Metropolis Towers Apart

This apartment complex is so nice! Every apartment I have seen is neat and clean and the realtor who showed me around, I believe her name was Desiree was very nice and thorough. I expressed to her my concerns with the reviews I saw on Unilocal and she was honest in the fact that as long as I maintained my apartment and kept it clean there shouldn’t be an issue. There seems to be a large population of people in the building that aren’t so tidy and that’s why these issues had arised but I was assured it was taken care of by management themselves who was also very kind. The apartment is not only spacious but very convenient to all the downtown stores and nice restaurants, and the laundry room is great, along with having a gym inside the building! Every place is going to have its mixture of good and bad reviews but it is up to the person renting the apartment to be a good judge on the situation they are getting themselves into. Granted, these buildings have numerous floors, maybe I just got lucky on the floor and building I am in, but so far I have no complaints! having a little balcony with a beautiful view is also a great perk might I add! :)

I know this building has a roach problem so I have an exterminator come every month and I spray and I use peppermint oil which is supposed to prevent roaches from coming in. I don’t even cook or eat in my apartment (you can just imagine how much money I spend on food). Even with all these precautions I still see roaches that are huge but are dead or almost dead from all the Raid and peppermint oil I spray in my house. Please be forwarned if you are used to roaches and mice and all kinds of bugs in your living space by all means live in metropolis. But if the very idea of one roach scares you DO NOT RENT HERE. Moreover, the elevator situation where usually one or two elevator banks are broken and it takes you close to 15 to 20 minutes to get to the lobby and the smell of curry that permeates your building even in your apartment during breakfast lunch and dinner is intolerable. This building is awful the management is awful and the smelly old building is awful. Don’t rent here and move out if you can. As for me I am nearing the end two more months and I am out!

The location is literally right across the street from the Grove Street PATH station! The downtown area is also really expanding with nice restaurants and shops.
The building has not kept up compared to many of the new high rise apartments nearby, but you can find newly renovated units in the towers that are just as nice for half the cost. Just do some research and schedule viewings.

Let me be clear. This building is old and some of the units are owned by people who rent out to less than desirable tenants. Those units are falling apart and the negative Unilocal reviews are justified.
Unit 16 °F in building 1 (280 marin) was recently remodeled including kitchen, bathroom and floors. If you keep clean there’s no pest problem whatsoever.
Look for remodeled units owned by reputable landlords and you’ll be fine. This building’s location is amazing across the street from the PATH and its proximity to the restaurants and bars.
Disclaimer: I have lived in this unit and currently own it.

My husband and I decided to move to New Jersey from San Francisco and saw this place on Craigslist via broker named Desiree Vega from Weichert Realtors. I asked my friend to have a look at the place and we decided to pay a move-​in fee ($ 300 CASH) to book the apt before we reach.
The broker promised to clean the apartment before we reach and fix few broken glasses as well. We informed the broker that we would reach there on a Saturday night with lots of luggage which she said was fine. When we called her to inform that we were on the way she asked us to send a photo of the Cashier’s check which was for rent and deposit. We found this extremely suspicious and declined to do so.
As soon as we reached there (with our luggage which was a lot!) the Manager and the broker asked us to sign the lease. When we said that we would like to see the apartment for ourselves first just to confirm. The Manager completely flipped out telling us how huge a «Courtesy» he was doing by coming there on a Saturday night and that we can come on Monday if we want to waste his time.
However we insisted, so the Manager relented and the broker showed us the Apt.
Problems with the place :
1) She had promised us an apt in building 280 but the apt she booked for us was in another building 270 which was farther away from Grove station. When we told her its not the building she had promised in the Email, she simply said it was a mistake.
2) The apt was full of roaches. Not cleaned as promised and the glass was still broken. She said the management was supposed to get it done and she does not know why it is still like that!
3) Kitchen look like it has never been cleaned and blamed it on previous tenants who were apparently very unhygienic.
Everything seemed like excuses to us. She showed us two more apts in that building which were even worse. After all this we decided not to take the place and move in a hotel for the night as it was getting late. The next day when called the broker again she did not receive our calls and never called back so forget about the move-​in fee!

when the fire alert have been activited, the loud broadcast will last more than a hour. the reson why I am so mad of it because I did not hear any alarm song of fire truck until they stop it. r they joking me?

