The Asher Apartments

We have lived here for a year. We had to move to the area suddenly from out of state, and ended up signing a lease over the phone for the apartment. We were given a handicapped apartment without being notified, as well as it being the apartment underneath the community club room (again, without being notified). Make sure you get a map of the building from management before you move here, if you aren’t able to tour apartments first. I don’t think its a coincidence we were given this apartment, they obviously couldn’t have rented it if someone had seen it first.
Living under the clubroom has made for the WORST year ever. The noise is so loud in our apartment even if people are just walking around up there, but mainly residents have no regard for the fact that they are dragging furniture around on hardwood floor. When the weather is bad, people let their children loose up in there unsupervised to run and jump and drop things (we have called multiple times and the concierge was not able to locate the parents to make them stop). People bring their dogs in the clubroom as well even though it is not allowed, and the dogs running and barking drive our dog insane in our apartment (as well as us). People also disregard the hours of the clubroom, and are constantly up there past 10pm which is the closing time. Once the concierge leaves at 11pm, we have no way of getting the noise to stop. Many nights we have been up until 1 or 2am because of rude residents. There had been constant noise waking us up at 6/6:30am for a month straight, and I kept asking management to do something about it. Nothing was done, so one morning I went upstairs to nicely ask the people to not make so much noise that early, and found it was the concierge. Management had been instructing the concierge to clean or arrange or something up there at 6am every morning. That is a completely fixable problem, that management chose to ignore and allowed it to continue for months. (and not the concierge’s fault at all, how would they know how much noise it was causing, the management just never told them) Don’t get me wrong, I know people should be allowed to use the community spaces and we don’t call to complain if it is just normal use of the clubroom, but many many times it is absolutely unnecessary noise, and/​or outside clubroom hours.
The management has promised for a year that something would be done about the noise, whether it was getting us a new apartment or sound proofing the floor/​ceiling. Management changes every few months, so needless to say nothing has ever been done, although we update each new manager on the issue. We absolutely hate living here, and management does not seem to care that residents do not follow the rules. They also ignore us for weeks on end, its very difficult to get responses out of anyone. I understand that they are understaffed sometimes because they lose people, but that is not the residents problem. We have been waiting for a storage unit for a year too. No response on that yet either.
The first floor floods whenever it rains, and the carpeting is coming up in the hallways. The garage is dirty and smells like garbage, and wet leaky garbage is constantly on the ground. The fire alarms go off a decent amount now that there is a restaurant in the building, one night we were up twice and standing outside for an hour waiting to hear if we could go back inside. The fire department came both times but never once was management present. No one ever followed up on email to tell us why the alarms were going off all night either. I’m assuming its the restaurant but I have no idea because no one seems to care enough to tell us or apologize.
Basically all of the buildings issues could be fixed with better management, better maintenance and better communication skills. I have also tried to contact the building owners, Jefferson Management, and heard nothing back. This is pretty much the worst place we have ever lived, and its not like its cheap.
This week there was a shooting on the street, a block over. I know its not the first issue they’ve had with shootings on this block. Really great area…
I have waited almost a year to write this review, hoping they would fix the issues or at least work with us. We have reached the last straw, and cannot take it anymore. This is a horrible place to live, and we have tried for MONTHS to work with management to fix the issues.

