Identity Seattle

I have lived here for over four months now and thought I would write an update.
The apartment units themselves are pretty decent. They are advertised as «luxury» apartments, but there is nothing obviously luxurious about them. While the units look nice, everything is made with the cheapest materials and some of the furnishings are of laughable quality. There is no parking, no gym, etc. Its a pretty simple affair: you pay for an apartment and that is all you will get. The nice thing about living here though, is that there is easy access to U District attractions and there is a really convenient metro bus hub a block away.
Each apartment unit comes with a modem/​router and a 100mb plan from Century Link. This is really convenient since you don’t get slowed down by other people and the speeds have generally been as promised. My roommate does not pay much attention to internet speed as long as they can access facebook, so it went unnoticed when I moved the modem/​router in my room :). There is also cable apparently, but I do not enjoy commercials, so I have not really tried it out much.
The apartments are advertised as fully furnished, which means you get a small couch, a full sized bed, a bedroom desk, a coffee table, and washer and dryer. The couch is pretty comfortable and I like stiff beds, so I don’t mind the mattress. The desk is an incredibly cheap welded metal base with a thin plywood-​like top, and it wobbles like crazy (though that could be due to the unevenness of the floor). Having a washer and dryer is incredibly convenient though.
The downside to the fully furnished apartments is that when you want to replace the furnishings (and seriously, you will), you will struggle to find somewhere to put your original furniture. You can’t get rid of anything or you will be charged for it later, and their storage units cost money. So good luck with that.
The kitchen is pretty nice. You get a big fridge with a freezer, tons of cabinets and drawers, a dishwasher, and a stovetop and an oven. The stove is of the electric variety with raised burners (which sucks), but it will still get the job done. The oven controls consist of a single knob, allowing you to set the temperature. Pretty medieval options, but again, it works. The only thing I found myself missing dearly was a garbage disposal in the sink. Small pieces of food eventually start to gather and it is really annoying to have to scoop them out of the sink by hand all the time.
Finally, keep in mind that most residents are students at the UW (myself included). This means you have a high probability of living next to a room full of obnoxious people that stay up until way past midnight and have no concept of noise control. You will be reminded of this fact almost daily!
That said, I generally don’t mind living at the identity apartments. It’s comfortable, and the neighborhood is fairly tame by U district standards. The price is crazy high for what you get though and you would do well to shop around before signing a lease here.

Great location near campus, apartments are clean and sunny. The building manager, Matt, is also really nice and knowledgeable. I just graduated, and I’d recommend Identity to students looking for housing near UW.