Having lived in this apartment for a year… Quick takes
1. Agree with others on the mice and roach infested! They try doing pest control spray every month which is not default and its individual residents responsibility to remember to call n list your own apartment for this pesticide control. Phew! How resident friendly. But again u can see roaches right after 3days! Brilliant!
2. NO HOT WATER on Most LONG WEEKENDS and many other winter days and nights! (So not to mention that your personal hygiene n health certainly goes for a toss if u expect hot or even warm water for a clean shower in this NJ spine chilling cold weather. Now if u have children, elderly relatives or are down with fever or cold… you can certainly imagine how dreadful it is NOT to get hot water) When u call management, standard response is «we are looking into it» then one guy comes to your apartment and he has to be convinced the water does not qualify to be called «warm», meaning if the water is just at room temperature it does not qualify to be called cold water so they can’t fix boiler temperature. If by chance the person is reasonable he would go upstairs to fix some boiler temperature! Hurray hot water blessing! Mind u, the above drama is when u are lucky ‘to have that guy to come to ur apt unit n be convinced’. But there is still worse. There are many times where management office response is «we have ONE Maintenance guy looking for all units (for 2 buildings over 20 stories each?) so u have to WAIT!»… (What a considerate response) if u ask ‘How long will take to send someone?’ Well «WE CANT SAY». (Perhaps till u fall sick or decide to move out!?)
3. FINAL VERDICT — this place is certainly a CHEAP rental (don’t prefer using the work economical, as cheap describes this better in all aspects!)… As SLACKED and worst one would dread a management to be. Can’t stop wondering what will make anyone invest hard earned money for buying to own a unit in this co-​op.

I live in 280 Marin (Building 1) and I am counting down the days until my lease is over. There are several things about the building that are incredible including the proximity to the path, utilities included in rent, extremely friendly front-​desk staff, large closet space, large balconies, amazing views from the balconies, low rent compared to other buildings in the area (but I’ve learned the hard way that you truly do get what you pay for).
Every dollar in additional rent that I will pay when I move out will be worth it.
1. This building has a large Indian population. Prepare yourself to smell Indian food ²⁴⁄₇. All the time. All day every day. In the elevators and hallways. It is incredibly strong. And it NEVER goes away. And if you do not enjoy the smell of Indian food, it is actually quite terrible.
2. This building is mice and bug infested. Read the other reviews. I did not read them before I moved in, and I paid the price. As I write this, in the last 3 weeks I have caught TWELVE MICE in my apartment. I’m sure there will be more as I seem to be catching them in traps every day. I have had roaches crawling in my kitchen drawers and cabinets every day despite the building exterminator treating the apartment multiple times. Part of the problem is the fact that the neighbors are complete a-​holes who leave their bags of garbage on the floor in the garbage room (or in the hallways sometimes, which is lovely) instead of putting them down the garbage chute like a normal, sanitary person would do.
Yes, they have a designated building exterminator who comes once a month, however, 1. they ONLY come once a month and will not come prior to the scheduled date if needed (see my 4^th point below) AND it is the responsibility of the tenant to schedule their individual apartment for treatment…(?) So unless you specifically call and ask them to have the exterminator come in and treat your apartment, they will not.
3. They do not deposit rent checks until about 2 weeks into the month, when rent is due on the first. Then they proceed to charge $ 50 «late fees» several days after rent check is deposited and cleared. Then you spend several days trying to get in touch with management to get your «late fee» waived when the money has in fact been removed from your bank account days before the fee was even issued. This has happened to me multiple times when my rent has ALWAYS been paid on time.
4. The management representatives are extremely rude and act as though you are inconveniencing them. A couple of examples: 1. When I went to go speak to them in person about my mouse infestation, their response was «The exterminator will be here in 2 weeks. There is no way they can come sooner. You’ll have to get mouse traps.» …Really? How helpful. No problem, I’ll just risk my health and live with mice running around my apartment and leaving droppings all over my kitchen for the next 2 weeks. 2. I called to speak with someone about the fact I was charged yet another «late fee» for my rent (see point 3 above). I called on a Friday at 5:00 when I got home from work to find an invoice on my door, expecting to have to leave a voicemail, but someone picked up. I started to explain the situation and then she completely interrupted me mid-​explanation, «Honey, you’re gonna have to call back on Monday. We are closed.» …ok…why did you pick up then? To cut me off and be completely condescending? 3. My air conditioning unit leaked underneath my floor boards and completed warped them. I had holes in my floor and boards sticking out. I called management several times to follow up on my maintenance request and no one ever called me back. I wrote several letters, and nothing. It took 3 MONTHS before this was finally fixed. I understand that I can’t expect things to be fixed in a day, or even a week but 3 months is outrageous. Especially when they never even bother to call back to provide an update.
Do yourself a favor. Spend the extra money on a nicer place so you are not completely grossed out and dreading coming home to your apartment every night and counting down the days until your lease is up. I’m actually moving out a month early — fortunate enough that I can eat the cost of paying rent in 2 places for a month because I just can’t stand to live here any longer.

