BLVD2801 Apartments

Nice place but the management needs help. I don’t live here. I came to visit a friend. She left me the authorization to receive a key. Here’s the issue. The security guard/​concierge allowed me to tell him the apartment number. Unfortunately, I provided the wrong apartment number and I was given the key to another tenants apartment. Luckily, I am a law abiding citizen and returned the key. This experience brought me hesitation as I was considering signing a lease. However, the place looks amazing. Spacious areas for lounging, rooftop, parking decks, & a nice exercise facility.

I currently live here and it definitely has the potential to be a 5 star apartment building but there are some things that need to be addressed.
Pros:
–Garage parking (although you have to pay for it)
–Amenities are nice and gym is spacious with modern equipment
–Spacious apartments with great closet space
–Thick walls, I don’t hear my neighbors
–Trash chutes on each floor (but some people improperly dump apartment junk in there)
–Convenient to 395 and they have a free shuttle that goes to Pentagon City Metro M-​F
–Concierge for packages
Cons:
–They do not control the amount of random people that use the amenity space. Especially in the summer there are often groups of people who don’t live in the building and don’t know anyone who lives in the building hanging at the pool and roof top
–Fire alarms! Especially in the winter and especially in the middle of the night. It knocks you out of your sleep and you have to vacate the building (inconvenient)
–Utilities are not based on your individual apartment’s usage so you can’t control your bill. They compute your bill based on the building’s total usage, sq footage of your apartment, and number of people living in your unit
–Speaking of utilities, the A/​C went out a few times this past summer and residents were left in sweltering in their apartments for days (literally a hot mess)
–There is no mass notification system so if there is an emergency in the building the only way you will know is through word of mouth while talking to neighbors.
–Most of the street lights on Park Center Drive are out. I’ve brought this up to management numerous times yet they still remain out (unsafe)
–Maintenance requests sometimes take a week to complete and I usually have to follow up after a few days
–You have to pay $ 5 a day for visitor parking. There are limited free spaces on the street so more than likely you will have to pay (this isn’t DC)
Like I said before, this apartment building has a lot of potential and could easily become a top apartment building in the area if management addresses the aforementioned issues.

I certainly was impressed with this apartment building after the first time I visited it. Naturally, it was one of the apartments that I decided to check out when considering my new home. When touring the apartment it certainly was easy to be sold on everything they had to offer.
Not only were the apartments spacious, but the amenities definitely put the building levels above the rest. The rooftop has an amazing view with grills and plenty of tables if you are hanging out with a big group. The gym is a good size for an apartment gym and the downstairs «club» area is definitely impressive.
Having moved a couple times within the past 2 years, I was no stranger to how stressful the whole process can be. Elizabeth at the leasing office truly made it SO much easier. She answered any questions I had no matter how ridiculous and was ALWAYS available when I needed her. Apartment buildings will all have the problems regardless of where you go but I have been really impressed with how nice and professional these guys are here.
It’s definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a new apt. :)

I know for a fact I was worried about the Blvd because I had a friend live there years ago. so I was skeptical about my girl living there.
Well I was all wrong… Their amenities were second to none from all the others she visited and Elizabeth was very helpful from day one.
The rooftop is unreal and the pool is never too crowded and everyone is always nice as far as neighbours go.
I know she is hoping for new carpet in her spot. But other than that the place is unreal… and they have a convenient store that has everything except hammers. you can’t ask for much more than that.

This place has definitely turned around since I first started living here. With the new renovations, this place makes it worth living in. Rent is fairly priced and it’s a close commute to DC for work.

Do not move in there! I lived there for one year after hearing of the price but quickly learned you get what you pay for.
Reasons for the low review:
1. Dishwasher was broke the entire time but they wouldn’t fix it. They would show up and and never resolve the problem.
2. Dangerous. Someone was thrown off the 18^th floor while I was there. Never try to go outside on Friday or Saturday nights.
3. They will get every penny possible. Ripoff! They told us when we moved that the carpet needed changed, based on their subjective judgement. This is after having it professionally cleaned.
4. The fire alarm goes off in the middle of the night almost monthly. That means evacuating the bldg for extended periods even in the cold winter.
One bright spot. Most of the staff is at least nice.

