The Cambridge Apartments

Beware this apartment/​Borgore management: Their «675 sq. ft.» studio apartment listed online and when you contact them for The Cambridge IS NOT 675 square feet – it’s at least 120−150+ square feet smaller than they claim, yet they still charge almost as much as a one bedroom for it.
My girlfriend and I were moving to D.C. from the midwest, and in the process found the apartment online, and when I asked about it I was sent the floor plan for the studio and told it was 675 square feet. So we paid the application fee ($ 45 each for the two of us and a third for a guarantor to total $ 135 in application fees), assuming we were applying for a 675 square foot studio apartment. Thankfully though before signing the lease ahead of time I found another review of Borgore management (although it didn’t list the apartment building) of a prior tenant saying the studio she rented was at least 30% smaller than claimed – because the floor plan we received didn’t have room dimensions listed, I immediately got suspicious.
When I emailed the property manager asking for the room dimensions before we signed the lease, she would not give them to us until the day before we were supposed to move in, despite repeated requests for them. The dimensions she gave us, however, did not add up to 675 square feet and were very confusing. Finally on the day we were to move in we viewed the apartment, and immediately realized it was much smaller than claimed. (The floor plan makes it look much larger than it is in person, looking like a one bedroom without a separating wall between the two rooms).
Using the property manager’s own measuring tape, we measured the dimensions ourselves and found the apartment was about 150 square feet smaller than advertised and claimed. For the price they wanted for the apartment, this was outrageous. When we told the property manager (who had watched us measure the apartment) this, she just stared at us stone face and said it was 675 square feet, and acted like we were the ones being ridiculous for claiming the apartment was much smaller than she said it was, despite measuring it right there in front of her.
Coming from out of state and viewing the apartment online and through email, you’d expect honesty about something like room size from such a large apartment management company. As a result of their lie, we were left stranded and homeless on the day we were supposed to move in from out of state. [Thankfully another apartment complex I had looked prior online had an apartment still available, so we were able to move in elsewhere, but had to go through a different application and move in process with more fees. Also, the apartment we did end up getting at another property was a 670 square foot apartment, and it was MUCH larger than the claimed 675 studio at The Cambridge. Had this other apartment not been available though, we would have been completely screwed].
Overall, I’ve never felt so scammed and cheated when looking for a home before. They stole our application fee on a lie, and are committing outright fraud by claiming the «675 square foot» apartment is actually 675 square feet.

Just read my last e-​mail to Borger Management. My only problems with this apartment complex is the bugs and the fact that they only keep the rooftop open during the summer. If it wasn’t for the bugs, they’d do much better!
Hello,
I have been meaning to e-​mail management since the Sunday before last when I came home late and was confronted by a massive amount of cockroaches as soon as I excited out the elevators on the 9^th floor. When I alerted the front desk her comment was, «yes, it was so bad that I had to sweep them up yesterday. I put in a maintenance request.» She showed me in the book where it was noted, but after having dealt with this problem at Cambridge apartments from the first day I moved in, I know that your bug people only come once a week and are reactive verses preventive. I pointed at the bottom of the page where it says for immediate assistance call. I think having your hallway under bright lights flooded with coach roaches is a reason to call an exterminator immediately. The same night, a week and a half ago, I asked for my apartment to be treated. It appears (although there was no note or communication) that they finally came today. Honestly, I would get a contract with a new extermination company as this company does not seem to be doing a good job. It also doesn’t appear that the contract is being managed appropriately. Is it possible to have preventive treatments for all apartments verses being reactive and calling in for bug control once the problem is already there. I’ve never lived anywhere where this has been such a problem. It’s embarrassing and I don’t know if I want to have guests over. I don’t feel comfortable in my own apartment. Last time I paid to use the party room, there was an apparent bug problem. No one wants to pay for a space to have people over with bugs. Please take a look at how many times I’ve had to complain about this issue in the last three years. What is management doing to resolve this issue?