Stay away!!! I have lived in 2 apartments in 280 Metropolis in 2008 – 2010. The first apartment was rat infested and roach infested. I need not say more. I had to use the sticky glue mouse traps to catch them, and i woke up to the squeals of trapped mice on several days. Yeah, gross. I only lived there for about 3 months. Before I moved into the second apartment, in the same building (yeah silly me), I checked the whole place, for any tiny holes, especially in the closet, toilet and kitchen. Having seen none, I moved in and did not have any problems since. I lived in a studio, and considering the other studios in the area, this was pretty big. The rent $ 1400-​$ 1500 also included all utilities, so that was a bargain compared to nearby apartments. But now I know why. The most important thing that made me stay here was LOCATION. Right outside Grove Street PATH, and just an under 10 min walk to Exchange Place and a 3 minute train ride to New York City. The maintenance was ok, but the management guy was really rude. I have not noticed any safety issues in the immediate area. The location is UNBEATABLE. That said, if you end up getting a rat-​free roach-​free apartment, lucky you! else, busted!

This place is a junk.
Apt itself is decent but it is dirty and smelly inside.
Also EXTREMELY rude people working at management office. Especially this one guy-​Russian guy I think, I don’t know the name– is just full of attitude. This place think they are some top of the line che che places in NYC. Plain rude and unpleasant people managing a basically piece of garbage place.

The apartments themselves inside are decent and relatively spacious and it is right across the street from the path which is amazing. However, (BIG HOWEVER) there is a huge roach problem that they have not been able to fix for years. They allow tenants to move from apartment to apartment trying to find one without roaches but they do not exist. The HOT WATER goes out at least once every other day. If you call management they always tell you they are working on it and nothing changes. Additionally, the HEAT will go out at least once a week in the winter. Please note that heat and hot water are included in the price of the rent but the management does not refund for the days there is no heat or hot water. Additionally, one of the elevators is always broken so it takes a long time waiting for the elevators in whichever way you are going. Finally, the entire building smells. It’s pretty embarrassing to have people over to your place. The building honestly has a slight vomit/​garlic smell. They have shampooed and sprayed the rugs many times but it does not go away, probably because they need to replace the rugs and won’t. Also, the laundry rooms frequently have several machines broken so it can be very difficult to get all your laundry done at once as there are not enough working machines usually to just walk in any time and do your laundry.
Overall, it is cheap and conveniently located but if you have literally any other option do not stay here. Most people in these buildings are in transition and almost no one renews their lease.