The Strand of Alexandria

This place is ridiculous. We have plans for an all day event and we can’t go because it takes forever and a day to get a visitors parking pass. They take their time to get you a pass with no care in the world of you or your plans. They also charge you for parking passes after they give away 3?!

I’ve lived here since ⁰⁷⁄₂₀₁₅. At first it was decent and we were fairly happy with the place. Now though it seems like there are issues following issues. The elevators are continually broken, the fob entry to the lobby is pretty much useless due to the doors being broken or the fire escapes always being unlocked, and getting things fixed in your apt takes forever. One of the biggest draws when we initially moved in was that the visitor parking situation was decent and you could always get a pass if a friend wanted to come over. Now, however, they limit the passes to 3 per day on a first come first serve basis with the option to pay $ 5 for a pass if the free ones are gone. Not only that but if you have a normal job where you have to be at work before 10 am, there is no chance of you getting a pass because the concierge won’t be there in the morning and by the time you get home the passes are gone. I’ve gone down the night previous to try and get a pass for the following day, was standing there when the concierge gave a pass to someone for the following day, only to be told that he can’t give them out for the next day… um sir? You literally just gave one out. If things don’t improve here I will be so excited when my lease is up so I can get the hell out.

Worst place I have ever lived. I’ve lived here for 2 years and can’t wait until my lease is up. For starters, the elevators are always broken so be prepared to walk up and down many flights of stairs depending which floor you live on. There is never any parking and they make you pay $ 5.00 for one overnight guest pass. The smell of weed is incredibly strong from occupants on the first floor and some people smoke cigarettes in their apartment so it could potentially be smelled in your apartment when the air/​heat is running. If I could break my lease I’d be out of here asap. This place was fine until it came under new management (Milestone). If you ever complain to them (management) they tell you that no one else has complained so it must only be you but get in the elevator (if it works) and listen to residents. I haven’t heard ONE person so they liked living here. My garbage disposal stopped working once and I had to call 6 times and it took them almost two weeks to have someone come look at it. It wasn’t until I went to the office and told them I needed someone today because the smell was starting to take over the kitchen of food that had gone down the disposal. I have never written a review because I’m not one to voice my opinion much or complain but I wouldn’t let my worst enemy rent from here. Do yourself a huge favor and find something better. I hope they can get it together but I hope you truly do listen to reviews because most people try to help and speak the truth. (I’m only giving one star because I have to give something or it won’t post).
On the positive note, the concierges are incredibly nice and awesome! No disrespect to them what so ever!

the complex where we used to live was completely renovated. I hope they fixed the elevator which used to take a long time to arrive to our floor. I do not care about chairs or sofas at the lobby. I work hard and I just need a quite and clean place to live.
the location is pretty convenient, not the quietest since it’s close to 395 but it’s not bad at all.
the price is great for the location.
I never felt unsecured.
my car was never scratched or dented.

I really wanted to love these apartments. If you are hell bent on staying here do not, I repeat DO NOT stay in Building B. Its the ghetto. Building A has two entrances, tons of parking space, an actual gym, and its actually quiet. Building B has one inconvenient entrance, parking is none existent so you usually have to park at Building A and hike down to your building. Building B has a room with a broke treadmill and bike that they call a gym, and there are kids constantly running and screaming through the halls and people loitering in front of the entrance. For the price I pay I really expected better. I paid almost half this price in my old apartments and didn’t have to worry about if I had to park on the street when i get home. I really cant wait until my lease is up. I’m wasting my money here.

Worse customer service ever!!! You can remodel all you want and this place will still be at the bottom of my list. I wish I could give NO STARS! No real security. Concierge is not very efficient. And maintenance is in and out of your unit without proper notice. Signed a one year lease and left as soon as that year was up (only because I was legally obligated).