I’ve lived here for a year, and will be moving out in a little less than a month. Here are my thoughts on this place.
First, let’s get the complaints about the location out of the way, since they seem to be a common theme here. Yes, this neighborhood is undergoing gentrification, and while I think there has been a nice amount of progress made over the past year (new park, new shops and restaurants), things can still be «interesting» with the neighbors. I personally haven’t had any major problems or concerns, but I understand others have, and it’s certainly something to keep in mind. You obviously need a key fob to get in the doors, but I’ve noticed that for the west stairwell in the north building, the fob readers do not work, and have not worked for as long as I can remember. Sometimes the doors are unlocked by default (!), and sometimes the doors remain locked, even after you try to buzz yourself in. Since this stairwell leads directly from the publicly-​accessible parking garage, this is definitely something of a security concern. I’ve reported this issue to the management several times, but nothing seems to have been done.
Have you ever seen «Arrested Development»? The build quality of the building and the apartments reminds me of that. Things look nice from the outside or on a quick tour, but after you start living here for awhile, you begin to notice that fixtures aren’t as nice or well-​built as they appear. I’ve noticed things like the baseboards peeling away from the walls, the carpet starting to detach and come up from the floor, and the countertops detaching from where they meet the walls. Also, the safety outlets in my roommate’s bathroom can cause the outlets in my bathroom across the hall to stop working; not sure what that’s about. The gym facilities are pretty nice, although they really should get more treadmills. There are only 3, and one is usually out of commission. The gym is also carpeted, and the carpet tiles are not securely fastened to the floor in places. Be careful when doing bodyweight exercises! I can also confirm what an earlier review said about flooding on the first floor during and after a recent heavy rainstorm. While I understand that heavy rainstorms have the potential to overwhelm a building’s drainage systems, to see such widespread flooding on the ground floor really makes me question the build quality of this complex.
The management has under gone 2 changes in staffing in the past year (I believe), which for me sends up a red flag. The concierge staff has been friendly and pleasant, no complaints there. Maintenance requests have been spotty and inconsistent. I’ve had to follow-​up on a few of them after getting no response for a few days, and every time I get the usual apology/​excuse combo. Apparently maintenance requests in the computer system have a nasty habit of drifting off into the aether…
The worst experience that I’ve had, by far, is an ant infestation. I’ve actually had two of them, and I am curious to know if any other residents are having this problem. In both instances, the ants have come out from a crack between the baseboards and floor, since they seem to be improperly sealed/​caulked. I’ve put a maintenance request in to have them re-​sealed, and I’ll let you take a wild guess as to whether or not that has been fulfilled. Also in both instances, the ants have come out from an interior wall. This means that the ants are living in the interior spaces of the building, in between the walls and such, rather than coming in from the outside through an improperly-​sealed window. The thought of an ant colony living inside the walls is discomforting, to say the least, and it is definitely one of the main reasons why I am choosing to not renew my lease.
Now onto a few things that just stick in my craw. This place is billed and marketed as a «dog friendly» community, and by and large, this is true. Many of the residents have dogs, there is a dog washing station in the parking garage, and the concierge will often give my dog a treat as we walk through the lobby. However, dogs are not allowed on the only grassy area on the property. This one is inexplicable, and thankfully the residents ignore the sign and the management doesn’t enforce the rule. Still, this creates a strange state of affairs and I think it needs to be addressed one way or another. Are dogs actually allowed on the grass? Then remove the sign. Are they not allowed? Then enforce the rule (and be prepared for the torrent of justified complaints from the residents!)
The Asher’s website is bizarre, and relies heavily on stock photos, many of which are not actually pictures of the property! Seriously; there is a PALM TREE in one of the outdoor pictures! If you’re thinking of living here after all of this, I urge you to look at the property in-​person, since it looks nothing like what is advertised on the website.
Overall, for your money, I think you could do better.

