The Westfal Apartments

I’ve noticed just a handful of reviews for this building, and they don’t seem like a representative sample. We lived here in 2013, but I think I can offer some more information that is still relevant as I write this.
This is an old building, no doubt. The hallways were dark and dingy, and I would not be surprised if they are still that way today. Another reality, the fact that most of the residents are students, means that trash will be found in hallways, in the laundry room, and scattered around the alley where the dumpsters sit. And your neighbors might be loud at any hour of the day, and they might smoke in their apartments even though it’s forbidden. Honestly, though, the problems you may have with these quality-​of-​life issues will have a great deal to do with what you are used to. I moved into this building after living in a variety of older cities (NYC, Philly, DC), and what I encountered in those places for comparable rents made the Westfal seem reasonable.
That said, your experience in this building will depend greatly on which apartment you end up in. Apartments on the west (5^th Ave) side will be exposed to the worst of bus noises and fumes and to the second hand smoke of the crowd of residents that prefers to hang out by the main entrance. There are also the apartments that face the inner courtyard/​alley. That is another smokers’ haven, and it’s also where the dumpsters are. Enough said. The most quiet apartments probably face north, over the US Bank and its parking lot and trees. The apartments facing south probably get the best light, without the problems of facing 5^th Ave.
The elevator was smallish and ancient and a bit difficult to use for moving in and out. On the other hand, hey: this is an older four-​story building that actually has an elevator.
With regards to the staff, we always found the maintenance folks respectful and courteous, and we never had to wait too long for a response to maintenance requests. Perhaps it helped that we were always respectful and even friendly ourselves towards them. The office staff was generally good to us as well, although staff turnover occasionally meant we would be dealing with someone who was still learning the job. The one aggravation we had was in dealing with the company that charged fines if your parking sticker wasn’t visible. Those people. Yuck. It was cool, though, that we were able to get parking (a block and a half away) in a secure area.
Our apartment was one of the two bedrooms. The bedrooms were separated from each other by the living room, which was great. The kitchen was super tiny, and the bathroom was pretty small as well. Good-​sized closets. We loved our living room, mainly because it had this wonderful wainscoting with a generous picture rail.
Having seen some of the other apartments, I can report that not all of them had super tiny kitchens. Some of the one bedrooms were good enough, I think, to rate 4 stars for the price. This is, after all, downtown: very convenient to public transit, walking distance to all the shopping and eating and entertainment you could hope to have ready access to.
Basically, I was happy to have this be the first place I lived in Portland, and after a year I was ready to find something better (which I did).

We’ve lived here for 18 months. We indeed enjoyed our time here — however there are a lot of cons, just depends what you want to put up with.
PROS: We love the location; close to MAX and bus lines, farmers market, food carts, etc. Being close to PSU the area is pretty safe. We also use the lot (extra $ 130/​mo) to park our car, luckily it has always been safe too. The apartment feels larger than 580 sq. ft. because of the tall ceiling and the look-​through to the kitchen. The actual maintenance men are pleasant. Our application process and signing leasing work paper work (rented sight-​unseen) was very smooth/​easy.
CONS: The building is falling apart and the management doesn’t care. The leasing office is usually never helpful. Since our mailboxes are small, you have to go to the leasing office to pick up packages; however on many occasions, they claim you have no package, even with proof of delivery, then you come back in the next few days and they magically have it (I know that they already had it because they write on the package the date it is received in black marker. The elevator was out of order completely for 8 months — every time I asked about it they would say it’s being worked on… for 8 months?! The ceilings in the halls are rotting through, lights dangle by one cord, there are always 1 – 2 washers that do not work, and the garbage dumpsters are ALWAYS overflowing! Since The floors in our apartment (72) are very poor with nails sticking out and you can get splinters. When we initially moved in there were fleas in the apartment (from the prior tenant that had cats), we hand killed about a dozen then they seemed to die out after we flea sprayed. The cigarette smokers out front smell up the place. One time the basement front door locks were changed, which was a big deal to me to since the elevator was out and mail is in the basement — the office argued with me for weeks and ignored my official request for a new key (sent certified mail)… finally once I had a discussion with the general manager she figured out it was simply a mistake that the locks were changed and got it fixed. When moving out, they held up the process to give my next landlord a review of us as tenants.

Save your health and safety and do not live here!!!
Where do I begin?! I will simply state the facts:
Staff– every time I dealt with the staff which is all at a seperate apartment compelex they treated me as a bum who lived in a box outside their luxury apartments called the linq. I was always looked over and made to wait so they could assist a Linq resident instead.
Safety– I had to call the police multiple times because my hallway neighbor was blasting JLo and strung out on crack at all hours of the night. Not ok when he is also trying to breakdown your door and go through your kitchen window from the fire escape because he wants to «talk». Did the apartment management do anything about it or let me off the lease? NO. I also reported that because they did not fix the lights over the stairs for 2 weeks I fell down a flight of stairs and broke my ankle. Nothing was done about even fixing the lights for another week!
Drug use and resident abuse — I get it, this trashy place is supposed to attract PSU students looking for a good deal. However does there have to be so much drug use and drunks? Over the course of 2 years living there I found over 20 needles, hundreds of beer cans left on the stairs inside. The non smoking inside rule is not honored by anyone so be prepared to get lung cancer or pulmonary problems at the least. You will routinely find dead animals in the ally way and urine and feces from drunks and bums at each building entrance.
Structural problems — The building’s foundation is crumbling from the inside out. You can witness this with one simple ride on their scary suicidal elevator. The cement and structure is litterally rusted and broken and crumbling. Massive cracks in the ceilings of each apartment are present on all floors.
If you want to live in shit and piss in a should be condemned building this is your dream castle for 1400 $ a month not including about 150 $ in other utility and residential fees per month.

great location, but this place is a dump. nothing has been updated. if you’re a ciggie smoker, this place is for you. the laundry room, storage area and back court yard is un-​kept. my hardwood floors have not been taken care of since the building went up… and it’s rotting.
just spend a couple extra $$ and get a clean place. when this lease is up… i’m out.

WAIT WAIT MUST READ !!! This place is such a joke. OK where do I start. The smell alone should steer you away from this place. The electrical is out dated. Its one thing to blow a fuse, well at this place you can’t access yourself you have to call and wait for maintenance to come do it. Which would be fine if their guys were quick. Not the case I waited 3 hours one day in the middle of winter. They Dont care at all about there property or their tenants. I found mold in my apartment I had to take multiple pictures of these issues. Big gaps in the windows so the heat is just a big waste. Dont let the photos fool you. The building was established in 1910 and they have not updated a lot of things. The fountain at love joy owns this property so just be aware of them all together. You will be sorry if you move in. They let me break my lease after 30 days because they knew they were in the wrong. Go by and look a what a dump this place is. The planters out front are riddled with CIG butts. Its just an overall dump. Go anywhere else !!!