Solara Apartments

So, we recently moved out. Had a pretty good relationship with management, were never late on any rent, kept to ourselves, had the apartment professionally cleaned and the carpets cleaned before we left. We received a move out bill for $ 2,000!!! Are you kidding me?! Before we moved out the manager told my wife that she was going to remodel the entire apartment. Everything. New carpets, new cabinets, new paint, everything was changing. They claimed that there was pet damage to the carpet underneath but if there is no visible stain why would you pull the carpets? I was told that they were readjusting the bill and sending photos yet two weeks later I still have not received anything. I am currently disputing charges because if the complex has plans to remodel the apartment, from advice I have been given, they cannot charge me to pay for carpet or walls or anything. I am very frustrated especially after spending two years as a good and loyal tenant there. I would absolutely not recommend this place. Stephanie is very nice and normally very helpful but not sure why I am not being communicated with because I don’t agree with the charges.
***Update: Now they called my wife saying that the carpet charges were so high because a year ago when we moved apartments the previous manager never did a walk through so now I am being charged a year later for that carpet as well. Also they are claiming a toilet needs to be replaced because of kitty litter when the maid service flushed a rag and told the apartment complex to bill them for the damages. funny how after I posted a review they call with more damages. Retaliation much?

I’ve lived at Solara 2.5 months. I was told after I had already decided to take the apartment that there was a mandatory $ 30 valet waste program, (on top of paying for garbage utilities) and I had to purchase renter’s insurance. Because they didn’t tell me this up front, I had not factored this into my budget. They use a third-​party Utilities company that charges $ 7 to pay online so dust off your checkbooks. You will also have to pay water, sewer, garbage, gas, electricity, $ 100 for a parking spot and $ 25 pet rent (per pet) per month.
The appliances had not been checked before I moved in, and my first night there, I heard a rock in my dryer hose. I scheduled a time for maintenance to fix it, waited a couple hours for them and then called, and was told they «forgot» they had an appointment with me and had to reschedule. When my dryer was finally fixed, the hose wasn’t put back properly, and lint was flying everywhere. When I signed up in the Resident Portal, I couldn’t get into my account because management had put my last name as my first name and had my email wrong; I had to call at least five times for them to get it figured out. Several times, the elevator has been out. This causes a major issue for folks in wheelchairs, especially during a fire, and for movers. Someone got stuck in it too.
You have to use a key fob everywhere you go in the building, which poses problems– when there was a power outage, people got stuck outside the building. If you lose your fob and the office is closed, you can’t get in. A couple nights after living here, I was baking some food that did not smoke or burn, and my smoke alarm went off. There’s a TV screen that shows if you have a package, which is turned off about 50% of the time. There are cigarette butts all over the complex as smoking is allowed, and I found one on my own balcony. The dog run is made of bark instead of grass, which makes dog waste hard to see/​pick up in the rain and dark, it is not well lit either. It smells strongly of dog urine, and I always get poop on my shoes.
They’re implementing a program where they’re taking dog’s DNA and send it to a lab; if they find dog waste, they will send it to the lab, match it to the dog and fine the owner $ 250. Why not just put in a camera? Yesterday they were out of poop bags– yet they’re fining people? I told the maintenance guy and he didn’t say one word to me. Currently, the light above my apartment door is burned out. The fob entry to the gym wasn’t working for weeks.
The worst problem I have had since living here is NOISE from upstairs neighbors which has yet to be resolved. The ceilings/​floors are paper-​thin, creak and squeak with every step, and my neighbors upstairs stomp and bang their furniture every day and wake me up 3 – 5 times every night and morning. Management has offered me more expensive apartments as a solution, which is not an option for me. They say they can’t give consequences for «every day noise», it’s «apartment living» and deemed it a «sensitivity issue» because no one’s complained before. I’ve lived in over a dozen apartments, and this is the noisiest place BY FAR. I can’t even hear my TV because my neighbors are crashing around, and I hear their dresser opening and closing at 10 pm, 5 – 6 am every single day when I’m in bed. That is with earplugs, and a white noise machine. Sensitivity issue, no. Poorly built foundation and inconsiderate neighbors, yes.
Below me, I can hear a dog barking perpetually.
If you do move in here, make sure you are on the top floor! If you read other reviews, you will see that other people besides myself have had noise issues. At this point, I’m just waiting until my lease is up to move out! I may even break my lease. I’m so tired of the noise and always exhausted.
The few pros of living here are the nice units (washer and dryers, nice kitchens and bathrooms, spacious balconies) the nice gym, the package notification TV screen (when it is working), the courtyard is pretty, and it’s pretty easy to find a parking spot although the spots are very tight especially with a large vehicle. I do feel safe here in the complex, although there are a lot of homeless people milling around outside– one guy shouts and whistles for hours– it’s not the best neighborhood. I do like most of the staff members.
Unfortunately, it has been very problematic here for me and not a good living experience.

