AVA Ballard

I lived in Ava this past year. The staff members are very professional and helpful. However, this pet-​friendly place has a strong pet odor in the common areas and courtyard. Unfortunately, since I lived right by the courtyard, people were always loud talking and kept me up during the weekend nights. For what you pay and what you get, it’s not worth it. I should have opted with a place with no amenities. Like other reviewers mention, there is a mandatory $ 135 cleaning fee when you move. Read all the fine print!

Let me start out by saying that I am only giving this place two stars for the staff members who were the nicest people alive. And subsequently left. Otherwise it would be zero if I could.
Besides that, this was the worst apartment I have ever lived in and I moved from NYC. The people that inhabit this place are rude and disgusting. Hallways smelled like piss, had dog poop outside my door and neighbors who could have given a rats ass about «quiet hours». What a joke! As previous people have said it’s reminiscent of living in a dorm. I have never encountered so many people that just didn’t care and acted entitled leaving common spaces a mess.
The building itself looks nice but built horribly. I could hear every neighbor imaginable. There was zero air flow from my one window that opened so consider your self roasting in the summer months. If looking at apartments in the area steer clear. The proximity to downtown Ballard is appealing but not worth it. Consider the older buildings in Ballard which are built better.
Unfortunately I could go on and on about all the things that were frustrating with AVA but that would just take too long.

I moved to AVA Ballard in May and have to say I’ve enjoyed living here. The staff have been great and the neighbors friendly but not intrusive. It truly is a pet friendly place which is great since I have a large friendly dog. I don’t hear my neighbors on either side of me and I haven’t heard my upstairs neighbors. The rent is reasonable and I like the diversity of the neighborhood. Oh yeah, I love the modern layout of the apartment.
I’ve read some of the other reviews about a college dorm-​like atmosphere and I have to say that has not been my experience. It can get warm in the summer but developing a cross breeze by opening the windows and the front door worked (and the dog loved being able to investigate who was walking by. (A fan would probably have worked too but it wasn’t a high priority — i left cooling mats for the dog to use while I was at work).
I’m hoping I won’t experience the move out nightmares that several former renters wrote about as that would definitely change my outlook. I do hope they will change their policy about jacking up the rent if one has to extend a month or two and never returning security deposits. Here’s hoping.

If you believe professionals in their 30s should aspire to live in a college dorm-​like atmosphere, then this is the building for you!
The building is plagued by frequent break-​ins due to the layout of the open «cool spaces». Be prepared for frequent elevator conversation snubbings from your socially awkward neighbors, and common spaces (that you have already paid for through your overly inflated rent) are perpetually blasted by corporate playlists and marketing videos.
The two star rating is due to the good fitness room and the odd secluded corner on the rooftop deck or patio.

Stay. Away.
Just like one of the reviewers below, I had never even gotten a reduction on a security deposit. When I left my apartment at AVA, I stayed for two hours to clean it, making sure it was actually super clean (I have pictures to prove it). I was still charged $ 135 for a Cleaning Fee. Absolutely ridiculous.
The living experience was alright. Paper thin walls (My neighbours had an active sex life…) didn’t help though. Nor did the occasional dog poo/​pee in the hallways.
For the price you pay at AVA you can find a better place in Seattle that’s fair upon move-​out and doesn’t punish you for leaving.

Getting into the apartment is no problem. However, when you are leaving it is one of the most stressful and confusing apartments I have ever experienced. This is my 3^rd Avalon property so I know the community well. The two other properties I received a full deposit and a credit. I would probably choose another property not associated with the Ava Seattle. You can pretty much count on losing your deposit for NO reason. Common upkeep after you leave is all charged back to the renter. It’s costing me $ 1300 to leave a 450 s. ft apartment. In 20 years or renting, I have never lost my deposit EVER anywhere or ever been charged additional money. Take your business elsewhere.
In addition, the walls are paper thin, the place smells like dog urine and the roof top is filled with chicken bones and dog feces. And even though it says no smoking, people are constantly smoking in and around the building.