This place is a total joke. It looks good on paper and on the tours. It is great being so close to the metro, but not even that can save the total shit show it is to live here.
The management has absolutely no idea what they are doing or how to communicate to their tenants. They are rude to their tenants, make open comments about how they are avoiding emails. They are slow to respond. The amenity fee every person must pay for goes to waste, the movie theater was down for about 4 months, couldn’t access it at all. The balconies, the things that people actually use, are not able to be accessed after 9:30pm…the times when people would actually use a fire pit or hang out outside. The two community grills they have on the premises barely are able to heat hot dogs. The computers they have in the business center rarely work or even have ink the printer. Things are breaking all the time, sometimes urgent service requests come up… and when you inform the negligent front desk… all they can say is «we will put in a service request» and then you pray that your issue will be fixed by the end of the week.
Just yesterday, there was a a bad rain storm and a large portion of the 1^st floor apartments were flooded. A very large section of people had their homes ruined because water was pouring out of their utility closets onto their floors. Prior to that there was flooding in the storage area in the basement. I doubt the building will take any responsibility for faulty plumbing or their pipes being overwhelmed. The manager actually responded to this crisis by locking herself in her office and turning off the lights so nobody could speak to her.
The «24 hour» concierge is most certainly not 24 hours or much of a concierge. They just open the door if they are even at their desk. The «dog friendly» atmosphere with the lovely spot of green grass in the front of the building, managed by the building, has a sign that reads «no dogs allowed» (people still let their dogs do whatever they need to there anyway).
Oh yeah… lets not forget about the rare (but occasional) shootings, robberies and police raids that happen across the street.
The only redeeming factor about this place is the location and the few people I actually enjoy talking to in the building. It is great being only a block from the metro. The apartments are okay (I like our set up but there are others that are awkward). There are some very nice tenants on the property, but there are also a ton of really awful people that are rude and enjoy openly gossiping about others in the building. I understand that this is the DC/​NoVa area and most people are soulless humans that only want to utilize connections as a means to better their power standings rather than cultivating friendships. So if you are not on their age level, or buy into their idea of desperate housewives level bullshit, then steer very clear of this place.
All in all, I would say take the 2k+ you’d spend to live in this place and find a better apartment with a balcony or a little house with more character in a nicer neighborhood with a yard that you would actually have freedom to access.

I’ve lived here for 11 months in a 1br/​1bath and have had nothing but good experiences with the apartment, the property and its staff.
The Good:
Although there have been a few changes with the leasing staff, they are all extremely helpful!
The maintenance staff helped me to properly hang a mirror in my entryway and came up immediately when my water temperature was inconsistent.
Very quietand pet friendly building, with garage parking
Very close to Old Town, the post office, and a few new restaurants.
The bad:
Nothing so far!

UPDATE: So A week out from moving, I wake up on Sat AM to find my stove broken for a second time and a leaky fridge… I was planning to cook a meal for friends since I can’t eat out due to health reasons. Got in contact with the concierge to confirm Maintenance would be in Sat. Maintenance requests were put in and nothing. I spoke with the leasing agent around 10:30 and he said he would get in contact with Raymond, the not so good Maintenance Manager. An hour rolls around and I run into the leasing agent. He says he hasn’t heard from Raymond so why doesn’t he open an empty apartment. Great but running up and down floors to cook is not fun at all.
Monday, I sent a note to Melissa, Asher Manager, Maintenance Mgr
and copied
and
. Ms. Shifferaw is Melissa’s direct supervisor and Ms. Holt is a VP at Jefferson Group.
I suspect because of who I put on the CC line, I received a non-​apologetic note from Raymond and a call from Melissa. Melissa at first sound apologetic then when you go to talk she cuts you off…2^nd phone call with her. I feel like it a pat on the head, go away.
Move here if you like but take down the emails above and use them. Get what you’re paying for!
First Review: Been here for one year and saw a management change three times. The first, Tiffany, was awesome. She actually knew how to communicate and solve problems. The two cats we had after Tiffany and the current Manager are generally dismissive and/​or unresponsive.
Stove and burners stopped working — not management’s problem. Maintenance will get to you when they get to you. (That’s what I was told by the second set of managers.)
The entry doors in the garage would not open with key and the elevator behind those doors was shut off. Sent several notes, first response was its fixed. No it wasn’t. Did you even check before sending that note, I suspect not. I asked for a sign so folks didn’t waste their time walking to the door. Didn’t happen. This went on for more than 10 days.
White stuff dropped on to my car in not one but two different paid parking spaces. Yeah, Management was totally aware of the problem. No offer to detail the vehicle. The first parking space was ideal so I was assured I would return to that spot when they repaired it. Well they kept renting that spot out to other residents. I kept asking, what the deal, is the problem fixed cause if so, I’m moving back to it. Each time, no, renting out the space was a mistake. Finally I moved myself back to the space and slapped some caulking on the crack myself.
And it’s not like they will give you a break on any of the fees. Family in town for 3 days, can I get an extra key? Yep, if I pay $ 75 for it. But I’m giving it back cause I don’t need an extra key for more than 3 days, sorry, $ 75.
I decided there HAS to be someone else to speak with about the lack of communication and sure enough, the Asher is managed by a Jefferson Group. If you want a response to your question include,
. She is the supervisor over The Asher management at the Jefferson Group.
We have a new manager, Melissa, and so far she has proven to be less than professional. I had to send her an email and copy Jefferson Mgmt in order to get a response.
She’ll see you in the building and not speak. Generally that doesn’t bother me but if you’re the manager of an apartment building, isn’t being hospitable part of your job description?
At the end of the day, if you don’t want to manage something people pay good money for and who expect answers and/​or communication as to why what they are paying for isn’t available, don’t do the job. I don’t think information about next steps after a flood in my apartment is asking too much. Nor is wanting a working stove or elevators when you travel every week and have to lug luggage upstairs for 10 days.
What irked me about the flood is that the next day they put two high powered fans and a HUGE dehumidifier in my apartment to dry the walls and limit their repairs. ran for more than 48 hrs straight. So their insurance company paid for the renting of the equipment, who is paying for the electricity to operate those items… me! Both Raymond and Melissa were like yes absolutely you should be compensated. Nothing, nada so far.
If you’re the type to not rock the boat, you’ll get along famously with The Asher. However, If you’re like me, someone who resides in an apartment for convenience and am willing to pay for it, don’t move here. Having an operable stove, elevators and entry doors are not a given. Well getting a response as to WHY you don’t have these things and what’s going on is certainly not a given.
Oh but you will get LOTS of communication about a food truck being parked out in front of the building.

