Aspira Apartments

Aspira — Aspire to live comfortably surrounded by life. Downtown Seattle a mega entertainment, employment, and inspirational city.
Nicely appointed dog friendly apartment community.

I lived at Aspira for two years. When I first moved in the management was amazing — from the concierge, to the leasing office and maintenance staff. However, there was a change in management at the end of my second year lease, and frankly their attitude toward their residents left a lot to be desired. As an upscale, expensive high rise in Seattle you come to expect a level of service that suddenly dropped and thus we moved out.

What a beautiful apartment building. My husband and I stayed in the family unit that is set up for out of town guests in January of 2012. We absolutely loved it. The views were incredible and the unit itself was beautiful. All the amenities you could want while vacationing; it really felt like being in our own home. Thank you for making us feel so welcome.

We’ve lived at Aspira for 13 months when we first moved to Seattle. Let me start by saying that I am quite confused by the 2.5 star rating… it honestly sounds like most of those poor reviews were from the previous management period.
This is definitely one of the nicest apartment buildings in the downtown/​SLU area. The units are large, the amenities are wonderful, and the location is excellent for working downtown (and now that the Greyhound Bus Station moved from next door, the neighborhood is definitely improved). We’ve had nothing by friendly interactions from the staff here; both the leasing office and front desk attendants… everyone’s been great. You definitely pay for what you get, and prices are high, but so is the quality.
My only complaint, which is a small issue when it comes to potential complaints in a rental, is that there is no convenient recycling option. Each floor has a trash shoot, in a decent sized trash room, but in order to recycle, you have to take your items down to the parking garage and put them in a dumpster. As a LEED certified, green building in Seattle, I think it’s pretty crazy to not have a recycling center. Either a communal one on the amenities floor (get rid of that table with all the coupons and brochures and put in some cans/​tubs) or one in each trash room. I’ve heard this same complaint from many fellow residents.
I see a lot of complaints about move-​out inspections and fees below, so I’ll touch on that. I am a total neat-​freak. If I ever say a spot or scurf on a wall I immediately took a wet cloth to it and removed it. I noticed that a flat paint was used, and anytime I would wipe down a wall, the paint would come off on my cloth and it drove me nuts while we lived here. So when it came time to move-​out, we were told they’d have to paint the walls and charge us for it because of the spotty look. We argued on that one, as experienced DIYs and former homeowners, and got them to agree that they used the wrong interior paint on the walls. We cleaned the place very well I thought, I would have been pleased to move right into the condition we left it in, but we were still charged a nominal cleaning fee for some very nitpicky things. I can’t recall what the charge was, definitely less than $ 150. Because we argued on the paint, we let that one go and didn’t complain about the cleaning charge. Truly though, I’ve heard horror stories of moving out of apartments and getting screwed so I was nervous but I felt like Aspira handled it fairly and honestly and have no bad feelings about this.
All in all, for new, clean apartments with a beautiful roof-​top deck, gym, and communal areas, Aspira is an excellent choice. Apartments are huge, and the views are great. A/​C in Seattle is a rarity but Aspira has it! Also love that these units are super quiet, we never heard our neighbors and they confirmed they never heard our crying baby, either.

Lots of problems with management here. :
I Just did my move out inspection here after living here around 18 months, and they are telling me that they need to charge me to replace the ENTIRE carpet, and repaint the ENTIRE apartment. Why, you ask? Here are literally the reasons they told me:
1. «Carpet will be unlikely to ‘perk up’ after cleaning.» Huh? You should furnish the place with perkier carpet if you don’t like it bending when people walk on it. It looks fine by the way (I never spilled any liquid on it or put any really heavy furniture on anything). This was quite possibly the most surreal experience I’ve had in Seattle. The staff who told me this did it completely with a straight face to my amazement.
2. «Touching up paint will look uneven when sunlight shines into apartment», and «you can see fingerprints on walls if you look closely from the side». Again, if you can’t touch up the paint you chose without it looking poor (I call BS on this anyway), you have chosen the wrong paint. I certainly expect to be charged some standard cleaning fee, but you don’t need to re-​paint the entire place to remove a few fingerprints.
They also refused to give me a move out quote on anything, not even a ballpark figure. I’ve given this place a ton of money already in rent, and they are now trying to milk every single thing they can out of me.
I have no idea if this is common, but they also reported me to creditors as having late rent when I accidentally made a typo on the online payment system once or twice (and corrected it immediately as soon as I was notified a day or two later). This resulted in me requiring an increased deposit at my new place and will likely stay on my record for years.
Finally, in general management is just really overly formal and will tell you «it’s in your contract» to literally every single question or concern, regardless of whether its reasonable or not. For instance, they won’t let you borrow a ladder for 5 minutes because «it’s for maintenance only». Here is a much worse example:
When I came to pick up my keys, they told me I was required to pay my first month’s rent with a cashier’s check or money order, even though I payed my deposit with a normal check! (Again. «it’s in your contract» blah blah). This was a Sunday, my bank was closed, and I already had an appointment that day for internet installation. They had me running around the city trying pull together a money order for a month’s rent, which turned out to be impossible for me. I had to haggle for hours to get them to let me pay the rest the next day.
I don’t get why they do this stuff. Don’t they realize they could make more money if they were nice /​reasonable and then got better reviews, and then decreased their vacancies?
Ugh.