There are plenty of pros about this place, but enough cons I was left unwilling to stay. I stayed in this complex from late 2014 – 2016. Rating would be higher if cashflow wasn’t their only concern.
KEEP VERY THOROUGH photographic records of your move in/​move out to dispute what I describe below. Simpson Property Group needs your money!
Pros:
–Great amenities. Gym is stocked for an apartment gym. Make sure you utilize these things. Was a pool, but I preferred the gym expansion.
–There is a garage with sufficient parking.
–For the most part, I liked the staff, and Keoni is to be missed. Current staff is still mostly solid.
–Fred Meyers/​post office/​UPS/​FedEx/​fast food right next to the complex.
Cons:
–I’m not the only one to report rising prices over the years. I understand this is what is simply happening in Seattle, but this hike in only one year was pretty substantial. For the Lake City area, and even with its amenities, it simply became cost inefficient for me. Base rent on a 1bed (12mo lease) was going to jump from $ 1100 to $ 1300 with a 10mo at BEST, higher cost with a shorter or longer lease. The monthly pet fee was increased, as well as the garage (payed $ 75 for two vehicles, would pay $ 100/​per if we stayed) fee.
–Hallways smell.
–Garage is easily accessed by thieves (simply wait for the garage to open from a car exiting/​entering), and all they can do is put up signs suggest to watch your back/​the entrances. I lost cheapo car sunglasses, phone chargers for use in the car, etc. I don’t even know if these are neighbors or transients stealing things, because I’ve seen tupperware with food in them (indicating a resident) sitting right next to my car after it was entered, seems to be after drunken nights of mischief. unwarranted disrespect from neighbors.
–Garage also often malfunctions, locking vehicles in/​out. New sliding door was less of a problem.
–Though there are many utilities in the neighborhood, you also get what comes with the rest of the neighborhood. What does one expect in that area?
Things that require an explanation:
–I was shown our residence by Keoni, who had also noted that some parts of the apartment (broom closet) smelled like cat urine as it seems the previous tenant used that space for the litter box. Carpet was thoroughly cleaned then (I was told). It was satisfactory. There was a cat in our unit, but besides the occasional hairball, the cat was never once noticed to have done anything outside the bathroom (at least had a vent fan)/litterbox in that location, or throughout the 7 years I’ve had them as a pet. I notice immediately when things get soiled and hate dealing with cat urine/​feces (used to allow them to roam large yards before moving to a denser city), and would notice immediately if there was urine in my bedroom of all places. Well, once the move was complete, I’m told the entire unit’s carpet is being replaced for one stain in the living room (was a bleach stain I admittedly caused cleaning a small spill up; it barely discolored the carpet from the current color), that it could not just be patched, and that there were 2 cat urine stains in the bedroom… BS. On their official paperwork, ONLY the stain in the living room is noted. The cat urine is only mentioned AFTER I go to dispute this large ($ 1000) cost for a small stain. I cannot prove anything (and I feel they are very aware of this, and can easily deny any of this) at this point as I failed to take very detailed photos/​UV photos, but knowing my pets/​cleaning habits, I feel very taken advantage of here. So, take that as you may. Again, this is coming from someone who acknowledges they cannot prove anything, but the situation is fishy as hell and I have never once had my pets urinate outside the litter area. Not only is that my personal anecdote, pets are not known to piss/​shit where they sleep, under the bed was inaccessible to them because of storage boxes, there is hardly any floor space in there from a dresser and such, and I simply would notice the horrible smell of cat piss where I sleep in an apartment that never smelled of cat urine as I keep their litter box clean/​run the vent fan constantly to avoid wafting scents. So why am I being forced to eat this bill for the entire unit’s carpet being replaced. If you move here keep VERY THOROUGH photographic records of your move in/​move out to dispute any sheisty moves like this.
–I strongly get the vibe from this place that everyone will be polite and courteous up front and mostly while you are a resident (Osiris, Candice, Keoni were all very pleasant, did not interact much with Stephanie, or the maintenance crew besides a nod of acknowledgement in passing), but as soon as you leave, it’s time to recoup the costs of replacing the pool for the gym renovations. A lot of it seems very disingenuous. There are plenty of positive reviews here regarding Keoni; makes one wonder if he was moved because he was too accommodating.

