Argonne Apartment

Just moved in a week ago, but, so far, I’m really loving the Argonne. When I found it, I figured there had to be a catch because the price, size, location, and amenities seemed almost too good to be true. The apartment’s amenities are very nice, particularly the new gym (and I’m excited to use the pool in the summer). The location is amazing, as you’re right in between Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights with three different grocery stores nearby. The apartments themselves are not renovated, so nothing exceptionally nice about them, but they are rather bigger than anything else you’ll find for comparable prices (they also have central air and a dish washer, which can be hard to find in DC outside of the new, expensive complexes popping up). I’ve yet to see any cockroaches or mice and keeping my fingers crossed. So far I’ve found the staff very kind and love having someone staffing the front desk ²⁴⁄₇.
The two reasons I’m not giving 5 stars is because 1) I’ve had consistent toilet problems since I moved in and was told that it was just how the new toilets they recently installed are and there wasn’t anything they could do, and 2) I was shown an apartment that was supposed to be identical to the one I was moving into and turned out to not be (resulting in me having to buy a bathroom cabinet that the other one already had). I’ll make sure to update if something changes, but, as it stands, I don’t see myself moving out any time soon.

UPDATE: We are now in the home stretch of the construction, and everything is AWESOME. The totally modernized lobby is gorgeous, the new gym has LifeFitness and Cybex brand equipment (top quality, if you’re not familiar with gym equipment) and laundry room adjacent, so you can work out while waiting for your laundry, which is something I never even knew I needed, and each individual floor is getting its own laundry room this and next week (they’re incredibly speedy with stuff like this). Also, they always keep cookies by the front door. I may be classically conditioned into loving this place from that, but it’s just such a thoughtful touch. There was a mouse in my apartment earlier in the summer, but as I’m from New York that’s actually the best case scenario in uninvited guests for me, and the building management had an exterminator to me literally the next day, and found and plugged up the hole behind my oven. A++.

My experience at the Argonne hasn’t been a total disaster. The location is great, and the pool is a wonderful amenity to have in the summer months. And, Francis and Brenda, the regular front desk staff, are wonderful!
Unfortunately, I’ve had far more disappointments in the 18 months I’ve lived here. Constant construction has been ongoing for the last six months, with no end in sight. This means that residents do not have access to many amenities, including the fitness center. When I approached management about a refund, I was told that I could just move out, since my lease is now month to month. I’ve had an ongoing mice problem as well.
I would not recommend moving into this building until the construction is 100% done. Seeing how many people have moved out this year, you’ll probably get a good deal.

I would like anyone who is interested in living at the Argonne that there is a severe mice infestation. I have made management aware for over 2 years but nothing has changed. They set various traps out and I’ve killed dozens of mice but they keep coming through the walls. It’s an everyday affair. This is not related to the recent construction. They refused to seal the holes behind the kitchen cabinet where they are coming though. The mice eat my food from high shelves and crawl across my kitchen top. They are good climbers and they often wake me up at night causing trouble.
Public disclaimer.

Around may this year when my lease came to an end, I came about three times to check what would be my new rent when finally they told me there will be an increase of 2%, I asked them to verify it more than three times before agreed to it.
4 months later they sent me a letter saying that they made a mistake and that they discovered that they can actually rise my rent by 3.4% and they are making the change starting today!!!
I was very upset about it and went to complain about it in the office, the response that i received was that they discovered that they can increase the rent to whomever came before a specific date into the building, When i told them that if they made a mistake it should be their problem and not mine since i came more than a few times before agreeing to the new rate and they should absorbed the difference of their mistake and the fact that they wanted it starting today was unacceptable they told me that they would look into that.
A few days later they called me and said that they agree to give me one more month at the current rent and then the increase would take effect.
To make a long story short, They lost a costumer to the fact that they got greedy and wouldn’t admit their mistake.
I can’t believe that they rather see me move out of the building, posting a bad review and make sure that everyone i know would never set foot in any of their properties and not just admitting there was a mistake and wait with the increase till next may.
But hey what can you expect from a management company that only cares about money and not their tenets and reputation…
Be warned! !!!