It was better before 1007 Stewart construction started. Now you can expect difficulties reaching the entrance of the building, loud noise at all hours of the day, and dust and exhaust fumes from construction equipment. Construction will be starting on the other sides of the building shortly, so if you value your sleep don’t move here.
Thankfully there are new apartment buildings opening up nearby, so there’s no need to reason to live here.

While we didn’t choose to live at Aspira, we can’t say enough great things about the experience we had with them. Kevin helped us get an appointment for a tour with no notice. He listened carefully to what we needed and wanted and showed us two amazing options. He was patient, knowledgeable, friendly, honest, and incredibly considerate. The only reason we chose a different community was proximity to work and the desire for a little more hustle and bustle. Kudos to Kevin and the team. They really made our apartment hunting experience enjoyable.

Nice location but beware of what you are paying. Insane «cleaning fees» when you move out such that you shouldn’t expect to see your security deposit back.
Also some of the staff aren’t as friendly such as Brittany.

The staff is super friendly, but honestly the apartments, are not worth the price when there is better out there. The views are amazing, but I toured and saw the cheap countertops peeling in some units, carpet that was so cheap it was fraying, and the only descent units had vinyl flooring. You are paying for a view because the apartment and furnishings itself are not justifiable for the price. Oh and you will pay $ 225 to park.
Super friendly staff that is so used to people saying «wow the view is nice, but why is everyone in hear so cheap?»
Would be nice to be able to buy a unit and rip out all the cheap counters, cabinets, and flooring to gut it.

BEWARE!
Yes, you may have a nice view but otherwise this is an awful place to live especially given the ridiculous rent cost.
The leasing agents will lie to you. Do not believe anything they tell you and request all information in writing. Due to my trusting nature they were able to swindle me out of over $ 6000. I was specifically deceived by Brittany.
The apartment was cheaply finished. The paint is not washable so if you ever happen to mark the wall it will not come clean without burnishing the paint, thereby guaranteeing that at move out, after you’ve had to live with splotchy walls, they will charge you to repaint the whole place. The carpet was of poor quality and the nails holding it in we’re sticking through. There is no overhead lighting so be prepared to buy all your lighting needs. The fixtures were constantly coming loose.
So if you like being lied to and living in faux luxury by all means this is the place for you.
*before posting this review I have tried to speak with management at Aspira as well as their apartment management company GreyStar and have only had very poor customer service interactions completely devoid of business ethics and general human decency. I wish they would have tried to make this right.

A sham of a mockery of an apartment complex, steadily crumbling due to mismanagement and poor build quality. If you want to live downtown, do yourself a favor and take a look at the countless other buildings in the area. Sure you will probably get a good price, but you will absolutely be getting what you paid for … not a lot. Also, as an update (now that I have finally set myself free from this place), the management company that run this building (Greystar) are dreadful. You know you have a problem when residents are pinning up signs outside your building in protest (see picture).

Notice all of the positive 5 star reviews are mostly from people who do not live in Seattle… suspect.
It’s pretty simple, if you are looking for an apartment don’t look here. There are dozens of places in Seattle, it is very easy to find a good one.

