Washington Apartments

Where do I even start with this place? At first it seemed like a decent place to live at around $ 1,000 per month in the Downtown DC area. If that’s something you’re in the market for, then go for this apartment. But be warned, there are SO many cons to living here, it might just be worth it to shell out the extra cash to live in a luxury high rise or to move further away from downtown. I moved in in January 2014 from Michigan and had to ship 3 – 4 large packages. Little did I know, the packages would never make it to my actual apartment. The lack of doormen or any kind of signage telling delivery drivers to take packages to the leasing office caused me to spend hundreds of dollars renting cars to drive to the post office in Northeast DC and find my lost packages (dealing with USPS was a whole other issue). Six trips and six weeks later, I finally had all of my packages in my apartment. Beyond that, my first full year in Washington Apartments wasn’t too bad, save for the excruciating noise from 7^th street, loiterers, and shootings that happen on a weekly basis. That, I could deal with at the rent/​location I was paying for. But fast-​forward to January 2015 when I found my first bedbug in the apartment and my opinion about these apartments dramatically changed.
I told management immediately after I found a bedbug in my bed and they were actually quick to get my apartment inspected and schedule treatments. However, do not expect them to offer any kind of compensation for the hundreds of dollars you will spend in laundry, dry cleaning, and packing supplies to prep for the treatments. This was also the first time I became extremely annoyed with management and their lack of organization and communication with me. I usually had to call two or three times a day to get answers regarding when the exterminators would come and questions about the prep itself. The manager, as nice as she is, is seriously the most disorganized manager I’ve ever come across in any line of work. She does not keep detailed records of what is going on in each unit at any time. Case in point, in early May, my roommate found another bedbug in her bed, two months after we had completed the treatments. She immediately reported the bug to management to get another inspection and treatment. They scheduled a tech to come out, but never told her what to do in terms of preparation, which made me have to call, again, to ask if I had to do anything since the bug was in my roommate’s room and what we had to do.
So now we’re at the end of May, and we find another bedbug, this time in my bed. Two days later, we find one in my roommate’s bed again. At this point, we were fed up with the lack of care and responsibility taken for this bedbug issue and after four full treatments, we were about done with this place. We went to the leasing office together (with the bedbugs themselves in plastic bags) and demanded to end our lease one month early. During this meeting, we discovered the manager had no idea my roommate and I were living in the same unit. She thought we were two different units, which is absurd that she never kept a record of which unit the bugs were being reported. Second, they have never inspected any of the other apartments around us to check for bugs, which if they had found any in other units the first time, we could have prevented having to go through another treatment again. Luckily, she agreed to terminate our lease early, however, I’m still waiting on getting this in writing. I’ve called them probably about 10 times in the last three days to get our lease termination letter officially in writing and to get our treatment schedule for our last month before we move out. The lack of communication, care, customer service, and organization by this company is ABSURD. I wonder what these people do all day? The assistant manager and the guy who works the phones are not much better. Several times when I’ve put in maintenance requests with either of them they never take care of it the first time around and I usually have to call a second time.
The neighborhood around here is so-​so. In recent months there have been shootings at the same corner, 7^th and O, which usually wouldn’t involve someone like me, since that area is a huge open-​air drug market, but it still worries me that I could be caught in the crossfire one day, especially since it’s right by the Giant store I shop at. The people who hang out on their porch at all hours of the night are so loud and disrespectful, I’ve been sleeping with a fan on in my room to drown them out, even in the winter months. I am very much looking forward to moving out of this area and these apartments. It’s been nothing short of a nightmare, especially in these last few months. Good riddance.

How this place continues to exist in the money pit that is DC blows my mind. The area is absolutely perfect. All of my friends who visit my apartment are instantly jealous (it may also have to do with the fact that my living room apartment walls are yellow), especially when we walk down to Chinatown or to get food at one of the spots by the Safeway (Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Taylor, etc).
I’ve really grown to love the management team. I also find myself shooting the breeze with them when I go pick up packages. Like some folks already said — try to live in the apartments on 6^th and M or on 7^th and M. Those buildings are super quiet and it almost feels like you are living in suburbia. Neighbors are super friendly. I’ve gotten to know 2 of the folks in my building pretty well and hang out with them occasionally.
Parking is also free so… yeah its a great deal.
Edit: I read some of the reviews and it sounds like some people had problems with bugs a few years back. I have never had any issues and neither have any of the other folks in my building so I don’t really know what that’s about.