Lived here for about 4 months, and I lived in a better place when I lived in Everett.
Don’t get me wrong, the bus runs right in front of the building, Fred Meyer is next door, courtyard is decent, and the gym is pretty nice.
–The grounds are always dirty, the neighborhood is really dirty (as in filth, trash and smells it). –The maintenance guy is running all over the place but whenever there is a slight wind the hallways howls really loud, I’ve complained several times and nothing has been done. As well as I can hear a water leak in the wall, no response.
–The leasing staff messed up several times during my signing process, no problems in the end just caused several inconveniences. Gave me paperwork that said the wrong unit, told me incorrect information another employee had to back pedal on.

Super helpful leasing office staff. Candace was awesome making our move from California so easy. She spent some time over the phone describing the area and neighborhood and she had everything ready on the day we arrived making it extra easy. Thank you leasing staff. Apartment is awesome and we love it.

I’ve been living in the building for almost 2 years now and overall I still like the place. That said, after two years maintenance issues and other items have arisen that have not been handled in best way. While all issues in my apartment itself have, more or less, been addressed successfully, building wide things happen that do not get fixed or addressed for significant amounts of time or not at all. For example, the hallways are ventilated, but no heat is provided in the building so it is literally as cold or colder in the hallway as it is outside. This happened last season and we were told «no repairs could be made because it wasn’t a ‘living space’» and the repair people were too backed up. This year we were told during the summer that the system was being repaired, and yet I it is still about 35 degrees in the hall. It is disappointing that a building as nice as this is, with a very nice and personable staff cannot seem to address basic issues like repairing heat.

I moved out of Solara about two months ago and went back and forth on if to give it 3 or 4 stars. I settled on 4 as all in all I had a pretty pleasant living experience for the year I lived there. Here are my takeaways:
1. Yes, it is an urban environment and Lake City as a neighborhood is kind of «up and coming» so there is a large homeless population looming about. I will say, however, that I always felt safe in Solara and I never had any bad encounters with the «lake citizens»
2. It is really AMAZING to have the beer authority in the building. To be honest this can account for an entire star in my ratings as being big fans of craft beer we really became regulars there and enjoyed that community.
3. People are right in that it’s not a perfect place to live — there are some issues (like the smell in the hallway, the construction — which we never saw completed, and the maintenance of the doors in the parking garage), but I feel like some of that is to be expected.
4. The management: is just OK. In all honesty we moved in because we met Keoni and we really loved how down to earth and honest he was with us. Basically he sold us on the place, and up until he left he was a fantastic resource. We did have some not as pleasant interactions with other staff but it seems some new people might be working there now.
5. We moved away from Seattle this past summer so it wasn’t an issue for us but had we wanted to stay our rent would have been increased and we would have lost our introductory free parking. This seems pretty standard these days, but it is worth noting as I’m not certain we would have stayed for the extra cost regardless. It’s really a shame that apartment complexes don’t let you stay at one fixed rate for a few years as I think that would really foster a better sense of community and create renter loyalty.
In summary: Solara is a good place to live if you are looking for good value and an easy bus commute to UW or downtown.

Do not move here. You have been warned!
I currently live in the back «b» building and this is probably the worst place I’ve ever lived. It’s expensive. The hallway smells like ass constantly. Seems like the garbage man comes every other day so there’s constant noise in the morning and afternoon. There are bums fighting all the time in the back alley next to the food bank. Abandoned buildings in the back is also sketchy. They never replenish the water cooler in the gym. Dog poop everywhere, even seen some in the stairway. Parking spots are very tight.