I lived in The Argonne Apartments for fourteen years. Most of those years were pleasant enough. I have met some great people who live in the building and having the convenient store in the basement is a great asset. The location to public transit is fantastic and I’ve seen some great improvements over the years. In my opinion, this building is NOT a luxury property. I just moved out of state into a luxury apt for about the same price I was paying in DC. I can not believe I settled for so many years.
With that said, my last few years were not so pleasant, especially since September 2013 when UIP bought the building. Until they took over, living at The Argonne Apartments was decent and great at times. Immediately, UIP sent out rude letters to all tenants stating that rent was not paid and we all needed to resolve our financial obligations. This was an accounting error on their part. Each correspondence that we received after that had incorrect information and we had to call the office and inform them over and over. The property manager, hung up on me one day when I called in frustration of an issue that they had made another mistake on.
Once we gave our notice to move out, when repairs were needed, they did shoddy work and when I complained I was told since we were moving out they were going to redo everything so not a big deal. Our drawer in the kitchen was glued on crooked and the repair to the bathroom door was so shoddy it would no long shut.
In DC, the landlord has 45 days to return the deposit or give an itemized list of why it was withheld. We turned out keys in on April 26, 2014 and beginning of June I started emailing and inquiring about the deposit.
With this code violation it is my understanding that we are now entitled to our full deposit plus interest. July 7, 2014, we received a check with a small deduction but no indication of the reason they did not return the entire deposit. I will most likely let it go but based on principal it is so frustrating that I had to work so hard to get what was mine.
I have heard recently that UIP is not making good on promises to the tenants when they bought the property. I’m not surprised.
I have lived in this building for fourteen years and met some really great people and enjoyed it for the most part but based on UIP’s management and lack of ability to be professional and do a job that is easy, I would not recommend moving into any of their properties. They only care about the bottom line. MONEY!
Since UIP owns and manages the building now, I would not recommend moving into The Argonne.

Frances (front desk), Katrina, Shalondah, and Kim are all FABULOUS!!! I absolutely love the property, amenities, and extremely excited about the upgrades coming. I will second the first review that the wood floors and Argonne Market are an additional perk, not to mention the rooftop pool. The neighborhood is slammin’!!
The ONE and ONLY reason why I did not give The Argonne the 5-​star rating it deserves is because of one, extremely lazy and inefficient employee, Zulma Molina. From the pre-​move in process, just over 3 months ago, until this very day, Zulma has single-​handedly managed to fail over and over and over, ultimately leaving myself, the resident and the customer, suffering.
Her communication was nearly non-​existent while trying to relocate from FL to DC, moving into this amazing complex. The move-​in day was truly «God-​awful» all thanks to her NON EXISTENT communication and pure lies. She has continually proven herself ineffective, inefficient, lazy and careless. She also appears unable to open her mouth and speak words to other humans or move her fingers in a typing fashion to reply or draft an email on her own re: ANY details concerning the clients/​residents which her job is SOLEY based upon. Trying to get a parking spot and trusting her to handle it– no go. Trying to put in a small, maintenance request regarding a fridge and a light– also a no go. Reserving a guest suite MONTHS in advance, following up with her to ensure everything is a go (ALWAYS) and getting the keys to tour from her weeks ago, only to find out that the guest suite was essentially «ix-​nayed» weeks before you toured and no one knows you have a reservation for your family arriving in (1) day… that’s Zulma material. Apologies? No. Write ups? Obviously not. Any clue what she does all day? Probably nothing. She CHOOSES and deems herself useless via her actions. This is not a personal opinion, but a factual revelation proven by her LACK of action over and over and over.
It’s quite obvious that Zulma perceives her job as true «rocket science». Someone should give her a tip…

I moved to the Argonne in February 2013 and it turned out to be an excellent choice. Here’s what makes it so awesome:
–They have the only rooftop pool in the area.
— My room has wood floors, dishwasher and a balcony
— The staff is super-​friendly
— Pica Taco & grocery store in the basement
— Mt Pleasant is an amazing neighborhood
I definitely recommend that you check this place out