Avalon Grosvenor Tower

I love living at Avalon Grosvenor Tower. The price is right, location is great, apartments are modern, and the staff is friendly, responsive and caring. I especially appreciate that the community includes people of all ages and stages of life, as well as easy access to Metro, Grosvenor Market next door, indoor and outdoor parking options, a gym and pool.
During the recent snowstorm, management was well-​prepared and responsive to residents and staff. The front desk was fully covered because they housed the staff and the property was plowed and treated prior to, during and after the storm, using outside contractors as necessary.
The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because nothing (and no one) is perfect!

We moved to the Avalon initially on a short term basis and decided to stay. The apartment is in excellent condition, lots of light, beautiful views, marble counters in the kitchen, new bathrooms, quick walk to the metro station. There’s an excellent grocery store, with organic food, right next door, and the prices are good. They welcome pets, which was a deal breaker for us.
The front desk is very friendly, and eager to help.
Some of the problems mentioned here were resolved before we moved in. For example, the elevators had been fixed, Construction was happening when we moved in, and now it seems to be complete. We work during the day, so noise was not a problem.
Our windows are fine, no leaks.
Routine maintenance issues are addressed within a few hours and all have been resolved quickly. The maintenance people are courteous. There is a lot of effort to keep things looking new and fresh. Hallways are painted regularly, artwork on hall walls is changed occasionally.

We moved here a few months ago, and it’s been great so far. The staff are really friendly and helpful, and maintenance is prompt, helpful, and polite. the apartment was in great shape when we moved in, though a few things (washer/​dryer/​stove) are a bit old. That said, I understand that Avalon is slowly upgrading appliances and other such things (they only took over management of the building a year or so ago, I think). Others mentioned the construction issues — the outside updates have been completed, as have the elevator modernizations. So things are great now, I think.
One of my favorite things is that the walls are super soundproof — we never hear our neighbors (except for what sounds like a bouncing ping pong ball above us, which I can only attribute to some sort of pet… not sure why we hear that and nothing else!). We also have an enormous balcony (all apartments have generous balconies). The only negative for me is that our master bedroom is really cold — I think the windows are old and drafty, when the wind blows we can feel it in the bedroom. Problem solved with a space heater, though I expect that is somewhat to blame for our $ 180 heating bills in this very cold winter (for our two bedroom apartment).
All in all, I highly recommend living here.

Not a good place to live. After moving in all sorts of construction began that they didn’t disclose upfront. Now my heating and cooling system doesn’t work properly. So I’ll probably have a high bill, and probably nothing I can do about it. When you move into this place, once they have you, they treat you like crap.

We have lived in this apt for over 4 years now, and our overall experience wasn’t horrible, however, if you are going to move in, know that you will spend a lot of time getting to know the maintenance and leasing staff.
Pros: New, modern, and sleek design with large balconies and fairly good soundproofing.
Cons: Windows leak and aren’t sealed properly, toilets run, *lots* of plumbing problems building wide (frequent flooding from floors above, water smells, disposals back up), the maintenance crew really doesn’t seem to be anything more than standard Joe’s (they can fix a hole in the wall, but don’t expect them to know how to fix a fridge or AC unit), the AC unit constantly breaks, elevator problems, electric bills are outrageous ($ 500!), and over the time we have lived there, they have increased our rent at least 5% each year while claiming to be market competitive. Fact; they just listed our apt for $ 400 less than we are paying now… so add to the cons list that they lie. And when they lie, they blame it on the fact that they «can’t be held to promises that previous owners made.» Nice.
I know a lot of people in the building are leaving for these reasons. If you are strong willed and ready to fight some battles, you will have a gorgeous apt, and access to a great pool, grill area, gym, and even a steam room. It just wasn’t worth it for us.

I LOVE this place. ==We moved here three years ago from a once-​nice neighborhood that had declined rapidly. It cost a bit more than we had hoped to pay, but we decided it would be worth it for the upgrade in our quality of life. Our faith was not misplaced; every single day we are glad we moved here. Maintenance is quick, friendly and capable. Concierge service is just wonderful — delivered packages are always kept safely in the office until you come to get them, we have never had a lost or delayed package! and desk people actually remember your name and face, unlike the old place where they couldn’t be bothered to remember us after we’d been there 20+ years. Any time we have had questions for the office they have been handled quickly and professionally. All maintenance outages are announced ahead of time by printed notices and the office will help you if an outage causes you hassle. Big carts can be borrowed to help you get your groceries etc. up to your apartment from the lobby. Elevators that actually work! and maintenance on them is kept up to date. Everyone is friendly and polite, even other residents’ kids! No loud parties, no noise from other apartments. Exercise room is free to use, open 24 hours and all equipment was upgraded in 2012. Unlike the illiterate previous reviewer we have never had a leak — had the drain/​dishwasher back up a few times, always repaired promptly. (And we have never had an electric bill of $ 500 — half that, possibly.) When the derecho knocked out power for days two summers ago, the front desk staff walked the halls of the building checking on people all day and into the night (that’s 21 stories of apartments), and offered free water in the lobby. Needless to say we have not at all had the issues with things falling apart that Eric B. says he had. ==I just can’t say enough about how well and courteously we have been treated here and how well worth it I think the cost is. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone I know.

