808-812 Memorial Drive Apartments

Let’s start with the good parts. Convenient location, OK amenities, gorgeous river-​view (yet quite noisy since it faces memorial drive, storrow drive, and I-​90), good-​size floor plan, and reasonable rent for a 40+ year-​old apartment.
BUT…
In 812, you will see 19 floor buttons in the elevator. But don’t let it trick you into thinking that 19 is the top floor. I learned it the hard way. I lived on the 17^th, thinking that there are 2 more floors above me. However, in the river view apartments in the west wing, the 17^th floor is actually the top floor. If you go to the 18^th, you will see no rooms on this side of the building. So a building built in the 70s and top floor? It means water leakage all year. It has cost me a laptop. Every time there is a leakage, we call maintenance. They usually come to check it out the next day and say they will try to fix it when the rain stops. And the only way to check if they have really fixed the problem is to wait till the next time it rains. Most of the time, the place they fixed no longer leaks. Yet you will find a new leak in your apartment. Right now, the water has been dripping from my kitchen cupboard for two days.
The complex became a smoke-​free community since August 2014. However, don’t be surprised if you smell someone smoking (cigarettes or weed) in your room or hallway. It is very hard to tell where the smell comes from if you only smell it in your room. It means that the smell comes from the ventilation in your kitchen/​bathroom that connects with other units. There is no use to call management because a) it’s usually not from a unit on your floor so they can’t find who’s smoking, b) people smoke during nights or on weekends when the management office is closed. If you call the office, you get transferred to a line of winn residential, which oversees several properties in the area. The person answering the phone could do nothing but take a note of your complaint.
The trash room always smells bad. The garage elevator was down for several months earlier this year.
The package pick-​up area is open. I’ve lost an iPhone 5s and two Sephora packages (over $ 700 value) during my less than 2 year stay here. Luckily, I bought insurance for my iPhone package and Sephora credited back the money after several phone calls to customer service. Send valuable stuff to your work place or any place safer.
Among all things, the leakage bothered me the most. However, the management office says that even moving to another unit in the complex is also considered a lease break.
— — — — — -Conclusion — — — — — –
It is not a terrible place for graduate students and young professionals. Just make sure the unit you rent is not on the top floor! Double check it by going one floor up to see if there is a unit above you. 17, 18, and 19 can all be top floors.

Well why the 1 star. Cause there isn’t a zero star available.
The good parts, excellent location and view of the Charles River. Thats it.
Now the building is terrible and old. They are rated ‘C’ by the city, that should tell you a lot.
The utilities (all of them) rarely work. e.g. the parking garage elevator has been broken for over 2 months. 1 of 2 elevators (19 floor building) is almost always broken. So if you live on the 18^th floor like me you will get plenty of exercise :). The roof leaks and the sink and tub clogs all the time. The gym machines haven’t worked in ages.
The management is totally inept and unkind to tenant needs.
The community haha thats the worst part. It is full of rif rafs and drunk people. The cops are here so often that you would think it is the Cambridge Police Station branch.
BTW the claim to fame of this building is it had people who had helped the BOSTON marathon bombers.
I cannot wait for my lease to get over this summer and get out of this over priced shithole.