Cityside Huntington Metro

Cityside should be shut down! The Manager is never in the office, the consultants have no knowledge of anything! They falsely report evictions, money owed, and lose security deposits. When you approach them about their errors you literally have to go to the corporate office or threaten to do so to even get to speak with the property or assistant property manager. The turnover rate of employees is extremely high either because they are stealing, incompetent, or plain rude! I think the company should really look into how Anthony Foster, a leasing consultant there speaks to customers and future residents. He seems to be completely out of it and totally unprofessional and will let you know he does not care about staying employed!
I don’t know how this place is still running. Don’t be blind sided by specials or waived fees you will pay for it in the end and they will make sure you do!

Every thing that people say about how horrible it is to live here is completely & utterly true. I’m confused how anyone could think this place is exceptional.
Security, cleanliness & vermin have to be the biggest issues here. And of course the leasing office is incompetent and deceptive.
You’re given key cards when you move in but the doors never lock. So anyone can come in & out of the building at any time. (pray you don’t have a crazy ex)
There are trash chutes but the doors get jammed and residents cant put the trash in it so people just leave their trash in the hallway by the trash chute. This creates a horrible order that permeates the buildings.
The leasing office main lobby is the only place that smells decent, to trick new tenants in and of course.
There are roaches everywhere. I mean everywhere. Hallways, elevators, bathroom, bedroom, dishwashers, fridge. If you’ve ever had roaches you understand that they migrate with you. They lay eggs and droppings everywhere. I’ve been bitten a few times which really messes with my mental sanity. Because roaches aren’t ants or mosquitoes.
Calling the leasing office is fruitless. They send someone to spray but he only sprays 10 units every Friday. Imagine that. There’s a limited list to spray for roaches that I didn’t cause. If you miss the 10^th person cut off you’re forced to live with roaches another week. But I honestly doubt the spraying helps. Plus they only have one man who sprays. One man for 4 buildings. Laughable if it wasn’t so extremely disgusting.
My sink has leaks creating a brown puddle by the toilet. Maintenance came out to «fix» it but it still leaks.
The leasing office hordes deliveries. You’re not able to get UPS, FedEx delivers to your door so leasing office hold them for you but seems to never let you have your packages when you come in and ask for them. My mother sent me a toaster on September 27 I wasn’t able to receive that toaster till October 30. I’ve gone in multiple times to ask for my package I’m always told they don’t have it in the back.
Getting out my lease with my deposit & credit intact is primary. But of course I’ve heard of them adding fake fees & billing residents incorrectly.

1) Car broken into after 2 weeks of moving in. No resolution offered because like all of the shoddy security at this shit hole of an apartment complex, there are no cameras in the parking lot.
2) Paying for an entry fob, and the door is broken. No security. I have literally seen tenants and guests yank the door open for entry, breaking the handle. Handle has been broken for over 2 weeks now.
3) A massive tree branch fell onto my car, totaling it. Renters insurance doesnt cover. Car insurance doesnt cover. The person who calls himself a property manager had nothing to say, no courtesy offered, no willingness to offer recourse whatsoever. Sorry not sorry was his attitude. Thanks for absolutely nothing.
4) Hallways CONSTANTLY reek of garbage because slob tenants never throw trash down chute, just leave in trash room on floor. Management sends notices but, surprise!, notices do not work and no further resolution is offered.
5) Laundry room is disgusting. Standing water on floor, machines frequently broken. Ones that work are broken into and clothes are stolen all the time. The machines require a card for access, the reload machine in my building has been broken for months, so I have to go to the main office to re-​load everytime.
6) The gym is never air conditioned. The gym bathrooms are filthy.
7) The pool house is ancient and also filthy, I wouldn’t wash my hands in there, let alone anything else.
8) The staff is largely incompetent, rude and save for ONE person who works back there. I have lived in shit hole apartments before, but this place takes the cake. Do yourself a favor, if you can muster the extra money it costs to live anywhere else but this nightmare, do it.

I lived in 6034 – 1004 and loved it. It was my first apartment and I enjoyed my stay at CitySide. Based off of reviews before I moved in (2014) I was a little afraid, but I moved out completely happy and satisfied last week (2015). I received the same friendly service from the manager, lease agents and maintenance workers.
I payed my rent early and I left the apartment in good standing how I received it. (Hopefully everyone does…)
I never saw a roach in my apartment, or anywhere in the building as a matter of fact.
The rooftop is awesome for the summer and fall, the gym is convent and well equipped.
All in all, for the price, the amenities, convince, location you cant beat it. Many improvements have been made over my 10 month lease. Well worth your time.
Special thanks to Larry, Caron & Selam!!!

