Stolker Properties

I lived At Juniper East from 2012 — 2013, and was genuinely pleased. Had I not been relocating for work I would have renewed my lease in a heart beat and when I move back to the city this building will definitely be my first choice! I moved in right around the time Susan came back to manage the building and she is outstanding! I met Len a few times as well. He is certainly a little rough around the edges, but if you know a real estate developer who is not, please enlighten me!
Pluses:
–Having one of the biggest balconies in the city!
–Units have tons of closet space!
–Close proximity to center city and BSL without being in the thick of it!
–Management on-​sight meant maintenance requests were addressed promptly!
–No pet fee and only a short walk to Seger dog park
–Huge elevator with street access made moving and furniture deliveries very smooth!
–We never heard our neighbors!
–Building had tons of character
–Double access entryway felt safe even without 24 hr doorman/​security.
Minuses:
–Elevator frequently out of service, which made 5^th floor life difficult.
–Our unit did not have a washer dryer so we used the communal one down the hall — and people never cleaned the lint trap!
–No gym on site (This could easily be achieved in that huge expanse of a front office. Opportunity missed.
–One of the maintenance men confirmed the closed basement pool as well.
If this building had a doorman, gym, and pool it would be the hottest property in Washington West!

**This place is still a train wreck! do not rent here! people saying it is okay are clearly the owners/​management.
Im at 1329 Lombard — Juniper east. I only gave this place one star cause I couldn’t give it less.

I don’t usually write Unilocal reviews, but I must raise the awareness about Juniper East @ 1329 Lombard Street. As you can see, all of the negative reviews were prior to 2012. This company must have done some MAJOR changes here because this is NOT the awful place they describe. Quite to the contrary, I’ve found my time here most enjoyable. The office staff is very friendly and so quick to help with a problem. Maintenance issues are addressed immediately even if you just have time to shoot off an email and not even call them. Large packages are signed and brought up to your apartment (with your permission), so no breaking your back taking things upstairs yourself (unless you prefer). This is the place to live if you have a canine or two living with you. Additionally, in the 7 months I’ve lived here, I have yet to be bothered by any barking, which was a big surprise to me after finding out how many dogs live here. The tenants here are the perfect combination of private and friendly. Everyone greets each other on the elevator and in the hall, but my privacy is never invaded. This is also the place if you want security … two coded locked doors keep unwanted people from entering the building. An intercom on the inner door will ring to any phone number you give the office allowing you to even let a friend or family into your apartment building with the touch of a button on your mobile phone (that’s if you don’t want to just give them your personal code to enter). OK … there has to be a downside, right? One star was taken off because a 5 star means «as good as it gets». A couple small downsides … inconvenient loading dock that is connected to the ONLY elevator, so if someone is using the loading dock, forget the elevator. Then again, it’s only a 6 story building and the stairs are plenty clean. Also, having that great security means going downstairs if you order food to be delivered. Lastly, parking is an issue, but that’s the case with most city living. So, 4 stars for an awesome place to live!!!

I’m wondering how all these 1-​star reviewers treated the office & maintenance staff. You get what you give, y’all.
Granted, I’ve only lived here for 3 months, but everyone who works here has been nothing but nice to me. They’ve been up front about all fees, patient with all of my questions prior to my move-​in, and great communicators in general.
Yes, it’s an old building, yes there are problems, but that’s part of the character. Also, the location and general awesomeness outweigh those problems, as does the fact that when I send an email about a maintenance issue, it is taken care of within 24 hours, by professionals who are always happy to help me.
My neighbors all keep to themselves and are friendly when I see them, packages are signed for and brought to my door, and the building has a whole lot of character.
I love living here and I expect that I’ll renew my lease at least a few times.

Listen, what you see is not what you get.
Stolker is not unreasonable. He owns a beautiful, landmark building that is falling apart in every which way and simply does not want to re-​invest into it. It unfortunately tends to land on the tenants to deal with issues. While we lived there, the water was off at a minimum 3 times a month for various periods of time. We lost power for almost 5 days at one point and dealt with a lot of non-​sense from our neighbors which were loud, immature, and clearly smoked enough cush to get Bob Marley high.
I had a good experience with the workers who used to work there. When they tried to charge us for electric, I informed them that was not what we were told and they no longer charged us for it. They also waived the pet fee that allowed us to get our first puppy. In that sense they were helpful. Then again I’ve since heard all the helpful people have left and replaced by a miserable b*tch who is rude and thinks they should raise the rents (which are already very high and you can get a lot more for your money in Philly).
Long story short, the building just needs new management to sink some bucks into it. It has a MASSIVE basement that even features a pool that I did not know about until we moved out. If someone would buy the building and fix it up, it would be amazing. But as it stands, shotty management, falling apart amenities and WAY over priced.

DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY.
I REPEAT, DO NOT RENT FROM STOLKER PROPERTIES.
It will look like a beautiful, perfectly nice, updated apartment, don’t be fooled.
Problems you would experience if you do:
–apartment not cleaned upon move in, forget about professional cleaning, not even a once over
— after many requests, 3 weeks before mailbox keys were given
— Lease began in November, and could not control heating, on high, blasting for 2 months before it was fixed, windows needed to be open, high utilities bills as a result, management not open to reimbursing.
— Similiar problem with cooling, promised central air (do not be fooled, you wont get it). Several weeks during hot weather before window units installed upstairs, downstairs unit unable to be controlled, goes on and off when it wants whether you are there are not, remote claimed to be ordered, who knows when it will show up.
— mice and cockroaches, we got them! Made management aware, no follow up given on exterminator or solution to problem.
— Management and maintenance slow to respond, unorganized, unprofessional
— oh when maintenance does arrive, you wont have much notice
— same with apartment showings when you eventually NEED to move out, told we can legally be given less then 24 hours notice, stated by management within the lease
–keep in mind, you are paying a pretty penny for all of this.

If I could rate this company with NEGATIVE five stars, I would. Let me point out what you’re in for if you rent from them…
AMENITIES OF STOLKER PROPERTIES LUXURY APARTMENTS:
–Prevalent sewage leaks and rain pouring into your bedroom (soaking your brand new bed) through improperly sealed air conditioning units;
–Broken tiles with jagged edges and sharp nails protruding from the floor will not be fixed (even if it’s promised) before you move in;
–Toilet will sink into the floor (tenant below you hopefully won’t mind) and then it will lean against the bathroom sink, making it difficult to reach the handle to flush the toilet;
–Part of the bathroom ceiling will suddenly cave in & rubble will cover the floor;
–Leaks from wall units into your mailbox will soak your mail consistently;
–Spend time twiddling your thumbs waiting for maintenance to show up on the days you’re told to expect them;
–The living room window with the large crack in it (which is never replaced before you move in) will still not be replaced even if Philly is under a hurricane warning;
–Using the quaint fireplace will leave everything in your living room covered in soot;
–Every tenant you meet will have outstanding maintenance requests that are still not addressed weeks/​months later;
–Complimentary house centipede infestation, and agents will claim apartments are exterminated «every 2 weeks» before you move in;
–Deal with one nightmare situation after the next as your apartment falls apart and patched-​up, shoddy work reveals itself.
Maintenance requests will fall on deaf ears. If you go into the office in person, Len Stolker will scream at you & tell you you’re not worth his time and money. This all comes from first-​hand experience!
I moved to Philly from Seattle with my partner and we wrote a series of items that needed to be repaired on our lease. Few repairs were done after we moved in & most of these them were never made (some were habitability issues like no working smoke alarm and centipede infestation) even though we were repeatedly assured they would be done.
Stolker and his agents use intimidation, avoidance, and lying through their teeth to put off spending any money on maintenance. I was told they have 2 repair people (with constant turn over) for about 140 apartments. Unless your apartment is on fire, don’t expect anyone to show up and stay for more than 20 minutes. Stolker has them on a tight leash and he tries to pinch every penny. I have compiled documented evidence of these items listed in my review. If you don’t take my word for it, look at their ratings at:
Don’t make the mistake of thinking you are legally protected if you write mandatory repairs on your lease. It can take 6 – 12 months to fight this in court. Meanwhile, you’re obligated to pay rent. Luckily, we escaped due to persistently attempting to hold them to our contract. We spent 5 weeks in this hell-​hole on 10^th St., and if this case doesn’t have «slumlord» written all over it, what does?

DO NOT LIVE IN ANY STOKLER APARTMENT. They will not fix anything, not fix leaks, and are the worst landlords in Philadelphia. AVOID AVOID.

I will skip the review and instead provide an enlightening link:

Well I stumbled across this page searching for something else but since I rented from Stolker as a grad student in ’93 — ’94 I just thought I’d let you all know that they were bad back then too.
Sometimes landlords get burned out by tenants with problems and problem tenants. Then they start acting like they don’t care, because they really don’t any more. I think these guys were burnt out 20 years ago, and it shows.

Hello Unilocalers! There is an entire blog dedicated to how bad Stolker sucks:
«the tenants are constantly getting screwed by ‘Ol Man Stolker and his staff of incompetents»
NEVER EVER EVER RENT FROM STOLKER PROPERTIES!!!

another update: as the neighbor with the flea infestation, I should amend tony’s update by saying that they also wanted us out of the apartment by august 1^st, and threatened to charge rent for each extra day we stayed in the apartment after that date. So, they really did the bare minimum by refunding security deposit and last month’s rent. We had to hire movers to help pack and move, and it ran almost $ 1000.
I also know that other tenants would be writing similar reviews, if they were not afraid that doing so would just incur even more neglect from management. Still considering a lawsuit…

When we moved into this apartment we were seriously impressed by it’s general awesomeness. With 25 foot windows, gorgeous hardwood floors, cement balcony where we could set up a grill and a loft bedroom, it was like my city apartment wet dream. Even the elevator is cool – my friend Bob said made him feel like drinking a martini.
But for the amount we were paying, particularly in Philly, we were disappointed and frustrated by the lack of organaztional and bookkeeping skills demonstrated by the rental company. They didn’t ever record our payment of the last month’s rent and didn’t note that we told them we were moving out at the end of the lease. Working with this company is like beating your head against a very stylish wall. RENTERS BEWARE!!!