This is the worst place I’ve lived in my life. I’ve lived there for a year. There were many times the water heater did not work for days. There were dog wastes in the hallway, the parking lot, and the stairways. The garbage chute door had been broken and inaccessible for a couple of weeks. Parking is crowded and very tight. The staffs were mean and helpless. I’ve lost packages in the mail and had to file claims.
In the neighborhood, there are homeless around the apartment complex all the time. Most nights, you can hear shouting/​screaming outside, making it difficult to sleep at night. I don’t think this apartment is safe and I do not recommend Solara Apartments to anyone.

I wish that there is less than one star so I can rate this apartment complex. This is the worst place that I have ever lived in in my life. I lived there for one year and a half. There was only one person helpful, and the rest of them were so mean and helpless. One of the scenarios with the office was to replace a single-​pane window, could you imagine that took from them THREE MONTHS to be replaced.
Homeless around the complex all the time and sometimes you CANNOT sleep because of the noise. Also, there is a bar on the lobby floor and no matter if it’s weekend or weekdays, you will still hear people talking loudly and laughing till 2 AM !!!
They say that the complex is safe and secured, but I don’t know how it’s safe when someone drunk and knock your door at 1 am morning! How is that safe when someone who is not living in the complex and trying to open your apartment door at morning!
Keep yourself safe from this place.

I lived here for 1 year and a half.
The positive side of this place is that it offers cheap rent for single apartments in a convenient commuting location to downtown. I was paying 950 for a studio. The 522 bus stops right there and then goes express to downtown, making it possible to arrive to your downtown destination within 20 minutes if you time it properly. Fred Meyer is within walking distance, which is convenient. The Burke Gilman trail is not far either, and it is beautiful. Within the building, the courtyard is nice. I had a view to the courtyard and it was quiet and sunny. They have a fireplace in the courtyard that is just nice to watch in the evening and they have a few japanese maple trees that look amazing in the fall.
The other positive is the staff. I had good interactions with Keoni, Candace and Chad. They were always helpful. Chad helped take care of a bed when I was moving out. Also, once, there were some strange charges to my utilities account, but I was also late on the actual charges. Turns out someone had mistyped the room number for some other bill. To compensate, Chad also then removed the late fee Solara was entitled to (I was also late). Keoni once lent me his own fan to dry my carpet.
The less positive side is the pool renovations that turned into a redesign and then never opened in my 1.5 years there. The cleanliness in the common areas could be better: after Christmas, people dragged their old trees out and left small tree needles all over the place. It took days for those to be cleaned. It wasn’t that big a deal because the smell was alright but in other places the cleanup is more regular. A second pain-​point is their obligatory valet waste service. The service charges you monthly for someone to take your trash: but only if you put your trash out at certain times on certain days. Its a small fee, but I would rather save that and dispose of it myself on my own schedule. Building-​wise, the floors (and ceilings) are a bit on the thin side acoustically, so one can hear steps above or bathroom fans below. The side walls don’t have this problem. One final downside is some dog owners are not disciplined about taking their dogs to the designated pet area, and instead just go out on some of the flowerbeds. Solara is proactively addressing this issue by using DNA testing on the dogs, so I expect it will get better for #2s, but not for #1’s.
Finally, the neighborhood. Lake city is itself is not in the same league as other Seattle places, but it is getting better. Aloha Ramen is very good and people come in from out of the neighborhood to try it out. Toyoda sushi is good value for the fish, Elliot Bay Brewing company is a nice place with their own brews. Beer authority has a nice atmosphere for football matches and lots of bottles from many places. Kaffeeklatsch could have better hours (closes at 5) but has nice things otherwise. For the money, this place offered value.

3.5 stars. After having lived here for about 4 months now, I think my prior review deserves an update. I reached out to management about the issues I was having as mentioned below and they were gracious enough to work with me to find a different unit. I am happy to say that the majority of the issues I had when I first moved in were isolated to just that particular unit.
That being said, I do appreciate the convenience and amenities Solara offers. This location has many bus stops nearby, which makes commuting both to work and to downtown extremely easy. Despite many friends warning me against the Lake City area, I feel relatively safe walking to the bus stop in the morning and back home at night and I do feel safe living at Solara given gated entries that require key fob access. Additionally, the management office is open seven days a week, which makes picking up packages easy. Management and maintenance are all extremely professional and friendly and usually take care of fix-​it requests within 48 hours.