If you can tolerate being bent over and screwed by a bunch of greedy low-life’s, all in order to live in a decent priced apartment — CitySide is for you.
This company doesn’t even deserve proper formatting of a review, so I will just list the issues we’ve had since being here.
–Management is horrendous. Front office is barely staffed. I receive better customer service at a McDonalds.
–Payments are made on time, then ringed as late due to employee incompetence.
–Front office has lost multiple packages resulting in having to re-​order products.
–Repairs take weeks to complete.
–Laundry capabilities were down for over 2 months, and when they got back up, half of the machines don’t work resulting in having to spend more money.
–This entire company is a scam, and the only reason anyone lives here is due to the cheap prices.
–Superbly unprofessional staff. Doesn’t answer e-​mails or return phone calls.
–Single point of failure on almost all issues — if the individual that can fix a problem isn’t there, don’t expect a message to be passed on to them.
–You literally need to walk in, walk up to the individual, and yell a greeting in order to get any sort of service.
–If MacGyver had a younger brother with Down’s Syndrome, he would still be a better maintenance technician than the ones employed here
–Security? There is no security here. The management doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the safety of it’s residents. There has not been an active access control system on Bldg 6040 in over 5 months. Anyone can just walk into the apartment building and do what they please. Plus the fact that residents HAVE to pay for entry control key fobs that are pointless.
–There are no social activities or a sense of community, and management sure as hell doesn’t attempt to increase either.
–Elevator takes 45 seconds to open even when it’s already on your floor, and then shakes violently when moving.
–Laundry facilities are a joke. I’d have better luck washing my clothes in my bathtub then drying them by slowly blowing on them. The equipment is horrible, the card system doesn’t work, and the room itself is disgusting.
–This company is either a shell corporation laundering money for an international drug cartel, or it is ran by a team of monkey’s who have all experimented very heavily with LSD. This place simply blows.

This place deserves zero star ! Dirty apartment very outdated, lots of cockroaches and unsafe elevators. The elevators are unsafe, every time I take it I would get stuck with the kids. My kids literately hate the elevators because of getting stuck in them almost every single day. I’m tired of calling the management to have them fix the elevators, I guess they careless about the tenants safety, they’re not aware of how dangerous it is. I can’t wait to move out of this unsafe building. P. S: VERY RUDE MANAGER !!!
Unsafe elevator: you have to except getting stuck in it and not only that, sometimes it does not work at all you gonna have to use the stairs and imagine when you have groceries to carry on !!
Laundry room: machines always broken, water floods, broken door in laundry room.
Unsafe community.
You will deal with a rude manager.
No one answers when you call the office.

To Whom It May Concern,
My experience with Bainbridge Management, namely Selam Getahun, at the Cityside Huntington Metro apartments [recently purchased by Carlyle Group].
I used to live in this apartment complex before Carlyle Group bought it and put millions into a renovation. Well you can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig. It used to be Grady Management and I was hoping for the sake of all the current residents that a facelift and newly appointed management would do it some good. After reading reviews on Unilocal and Google I can see that it has not.
Somehow I made a purchase on EBay that went to my old address at these apartments. I called management 3 times. Each time they did not answer and it went to an answering service. They assured me they would pass my message on. I don’t know if they did or didn’t but I never got a call back. On my 4^th call I reached Selam Getahun. I explained that I have delivery confirmation that my package went to an address there and would she reach out to the resident to see if they have it. She got my name and number and said she would get back to me. Three days pass and she does not get back to me. I call again and my calls are again forwarded to an answering service 3 or 4 times. On my 5^th call Larry King Jr. answers the phone. I ask for Selam and he says that she is currently helping someone. He tells me he will give the message to me so that she can call me as soon as she is done. The day passes and I receive no return call. The next day I decide to go knock on the door of my old apartment. A lady answers and after I explain that my package was confirmed delivered to her address I asked her if she had it. She said she just moved in and doesn’t know anything about it. I explain the package was delivered less than a week ago. I ask if she moved in yesterday. She said yes. A little while later in the conversation I ask her when was it that she moved in again? She said August (which was two months ago). So I said well this package was definitely delivered after you moved in. She repeated that she didn’t know anything about it. Realizing that that this lady isn’t dealing with a full deck of cards I leave. I head to the leasing office. I walk in and ask Larry King Jr. if Selam is available. He says she is out and will return in 30 minutes or so. He offered to take a message but I tell him that I will wait. After 30 minutes Larry King Jr comes over to me and says he doesn’t know what happened or where Selam is and that he didn’t even see her car pull up. I explain that I have been trying to reach her for days and she never returns call and that there is property of mine that has either been delivered to a resident or the leasing office. He offers to email Selam and I repeat that I have been trying to reach her for days and that isn’t good enough– we need to call her. We go to his desk where he tries to go the email route and I explain that isn’t good enough. He calls her and Selam answers. He explains that to Selam that I am in the office and asking about my package. She says that she wasn’t able to get in touch with the resident. Larry explains that I already talked to the resident. After that I confirmed to myself that I won’t get any further with this without legal action and decide to leave. Just complete incompetence. I feel grateful that I no longer live there and have to deal management on a daily basis like so many of the other poor residents.