Been here for about six months, and have been happy with our overall experience. Like anyplace, it has its downsides, but they are far outweighed by the upsides.
First, the downsides:
–The housing across the street isn’t the nicest. I’ve never felt unsafe or had a bad interaction, but teenagers that live there can be noisy at night. The whole area is gentrifying, and even in the six months we’ve lived here there have been some pretty nice changes to the neighborhood. Other commenters have noted past violence in the area; we haven’t experienced or heard of any events since moving in.
–We live in the smaller of the two buildings, so I can’t speak for the larger building. Although we never hear out neighbors through the walls (which is saying something as they have a two-​year-​old) you do hear people in the hallway through the door. We also hear the people above us moving around occasionally, but it’s not bad.
–Some floor plans have walk-​in closets… ours doesn’t. Storage spaces are available, but they’re pretty small.
Now, the positives:
–We are less than a 5 minute walk from the Braddock Metro. Even in bad weather, its an easy walk. We’re also only about a 10 minute walk from everything that King Street has to offer.
–The appliances and finishes in the apartment are good quality. Everything still feels very new and well maintained.
–Everyone we’ve met in the building has been really nice and social, but not in an intrusive way.
–There are a lot of dog owners in the building, and people are very considerate of each other and clean up after their pets.
–There’s been some turnover in Management and Staff since we moved in, and the current crew is doing a very good job. We’ve definitely seen an improvement in that regard.
— Maintenance is very responsive. They’re great about fixing issues quickly, and are flexible to work around our schedule when necessary.
–The gym is well maintained and clean. Not huge, but has a nice variety of equipment.
–There’s plenty of street parking around the building, and guest parking in the garage is also available.
–The Bastille (restaurant) just opened in the building. It’s not cheap, but great food and service.
We looked at 14 different places throughout Alexandria and Arlington before settling on the Asher, and I’m still very happy with our decision. We recommend the Asher to all of our friends. I can’t give it an honest 5 stars, but it deserves at least 4.5 in my book.

I have lived here for a while now, and overall I have really enjoyed my experience. I had some issues at first with the rental office, but I think it was because the person I was working with was new and kind of clueless. As for the neighborhood, the other reviews on here make it sound waaaay worse than it is! I am a female who lives alone and have never felt uncomfortable walking alone even at night. A negative would be teenagers who stay out at night can be a bit loud when you have your windows open. The Metro is super close and convenient and the common grounds are kept pretty neat and clean. Occasionally I can hear my neighbors (either side and upstairs) in their apartments, and while this does not occur frequently, I wish the units were a little more sound proof. Overall, I think it is a good choice.

