the time that a water pipe exploded and ruined two amplifiers stored in our closet, expensive clothing soaked, the carpet entirely saturated by water. The buildings remedy? A fan. Initially when asked for compensation for the damaged goods we were brushed aside, however after threatening to get lawyers involved, they did help to partially reimburse the cost of the amplifiers that were ruined.
Of course, I can’t forget to mention that my balcony was filled with cigarette butts casually tossed down by yet another one of the building courteous residents. Also, I should mention the small fire set outside the building by a stray butt, and the innocent pedestrian burnt by a discarded cigarette…
Then there is the incident, which pushed my husband and I to our breaking points. We paid 300 $/​month to park my car in the buildings garage. An entirely astronomical figure that we consented to pay given I leave for work at very early hours and the
convenience is worth it. However, I came down to go to work one day to find my car window bashed in and my GPS (which had been hidden in my center console) stolen. After filling the police report and an incident report with the garage, I was sent to the garage security. There I found out that the garage security does not take ownership of patrolling the Avenue’s designated parking area. After confronting the Avenue about this, that admitted that they in fact had NO security covering the garage. So infuriated, my husband and I reached out to the building «manager». Days passed with no return phone call. Just an unfathomably low level of customer serve.
Needless to say, we moved out. I will finish up this review with my final complaint. The fact that it took the building well beyond the legal 45 days post vacating the property to return our security deposit. It took upwards of 10 phone calls, threatening, and weeks of begging to finally get our check.
I could go on for days, but you get the gist. The building is a complete and total nightmare. It’s staff incapable of doing it’s job. It’s residents still in need of babysitters. If you earn your living and have a paying job, this is not the building for you. Save your money and yourself 12+ months of frustration.

The apartments are nice, but this is hands down the most poorly managed building I have ever lived in. I have over a decade of experience living in similar properties in NY and Boston. I could go on for a long time listing the many issues I’ve encountered (from broken gym equipment and TVs to rotating concierge staff who are nice hardworking people, but aren’t trained by the management to answer even the most basic questions, to the large percentage of undergrad residents who shouldn’t even be permitted to lease in a building that touts itself as «luxury»), but by far the most serious is that my door won’t lock without enough effort to cause injury. I actually didn’t even realize it wasn’t locking properly until a group of people accidentally walked into my apartment one night, thinking it was their friend’s place after I had lived there for over a month. I spoke with a woman named Beth in the leasing office no less than 6 times about the issue, and two months later, it is still an ordeal to get in and out of my apartment every day. Most of the time, I am unable to lock my door at all from the inside and have to give up and hope for the best.

I’m a young professional who was excited to move into the Avenue in June 2011. It was summer so there were few students around and the building had just opened so it was less than half full. I got to enjoy a few blissful months at the Avenue (notwithstanding the STEEP rent). Then the students came back to town and moved into the Avenue in droves. There may be students living 4 or 5 in a 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom but there certainly are a lot of them driving around in BMWs and Range Rovers. I have nothing against moneyed students. I do have something against obnoxious a-​holes who are loud even during «quiet hours,» walk around hallways and in elevators screaming excitedly at the top of their lungs despite other (more considerate people like me) around them, play soccer in the garage and hit my car causing a small dent and scrathes… you get the idea. I complained to the Avenue management several times but they always said they couldn’t identify the culprits so there was nothing they could do. No one should have to put up with this but especially when one is paying $ 3400 per month in rent in the most expensive building in Washington DC. I expected to live in a classy building filled with respectable neighbors who are considerate run by a management team that is responsive to tenants’ needs. I was wrong. I wouldn’t live here if you paid ME $ 3400 per month.