KNOW YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS WHEN YOU MOVE OUT OR THEY WILL SCAM YOU OUT OF YOUR SECURITY DEPOSIT!
Pro:
–Rent is relatively cheap for the area. $ 1000 for a studio.
–On Richmond Highway, so everything is walking or driving distance.
Cons:
–SO MANY!
–COCKROACHES ARE PERMANENTLY LEECHING FREE TENANTS IN YOUR APARTMENT.
–WILL SCAM YOU OUT OF SECURITY DEPOSIT! KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AND THE LAW!
My husband moved out of Cityside when his contract in Alexandria ended. The day he vacated his studio, he took a comprehensive video of his apartment minutes before we returned the keys. He returned the keys and was told that since he was vacating a few days earlier than his lease specified, that the person filing his paperwork would put a stop on his utilities charges. NOPE. DID NOT HAPPEN. Lack of competency and communication in that office.
Now here’s a kicker!!!
After more than a month of not hearing from Cityside (per Virginia Landlord Tenant Law 55 – 248.15:1, they have 30 days to send back the Security Deposit or provide proof of damages as to why they are keeping said money), my husband called to inquire about his Security Deposit and was told that he left the apartment dirty and they were charging us «Damages-​Cleaning $ 150» and «Damages-​Carpet Shampoo $ 75». When he inquired about what was so damaged beyond the legal statute of «wear-​and-​tear», he was told that his (copied from email sent to him) «flooring in the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bedroom was not clean. The commode in your bathroom was not clean, as well as the stove, microwave, and fridge were also not clean.» He lived in a studio, with ONE ROOM, NO MICROWAVE. He asked for pictures or proof as required by the law and he was told that the maintenance crew just «made notes of the damages», NO PICTURES OR EVIDENCE OF SAID DAMAGES. My husband sent them the video of his move out showing how clean the apartment was and how he did not have a «living room, dining room, kitchen, and bedroom» per accusation from the idiotic management’s response of why she was keeping his Security Deposit. My husband is an attorney and threatened them with legal action to include seeking Treble Damages as well as Punitive Damages if they did not return his rightful Security Deposit since they lack ALL EVIDENCE AND REASON TO KEEP IT. They finally did, yesterday, when he vacated their apartment on June 27^th. TWO MONTHS they withheld his Security Deposit, with NO EVIDENCE.
Folks, know your legal rights before you move in or out of this place. The management seems notorious for being incompetent to a point of illegally prosecuting tenants for inaccurate accounts receivable.
COCKROACHES AND CHARLATANS ARE WHAT YOU’LL FIND HERE.

Not a bad place to live, perfect location, it’s around 10mins to Huntington metro station. Nice and cozy apartments. But it’s a bit boring place to live.

Overall I would lease here again. We enjoy our apartment unit and find that it is quiet even though it is right by the elevator. However, if you’re looking for any social scene, find another complex. This complex is overrun with children that are rarely supervised, so they climb on equipment in the gym, throw mulch in ground floor apartments’ outside space, chalk the tennis court, and nearly run you over on their scooters. The equipment in the gym is great (when it works), but the gym is usually way too hot to comfortably workout. The pool is great and there’s a small dog park. I have never been concerned about our safety.