We’ve had a bit of a rollercoaster with this place, but overall we’ve been fairly happy living here for the past two years.
We are currently in our second 2bd/​2ba apartment. Our first apartment, upon moving in, was perfect. We were one of a few residents moving into the new building, and it was very quiet and the management was extremely attentive. Until more people started moving in and using their air conditioners… The sound coming from the units on the roof became unbearable. It was primarily at night when everyone was home. Management did not believe that the vibration was causing the bathroom mirrors to vibrate. They did not believe that between the hours of 5pm-​8am, there was a constant sound of a helicopter coming from the roof. We requested they come after 5pm, because coming during the day, when the units were lightly used, was not producing the same effect. But they would continue to come at 10am, when it was relatively quiet. Apparently it has been «fixed» and the new tenants of our old apartment have not complained. The end of this story is that we had to move down 3 floors to escape the noise. It was a really disappointing experience.
That being said, what happened above was not enough to make us leave the building. The Old Town location is perfect. A 5 minute walk to the Braddock Metro, and about 5 blocks from the shops on King St. In the past few months, a new Harris Teeter has opened a few blocks away, and nearly everything we need or use is within a short walk of our apartment (including our workplace). We rarely use the car. The Bastille restaurant is opening it’s second location in the storefront on the first level, so we’ll see how that goes as far as sound and smells. We are looking forward to it, nonetheless.
The neighborhood… is changing very rapidly. There have been a few incidents, and the Alexandria PD has been to talk to the residents about what is going on in the area and what we can expect from the PD. It is directly across from a large ARHA public housing complex, and with that you take the good and the bad. So far, we’ve not personally experienced any issues, and the apartment management has taken steps to put in camera’s and be a bit more proactive.
I do think the residents of The Asher might want to take a good long look at themselves though before commenting on others because I’ve witnessed more heinous acts of gross neglect from my neighbors than the folks across the street… are you really leaving a box outside of your apartment door for a week? Are we storing our stuff in the hallway now? Is it really that hard to take your trash all the way into the trash/​recycling room, or do you have to leave it right behind the door so I can run into it and get melted ice cream all over my shoe? The hallway is not a dog run. The garage is not your personal racetrack.
Anyway, back to my review of the apartment…
The apartment is definitely expensive, because you are paying for location. Yes, it’s a 2bd/​2ba, but it is a little tight. This particular floor plan vs. other floor plans has much more closet space, which we are very happy with. This is not a concrete building, so walls might seem a little thin and you can definitely here TV’s and talking when it reaches certain decibels. Amenities are pretty good, and we haven’t had too much issue with the concierge downstairs. Management can be a bit lax, but if reminded, they will definitely step up and get requests handled quickly. Maintenance requests have always been handled quickly. If given the chance, I think we would rent here again — just avoiding the 6^th floor.

+Been here for a year and have seen Alexandria Police rope off the blocks around the Asher three times, the one time the police were picking up empty bullet casings that were 40 feet from my window. Are you kidding me? I am going to pay $$$ for a great apartment and I have to worry about that. Walking home the other day there was a full blown fist fight maybe 50 yards from the main entrance.
+ I signed a lease before I really looked around elsewhere, for the amount of money I was paying you can get a sweet apartment in a much better part of Alexandria or in DC or Arlington for that matter. I mean that’s my fault but just realize what you are spending and where the place is located.
+ there is a weird abandoned /​yet to be built restaurant that is for sale in the building that has had for sale signs in the window for the past year.
+ Its not all doom and gloom, the front desk is very helpful, the weight room is great and the place is always clean. Always a place to find parking!