I have lived here for 10 months and I love living here. Yes there have been building frustrations but I would renew my lease if I was going to have a roommate again. However the one bedroom is out of my budget range. My roommate and I have a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment and we love the amount of space that is in the apartment. They include washers and dryers also the building is renovated.
There are pics on here from the garage area that shows how crappy that looks and those are real however those are the garage areas and not in the main building areas. For the amount of sq ft you get these are great priced however recently the utilities have changed from individual apt usage to being evenly distributed across the building based on the number of occupants. So our electric bill went from $ 9.99 to almost $ 99 a month. Utilities cost us $ 150-​$ 200 a month when we don’t really use a lot.
We have no bugs or rodents!!!
The main complaints are the FIRE ALARMS!!! If you need sleep and don’t want to hear fire alarms like 5 times a month going off then maybe look elsewhere. For the first 6 months, we would evacuate the apartment each time it went off wether 5pm or 3am. But now like most residents we just ignore them and get really upset! I have called the AFD to see what’s going on but no answers.
The elevators could use repair… There have been times only 1 elevator is working and it takes 10 minutes to catch one then it opens and its stuffed full of people. If you leave for work before 8 then you’ll be ok but if you leave between 8 – 9 during broken elevator season… beware.
When we first moved in we had questions about asbestos and the rules on hanging pictures and such but it hasn’t been an issue for us since the first month.
The gym is really nice in comparison to most other apts. It’s on the roof as well the lounge area. Huge pool not crowded!
The happy hours are really nice too. Residents bring food the building provides wine and liquor– monthly.

If i could give this place 0 stars i would. I lived there for 2 years and had nothing but issues since the day i moved in (it was Aventine then) they didnt even have my apartment cleaned and i had to stay in another apartment until mine was ready (4 days later) Then about a year later i resigned my lease (big mistake) to try and give the new management company a chance and then my neighbors had bed bugs which infested my apartment and I had to fight with the leasing office just to get any help. When i finally moved out in May 2014 i thought I wad finally done with them. Until today i got a letter from a collections agency telling me I owed them money. (I never was late on a rental payment in the 2 years I lived there) When i called the collection place they said they were contact by Blvd 2801 saying i was defaulting a payment to them. Blvd 2801 NEVER sent me a letter stating I owed them anything!!! I left my forwarding address with Michael in the leasing office. So how the collection agency had the right address and they didnt is beyond me. So i HIGHLY advise anyone moving out of there to get something in writing that you are all settled and for those of you wanting to move in here DON’T!!!

I lived here for a year. It was my worst leasing experience in the DC area. The leasing office redefines incompetence; expect to take every issue to the inflexible management. The apartments are too hot in the summer, the cooling system is insufficient. The billing systems are difficult to understand and lack transparency. The fire alarms go off to much, the elevators break… But, it’s the bad leasing office and management. I strongly urge you to keep looking.
FYI this is a bainbridge property so I would avoid anything they own.

My fiancé and I recently moved to area in February and were very impressed by BLVD2801 online and schedule to take a tour. Our leasing agent, Elizabeth Vega, was AWESOME! She was very knowledgeable of the property and gave plenty of tips and information. Unfortunately, we could not see an exact replica of the apartment we leased (we were shown a penthouse 1 bedroom instead of a regular 1 bedroom), but Elizabeth made sure we knew the small differences (basically, we would have an outdoor balcony instead of the giant windows). It was a chilly February day, but Elizabeth was sure to take us outside to view the different amenities, parking garage, and grounds (we had been to a few other places and the agents was not so accommodating since it was cold). We signed our lease right after the tour! BLVD was running a great special, that awarded us a $ 250 Visa gift card for leasing in the month of February and they waived all administration fees! We just had to pass the credit check and pay a $ 250 deposit (which you basically go back from the gift card)
Due to a scheduling conflict on our end, we had to stay with a friend a week before we could move in to BLVD. We let Elizabeth know, and she was able to get us into our apartment a day early! That evening we were able to move everything into our apartment and return our moving truck to save a few bucks! BLVD offers some moving equipment (a few carts) to help the process along, and you can block of an elevator with a deposit (you get the deposit back as long as you do not damage the elevator). We had some minor issues with out apartment after completing the move-​in checklist, but the maintenance staff was able to fix them within 1 – 2 days of move-​in.
We have now lived here for almost 5 months and love it! The complex has a ton of amenities and a great mix of young adults, families, and professionals. The building is also super pet friendly and offers a dog park (our 7 month old puppy loves it!) BLVD host a monthly Happy Hour, either in the basement lounge section or the rooftop grill/​lounge section. They provide free wine and beer, and residents help by supplying food! It is a great way to make friends in the building and get some tips and trick to living in DC/​Alexandria, especially, if you are new to the area. We have made new friends already!
We still see our leasing agent around the building and she always ask how we are doing, if everything with the apartment is okay, and if there is anything we need anything. I’m sure the other agents are great, but Elizabeth is a stand out! She is one of the main reasons we decided to live here! I feel more comfortable going to her with any issues or request than I would anyone else. She has that «it will be done» attitude, and I feel confident that if we had a major issue shewould be able to help us handle it. Along with Elizabeth’s outstanding service, great amenities, proximately to Old Town Alexandria/​King Street, DC, 395, and nice units BLVD is a great place to call home!