PROS:
–This apartment is a good location. You are close to Metro, the highway, National Harbor, and Old Town.
–They had a few events for residents on occasion (e.g. a cook-​out and ice cream social)
–The gym is kept clean.
–Your visitors can park anywhere
CONS:
–When we first moved in there was a problem with roaches (inside and outside the 6034 building) but they had an exterminator come out.
–The main office staff is hit or miss. Some people are helpful, others not so much
–There are only two elevators and it’s not uncommon to wait FOREVER because one of them would be out of service or the freight would be reserved.
–The pool was kept uncovered throughout the entire year
–Laundry rooms are not the best. Dryer was broken more than once and took a while to be repaired
–Our air conditioning/​heating system never worked correctly. Only one vent in the entire apartment so temperature control was always an issue.
–Main door to apartment building was broken for weeks or more so anyone could walk in and out

Its not a bad place. Conveniently located to the metro, good family feel and nice amenities. The people at the leasing office have done my boyfriend and I some favors. Just be cautious of roaches in the studios…

DO NOT DO IT. I wanted to love this place so badly, my very first apartment — so I was not overly picky, just happy to pay my own rent and have a place to call my own. It would take alot to make me upset. But every week since my roommate and I have moved in back in August, there has been SOMETHING wrong! The problems are not the actual apartment unit itself, but the management.
1^st of all, when do the leasing office staff even work? I dont know because literally everytime I call, I am either forwarded to the central system where the most I can do is leave a voice message or the person is ‘sick’. I don’t know how many sick days they are allowed, but I can almost promise that each of the personnel in the office has had at least 200 sick days a piece.
The online billing system is almost ALWAYS wrong, and does not match my roommates. Maintenance requests are never processed without at least 3 requests. They lost my security deposit and then tried to insult my intelligence by first asking me to pay it again– bottom line, I should not have been able to move in without it, if you lost it too bad. Secondly, the manager tried to suggest that they wont make us pay it, but rather they would just keep it at the end of the year… uhmm thats the same exact thing. I want it back. My roommate and I ended up getting in contact with the corporate office who credited us the $ 250 deposit back!
Most recently I paid my rent with a money order 7 days ago and it was only posted today after I called a total of maybe 5 or 6 times. Each time I was told that Brianna was the ONLY person who can post to an account and that she was sick… this whole time? Sounds like laziness to me.
The managers are unresponsive, lazy, clueless and would ALWAYS rather pass you off for a call back, an email or to another manager. THEY are OUT of control. I work in a similar business in the hospitality industry and I would be FIRED if my boss ever found out that I was following ANY of the practices this office has. But then again, the main boss there is the worst one and sets a lackadaisical performance standard for the rest of the team so what can I expect?
I guarantee that when you call the office you will feel incredibly more intelligent than anyone who answers the phone.
These issues are literally only ¹⁄₁₆ of the things that I have experienced with this complex. I’d be here all day if I explained the organization of the staff.
Needless to say, I will NOT be living here next year. I may even try Riverside next door. It’d be worth it even if the rent is higher.

I was desperate for a place to live and Cityside Huntington Metro apartments had really affordable prices. I saw these reviews about cockroaches and poor management, but I couldn’t be picky at the time.
I thought, what’s a roach or two… WRONG…
Moving in the first day there was a 3 inch dead german cockroach (google it) in my storage closet. Thankfully I never saw a live one, but every damn day there’s another cockroach. They «spray» every couple of months, but you better buy some extra roach killer stuff for your own defense — and even that doesn’t stop them.
I never really had a problem with the people in management. Things were always falling apart, but for the most part the maintenance people came a couple days later. There was one case where I waited a month and had to remind them… ALSO, their management portal to pay rent is really helpful, except I like to pay the day before the 1^st, and there were about 3 times where they didn’t update their total costs on time so it said I had outstanding balances which was really annoying.
The area is SO sketchy. When I watched my parent’s dog, I took my pepper spray whenever I walked her when it was dark out. We’ve seen multiple drug transactions go on, plus a hit and run from a drunk driver.
I move out this week, and I believe the roaches are throwing me a goodbye party. Counting down the days!

DO NOT recommend this place if you re looking for renting apartment. When there’s a problem in your apartment and you fill out the repair worksheet, they send a maintenance guy to check on it, but usually they just «check on» it, because most of the time they do not fix the problem, they leave the problem to you.
The neighborhood has a lot of ambulance passing by so it’s quite noisy from day to night.