The Asher has honestly been one let down after another. I am so put off by the extreme lack of competent staff who are so poorly educated on the building that I am shocked the Asher is comfortable with them acting as representatives and the face of their property. I once asked the concierge (which is not 24 hour contrary to what the website said when we moved in) if there was another lounge on site besides the 6^th floor. She told me that I should look around to find one on he 4^th or 5^th. She is the professional that should know the answer about the building she works for!
Don’t even get me started on the countless times I have asked for a key to something, put down a deposit up to $ 150, and then never even received the key. If you are taking reserving a room that seriously that I need to place that large a sum of money down as a deposit– then I should be taken seriously in return and have a key made! For Halloween I had a bunch of friends invited over to watch a movie in the theatre room which I had reserved. 11 people show up and I find out the staff never made a key and for some stupid reason the concierge doesn’t have a master key to let me in, even though my name is clearly on the reservation list. In April the theatre room broke and it is now June 28 and it has yet to be fixed. So much for a top notch «luxury» facility.
The Asher is all smoke and mirrors. A façade of glamor and luxury when actually the building was hastily made, the walls are as thin as paper so that I can hear my roommates conversations in their separate rooms across the apartment from my room at night. The exterior walls are a bit better but I can still hear the apartment next to mine’s music, pots and pans when cooking, and other more intimate acts I would prefer to leave at that…
The area around here is also not as safe as I would like. 2 shootings within a month, one of which was fatal and while I was outside making a phone call during the daylight hour of 7pm. During the winter snow storms there was also a pileup of snow and ice that The Asher did not maintain– remnants of this can be seen on the sidewalk as the cheap concrete it all ripped up and destroyed from the ice. I was walking to my friend’s car when I was being picked up one night and slipped on ice at the end of the step and hit my head and hurt my arm. My phone case also broke. I thought about making charges against the Asher, but at the time I was working very late and didn’t have the energy to go through with another hassle with this place. In retrospect I regret that decision.
The best thing about the Asher is that it is very clean– I give the cleaning crew a massive A+ as they keep the place spotless and smelling fresh everywhere. I will give credit where credit is due. The gym is also amazing and the 6^th floor lounge is great when things aren’t broken (which is sadly most of the time). The walk to Braddock Metro is also a huge plus.
However, all in all I do regret choosing the Asher over some of its competitors and will 100% be departing when my lease is up. I am giving you an earnest, heartfelt warning: you will eventually regret living here. When the smoke and mirrors fade away, the truth hurts and this place truthfully is not worth the price-​tag. Happy apartment hunting and steer clear of the Asher!

A friend of mine (a resident of The Asher) was mugged there last Thursday night — right on the driveway between the buildings, right in front of the door to the lobby. He had his face bashed in by two thugs and they tried to rob him of his cellphone and anything else they could grab. Is this place safe? Does this happen often? Is management concerned about the safety of their residents? Is management addressing these safety concerns with increased lighting, cameras, and security personnel?

I’ve moved around the country quite a lot because of my job, and have lived in a lot of apartments. The Asher is one of the best, hands down. It really feels like home.
Management has been very friendly, and they really go above and beyond to make their residents feel at home. I know there are a couple of new faces I haven’t met, but Melanie and Tiffany really are fantastic.
It’s a relatively small building, compared to some of the high-​rises in DC, so the smaller staff makes it feel much more like a community than just another apartment building. They want their residents to feel at home, and it shows.
The grounds are well-​kept and always clean. The units are beautiful — very elegant, clean finishes that allow for lots of decorating options. Maintenance has been quick to respond if anything comes up – Raymond keeps everything in great shape and takes care of it as if it were his own home.
The amenities are very nice and well-​maintained. I haven’t used the theater yet, but I plan to soon. My favorite part of the building is the 6^th floor common space, where I spend a lot of time either working from home, or maybe barbecuing dinner for a couple of friends. I actually met the owner one day when she was visiting the property, and she took a minute to ask how I liked living here and what I thought of the staff, and I was impressed by her interest.
The location is perfect. The neighborhood is relatively quiet, but it’s still very convenient to get into DC. The metro is about a block and a half away, and if you’re a Capital Bikeshare fan (I am), you’re in luck. There is a station just around the corner, so you can ride the 5 blocks down to King Street, or if you’re feeling a bit more ambitious, all the way to Georgetown via the Mt. Vernon trail.
I only hesitate to post this review because I love where I live and don’t want it to become too popular! That said, I think they deserve to know that they’re doing a great job.