I have lived here for one year and not renewing my lease. As a matter of fact am moving out. If you are looking for an upscale dorm, then this is the place for you to live. I agree with the rest of negative reports given here. Management says that no more than a certain number of people are allowed to stay in one apt. Well, I beg to differ. There are 5+ college students living in one bedroom whom kick their doors with their feet rather than open them like human beings.
I felt like I was back in college in May particularly when kids were moving out. Trash was everywhere and not picked up after.
Recently I have noticed that professionals are moving out due to the ambiance and environment. Staff have been nice generally speaking. But the frat/​sorority/​dorm environment, not so appealing. I just don’t feel like living in a dorm anymore. Also keep in mind that you are next door to GWU Hospital. Ambulances go by at all times during the night and you are regaled with their ‘music’. Also keep in mind that due to some construction going on, you will be woken up very very early. No need to set up your alarm clocks. We were told by Tara that construction noise doesn’t start until 8 am, well not so much, sorry, but they start at 6 am instead.
I use the gym in the building frequently. Yes, it is packed during the afternoon hours so it is good to go during off peak times. For an apartment of this scale, I am surprised they don’t supply water anymore. They have a water fridge as well as the refill water tank, but it is always empty. The gym now gives the feeling of a cheap apt. building. The equipment in the gym is OK, but half of the time are broken. Moreover, the TV’s in each equipment don’t always work. So it’s not well maintained overall. Plus it is a small gym for the size of the apt building.
Kitchen appliances, countertops, shower, tub, toilet, sinks etc are also cheap. It is all a façade, really. All work on them is poorly done once you start using them.
Pool-​you are not supposed to have guests over unless you pay $ 20. Well, we found out that someone was using our apt # to get in to use the pool for free. Perhaps it is good to revise the binder given to the lifeguard with the apt #s and names.
Thanks!

I would give this NEGATIVE stars if I could. This place is awful. It’s a nice building, but if you want to live in an extremely expensive dorm/​frat house… this place is for you. Over-​privileged GWU students crowd this place. We thought that «no way college kids can afford this». Well think again. They shack up 5 people in a 2-​bedroom. Or their parents pay for it. I have nothing against college kids, but being young and wanting to party and be loud and wear inappropriate clothing in the hallways is unacceptable in a nice expensive building like this. They don’t respect the property, but neither does Bozzuto leasing people. This building will become run down quickly in a few years when they realize all the college kids are coming in and trashing it, and how the leasing management team are also horrible at their jobs.
Now for my review of the property manager David, his leasing agents and the maintenance team. They are awful. After having horrible situation where our apartment was flooded, and our call to the front desk not communicated or taken with any sense of urgency, our carpet was not replaced until 5 days later (due to young college girls’ toilet flooding for hours and it seeped into our apartment). And yes… I said toilet water. We called leasing office that night at 2am noticing the carpet wet. Next day, we had to call again to see what they were going to do about it. Maintenance people took a few hours to come up to the apt at that point, said they would suck up the water, and shampoo everything until they were able to get carpet people in to replace the carpet on the next business day. Well… they took literally a whole 5 minutes that was suppose to shampoo and suck up all the water. The workers were even asking where the mess was. I told them… don’t you see the freaking spots of wetness? Touch the damn carpet full of toilet water. After this, they couldn’t get people to replace the carpet til Tuesday… okay fine, it is what it is. We come home Tuesday — carpet not replaced. No pro-​active reaching out to let us know /​follow-​up, no nothing from David the property manager or anyone for that matter. Just set our expectations! We had to move all the furniture out of our bedroom, which also mind you ruined our bed frame b/​c of the dampness, and we had to sleep on the couch (while having important meetings that week) because the smell was so musty. Finally carpet replaced and… 1) they did not even vacuum the carpet, 2) they put our bedroom door on backwards so we couldn’t even shut the door. 3) they gouged the walls where literally paint was scraped off and punctured holes in the walls, 4) then took weeks to replace any of the molding and patch up the walls and paint that were gouged. (How do you not do a thorough walk through to ensure the vendor does a good job??) They literally left a piece of damaged hard wood floor leaning up against of the side of the wall. I came home and was speechless. Are you serious??? It was horrible. We moved into this apartment and pay a lot of money to live here so we didn’t have to deal with elementary issues like these. You would think you get what you pay for… but oh no… not here. The way this whole situation went down was appalling. And NO ONE from the leasing office thought about following up to see how the job was completed or if we were satisfied. Needless to say, I sent very thoughtful email to David the property manager explaining our frustrations and the whole situation in an effort so he could see how he could improve managing his team. I would hate for a situation like this to happen to someone else. Then when David replied, and called me by the wrong name! WOW. Really??? That was it. I’m done with this place.
So all in all, if you want to live in the most expensive dorm /​frat house ever, deal with rude leasing people, a horrible property manager, and horrible maintenance crew that also cannot keep the common areas very clean while you spend an extraordinary amount of money, (which would be justified if you actually received excellent customer service, sparkling amenities and responsible maintenance issue resolution), this place is for you. Unfortunately we have just grown so bitter and cannot wait to move out. I will not hesitate in telling everyone how horrible of a building this is. If you’re a responsible adult, you don’t want to live here. They don’t deserve your money.