Lived here almost one year and it’s just one disappointment after another. Could not use my balcony all summer due to construction. Then they close them in so they can claim the apts are bigger to charge more rent. Then they changed the parking from assigned spaces to «first come» bases. I get home late so I NEVER get a good spot. The fire alarm goes off so often people don’t even bother to go down stairs. I worry what will happen if there is a real fire! Electric was intermittent all summer, which meant no A/​C and long climes up many floors. Heating system now can not handle living rooms with closed in balcons. Big dogs abound… I could go on but others have expressed the same issues. Worst of all management could care less about residences complaints. Sad

**ALSO! Don’t be fooled. BLVD2801 used to be the «aventine» so look up reviews for that. I’m pretty sure they changed their name in order to get rid of all the horrible reviews since the new owners took over a year ago.
If you want cheap, don’t pick this place either. The rent will be going up since they have been renovating all this year! DEFINITELY not resigning my lease.
They send flyers every day changing things up.
For example, today they went from assigned parking to «first come first serve.» This is a huge garage and the apartment is separated into three different buildings. The parking will now be chaos. BUT! You still have to pay an extra $ 50 a month for one car, and any additional is $ 75.
BUT! If you pay an extra $ 150 a month, you can keep your assigned parking…
A flyer we got a couple weeks ago said that vistor parking was going to be $ 5 a day. That’s unreal.
Also in the beginning of the year, we caught a $ 20 «misc pay» on the back of our monthly rent bill, and when we asked the leasing office, they admitted the aventine owed $ 50k because they miscalculated the gas bill therefore divided the total by all the apartments and we were charged $ 20 a month for four months… without any notices.
Up until this upcoming year, the rent has been cheap, hence the cheap people that live here. A LOT of people do not want to pay the $ 50 to park, therefore there is chaos almost every night/​morning with tons of people attempting to parallel park on the streets.
The «renovations» are downstairs. The concierge, and the main area of the apartment are renovated. That’s it. The hallways have new carpet and paint. Besides that, even the garage entrance is sometimes scary at night. Half the floor is missing and lights go out always. Also dogs are always pissing in the hallway and elevators.
Also, this cheap place charges a $ 300 MOVE IN fee… Not a depoist that you can get back. A move in fee. Oh, and they tried to charge my roommate a $ 125 application fee… Unreal.

So I’ve been here for about 5 months. They are in the process of remodeling which is nice, but there lots of inconveniences. I’m very understandable. To get something you have to give something.
Service had been quick and friendly.
I got a great deal on my place. I have a feeling I’m not going to be able to keep this fantasic fall.
The interior of the apartment isn’t like spanking brand new but they fixed it up to look nicer.
If you super fancy this might not be the place for you. However I just moved up to the DMV area and I like my apartment. It’s the most space for the least amount. (Unless the prices changed)

