Radian Apartments

Love the Radian! The quality of the apartments is wonderful and living here is beyond convenient — CVS is right downstairs, there are a ton of restaurants basically attached to the building, and there is a grocery store right across the street. It’s also practically on Penn’s campus. I love that there is a washer/​dryer in every unit and a gym in the building… This is not exactly the norm for apartment buildings in Philly!
Everyone who works at the Radian is incredibly friendly. The management team is very helpful and genuinely cares about every resident having a positive living experience. Maintenance is impressively fast in responding even to the smallest of requests, and the gym, hallways and common areas are consistently clean. Security is also a plus.

I lived here the first two years it was open, and it wasn’t too bad. The rent was high (and now is even higher from what I see on their website). It’s mostly concrete and cheap indoor/​outdoor carpeting, but given the clientele I understand why they didn’t go crazy. It’s mostly occupied by spoiled moronic trust-​fund baby UPenn douchebags, which is why you see the snooty reviews complaining about air quality and stuff. Of course the place is going to be loud and messy — it’s an apartment in a college area, and oh by the way it’s Philly we are talking about.
I stayed here during my second and third years at Drexel Law School and never had any issues. I had many late night bashes and we did as we damn well pleased. That being said, I only stayed here because it was brand new and I was the first and only occupant of my unit for those two years. I’m sure it’s run down quite a bit more since I left in 2010. It’s close to bars, the subway, and the local dumpy strip club, so you can’t complaint about location. Overall, it was a good experience. The front office sleazeballs just need to be put in their place every now and then, which I did when necessary; got my security deposit back no prob.

I lived here for the first three years since it was open. The perks were the new apartment, and the convenience to CVS, restaurants, and the dental school. The BIG con was the exorbitant rent (in the booming real estate market of West Philly?!) and the fact the undergrads turned the building into a large frat house on the weekend. Be prepared to stomp on vomit in the elevators Monday morning, and witness the broken EXIT signs and annoying fire alarms every weekend from hard nights of partying.

This Radian is a great place to live, especially if you are a student at Penn. I am going on my third year of living here and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. It is a new building (built in 2008) and has a great variety of apartment floor plan options (1BR/​1BA to 4BR/​2BA apartments) as well as amenities (24hrs Fitness center, 11^th floor rooftop lounge, Computer Center With B.Y.O.Paper Printer, Study Room).
My top 3 reasons for choosing to live here are as follows:
1. Location — Located at 39^th and Walnut St., The Radian is right across the street from UPENN’s on-​campus housing options such that your walk to class may only take 5−10min! Moreover, CVS, Bank of America, and a number of awesome food places to choose from (Chipotle, Bobby Flay’s Burger Palace, Jimmy Johns, Capogiro, Sweetgreen) are right downstairs and a grocery store is just across the street. Literally EVERYTHING you need may be within a 1 – 2 block radius.
2. Safety — Access Card Entry for Residents Only and a Security Guard present after business hours. Also because of the Radian’s retail spaces all along 39^th and Walnut St., the walk and entrance way is very well lit especially for West Philadelphia. The area is also covered by UPENN’s ²⁴⁄₇ private security force.
3. Convenience/​Privacy — The building is fully furnished which is especially helpful for residents from far away places. The year lease also ensures that I don’t have to pack-​up and store all my belongings for the summer over the summer but instead leave things under the bed while a re-​letter stays there for the 3 month duration. All residents also have their own bedrooms and since the common areas offer ample space, I never feel like I am fighting for space with my roommates and can always retreat to my room at which I feel right at home.

Radian is giving me a very difficult time getting my security deposit back. They have been repeatedly claiming for over 2 months since I moved out that «we have mailed it out, and you should be receiving it soon». I’eve received nothing at all, and when I asked for a copy of my lease, they refused to give it to me, saying that they removed my file already.
If anybody has had problems with the Radian regarding the security deposit, please contact me.

There is nothing good about this place except the surrounding restaurants. But, that doesn’t make it worth living in this sorry excuse for an apartment building.
The bad: The interior is sort of industrial-​chic, or at least that’s what the tried to make it. It looks more like they were too lazy to paint or put down carpet/​real flooring. All the floors are smooth concrete. The temperature regulation in rooms is next to impossible. The living room will be perfect, but all bedrooms are constantly freezing, no matter what the temp is set to.
Rooms are so dusty that I had to buy a 130 dollar air purifier. I don’t think they’ve ever cleaned the ducts. Carpeting in halls is stained permanently by sloppy college kids’ puke.
They also do a «by room» leasing system, meaning you pay in full for what a similar-​quality studio apartment would probably cost, even though you are sharing the living space and kitchen with others. My 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment costs me 1150 a month (that’s per bedroom…). I felt like I was being robbed blind when I heard what my friends were paying in much nicer apartment complexes.
Primarily undergrad housing, this place gets VERY noisy on the weekends. The noise level from the pub’s outdoor patio below goes well into the wee hours of the morning and is insanely loud
The office is pretty unorganized and quick to shut off your internet if your rent is late, even when it was their mistake that made the computer say your rent was late. when it wasn’t.
I made a hasty decision in moving into the Radian because I had decided rather late in the year that I was moving to Philadelphia for school. This place sucks!