They are never in the office. Ever. When they put a sign up that has a will return sign. When I work all day I can’t catch them by 6. Inconvenient that There is no rent drop box. Not to mention the lock on my sliding glass door has been broken since I moved in and they still haven’t fixed it in 6 months and 4 complaints. Terrible for te amount of money I pay to live here.

Very bad management. They don’t care about you, they only care about your money. Really disappointed

We have lived here a year. I will say that most of the other reviews are completely accurate!
— The floors are really thin. You can hear people walking above you ALL THE TIME! So be really conscious of that, especially if you have kids. It’s really frustrating when people are trying to sleep. The walls seem to be decently insulated as we never hear anyone around us unless you are standing in the hallways.
— The garbage chutes SMELL AWFUL! The day we moved in, I couldn’t breathe in the hallways! Thankfully you can’t smell it once you are in the apartment.
— The homeless people outside is a HUGE issue. There are abandoned buildings out back behind the complex where homeless people and addicts go to hang out and stay the night. They yell, scream, get in fights, all night long. It usually starts at around 5pm and goes until usually 4am. Thankfully whoever owns the property that the abandoned buildings are on came a few months ago and put up fences and no trespassing signs. This seems to have done the trick. But there are occasional issues still because there is a food bank at the end of the road by Fred Meyer. So weekend mornings you can get a ruckus. Though not as bad as before.
— The office staff has changed since we moved in. The first staff had one really disrespectful and rude girl who was just awful to interact with. Since the change it has been better.
— The fact that the office staff signs for and holds onto packages for you that get delivered is good. Really helpful since we were just married and had gifts arriving all the time. However, they can be exceptionally slow to notify you of the packages arriving. If you are like me, and you track your shipments all the time and see that it’s been signed for early in the day while you are at work, and come home to not have received an email etc, and you go to pick the package up… the staff hates that. I am responsible, I track my packages and I know when they arrive and what kind of box they should be in. I’ve gotten some pretty nasty looks from a staff member in particular about that.
— The gym is alright. Not all of the equipment works. The water isn’t always full and the cups tend to be empty for weeks at a time. So bring your own water and water bottle.
— People have allowed their pets to pee in the common areas, which is really disgusting. They have implemented a policy to get people to not do that. Since then it’s been better. However the «run» area that they have for dogs is a joke. It’s just a tiny area behind the building that is dirt, mud and bark. Watch your step too because not everyone picks up after their dogs.
— They use a matte paint on the walls in the apartments, which is annoying, and really serves no benefit to them. The matte white paint collects dirt, and when sitting at a kitchen counter, you get marks all over the wall from jeans, etc. They would be far better off using a semi-​gloss paint to avoid painting more frequently and keeping things looking nicer.
— The window sills have just layers upon layers of poor quality paint, that has chipped and cracked. It’s pretty bad.
— The parking is extremely tight. Someone side-​swiped me and didn’t leave a note, and I am always cautious about where I park and leave as much room as I can, and I have a tiny car. People can be pretty rude and block you in. The garage door broke not too long ago on a week day morning. A line up of cars was waiting to get out to get to work. It took over an hour to fix it. I ended up staying home from work that day. Make sure you have your parking pass displayed properly. They LOVE to give tickets. Also if you have people visiting, you have to pay to have them park in the garage, so your best option is to have them park outside along the street by the abandoned buildings… if you can find a spot.
— The elevators are the slowest ones I have experienced in my life. You will find yourself waiting a LONG time every single time.
— When we moved in we didn’t notice this, until I cleaned the kitchen floors… but in between residents it doesn’t appear to be that they did a good thorough cleaning of the kitchen floor in particular. If I can take a swiffer wet jet and see grey/​black streaks/​smears and end up scrubbing a TON and then decide to bleach the floors multiple times and every time I scrub the cloth is solid black… that’s bad. We didn’t notice it at first because the kitchen floors just looked like a muted neutral color when we moved in there. But I do a deep clean whenever we first move in… and it was disgusting. To this day I am STILL trying to get the black coating/​stain up.
— We signed and finished a year. We are building a house and need to sign for 4 more months. They raised rent by $ 600 A MONTH! They are NOT friendly/​negotiable on this. Even though we have paid rent on time for a YEAR. AWFUL.
I don’t recommend this complex. You can get much better quality and service for your money.