My boyfriend and I have lived here since mid-​December and have really enjoyed it thus far! The staff is really nice and they always recognize us. It’s a pet friendly place — that’s an understatement… Everyone has a dog, which encouraged us to finally get one too! We were lucky to get our one bedroom apartment for a reasonable price (it was the dead of winter so pretty much deals for days). We have a walk up unit and it’s convenient to everything in Ballard.
The walls and ceilings are paper thin (or our neighbors are absurdly loud) as with any apartment. I love the location of this complex, minus some less fortunate wanderers in the area (thus one less star). Otherwise, fairly safe and great place to live, especially if you have pets!

I really enjoyed living at AVA Ballard! I chose one of the AVA-​style layouts and thought the unit was well-​designed. I loved that there was plenty of storage, especially with the gear wall and open closet. There were also a lot of little things, like the chalk wall, dark hardwood floors, heavy roller blinds, and sliding bedroom doors, that made it an overall comfortable, modern place.
The staff is really friendly and helpful. My favorite amenity is the gym — plenty of windows (definitely not a basement gym!) and a variety of machines and equipment.
The location is convenient. It is close to several bus routes and a short walk to the main strip of Ballard. It’s also across the street from Ballard Market, which is open 24 hours and has a good selection of beer, bulk goods, and veggies.
My boyfriend and I decided not to renew our lease because a shorter lease was too pricey for us, and we also wanted to try out Capitol Hill. We were charged a small cleaning and painting fee upon move-​out, which was what we expected from most places, so it was not a big deal. I guess I don’t really have any complaints and would recommend AVA if you are trying to decide on an apartment complex in Ballard :)

In retrospect:
My partner and I have now lived at AVA Ballard and completed our full annual lease. Our new home construction was not going to be complete until a month afterwards. AVA offers month-​to-​month leases, but at extraordinary costs… try triple the cost of what we were already paying. This made me a bit bitter since we were great renters and they simply claimed that pricing needs to be ‘market rate’. Not even in New York City rents a 500 square foot apartment rent for $ 3,500 a month!
–Upon move-​out, they expect your apartment to be immaculate. What this means is no hanging of pictures or anything beyond the very basic wear and tear. They highly recommend (and basically force you) to pay for a «clean sweep» upon move out. Price varies based on the size of your unit, whether you have carpet, etc. One plus is we didn’t have to clean a thing after the movers removed all our belongings. Yet, the cleaning company got off easy since we are clean folks anyhow. If we chose not to go with their «clean sweep» offer, we would have been charged for each individual item they would see fit to be cleaned. This includes details like cleaning the exhaust fans and vacuuming behind the stove and refrigerator.
–AVA views itself as a «community» with occasional pizza nights, game nights and such. With this said, I became a bit concerned with the Avalon Properties company ideals since not even one employee remains from the original staff that existed a year ago (i.e. leasing, manager, maintenance, etc). I had lost the friendly community I had once known.
–While AVA was a decent place to live, it still felt like I was caught in a university residence hall. I would highly recommend living only on the sixth floor because of complaints of noise from residents above, echoing dog barking, or extremely loud loading/​delivery trucks at the neighboring market that begins at the crack of dawn.
–Everyone has pets causing the hallways to be full of pet hair and blow into your apartment. It’s my allergies worst nightmare.
–There is little to no cross ventilation in the units due to the layout. Since this summer was quite warm, we had no choice but to keep our windows open every day, dealing with dust and urban noise pollution.
We received our security deposit that was originally $ 500 three weeks after move-​out. After the ‘clean sweep’, painting, and utility bills, I was returned just $ 14.50.
Yes, AVA is expensive. Yes, AVA is ‘community living’ with small, modern living quarters. Yes, AVA has some ridiculous fees and long-​winded contract agreements. Yes, AVA may fit your lifestyle and you’ll often enjoy the staff. All I ask is to be sure of your decision before signing a contract and proceed with caution.