Great deal for one of the best areas in D.C. When I moved to D.C. I moved in with my cousin who was living at Wash Apartments at the time. After she left to move in with her boyfriend (about 2 months in), I stayed in the apartment and found another roommate. Basically, I was in the apartment for 2 years until I had to move back home to start saving for my planned move to California. Pros: Great area, close to Chinatown but not too close, safeway, and the best part — the metro and the 70 bus are a block away. I used to work at Washington hospital so having the 70 bus so close was huge. Cons: The leasing office folks were super nice but a little disorganized. There are three people there so sometimes you would tell your problem to one, but then have to tell it another person later. There is also a gym and entertaining building there now that wasn’t there before that I wish I could have used.
I rec’d this place to two of my friends who then moved in to the same set of buildings. I did tell them to ask for the buildings on 7^th and M and 6^th and M. Those buildings are renovated and have a lot of working singles and families so they are pretty quiet and chill. I had a friend who lived in the ones further up — Maybe on O and 6^th? And heard that those were busier (prob because of the layout — it has a big courtyard with buildings around it).

This place is a joke.
The first week I moved in someone stole my $ 20 rubber welcome mat from target. Do I blame the drug dealers, drunks or other people of the neighborhood that illegally entered the apartment complex grounds? No. Its the lack of security in the apartment complex. The ineptitude of the management in the leasing office is truly astounding. They can’t repair any of the gates that let people in and out of the complex. That becomes a big problem because, for some reason the place is a gathering point for people to break the law with impunity. I think it’s been around 12 months that they’ve been entirely broken with not even a peep from the management office about when they will be fixed for the residents. This place used to be so bad that they had to install security cameras and loud speakers in the courtyards so that the police could use it to disburse loiterers. For those that are wary of the invasion of personal privacy, not to worry the cameras are not even used anymore nor do they deter criminals and others from continuing to break the law.
Instead of restoring even the most basic semblance of security for residents, the management office moves forward with renovating its own space so they can be more comfortable before serving their residents with basic services. The only benefit of the renovation from the perspective of the resident is a gym. Unfortunately management cannot even get it together to extend the hours as it promised residents to when normal people use the gym, before or after work. So unless you’re unemployed, you can only use it for four hours on Saturday.
If you have a maintenance problem, good luck getting it fixed. The place is so old and run down that things break all the time. Unless you’re able to call the leasing office multiple times a week to follow up. They will have no clue that you have even placed your maintenance request 3 times already. My dishwasher, for example, has been broken for 2 ½ weeks. I reported the incident to 5 different people and nobody can tell me what the status is of my maintenance request let alone even indicate when it might possibly be fixed.
One day, apparently a garbage truck backed up too far when unloading the trash dumpster. As a result it knocked over half of a brick retaining wall that hid it in a corner. Management is so cheap that until they get money from the trash company to fix the wall, they are happy to leave it broken with bricks scattered everywhere and a broken fence for all the residents and public to see. It took them a couple weeks to get the idea in their heads to clean up the bricks. Some genius in maintenance thought that just taping it off with some safety tape and shoving them in a pile would do. Four or five months later, the maintenance office has not even reported the problem to the residents nor indicated when it would ever be fixed.
This is the only place in the United States I’ve found that mail, packages, or other shipments cannot be delivered. It’s unbelievable.
On the plus side, I have to be fair on two accounts.
1– Rent is very cheap.
2– The location is great.
Living here for nearly 2 years, I have come to realize that if it wasn’t for the high demand of housing in DC, this place would be out of business in no time.

