Avalon ParcSquare

Location! Location! Location!
Moved into ParcSquare this past February and because of a career move, had to break my lease and move out early. From my first visit to my last day turning in my keys, the team at ParcSquare have been amazing!
Pros:
1. Friendly staff! Shannon and Kathy (now at another complex) were so awesome to deal with. They were always responsive, willing to bend over backwards with every request, and just fun to deal with. The people make the place and these ladies were awesome!
2. Did I mention location? What I loved most about this place was how walkable it was. I came home on the weekends and could literally park my car until Monday. Grocery stores, restaurants, movie theaters, Redmond Town Center were all a short stroll away. Bus into Seattle a block away. I could be at Westlake or Pike Place Market within 30 min and down to the stadiums quickly without having to pay to park.
3. The Sammamish River trail is a short stroll down the path behind the complex. Running, biking, walking. all with pretty scenery and direct access. Helped me stay active while living there. The complex has a small fitness center as well that was great for rainy PNW days.
4. Maintenance was super responsive. Don’t think I waited more than a few hours when I had a request. The team was also very nice and did a great job when a repair was needed.
5. Moving out, especially when leaving early, I was dreading the experience. Leave it to the team there to even make that painless. No hidden charges! I knew what to expect as it was clearly explained when I leased. Really appreciated how well this was handled.
No place is perfect, but minimal issues. A couple of feedback points below.
Cons:
1. Apartment wasn’t as clean as I would have liked when moving in. This was quickly fixed because I communicated and let the team know about the issues. They remembered this when I was moving out and were willing to ease some of the cleaning charges. Felt that was more than fair!
2. The building is a bit older than some of the complexes around. Appliances are showing their age. Hope they invest in updating these as well as the finishes as I think that would add value for the price. Also, the elevators were down once or twice while I was there and while they worked hard to get it fixed, and communicated well, also something you deal with in an older building.
Hate to leave, but moving out of state. Think it will be hard to find someplace with such a great team and an amazing location like ParcSqaure.
** Waiting for final statement and deposit back. Will post update once that is done but expecting no issues.

Black mold, security problems, unreasonable rent increases, limited amenities. I lived in Avalon ParcSquare for a few years and enjoyed the location in Redmond and my unit which has a massive private balcony and large windows wrapping the living area. But enough.
Security in the building has been an issue with several car prowls in the secure garage and with break-​ins in the poorly secured storage lockers. Building management failed to report break-​ins to residents or to take corrective action until it was demanded by tenants (well, me).
Building management is available (sometimes) Tuesday through Saturday and are far more concerned with paperwork and the business goals of Avalon Bay Communities (AVB) than in ensuring a healthy community. On-​site building maintenance personnel are outstanding but the centralized dispatch for maintenance is slow and unresponsive; one evening the garbage compacter was noisily running non-​stop for several hours, central maintenance refused to look into the problem until I placed a fourth, pleading phone call to have them solve the problem.
Similar to another reviewer, Avalon demanded an 17% cost increase in rent and fees with my last renewal. They were unwilling to negotiate and preferred to put the unit on the market for a lower rate than what I had been paying, clearly preferring turn-​over to long term tenants.
With a high level of acquisitions and mergers there aren’t many options for independent apartment communities on the Eastside. Avalon Parc Square has a good location so if you don’t mind frequent moves the place will do.

Clean, new apartments, well maintained building, efficient management. Great location close to bus route, library, mall. Some apts have layout with many corners or facing and internal courtyard and some face the street.

I have lived here for almost 4 years, when I moved in I was very happy, I felt rent was fair for the age and amenities of the building and the staff actually cared about their residents. Since that time my rent has almost doubled and now the value just isn’t there — they don’t care about long term residents when they raise rent 17% in one year (including starting to charge for things that were free before)
The interior of the building needs some attention… dirty walls need new paint in the hallways, broken doors, poor security — oh did I mention my storage locker inside a locked building, inside 2 additional locked doors was robbed. The parking garage has also had it’s share of issues — cars vandalized and bikes stolen. I get they cant control crime but they seem to not care about making the building more secure.
They are trying to call themselves a ‘Luxury’ building and are comparing rents to new properties in the area. Take the time to look around, you get what you pay for and if you want to pay the same or just a tiny bit more you can get stainless steel appliances, hardwood flooring, granite counters, way better building amenities and a management staff that seems to care about creating community (Paul is great in the leasing office and the maintenance team is very nice)
I give Avalon Parc Square 5 stars for location, you can’t beat it! So why do I stay… location, the building is small, moving is not fun, and I have pets. If they could just get it together and do some basic updates. I am keeping my eyes open and will leave eventually, surely I am in for another 10−15% rent increase this year.

Just had the most frustrating experience with the management– Thought I would would let other people know so they could avoid the same situation. A housekeeper checked out a key from the leasing office and went to return it and the office was locked up for lunch. There was no posted return time and no visible drop box. When management was notified that they key would be returned the following day, there was notification that the tenant would be fined $ 150 to change the locks.
As the owner of the housekeeping company I called to share my liability insurance so we could assume responsibility for having the key overnight.
Spoke with Michelle — couldn’t help me
Called another complex and spoke with Kristy (she’s a manager) she let me know there was nothing they could do.
Just want to let everyone know that has housekeepers, that they KEY at the leasing office as an added convenience is anything but a convenience or selling point to renting there.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND giving your housekeeper a key.
Deanna — Owner of Knock-​Knock Housekeeping 206 816‑4439

On their renewal offer they raised the rent on us by 18%. Outrageous and unacceptable. We tried to talk to them about it but they wouldn’t budge. You think they’d try to get people to stay to avoid the hassles of paperwork and leaving the apartment vacant in between renters but nooooo. Now they’re putting the place on market again but 11% lower than what they offered us. wtf?
Well, I’m glad we moved out though because our apartment was right next to the street where the buses runs from 5am all the way to past midnight. Being a light sleeper, you can imagine how frustrating it was for me, I don’t think I got any sleep the first month living there… after that it got a little better, but still, who’d like sleep right next to rumbling bus noises?
We also had a noisy upstairs neighbour who would stomp on our ceiling. It was a child and you can hear him crying and screaming and stomping everyday, anytime of the day, whether it’s saturday morning or 3 in the morning, that kid was just relentless. I understand that this can happen in any apartment, so it really isn’t Avalon’s fault.
The apartment quality was only mediocore. There are much better quality apartments in the area at the same price range they offered us.
The only pro living here is the convenient location, only steps away from the bus stop, library, qfc/​trader joe’s, and Village Square Café across the street serves really good breakfast.

This place isn’t anything special. The staff is pretty much non-​existent and the building maintenance is VERY poor. The apartment isn’t the nicest, but the locations good.

I moved in September 2011 and so far I’ve been very pleased. The neighbors are quite and the staff has been very friendly and helpful. One thing I really appreciate is the package delivery. I’m at work when the office is open, so it is very difficult for me to get there to pick up packages while the office is still open. They leave it at my door if it is still there when they close. This is great because I don’t have to wait until the weekend or leave work early just to pick up a delivery. And I’m not worried about theft because it’s an enclosed and secure access community. I’ve had many packages delivered and haven’t had a problem yet.
The other thing I like is the web access to billing and maintenance and online payment of the rent. I don’t have to write a check or mess with the bank bill pay which can take up to a week to arrive and possibly incur late fees. I have been very happy here.

This is a pretty upscale apartment complex. They have a very nicely equipped gym with towels and fruits. The staff is well-​trained and very professional. The wait time for the super is really short. They do have elevators in each of the building. The location is great too. The shopping center, library, and other amenities are really close by.