Charter Oak

I moved in several months ago and was greeted immediately as a member of the Charter Oak (and greater Reston) community. The staff, both in the leasing office as well as the maintenance crew, are all very helpful and courteous. Any time I’ve had a question, I’ve either called the leasing office or sent the leasing consultant (Shannon) an email; I’ve always received a prompt response. Most recently, I had an electrical issue in my apartment. I posted a work ticket through the online portal and the next day someone had come into my apartment to address the issue. Great response!

So I didn’t have the same issues that Eric did — my unit was one of the «upgraded» units so perhaps it had some of these issues addressed before I moved in. Let me just state for the record that the «updated» cabinets are a vinyl faux wood covering and the washer/​dryer is in the middle of the kitchen but I was only there for five months so I was willing to deal with some things that I wouldn’t have been ok with for a longer lease.
The units themselves: The windows are old and jenky and there was a stinkbug issue — I was constantly finding them in my apartment. But the size (2bedroom) was good and I loved the big windows and the view of the golf course. I was there during the winter so did not experience summer BUT it got super hot right before I moved in April which is when I discovered that the thermostat was a bit of a misnomer. It goes on or off but doesn’t really adjust. You see the A/​C was not turned on for the building yet so all I could blow through my vents was hot air to match the super hot humid air already rising to my third floor apartment. So there’s that. Apparently they make the switch for the whole community.
The utility situation is a scam — they send it to you themselves and there is no way to verify the amount they send and it is EXPENSIVE. Much higher than what I paid in DC. Oh — and this is the best part — the utilities are calculated for the building and they prorate your portion based on your unit size and how many people live there but NOT BASED ON YOUR USAGE. So if you travel a lot or are a responsible adult who doesn’t leave all kinds of electricity on, it doesn’t matter — your bill will be high either way because it’s based on everyone’s usage. Supposedly. I wouldn’t be the lease bit surprised if thee utilities bills were padded with profit for JBG property management. This is by far the biggest scam of the place.
I didn’t find it particularly loud and the location to RTC was convenient and the view and golf course setting was very relaxing.
My issues really had to do with the management. The lady who I met with initially when I signed my lease was very nice — a total sweetheart and if I could have dealt with her all the time perhaps I would feel differently. There is another lady in the office who pretty unpleasant and very cut and dry and makes no effort to work with you at all. I’m thinking she’s pretty unhappy in life and is the type of person who takes it out on everyone around her. The overall management turned over a bit and I had a number of billing issues from day one — which have been a pain to resolve. Thankfully I’m Type A and had all my documentation so in the end it was resolved but it was a hassle and I don’t have a lot of faith in JBG mgmt companies.

The community here is great, that’s a good start. The leasing staff is down to earth and kind, I’ve never had any issues with them. Most of the time, they’re just people doing there jobs and have to deal with residents complaining and yelling all day at them for something that’s not their fault. On the plus side, the golf course provides a great view, and the apartment IS very close to the Reston Town Center.
Now for the negative side.
1. I seriously don’t know why this place is still operational. Since we’ve moved in less than six months ago we’ve found a barrage of safety violations. Within a week of moving in, our apartment caught on fire because our drying just lit up with sparks. Apparently no one did a safety inspection on the electrical equipment in our apartment before leasing it, or for that matter bothered to clean the dust from behind the unit.
2. Let’s talk about that fire for a minute. So the dryer catches on fire, ok, crap happens. No biggie… but the smoke detector wasn’t going off… nothing. Also there wasn’t a fire extinguisher on my floor, and there wasn’t a sign to indicate WHERE the nearest fire extinguisher was. Being an US Navy Veteran, I know how to fight fires and had I known there was a fire extinguisher one floor UP then I would’ve fought it myself because, at the time, it wasn’t that serious. But who goes UP in a fire? HEAT RISES!!! On top of that, when I called 911, they told me to pull the building’s fire alarm lever to alert neighbors of a fire. I did. Nothing happened. It didn’t work. Yep, that’s right, absolutely NO fire protection in this entire unit… AT ALL. So I go running up stairs and alert my neighbors, «Hi, nice to meet you. My name is Johnygolucky, my apartment’s on fire.» On top of that, we have gas stoves and gas lines in the house, with no warning there’s a fire, this entire complex could’ve gone up in a ball of fire. The maintenance personnel’s excuse? Yeah, SNOW got in the system and caused it to malfunction. What a load of s%&*. Snow huh? Ok, it snows EVERYWHERE… did you happen to check the OTHER buildings too? Or just the one that «malfunctioned». And when I asked you to fix the smoke detectors, you said you did… you didn’t. One the battery wasn’t even plugged in. The other one plugs directly to a power line in the wall… and it was detached… WHY!!! No worries, I bought my OWN smoke detectors, carbon dioxide detectors, and fire extinguisher. Pictures will be attached.
3. The grass isn’t cut hardly enough. It gets up to four inches before someone bothers to cut it. Seriously you make so much money on units that are almost 40 years old but you can’t cut the grass?
4. The buildings are just in bad shape. We had a mouse problem in our apartment, pulled the stove back (yeah, you know, where you cook your food and give it to your family. that place), and there’s a HUGE gaping HOLE where a pipe goes right there in the wall, and the sheetrock stops two inches before the ground. Seriously? Wonder why there’s a mouse problem? Because the air exhaust pipes go all the from bottom to top of the building and each one has a MASSIVE hole in the wall. Solution? Close the hole off!!!
5. It’s VERY noisy during the day, not at night, but this isn’t something the apartment complex can really fix since it’s the golf course next door. But if you work night shift and plan on sleeping… good luck.
Ok, now just to end on some points.
First of all, the noise is ok as long as you’re not working night shift and have to sleep during the day. Overall upkeep is horrible. That’s something that needs to be fixed stat. These guys work pretty hard, I’ll give em that, but when it comes to making the place look neat, that can use a massive improvement. Safety… yeah I’m not gonna touch that with a ten foot pole. Neighborhood is actually not that bad. Aside from a couple of rowdy kids that like to play I’ve met nothing but very nice and courteous neighbors. Maintenance, they work hard, but overall they’ve got a job that sets them up for failure since the buildings are complete crap. Staff is actually pretty nice. Again, they just do their jobs and have to put up with people yelling at them all day over stuff that’s not their fault.
If you want to yell at someone, yell at the managers.
Would I recommend my best friend move into this apartment? For God sake NEVER.