I don’t even know where to begin.
I’ll start with the first full weekend I moved in. It was 2013 inaugural weekend and my roommate and I’s fobs stopped working on that Friday. The office was still open, so I called to have them reprogrammed, and she said they will be reprogrammed on Tuesday due to MLK day being on Monday. I asked her what she wanted us to do until then, and she said to wait until someone opens the door for us, because a fob not working is not an emergency. Um, are you kidding me?! I’m paying to live at this place and I can’t even access it on my own terms? Unreal.
The buildings are gated. Why, I have no idea. They NEVER work. Anyone can just willy nilly walk in, whether they live there or not.
If you love weed, this is the place for you. Every weekend, there are at least 6 men that will sit in the entrance of the building and smoke up the whole place. You’ll walk in to a cloud, and they won’t even move off the steps so you can get through; you have to walk around them. The «no loitering» signs? Ha, that’s a joke.
If you want drunks and stoners blasting loud music out of the back of their trunks at all hours of the night, this place is for you. Also, if you’re interested in hearing a police intercom at all hours of the night as well, look no further.
The are countless drug deals happening all around you. Never make eye contact or even remotely act like you saw something go down. You’ll be better off.
When you’re walking home from work and it’s dark while there are drunks outside, be prepared to be grabbed. If you have pepper spray, carry it AT ALL TIMES.
I was heading out of town for a few days and wasn’t going to be back on the first of the month to pay my rent, so I went to pay it early. The reaction I received was «where are you going and how long are you going to be gone?» Seriously?! I replied that it was none of their business where I was going or how long I was going to be gone, just that I was paying my rent now so it wouldn’t be late! Complaining about a renter paying early is idiocy. Who knows how many renters don’t pay at all!
The last straw was my pizza guy getting robbed, RIGHT AFTER he delivered my pizza. I didn’t know this happened until the company called me and said my pizza was going to be late because the deliverer was robbed. How pleasant.
I moved out in November of 2013, 1 month early because I couldn’t handle it anymore. It is now the end of February and have I received my security deposit back yet? Negative. They said they cut the check at the end of December, but mailed it to my address AT WASHINGTON APARTMENTS. This is how competent their team is. They send someone’s security deposit, that they are issuing because the tenant moved out regardless of writing down her new address for them to send the deposit, to her old apartment that she moved from. You just can’t make this stuff up!
Pay the extra $ 200 a month and find something safe and nice. It’s worth the time and money.

THIS IS THE WORST PLACE TO LIVE EVER! If I could give Washington Apartments zero stars, I would. Unfortunately, the minimum amount of stars on Unilocal is one.
The Management is rude, they towed my car although a parking spot is included in the rent, there are constantly people screaming outside of my window despite all the no loitering signs due to the broken fences which are never repaired, there’s a bed bug infestation in all of the buildings which they refuse to attend to, there was a drug bust in the laundry room one day with cops all over the place questioning all of the tenants, one of the property managers was constantly hitting on me and all of my room mates, and there are cockroaches and mice all over the place.
Don’t let the attractive rent and low deposit lure you in. The rent will go up by 20% after your lease is up, and the deposit is only low because they never fix anything. DON’T LET THEM TRICK YOU INTO MOVING IN!!!

Stay away, y’all. We have had a bed bug infestation since moving in and they tried to blame us for bringing them in — but the girls across the hall had the infestation a year before us, and they’re doing nothing to treat the whole building. We’ve gone through 5 bug sprays, gotten rid of a lot of stuff and gotten absolutely no compensation for our troubles. The rent is great, but the area is not, and the exterminators only work once a week, so if you have any sort of infestation you’re on your own.