My wife and I spent a year here and loved it. By far, the best part of the building is the extremely friendly and amazingly helpful staff. It’s a genuine joy to interact with them and they do the best to make the place a community and not just an apartment building.
The amenities are amazing. Our favorite amenity was the first-​class gym they have on site. It’s always kept clean and is the largest apartment gym I have seen with a full range of weights, machines, exercise bikes, and treadmills. In addition to the gym, they also have a second floor recreation room with a TV and video games where parties can be thrown, a large second floor BBQ area, and a great rooftop deck with BBQ’s, music, and views of Seattle.
We would still be there but needed to be month-​to-​month because we might be moving out of state. They worked to accommodate us for the first couple of months which we really appreciate, but the local staff has to follow their corporate policy. This policy appears to be created by a computer and has extremely variable rents based on the length of your lease. By extremely variable, I mean that month-​to month would have essentially doubled our rent (more than $ 2000 to more than $ 4000). This was beyond our budget so we had to move out.
Despite that corporate policy, we’ll definitely consider AVA buildings in the future. They have made a point to hire the best people in town and their dedication and hard work made this the best experience we had living in an apartment in Seattle.

I’ve been living here for a few months now, and I couldn’t be happier!
Move-​in was the actually the easiest I’ve ever done. The staff is always extremely helpful, courteous, and friendly. The amenities are fantastic and modern. The apartments are chic and really allow for customization of your space until it feels like home, and rent is comparable to most other complexes of this stature, regardless of the district. The location is both quiet and easily accessible to bus routes, grocery stores, and nightlife, and the community is also inviting (aside from people who clearly don’t know what it means to live in an apartment complex, but they tend to come and go rather quickly).
Can’t complain – hope to stay here an awfully long time!

Super nice and professional leasing agent. But the wear and tear has really taken a toll on both the inside and outside of the building. Plus during my tour, a mysterious fruit had grown in their court yard without coming to their attention. That was a little scary.
While everyone seemed really friendly it was a little too noisy for me. The neighbors seem like they know each other pretty well. And while I like friendly neighbors, it was a bit too much for me.
In other words, if you’re sort of on a budget and don’t mind a little noise. It’s probably the place for you.

Great place to live with friendly staff and awesome amenities! Nothing beats the coffee in the lobby.

Lived here since November, and so far I’m pretty satisfied.
Pros:
–My 1-​bedroom apartment is huge! Very spacious and airy.
–Love having washer/​dryer and a dishwashed in my apt.
–Great to have a gym in the building
–Very convenient location for Ballard
Cons:
–I live on the side of the building that faces 56^th St (the back of Ballard market). There are constantly delivery trucks going in there at every hour in the night. Not a big deal in the winter since the windows are well insulated. However, during the summer, I often find myself woken up in the middle of the night to extremely loud crashing noises.
–The rent adds up when you’ve got a pet and parking fees to pay for.
As long as the rent increase isn’t crazy this fall, I definitely plan on staying.

They Charge for Everything!
The apartments are new, well laid out and very convenient. But they are very expensive. And they charge extra for everything. And at move out, the standards are way more unrealistic than other apartments in the area. They work hard to keep your deposit. If you pay the $ 150 for the «clean sweep» they won’t charge you $ 125 when you leave. But otherwise they will charge you. If there is a single mark on any wall anywhere you will be charged for an hour or more of painting. When you move in you should count on never getting your deposit back. In the end there are many cheaper, larger and better apartments in the area. Just do a little shopping.

Rebel yells and heavily sports oriented. Generally college and post-​college athletic.
There is a place to hang your bike as you enter your apartment. Doors to teeny balconies have no screens. Probably good for dogs, not so much for cats. Rooftop has place for dogs to pee that is constantly wet down.
Frequent barbecues.
Good setup for loading and unloading furniture.
Heavily considered, but in the end went with something more sedate where we felt at home. Some would probably find this to be exactly what they want.