There are some things that The Cambridge does REALLY well, and there are some things that they do exceptionally poorly.
The things I love about the building:
–The pool: it’s always clean and well-​maintained. As long as you’re not making a mess, food and drinks are allowed. No guest passes are required.
–24-​hour concierge: all the people who now work the front desk are exceptionally friendly and helpful. Their package system is very efficient, and it’s a major convenience to know that someone is always available to accept my packages regardless of the carrier. Also, there’s always someone at the front to let guests in or respond to emergency maintenance.
–Newly renovated gym: no longer costs $ 50 to use, it’s free to all residents. They very recently renovated it, so the gym now has completely brand-​new equipment.
–Laundry: every floor has a small laundry room, and there’s a large laundry room on the lobby level.
–Pet-​friendly: residents can have cats and small dogs for a reasonable pet deposit (no monthly pet rent).
–Pests: After living here for 10 months and spending a great deal of time at the pool, in the gym, in the lobby, immediately outside the building, the basement, 2 laundry rooms, and in my apartment, I have NEVER seen a cockroach, and I rarely see any types of bugs at all. Obviously I have not been inside of every apartment in the building, so there may be some isolated problems in certain areas. However, I have never seen any evidence of this.
–Guest suite, party room, and classroom: these amenities are available by reservation for a cost, but it’s very convenient that they are offered.
–Location: awesome location, especially if you like to walk. Plenty of things to do and see nearby. Walkable to every single metro line as well as numerous convenient bus lines.
–Neighbors: there are some really great, friendly people living in the building. However, as with anywhere, there are some bad apples. See below.
The things I hate about the building:
–Invasive maintenance projects: In October, the management began a series of invasive building-​wide maintenance projects. For 3 weeks, I had no dry-​wall on my exterior wall, and during that time, maintenance crews entered my apartment on 6 different days (most days with no notice). The maintenance teams were not monitored, so none of them cleaned up after themselves, and I found my apartment unlocked numerous times when no one was in my apartment or anywhere nearby. They were also extremely careless about the fact that I had cats (leaving my windows open, propping my door open, etc.). I also had to move my furniture back and forth every time they came in to work. It was extremely miserable and would have gone much more smoothly for residents if it had been planned better and more closely monitored. They then started replacing all the windows throughout the building. They scheduled my window replacement and cancelled 4 – 5 times before they finally followed through. Then, the window contractors slashed my 11-​day old comforter with the edge of one of the windows, and I have yet to be reimbursed for it.
–Apartment doors: Also in October, the management changed the door hinges on all apartment doors. The doors are very heavy, and the hinges now cause the doors to swing shut violently unless you hold the door and close it softly. I have neighbors who slam their doors so hard that my pictures fall off my walls. It’s very jarring to be woken at 3 am by a door slamming so hard that your bed is shaking. Really, it’s that bad. I’ve been complaining about this since October (so for 5 months now), and all that has been done is that they installed weather stripping, which has made absolutely no difference.
–Neighbors: immediate neighbors can make or break any home. Most of my immediate neighbors are decent human beings who keep to themselves and are respectful of other residents. However, there are at least 3 neighbors who I’ve had to complain about for loud parties on random weekday nights, blasting music in the middle of the night, and of course, as described above, incessant door-​slamming. Also, there are some really disgusting men who I occasionally encounter in the gym, including 1 dude who wore the same clothes to work out in 3 consecutive days in a row.
Parking: The Cambridge has a small parking garage; however, I’ve been on the wait list for 11 months now and have not yet gotten a spot. Very frustrating. Parking in the immediate area is difficult/​impossible and expensive.
Overall, it’s not the worst place I’ve lived in. My first few months living here were very pleasant, and problems were few and far between. I’m hoping that the maintenance projects will finish up soon, and that management will be more responsive in responding to requests (like the door-​slamming), because this place could truly be a lot better.

I lived here for 2 years and it was 2 years too long. The building looks really nice from the lobby, but the apartments are very old and not well maintained at all.
Though utilities are included, they would not turn on the air conditioning until June leaving April and May as very sweaty months. It was regularly 90 degrees in my apartment. This was the case even though I complained every day! Someone in the building posted flyers asking people to call management to complain. Instead of doing anything about the temperature, management had the staff of the building tear down all the flyers!
Also, the staff of the building were incredibly unfriendly and one member of the staff was incredibly creepy. I dreaded asking him for anything and felt very uncomfortable having him enter my apartment. He controlled the «package room» where he basically held your packages hostage unless you were incredibly nice to him. If you got locked out of your apartment, they made you pay $ 50 to borrow a key to get back in!
I also think this building is overpriced. I paid $ 1150 for a studio apartment and I think if I had shopped around I could have done a lot better.
That being said, everyone I met that lived in the building was very nice. And there is a gym in the building you can use for a one time payment of $ 50.