I give this place 4 stars — because yes there are some drawbacks, but I am a huge fan and would definitely recommend this place to others.
I lived here from July 2011 – 2012. I lived in a second floor, 2 bed on 7^th and M St. We paid $ 1795 plus a $ 99 deposit, which we got back in full. If we had stayed and signed another 1 year lease, the rent would have increased a flat $ 75. If we had chosen a month to month agreement (versus another lease) — we would have been charge market rate for the apartment, which would have caused our rent to increase around $ 100.
I viewed the model — which at the time was the same layout as the apartment available that I wanted. Washington Apartments has several buildings in 3 different locations around Mt Vernon Square. I wanted to be as close to the metro as possible and wanted to be on 7^th st. This is probably the noisy location — you have 7^th st traffic, which included buses and freight trucks. My apartment was street side (versus parking lot facing) and YES you hear the buses, hooligans on a Friday night, and traffic in the morning, occasionally a protest at the convention center. But this is the trade off for a great location. Either way, since WashApts has 3 different locations — you can really find what you are looking for.
Reserving the apartment was very easy — it cost maybe $ 40 per person for the credit check, we had to complete some paperwork, and then once we were approved put down a $ 99 deposit. If we had found another apartment, then we could have very easily walked away from WashApts because we didn’t sign the lease until the day of move-​in. You can pay rent with check or credit card and I think they set up online payment. I paid by check and dropped it off at the office around the street. I typically loaded up my laundry card at the office at the same time, because you can only load money onto the laundry card at the office.
Move-​in day went great — the apartment was freshly painted and carpet cleaned when we moved in.
Living there — ok, a couple things — This is clearly a mixed income/​diverse community. You have to accept that. It really pisses me off when prissy white people who have never lived in a city are like — ‘this place isn’t safe’ because there are residents sitting on the stoop of the building. DC is a front porch/​stoop sitting city. I never felt unsafe in this building EVER!
Noise in the building — my upstairs neighbor played music loudly and had a kid who jumped on everything. I spoke to her and the management a few times. It never changed. It wasn’t unbearable, just annoying. I accept this a living in an apartment. I know other people who live in the WashApts who have had worse experiences with noise, some no issues. I guess its just luck.
Pests — We had a few bugs in the bathroom on the interior wall (ie facing the apartment next to ours) in July when we moved in — they came a sprayed and then no problems. We had a mouse — we saw it, we screamed — we saw a couple poops — we called Dan in management — they put traps up and plugged holes in the walls and under the door to the HVAC with copper batting to keep the mouse out. We had our oven replaced because the mouse pulled the cotton batting down from the oven sides to make a little nest in the rails of the bottom drawer. We didn’t have a huge problem with pests because we were clean in our apartment. Of course, its hard to get rid of a mouse if you never clean the crumbs out of your toaster oven — that’s not WashApts fault. My tip — definitely check the oven when you move in and if there is mouse poop in the rails of the bottom drawer, ask for a new oven. Check the door to the HVAC, under the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, behind the fridge, and behind the oven — ensure all holes are plugged with copper batting — mice are great at getting into small places. Also, don’t let the residents of your building prop open the door to the building for any reason 1) safety and 2) rats from outside want to come inside. Rats are not WashApts fault — DC is infested with rats. Seriously, go to your ANC meeting — DC City government literally has a rat department. Overall on pests — WashApts was extremely responsive to any requests to have pest control work done. And personally — I’ve lived in old buildings are were disgusting compared to WashApts.
Packages were kind of annoying because the office wouldn’t accept packages for you and if you weren’t home, you can’t get stuff from FedEx or UPS because they don’t have keys to the building. This was a problem for me because I couldn’t get packages at my office.
The laundry room was great! I specifically wanted to be on the same floor of the laundry — so we chose a 2^nd floor apartment. It costs $ 1.75 per wash or dry and you can use a credit card to load money onto the laundry card.
Other than that — great location, price, dishwasher, huge rooms, walk-​in closet, and clean — if you are asking for more — go live in Arlington!