Move-​out was painless. They have something called ‘clean sweep’ which essentially means you don’t have to clean anything — i.e. fridge, stove, floor, etc. You’re still responsible for damages, but that’s a given. I grabbed some touch-​up paint and went at it in the few spots needed. Afterwards, I could not find anything wrong with the apartment. I was happy to see that the move-​out reviewers agreed, and did not provide any additional charges. This shows that they really do have a fair staff, which is not the case in nearly all apartments, and this says a lot about current maintenance management.

One of the worst establishments I’ve ever had the displeasure of working with! AVA Ballard may seem like the ideal apartment with great location, beautiful furnishings, and cool hip features, all for a hefty price. My boyfriend and I had just moved to Seattle and dreamed of living in a place like this.
We set up an appointment and viewed the place. Seeing as how we wanted to secure the lowest paying apartment we saw, we were advised by Kady to just send in our applications.
Everything was nice, but honestly, for the size of the small apartments, we couldn’t justify paying $ 1600 for 500 sqft. A few days later, we emailed Kady letting her know that we were no longer interested in the apartment and to continue looking for new applicants.
HOWEVER, her response was not as sunshine-​and-​rainbows as AVA Ballard seemed. Apparently, when you send in an application for an apartment, you automatically get the place and it is taken off the market. From the time that we had sent in the application and emailed Kady, it was a 9 day period, which resulted in my bf and I owing them $ 454 in «reservation fee»!! This is the first time I’ve heard of any kind of RIDICULOUS contract upon applying for an apartment.
Yes, when you apply and do decide on actually renting the place, that fee is waived. However, in our situation, it was our fault for not reading the APPLICATION TERMS OF AGREEMENT carefully. Had we known that this place wasn’t as selective with their tenants, we would have questioned applying here. They just want people to fill in the place ASAP so they can get money faster.
TL;DR
Future applicants, don’t apply here unless you are okay with paying a crap ton of money to live in their tiny apartments. Otherwise, they will charge you a reservation fee $$$$$$ for applying and canceling.

I moved in to Ava Ballard the beginning of July and have not been happier. The building inside and out is gorgeous. Ava Ballard has a spacious lobby with modern décor. The furniture almost looks snatched from the Mad Hatter’s tea party which is really fun. The lobby also has a chalk board where they list local events going on like fairs and markets, which is great. There is also a coffee and tea bot that is always stocked, Score!
Ava Ballard is also heavy on the amenities with a spacious top of the line gym, chill room with free wifi and arcade machines, and a roof top patio with barbecues. I have already used the chill space to host a BBQ which went off really well. My guests commented on the beautiful Mad Hatter furniture, fun games, and appealing space which made me feel great.
The units mirror the beauty and quality of the common spaces. They offer two layouts one traditional style and a modern Ava style unit. We rented the Modern unit which features a HUGE amount of storage and wall units that can be customized with baskets, hooks, bike racks, ect. I love the usage of wall space for storage, which makes a 748sq ft unit feel huge.
The modern unit has laminate floors throughout, high energy stainless steel appliances, and they encourage customizing your unit to fit you. They encourage painting walls, changing up the wall storage, ect. They want for you to make this your place and not just another white box unit.
Amenities and units aside the staff really make this the best place to live. From the leasing staff to the maintenance team everyone is so friendly. They greet you whenever they see you, remember a face, and even love my dogs. You can tell they take pride in their building. Ava Ballard is really a homey apartment community which is really impressive considering its size. I highly encourage you give them a try.

I stumbled in here without an appointment to see apartments. Wow! What a place! I got a tour with Cameron and that’s why I have given this place 5 stars.
At first glance, this place seems so hip and modern and sleek – right off of a design table, but then you go inside the apartments. FINALLY! Someone has designed wide hallways! In the model, it was set up for skateboards and snowboards and bikes. If your knees are trashed like mine and you don’t snowboard or skateboard but like to, say, play the piano, you could easily put an upright in the hallway. If you have tons of stuff carefully packed in dressers, those will fit too. You can really tailor these spaces for your own needs.
Cameron was an exceptional tour guide. He is knowledgeable, very outgoing and friendly. They will acommodate you if you show up unannounced like me, but it’s more considerate to make an appointment! Thanks, Cameron for a great tour!