Aspira still has some great views of the city, but it’s over-​priced and doesn’t meet the standards it aspires to have (no pun intended); the building is run as a very «calculated» business and everything is done just barely good enough (read my last paragraph). I’m glad to say there are better places to live.
The good:
— The views: Residents above the 20^th floor on 3 sides get great views of the city. There are, however, new high-​rises being built (on the north side) or planned (on the east side) that will change this.
— The high ceilings: I really like them.
— The maintenance staff: The management company does a poor job of scheduling appointments, following through, etc., but the guys that do the work are pretty cool and friendly.
— Dog friendly: I guess, I don’t have a dog though.
The bad:
— The views seem to be going away rapidly (mentioned above).
— The surrounding construction: Jackhammers at 7 am until at least mid-​2015.
— The smell of grease: I’m on the 16^th floor, but I get a strong greasy smell for an hour or two when the restaurant on the ground floor vents its kitchen. It’s tough to deal with in the summer.
— The parking: Compact spots with large cars in them. I’ve tried different spots, but am always surrounded by cars almost as wide as their entire spot (it’s not hard when the spots are so small).
— The deck: It’s on the 11^th floor and the view is 2 office buildings and a parking lot. Smells like asphalt.
— The apartments are _​VERY_​dusty: The ceilings are bare structural concrete, which produces dust. I’m a bachelor and not picky, but friends get visibly uncomfortable if I haven’t dusted for more than 2 weeks…
— No «community»: Not sure if it’s the management style or the poor deck, but no one here talks to each other or hangs out. The residents are perfectly nice people, they just don’t interact. I’ve noticed 5 «events», attended 2, never seen more than 20 residents.
— The gym: It’s fine if you only want cardio. If you do weights (free or otherwise), you will have a very limited workout.
The bottom line:
I don’t have any horror stories, but I’ve always felt used here and it’s fairly obvious I’m only seen as a source of rent. After being a perfect tenant for 7 months, I was late with my rent for 2 days (was away/​busy and just forgot for a few days) and was threatened with an eviction notice/​fine. Every time I’ve asked for any leeway or understanding (on anything more significant than refilling the office printer) I’ve been refered to the fine print in my contract. Every management decision seems to be to extract the maximum amount of money from residents. I respect the business savyness of the management, but I would appreciate a _​little_​heart, even if it’s just a calculated attempt to keep me happy.

We moved into Aspira when it was less than a year since open. Back then, Pinnacle was managing the building and the lease-​up team was stellar. Those of you who remember Benjamin Hodson know exactly what I’m talking about. There are a few things that changed in the interim:
1. Once the building was mostly leased up, the leasing team was replaced with the management team. Coinciding with that time frame, due to the lease up, there were a lot more residents (not all of them nice, friendly, responsible, or ready to live on their own), there were a lot less frequent elevators, the parking situation became more problematic, and building maintenance was a little less efficient. Most of this is understandable. Lease-​up is a wonderful, honeymoon time in a building’s lifecycle.
2. A couple of years ago, the building was sold and a new management company (not owner managed) was brought in – Riverstone. Immediately the tone of the building changed: more business, less personal — and not necessarily good business. Office hours were cut back, office personnel were a revolving door of inexperienced, frequently less than helpful staff. The changes in Building Manager and accounting personnel often led to account mix-​ups and lots of interaction (not the fun kind, either).
As a 40-​something couple who paid a LOT of money for a high-​rise NW view corner, I was less than impressed with the responsiveness of the office folks. And beyond that, I just didn’t really enjoy many of the tenants: lots of young, technology folks who were not only antisocial, but anti-​polite — messy, noisy, with lots of dogs, and less interest in the fact that those of us who didn’t have them didn’t want to step in their droppings or be exposed to their enthusiastic greetings. And the endless rounds of social gatherings of folks who weren’t residents, but were let in security doors by nameless rental security for events that were noisy, tied up community resources and left mess behind. No thank you!
Honestly, if Aspira could have stayed the way it was when we moved in, I could see us staying there forever. But after the sale and the management changes, it became clear that it wasn’t an environment we wanted to try to live in.
There’s no denying the location is prime. The units are quiet (concrete is like that), and dogs ARE welcome. Beyond that, if you want any semblance of gracious living, this is not the place — it’s more a high-​end frat house, which is great if it’s what you want, but at the prices charged for the higher-​end units, there are other places that offer more comfortable living.