STAY AWAY. The management will try to lure you in with a low security deposit, and relatively reasonable rents for the area, but what they don’t tell you his how little they care about their residents.
I lived here for one miserable year. There were mice. Mice all day, all night, throughout the apartment despite a lack of available food. There was noise, all day, all night, despite the ironically placed ‘no loitering’ signs. There was blood, urine, saliva, drug baggies, tobacco from blunts and cigarette butts throughout the stairwell. FOR A YEAR.
The parking situation is unbelievable– they don’t keep track of how many permits they give out, and it’s impossible to find a spot after 7pm during the week. They were unreceptive to my suggestions, which included keeping track of permits, opening up the much larger second lot for our use, and regularly checking the lot for cars without permits.
On top of this, they had my car towed, despite my permit and me being in their system for months. My calls to the management company, Edgewood Management, were met with hostility.
The staff really does not care at all about their residents, requests for maintenance were ignored, the women at the office were NEVER kind to me and overall, it was a year of misery. It’s incredibly loud, due to the people who stand in the courtyard at all hours of the day, shouting at each other, and the police loudspeaker that occasionally tells them to disperse (to no avail).
BOTTOM LINE: MANAGEMENT DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU. THEY WILL HAPPILY TAKE YOUR MONEY (even after your lease is up, as my former housemate discovered on his credit card statement). STAY FAR, FAR AWAY.
Update: March, 2013. I haven’t lived here since November, 2012. Despite THREE polite requests to remove my phone number from the call-​in boxes, in addition to the one verbal request prior to my lease running out, I still get a phone call whenever someone is trying to get in the gate or into the building. This is extremely annoying, especially in the middle of the night. I just called again, and was told to call back tomorrow.
Terrible, terrible management. They really, really don’t care.

Lived here from 2005 – 2010 in 2 different rooms.
The prices here are unbeatable for the area because the complex participates in the Section 8 low-​income housing program and the whole area is rent controlled. Some years, the rent did not go up at all. I was lucky enough to have both of my units on the 7^th street corner right across the street from the metro. The management was fairly polite and responsive to my needs. You can pay your rent by credit card with no hidden fees. A good opportunity to accumulate points fast. Maintenance was fairly quick as well and the checkout inspections in both rooms were completely painless. I got my whole deposit back.
However, there were many very negative points: 1.) We had a bedbug infestation that took a good few months to get rid of. Moving all of your furniture around for months is a pain. We were offered no type of compensation for this inconvenience. Roaches, mice and other vermin abound. Even on upper floors. 2.) The NOISE was excruciating. But I guess that is what comes from living right down the street from a hospital with an very active trauma unit. Ambulance sirens nearly every night. There were frequent car accidents on the intersection outside the building that resulted in extra noise and much commotion. People LOVE to loiter outside their buildings and talk all summer. There was only 1 year out of 5 that the police patrolled and told people to go back into their homes. All in all, the outside din made it too loud to ever open any windows all year round all of the 5 years I was there. 3.) I did not have a car, but my roommate did. One night, someone threw a rock through her window. The management did not do anything to improve apt security. The gate into the parking lot is always breaking down. I have seen it broken for very long periods of time. Perfect opportunity for car thieves. 4.) When it snows, the complex does not get the sidewalks shoveled until late the following day. All the other buildings around try to shovel their sidewalks before or during the morning commute, but not this complex. Be prepared to take your life into your hands slipping to the metro. 5.) Someone got shot across the street right outside my window. Not the apt’s fault, but note that the neighborhood is definitely not the safest. 6.) If you do a lot of online shopping, this place is not for you. Non-​Postal Service carriers like Fed Ex and UPS cannot get into your building because of the secure entrance. If they are let in, packages are stolen from doorstep. You will spend hours on the phone trying to track down items that were lost, miss-​delivered, or sent back. If you put down the rental office as your delivery location, your package still might not get there. I had more than 30 instances of miss-​delivered, stolen, or returned packages. They are constantly rotating delivery personnel and redrawing delivery «zones» in this area. 7.) There are two churches on M Street right near the complex that hold a couple events a year where M Street is blocked off between 6^th and 7^th Street and marching bands, street vendors, loud music and mass baptisms occur. On these days, the noise is so excruciating that you pretty much can’t stay in your apt at all.
THE MARCHING BAND. Every summer and fall, a drum and bugle core practices by marching up and down the streets all around the complex. (It may be affiliated with one of the churches.) But no joke. They play, march, and parade rest right outside of your window for a couple hours each evening for 3 – 4 months out of every year. They are pretty good, but no one wants to hear band music blaring right after a hard day at work.
If you are accustomed to quiet, this is NOT the place for you. After my DC stint, I can sleep through a jackhammer coming through my wall. However, if you are a working professional on a tight budget who wants to be centrally located in DC, this complex might be a good bet. You are within walking distance of everything including a grocery store 2 blocks away. No need for a car. Good luck!