$ 500 for an electric bill in an apartment is totally uncomprehensive… i own a home (4 bdrm over 3000 sq. ft.), i run a pump on an inground pool ²⁴⁄₇ from may til october… my largest bill for one month was $ 500…from viewing other apt. sites, it appears that there’s someone who has nothing but time on their hands…

DON’T EVER LEASE AN APARTMENT AT GROSVENOR TOWER (10 301) MD!!!
$ 500 A MONTH ELECTRIC BILLS!!!
KITCHEN LEAKS, REFRIDGERATOR LEAKS, SINK DRAINS DISGUSTING, DIRTY, SMELLY WATER INTO DISHWASHER!!!
These people are slumlord scumbags. My experience living there is outlined below.
BAIT AND SWITCH ADVERTISING
Less than 24 hrs after to responding to a Craigslist ad for a specific apartment advertised at a specific price, the leasing agent quoted a different price almost $ 100 higher when we asked when we could come into the office to go over the lease.
While being shown the actual unit, we asked the leasing agent what utilities we would be responsible for. He replied, «you are responsible for the electric, and we take care of the rest.» Then our first statement included two seperate usage fees for water that have averaged $ 35-​$ 40 a month total.
HEATING AND ELECTRIC BILLS
The same leasing agent also told us that electric bills averaged $ 150 – 200 a month ($ 200 on the high side), so you can imagine our surprise when our winter electric bills came in around $ 500 a month consistently.
With the thermostat set in the high 70’s and even low 80’s, our HVAC unit failed to maintain our bedroom, or our infant daughter’s bedroom consistently above 60 degrees. We were forced to bring her into our room many nights.
On top of all this, the thermostat is mounted DIRECTLY next to the dryer! This did not help the thermostat regulate the heat. Drying a load usually shut off the HVAC for heat, and in the summer, it made the HVAC work even harder. Did anyone think this through?
Besides a dysfunctional HVAC that management refused to fix, our windows did not shut properly. Most likely due to the settling of the building, a number of windows did not meet the frame evenly resulting in as large as a ½ inch gap between the frame and window. We could feel a draft watching tv on our living room sofa when big cold gusts of wind came by.
Management refused to fix the HVAC and windows. We learned soon after dealing with management on this issue that the previous occupant of our unit left because of window/​electric bill issues, so clearly management had prior knowledge of these issues before re-​leasing the apartment to us.
They did come up and duct tape our windows shut, however. (Probably a fire hazard) Thanks so much!
UNIT MAINTENANCE
Toilet seat: Our toilet seat was loose soon after moving in on both toilets. We have dealt with loose toilet seats the entire time living there. They «fixed» it with weak plumber’s cement 3 times.
Cabinet door: The cabinet doors in our guest bathrooms fell off of their hinges constantly. While «fixing» the toilet, the maintenance person told me to just slide the hinges back together when it happens. Thanks buddy.
Kitchen sink: We had ongoing problems with our kitchen sink. It has been consistently leaky — soaking and disintegrating the base of the cabinet and constantly running out onto the kitchen floor. They «fixed» it twice, but it never stopped leaking completely.
We also started noticing a terrible stench emanating from the sink. When the maintenance man came to fix it, he stated the wrong piping was used during the renovation process, and replaced a straight pipe with the normal elbow shaped drain pipe under a sink. Still leaked though.
Finally, our sink drained dirty water into our dishwasher when we used the sink to cook or wash dishes. Dishes came out dirtier than when they went in. We weren’t interested in their solution, so we did our own dishes for months.
A month before leaving, our ice machine line to the freezer backed up and leaked water through the wall into our master closet and 2 – 3 feet into the bedroom. I will say the maintenance guy addressed the leak quickly after we called the leasing office three times throughout an entire afternoon before they notified the maintenance crew.
BUILDING MAINTENANCE
Our water was shut off from 9:00 AM until afternoon at least half a dozen times. I’m sure this did not pose a problem for most people in the building as they work a 9 – 5, but for us and others with families at home this was a major inconvenience.
Not to mention, when it came back on, it was discolored, left a film in the bathtub and caused lingering pressure problems with sinks and toilets.
Elevators, while not frequently out of service, are often being used by people leaving the trash heap they call Grosvenor Tower — and poor suckers moving in. When only two elevators are in service, the wait for an elevator can be 2 – 3 minutes +.