Pro: my place was quiet, one of the nicer apartment gyms, good views, free Kurig coffee in the lounge, walk to everything you need
Cons: No carts in the garage to move in (or move groceries), no printer paper in the tech lounge.
**Paperwork was a major hassle. I was subletting from someone else and finishing the last few months of their lease. I was going to pay the balance of the lease in full (several thousand dollars at once) to stay in Seattle for an internship. You’d think the office would be glad that they’d have a huge lump sum of money? No. I got nothing but difficulty for trying to do this. As an intern, I did not make the required yearly salary to live in this building. So what? I was going to pay the total amount up front — in cash if needed. Apparently this was an issue and I had to get a family member to co-​sign. BUT they couldn’t just fax it over. No, I had to drag them into the city to sign in person (totally inconvenient). And then they insisted on running 2 credit reports and 2 background checks for 2x the cost, even though I was going to be the only tenant.
I found it totally ludicrous that even though I was intending to pay the rest of the lease IN FULL, on the spot, that they were giving me so much trouble.
(The person I was subletting from was transferring out of the area for their job. But they had noted that they were going to substantially raise rent on the unit if they wanted to renew — not worth it in their opinion)
Once I moved in everything was very nice. I enjoyed the building, good location and amenities. Killer view. But from the start it was an annoying process and gave me a very negative impression of management here.

Management is not effective. Service is poor. Staff is friendly — but there is no follow thru with maintenance and other service requests. It has been very frustrating to get very smallest requests handled in a decent amount of time.
Don’t move here for the ‘amenities’ only move if you like the location and your proposed unit.
Gym equipment is not well maintained. Concierge service (friendly) but regularly not available. Business center printer frequently doesn’t function proerly or doesn’t have paper.
It sounds like the small stuff… but rent is high and the expectation is that the whole property will have a certain quality and service. Not the case

There are divergent reviews about this building, mostly because of one thing: the office is incredibly inconsistent, and people have inconsistent demands.
You will love this building if you want
— proximity to Belltown, SLU, Capitol Hill
— easy transportation options, as it’s close to the Greyhound station, bus center and I-​5
— fancy building with expensive rent and low energy bills
— pet-​friendly building
You will hate this building if you want
— organized management (more on this later)
— quiet and respectable neighbours
— big wide parking spots (there are 5 floors, but most spots are very compact)
My main problem is with the organization of the management. We’ve been accused of handing in our rent late, even though we were notified approximately 2 weeks after the beginning of the month, and was forced to pay a $ 100 late charge, or be kicked out in 3 days. There are other management concerns, but otherwise, they always communicate visits/​inspections/​events effectively.
As for the good stuff, the location is really key. The 11^th floor patio is gorgeous, with two BBQs and plenty of space. In the summer, the BBQs are used frequently, so expect delays or get there early. I love the gym, which has a great bike trainer program, and the free yoga that is provided three times a week.
One of the only consistent things the management does well is hire great concierge staff that are friendly, remember your name and extremely helpful.

I lived at aspiria for 16 months and my stay was pleasant but the move out experience was terrible.
I just got a call from a collection company that I owe over 700 dollars since moving. It’s been over 6 months since I moved out?! They never sent me a bill! I included my my contact information in my move out statement and sent it to them through email! If I owe money let me know about it!

I now concur with another review regarding the move out process. Again, while I was still residing at Aspira I had a great experience. Unfortunately I had to move from Seattle due to a new job opportunity (I had about 12 months remaining on my 18 month lease). And that is when the great experience turned not so great.
The lease take-​over process as not an easy experience to say the least. In a nutshell I was told a number of times prior to moving out the leasing agents would assist me in finding someone help take-​over my lease. I moved out early April… My apartment sat there vacant until July. They didn’t even show my apartment until late June. And that only happened after I received a letter from the accountant — basically saying they were going to evict me… from an empty apartment.
Long story short, I ended up paying about $ 5K to settle things up for the new resident. Which was better than the $ 12K I was quoted for a lease break fee. Just be aware that if you are planning on moving out you speak with the office manager and come up with a solid plan in writing — my leasing agent steered me in the wrong direction and could have saved me time, money and frustration.
Like Pamela S. said — if you never plan on moving out it is great!

Easily the friendliest building in Seattle. The staff are always attentive to every request. They all know me by name and I never need ask twice for anything.
The community events are always a great time, and the building has them pretty frequently. There is not a single complaint that I would be able to register.