The property manager Dan is extremely rude. If you have a problem make sure you put it in writing and document the date you notified him. He acts completely oblivious to the community’s shortcomings. Dont expect him to go out of his way to sign for a package that gets delivered to the leasing office or to really go out of his way to do anything that requires him to get out of his seat.
The assistant propery manager, Rita is much more pleasent than Dan. If you want something done your best bet is to coordinate things through her.
The only thing I liked about living here was the close proximity to «all things dc». Aside from that I dont think i’ll miss the mice, rats, random shootings, loiterers, overflowing dumpsters or the noise.

I would strongly advise that you NEVER live here.
The rent is admittedly good for the area but it really isn’t worth the unprofessionalism of management and their total lack of concern for residents.
Our first hints that something was amiss in the office came before we had even moved in while we were filling out paperwork. Three times we were told we were all set and had signed everything and yet we continued to be asked to leave work to get to their office during business hours to sign «just one more thing.» Additionally, long after we had been told the apartment was ours and given a move in date, we were called to confirm information about our references because they had yet to contact them. They had not completed the process and yet we had already given notice at our old homes.
After moving in, getting cable and internet connected became a tremendous nightmare. They keep the utility closet in your apartment locked and will not give you, the resident, the key. Only a technician from one of the cable companies can check out a key, and he must do so at the risk of a fine for not returning it on time. The hours that Washington Apartments will even allow these keys to be checked out do not coincide well with the standard hour intervals that cable companies schedule for appointments (ex. companies offer to come between 8−11am but, since the office does not open until 9, you will not be able to use this appointment.) It took us over a month to get internet in our home, with one technician even refusing to get the key because, as he rightly noted, taking out a liability as expensive as the key is not part of his job. The building should be unlocking the closet for the resident or allowing the resident to check out the key to the closet inside of their own home.
The most maddening issue has been management’s habit of issuing inefficient notices later than necessary about construction or maintenance. When an inspector is going to come through the units residents are not informed until the day before via a printed note above the building’s keypad entrance. Often these signs go unnoticed by residents moving quickly to get inside. Further problems arise when residents with disabilities who do not leave their homes every day never even have a chance to see them at all.
Management uses this same notification «system» to inform residents when water will be turned off for the entire business day. This has happened multiple times in our few months here. Water goes off at 8am on a business day – well before most people would normally be finished getting ready. Missing this sign or not having the opportunity to see it can obviously prove disastrous to an individual trying to get to work. Much worse, however, is the situation of older residents or residents with disabilities who are home Monday-​Friday during the day and must go without water. This week we saw one of these signs in time and were able to rise early on Wednesday (the day the sign indicated water would stop at 8am) to get ready for work. We were surprised, however, when Thursday at 8am there was no water. A call to the office revealed that the water would in fact be off for the rest of the business week and the entire next week during business hours beginning at 8am. As inefficient as the signage system is– the signs had also been completely inaccurate.
Washington Apartments has atrocious customer service, and much worse, seems to have little concern for the senior citizens and individuals with disabilities who call their buildings home. Don’t ever live here.