I wish I could give less than one. star, but I suppose the somewhat appealing design of the building and convenience of the building’s location merits at least one.
I have lived in The Avenue ever since it opened. Full disclosure — I am a college student, as are most of the residents in the building, most of whom I know. Based on how they treat us it is obvious they were trying to market to the IMF/​GWU Hospital yuppie crowd. Since day one of seeking interest in this building, the leasing office has disrespected myself as well as the other students I know who live here.
Whether it is out of disappointment that they did not get the tenants they were expecting or they generally have a disdain for students, the reasons for why they are so condescending are beyond me. I have had a terrible time dealing with the leasing office, the concierge, and building security. Upon negotiating the lease, the leasing office was blatantly deceptive with regards to the fees they advertise to the general public. There is nothing that comes for free in The Avenue. Despite the fact that you already pay $ 500 for amenities, there are separate (and exorbitant) fees for storage, garbage disposal, parking, or any other kind of convenience you think would be covered by $ 500. The rent prices themselves are outrageously expensive when compared to other apartments in the Foggy Bottom area, but that’s part of the image The Avenue is trying to broadcast. They’re going for the «elite» crowd — despite the fact that the building is not full and they are having trouble finding occupants (they even leased some apartments as «extended stay» hotel rooms), they claim there is a waiting list.
As far as noise goes, if you’re an adult, expect a noise level. Not only are you literally across the street from two college dorms, but as I mentioned above, the building is filled with GW students. You are also above three different restaurants and a grocery store, not to mention adjacent to a hospital and a metro stop. There is almost constantly noise in the building.
In terms of the apartments themselves, the hardwood floors are very beautiful and hold up to damage, but that’s about the only thing that does. Some genius on the construction team thought it would be a good idea to not seal the granite countertops, and, as a result, my apartment has water stains and o-​rings from the first day I moved in. The vent/​fan in my kitchen is pretty much only for show — any time I try to cook my room immediately is covered in smoke. The bedrooms have a semi-​decent quality carpet that complements the wood floors nicely, but again there is a design flaw — some idiot put gigantic support beams that take up space and obscure the view.
The concierge is helpful when it comes to receiving packages, but otherwise they are completely useless. I have had parties in my room that kept noise to a reasonable level and no one complained but the concierge and security staff blatantly made up a complaint in a sophomoric attempt to shut down the party. Perhaps if the leasing office didn’t treat the college students in this building like a bunch of delinquents we would feel more obligated to keep the noise down, but based on how the leasing office has treated me, I don’t feel obligated to do anything for The Avenue.
There are some plus sides for the building — the gym is very convenient, as is the rooftop pool. However, you have to hit the gym in the off-​hours or else it’s packed, and the rooftop pool is only open for the summer, and it closes at 7 p.m. daily. The leasing office does make an attempt to give back to the residents with seasonal holiday parties and giveaways, but they also spam your inbox with advertisements for spa and gym trainers.
Bottom line, if you’re an adult you won’t like living here because of all of the students, and if you’re a student you won’t like being treated like a worthless human being.

I’m going to go ahead and bump this up to a big fat five stars. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this place after living here about eleven months.
The front desk staff are amazing. Shout out to Jasmine who always remembers my name and greets me when I walk in the door. The common areas are spotless. Maintenance is great. And security really will respond when you complain about a party or an out-​of control dog thats getting a little too roudy (which doesn’t happen as often as I had feared).
The roof is gorgeous. Utility costs are very manageable (i’m guessing the energy efficient appliances are part of the reason my electric bill is pretty low). Rent is crazy expensive – but if you can afford it, its worth it. Also – they have Affordable Dwelling Units, which are highly reduced apartment units for people that qualify in the HUD income range. You should ask about them.
Lets see… basically its awesome. I will do anything I can to live here as long as I live in DC.