The Strand of Alexandria reminds me of the The Strand on FX, complete horror. First red flag for my family and I were the ladybugs, they came out twice to «fix» the problem and nothing was done. That was in November, here is April of 2015 and guess what, we’ve accepted the polka dotted critters as pets because the employees obviously don’t care. We have to vacuum on the daily or flush the ladybugs down the toilet to have any sense of sanity.
The staff is beyond unprofessional and there seems to be a new set of employees every single month. Since moving in November there have been about 6 – 8 new employees in the office and the concierge. The concierges all seem to be nice but very aloof to what needs to be done and how to do so in a timely manner. The only benefit of the aloof and ignorant staff is that many people are able to pay their rent late without fees. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
Just going to the office (depending if the «regular» or new employees are there) always seems like a burden, like the staff would much rather be on their phones or doing something else than to be engaged in a complaint or helping someone with a question.
Now next red flag, parking lot. It’s more like a match box where careless people get to ding up your vehicle. The parking lot is always crammed unless you get home before 3 ish. And the spaces closest to the front are normal sized, those to the back and sides of the apartment are beyond small and my car has gotten a handful or dings and scratches because the small spots. Instead of building a garage like the complex across the street, they have a teeny two story garage that is charged to your rent if you want to use it, with spots just as small. Just absolutely worthless. And Dominion Towing is just as much of a shitty business partner as the little spots this place has.
On the inside the apartments are pretty decent, except for the cheap carpet and cheap doors on all the closets. The carpet truly is my biggest complaint, spilling a cup of water leaves the carpet feeling «stuck», the best way for me to describe it is that the carpet is very very very liquid sensitive. Any type of liquid: water, cleaners, soda, or whatever the carpet not only will stain but will become hard and stuck together. It’s not that I’m irresponsible and spilling drinks everyday, but I do have a toddler and accidents happen. Trying to remove the stain from the carpet is a joke.
The cost is positive. It’s a fairly cheaper place to live in Alexandria and the schools seem to be pretty decent.
There was a constant episode of «home inspections» because there was a bunch of people smoking marijuana and the bug problems worsened to roaches. Now from November until January there was a home check every month. Not only is it an inconvenience, it was very annoying because the guys would sometimes comment on things that they had no business commenting on, such as a dirty dish in the sink or my half-​packed suitcase. I found it to be disrespectful. On that note only one of the maintenance men has a good attitude. The others are beyond rude, lazy and arrogant. Yet they never seem to fix a problem.
Now my final red flag as Chad beneath has stated was the stabbing in the lobby. Blood all over the lobby, entryway, and sidewalk. Even worse, was that when I came back home on this day (early morning) the security guard was supposed to allow people to come back into the building since crime scene tape was still all over the place. He was supposed to go to a side door and open it, guess what the incompetent guy does, he walks through the crime scene tape and tells me he can’t let me in. So I’m stuck outside in the rain with a toddler, thankfully it wasn’t too cold but I did not want to have to keep my kid in the car. So I walked to the side door that I came out of and waited about 15 minutes until someone opened it and we went in.
Now the stabbing happens, many people had questions and I questioned how safe this complex was. When I voiced my concerns and even talked about coming out of my lease the leasing office personnel told me, «You do not have adequate cause to break a lease based on one extreme circumstance.» Yet an «extreme circumstance» was cause enough to completely change airport security and me questioning a stabbing is not adequate cause. Makes me think that it may happen on the regular.
The headache is not worth the price of the apartment, my family will be moving as soon as our lease is up and I would not recommend this complex to anybody unless they absolutely have to live here. Please beware of this place.

The Strand of Alexandria is the perfect example of a «nobody cares place».For about six months already the B building does not have a single chair at the lobby area, not even a single piece of furniture where visitors can rest while waiting. The concierge violates constantly their own hours which of course, causes that when you need a visitor parking pass (you just have 8 a month) or pick a package nobody is there to help you up… this is just pathetic. For more than 5 months there was not door– security (building B) and the entrance was open to anyone day and night. The management and leasing office staff are just useless. You can waste your time trying to find some empathy from them, but good luck these problems have been around for a long time along with the parking situation which by the way is a joke and you will need to wrap your car in bubble plastic if you dont want to have dents all over. However, the parking is the perfect spot for smoking pot, is so dark and out of security that it does no matter what time you park, you always are going to find some folks smoking or at least you will smell it. In the other hand the location is great, which in my opinion makes everything worst if you keep into consideration that with just little love and professionalism this place could be ideal for young professionals and families in transition to buy a house.