I lived in a 2BR from July 2009-​July 2010.
When I first came for a scheduled appointment to see a model apartment the woman was very rude and told me I needed to come back another day. I asked if I could please just see what the apartment was like. She very begrugingly showed me the model apartment, which was literally in the next room. It took three minutes. I should have taken this as a sign of things to come, but I was very tempted by the price and location. We were told there was an apartment available and we could come sign the lease on Saturday. When I arrived on Saturday, the woman acted as if I was a stranger and as if it was a total hassle to have to deal with me. We signed the lease. When we came for a walk through she again acted like we weren’t supposed to be there.
HUGE POWER BILLS! We moved in mid-​July. The air conditioner was very noisy and wouldn’t get the apartment much below 78 degrees. Our September electricity bill was $ 400, for a 780 sq foot apartment. We figured it had to be a mistake, but we ended up having to pay it.
NOISE! Street noise was a constant problem. I was woken up by the busses goign up and down 7^th Street very early every morning. They shook the whole building. My sleep was disrupted regularly by this. Sometimes I had to use ear plugs. There were also always loiterers outside. Screaming. Yelling. Carrying on. Harassing women. Yelling racial things, from about 8 sm until 3 am, even on week nights. Lots of yelling. Always. I called the cops regularly since there is a law against loitering there, but they rarely came, even after the shootings.
VIOLENT CRIME! Yes! There were at least three shootings on the block while I lived there. I say at least three because those are the only ones I know about. One Tuesday night six shots rang out, right outside. A girl was shot but not killed. A few weeks later, another shooting, no one was hit but a bullet went through a 3^rd floor window across the street. And again a few weeks later a kid took a couple shots at a cop who was trying to frisk him. There were regular screaming matches between groups of idiot kids in the area.
TRASH! Speaking of the parking lot, that is where the dumpster is. It was constantly overflowing, and the recycling bins were always filled by mid week.
MICE! Oh man, did we have mice! I value cleanliness. I keep my home clean and throw away my garbage right away and don’t leave food out. But we still had mice. Constantly. I killed 17 mice in 12 months, with traps. I would clean and bleach the kitchen, only to wake up to mouse droppings all over the counter and floor in the morning. I called the management about thisabout this many times. About half the time they would send a guy who would leave a few glue traps. The problem was clearly some super dirty neighbors. I once saw into the woman’s apartment below me. She had bags of trash everywhere – like hoarder! I told the management about this and they did nothing.
VERY DIFFICULT TO GET INTERNET/​TV INSTALLED! The leasing agent told us the apartment was cable read. I had to make a special arrangement with comcast (not easy) to get them to come during the very small window the apartment allowed access to the utility room. The cable guy needed to get into another unit in order to access the line. They management wouldn’t help or call the resident of that unit to ask if it would be OK for the repairman to quickly come in and do the repair. They were completely inflexible and acted as if getting internet was an outrageous luxury. Acting like I was some jerk for trying to get cable hooked up, even though the have Comcast brochures in the leasing office!
POOR INSULATION: During the winter cold air would blow directly in from the outside through the HVAC vent. No wonder our a/​c bill had been so high! I called the office to ask them to send the guy over to check it out. It took three tries but he finally came… and then said everything was fine. Our power bill was regularly 200−300/month during the winter, and on cold nights the air temperature inside was in the very low 60s.
INCREDIBLY RUDE STAFF! Of all the times I had to contact the staff about issues, they never, ever responded to my request on the first try. I always had to call three or four times, and each time they acted like they had no idea what I was talking about, even though we’d spoken just a few days before. And they were always very rude.
EVEN MOVING OUT WAS A PAIN! With the mice, loud people, loud buses, gun fights, rude and unresponsive staff, huge power bills, I decided to move out. The lease required us to give 60-​days notice of our intent to vacate and then do a walk-​through of the apartment for damages. I knew I’d be writing this review, so I took notes. I called the office 14 times over the course of 30 days. Every time the person who answered was rude.
Don’t move here. Yes it’s conveinent and looks less expensive, but considering the power costs, it’s not really. AV

I echo Keely’s sentiments. I have been here for 4 years and have no plans of moving soon. The neighborhood as grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years and is on the better side of «up and coming». Management recently changed and since then have been very responsive. I live in a building at 6^th and M and the only thing that bothers me about living here is the number of youth who hang out on the bench outside of our apartment. I feel bad for them because they have nowhere else to hang out, but they are often extraordinarily loud at all hours, forcing me to have my windows closes 365 days a year.
I am, however, hardly home. The great location and cheap rent free up resources for me to go out and enjoy all DC has to offer. For the working professional, you can;t beat the location and price.