My roommate and I have lived here for 2 months and we are so annoyed!!! Management seems so unorganized and overwhelmed by the number of people and units that are in their buildings. When we moved in, we were required to submit a move-​in checklist within 48 hours of moving in. We completed it with some minor things that needed fixed and a few major. We had to go to the rental office almost every single day for 3 weeks and the only reason we got them fixed was because apparently our a/​c was leaking into the apartment below us. The have been doing maintenance on the elevators since we have moved in, where they completely shut down the elevators (ALL of them) for 6 – 8 hours at a time… I am a flight attendant and when this happens I have to carry my luggage down 12 flights of stairs. NOT OKAY! If you have some type of medical condition where you rely on elevators, I highly suggest not coming here. «Secure» parking is $ 25-​$ 75 a month, keycard to get into garage is always broken, so garage door stays open. For me, it’s the little things that count. I moved to the DMV area from a city that is much cheaper than this area, so i’m paying a lot more to live here, I need everything to be on point and working. I understand things happen, but they shouldn’t happen on a consistent bases!

I lived in the Aventine for 8 months on a sublease that my roommate and I took over from a lady renting a 2BR/​2BA unit.
CHEAP: biggest pro. Cheap rent, cheap deposit, no amenity fees, even though we had pets they never made us pay a pet deposit or pet rent. Now I did end up subleasing before the end of my lease, so I’m unsure what kind of fees they hit you with upon move out. The apartment was large with tons of storage. Convenience store in building was awesome, but expensive as expected. We had a non-​updated unit, so our kitchen was very out of date (no microwave, old cabinets). Cable was also apparently not installed when the unit was built, so we had holes drilled in our walls with cables running along the ceilings and floors, not attractive (but this is also why the unit was so cheap). Utilities are billed through the leasing company and split equally throughout all of the units. Our utilities were very expensive ($ 150+) while we probably actually used about half as much. It was however very quiet, we never once heard anyone in any of the units around us or in the hallways besides the constant fire alarms at all hours of the day and night that would go off for an hour or more.
Power went out all the time, very bad for living on the higher floors and very HOT in the summer. They would schedule power outages and not tell the residents until the same day, so often times we did not find out until the power was already off. Not safe. Garage door is constantly left open (probably because the power is always out). My boyfriend had his motorcycle stolen from the «secured garage» and my assigned parking spot. The management was no help and seemed unconcerned. Carpets in hallways are dirty and dingy and the building just has a sort of smell to it. Multiple times there were what appeared to be leaks in the hallway where the carpet was completely soaked, and the only resolution was someone putting a fan in the hallway to dry it. The leasing office is very laid back. This is a good and a bad thing. The subleasing process was pretty painless and I did it multiple times while living there. They only recently started charging a small fee for this service. Just make sure you cover your own back if subleasing. When my roommate moved out they continued to charge our utility bill to her name for many months, even after I asked them to change it multiple times.
Bottom line: I would not live here again. You get what you pay for.

This could have been a nicer apartment complex had the management put some effort in to it.
Pros:
*spacious apartments — we downsized from a large townhouse to a two bedroom/​2 bath and our stuff fit.
*prompt response from the maintenance crew.
*a beautiful model apartment
*very convenient convenience store with dry cleaning and alteration services.
Now… for the reasons we are moving out:
*the apartments that you actually move in to are dumps, but we made the best of it
*they allow smoking — people around us smoke so much the stench often seeps in to the apartment. Very unappetizing.
*they stated that they check US citizenship… I can tell you that’s a lie
*they say they monitor the number of people living in an apartment… another lie
*they monitor breeds of dogs… amazing how many pitbulls (a restricted breed) I’ve seen…
*the fire alarms go off at least once a week, and they seem to wait until you’re in the most restful sleep of your life
*the gaggle of kids across the hallway use the hallway as a playground. They scream, they run around, and the parents never try to wrangle them in until I knock on the door and tell them to hush their kids up. The office has been notified, and the problem continues. Kids are cute, but their hypersonic screams while running around the hallway are not.
*the power goes out every time an ant poops, so living on higher floors is not to your advantage unless you are cardiovascularly tolerant to 18 flights of stairs with groceries (of course when you buy perishables) or luggage
*the «secure» garage is often open and overpriced
*the rent hike of 10% is out of control, and not reflective of the lack of apartment quality offered
*boxes got stolen from our moving truck when we moved in… seriously!!!
*bugs. lots of bugs. and some people have rodents!
*credit cards are accepted for payment purposes… for a $ 30 fee.
Unless you’re desperate, I highly recommend you don’t move in here!