After reading D.R.‘s review, I felt the need to politely counteract his opinion.
I moved into Washington Apartments (WA) in June 2008 and am only reluctantly leaving this summer because my roommates are getting married or moving in with significant other, and I can’t afford their 1-​br prices.
It’s important to note that WA property extends from the convention center metro (7^th & M) down and over to about 5^th & N/​O. Each of these blocks have their own ‘up and coming’ issues. Yes, it is true that there have been 2 separate (non-​random) shootings in the 2 years I’ve lived here. However, as a single female I have never felt unsafe living here, and have walked to and from work near Chinatown every day.
Positives:
1. We moved into a renovated apt, and it was CLEAN, with a brand new bathroom and kitchen fixtures. About 8 months in, our oven broke and they completely replaced it within a few days. I have seen only 2 roach-​like bugs in 2 years (surprising, since we’re only on the second floor). They come in with roach bait monthly, or upon request.
2. In January 2010 they completely replaced the old, coin-​operated machines (that broke all the time) with brand-​new, front-​loading washers that run on money cards. I have never had a problem finding an open laundry machine.
3. Two words: FREE PARKING. You are not going to find anywhere in the city with rent this low that also includes up to 2 parking spaces in a gated lot.
4. You can pay rent with a credit card. This may seem trivial, but calling into the office on the first of the month is way better than remembering to write a check and trudge over when they’re open.
5. I think, because of the low rent rates, more young people are moving into this area. There are also many families who have lived in these buildings for years. Every kid that I’ve met in my building has been über-​polite.
6. All utilities except electric are included. Of course, the heat/​ac and kitchen appliances are electric and not gas, but the Pepco bills are manageable.
7. Walkable to the ‘sexy’ Safeway on 5^th and New York. And Chinatown, movies, food are less than ½ mile down 7^th street.
Negatives:
1. Neighborhood has a bad rep, and there are sometimes unsavory characters on the front stoop (leading to unconfirmed rumors of drug deals in the laundry room). I’ve never felt threatened, but they made my one roommate nervous at times. Management is aware, and every so often we get notices about ‘loitering’ in front of buildings. There are cameras for that purpose.
2. If you’re looking for a pool, fitness room, or other amenities, look elsewhere.
3. We had a few mouse friends over the years, but they were tiny field mice-​looking creatures. When we called management, they sent someone over with sticky traps and that’s been effective.
4. Ironically, inside noise is almost non-​existent — never had a problem with neighbors above, below, or to the side. But street noise tends to get in through the windows, and I had to invest in a fan for white noise. The 7^th street buildings are also en route to Howard hospital, so you get a lot of ambulances headed that way.
5. Some maintenance requests are not addressed immediately. For example, our bathroom light refused to turn off and we ended up calling several times and putting in several tickets before they came to fix it (not sure if they didn’t have the resources onsite or our ‘tickets’ never got entered).
All in all, I’d recommend Washington Apartments for price and location. If you’re concerned about safety, try requesting an apartment in one of the buildings close to 6^th or 7^th and M street NW.

Wow. Where do I begin? The units are fairly new looking, though they all seem to have a weird odor. It probably is because these are renovated PROJECTS! The laundry machines haven’t worked in three months, and we’ve had recurring bed bug infestations since we moved in. I’ve seen two mice and a number of cockroaches.
Now for the location: You might be saying to yourself, «Wow. This place is right by downtown and Chinatown. Those areas are great!» Well, this is not either of those and if you know DC, you know that neighborhoods can change in a matter of blocks. In my first week I witnessed 2 fights, a handful of arrests, and a «local» woman defecating on the sidewalk.
When the weather is warm, everyone spills out onto the street and it gets really sketchy. My friend, who lives in the same complex, has been mugged and witnessed a murder in the courtyard of the building.
There is an amazing amount of street noise, the A/​C works marginally at best, there is only enough hot water for 1.25 showers per day, and the buzzer system is such that you cannot receive packages from UPS and Fedex. Ever.
Don’t bother. Don’t be lured in by the free month’s rent. Ugh.