Just moved out of Solara after living there for a year. It’s pretty decent in my opinion. The location is convenient — a few blocks to bus stops to downtown and UW, grocery store close by, few nice restaurants in the area.
The amenities are ok. I used the gym quite often and the new equipments were nice. The «pool» was quite dirty and smell a bit weird, so I only used it once. People who used the grill never clean it up and it was quite disgusting to use. And I’m not sure about the party room policy if it is still free or not. One time we got the letter saying someone broke stuff at the party room. Now they have to charge EVERYONE who wants to use it (instead of holding a deposit or whatever). I think it is about $ 300, but not sure if this was ever enforced.
Like other review, they do charge for the valet trash service plus W/​G/​S. Personally, I think the valet is pretty convenient. Just put the trash bin outside your door and they will pick it up for you. Parking garage was ok. I never have a problem finding a space.
Everyday at night, you can hear homeless/​drunk people yelling, singing, cursing, etc from outside-​especially if you live on the north end. The gas station across the street tends to attract iffy people at night too. One night, I was almost got ambush by a guy when I was trying to use the air pump. That was scary.
The floor was also a bit thin. We can hear the neighbor upstairs walk and close their kitchen cabinets. It woke us up sometimes. The wall was ok though.
For management, Chad is a pretty cool guy. Not so sure about others though. One time I forgot to pay rent (totally my fault. I thought I already paid through the web portal). I got the notice on the 6^th. I called Chad and he let me pay rent (plus $ 80 late fees) through the portal. When I called back to tell them that I paid, the lady on the phone treated me like a criminal and was trying to cheat them. She said that I had to go get the cashier check for my rent, etc without waiting for me to tell her that I already paid. That was a bit uncalled for. That was the first and only time we were late on the rent.
The main reason I moved was the rent increase. They want to charge me 20% more for my studio and they have no negotiation policy. At that price, you can pretty much get a decent 1 bedroom in more decent locations. And the staff was simply didn’t care to keep my business. After we moved, I found my apartment on Craiglists for 5% increased from what I used to pay. I don’t get it! If they gave us that price, we would have stayed.

I’ve only been here a few weeks. I’ve noticed that my amenities key doesn’t work on all the doors and need to get that straightened out.
I’ve also noticed that neighbors let their dogs pee on the pavement. That’s just weird and uncalled for. There is plenty of plants and dirt in the common area.
I can’t really deduct a star for that one.
Maintenance did a quick fix in a timely manner.
I noticed they use cheap paint because while hanging a picture I shifted it to get it to hang even and the picture frame nicked the paint, then in my bedroom I wiped the wall with a wet was rag and the paint came off on the wash rag –_​– now I can see whatever reddish color the previous tenant had.
I’m not entirely impressed with the office staff and their timeliness or even their reception/​office skills.
The rating comes from the apartment in general meeting my expectations. Space is reasonable, amenities are nice, convenience to shopping and work, privacy, and sound proof walls/​windows. I can overlook office staff and rude neighbors as well as cheap paint.

I lived here for about six months. The only benefit was that I could walk maybe 1,000 to my bus stop in the morning. Yeah, it’s Lake City. I personally have no qualms about Lake City.
The movie projection room they showed all the new tenants never worked, and had been inoperable for about 8 months prior to me moving in. The work out room equipment was constantly broken, and was outdated. The hot tub, sauna, and pool (the one person with a motor for lap simulation) was never operable. The trash also never got picked up, it wasn’t uncommon for the garbage shute to get backed up.
When I was living here, they were building the low income housing/​community center across the street. I’m all for food banks and low income transitional housing for homeless vets, but the noise on the weekends was bad– actually, it was worse than traffic noise from Lake City. I did think it was funny that the Solara was trying to oversell what they had going for them. My neighbors were nice, and I didn’t have to go far for groceries, but those two things alone weren’t worth it.
When I moved out two and a half years ago, a studio at the Solara apartments cost $ 875, before utilities, heat, and electric. My current studio on Cap Hill runs me $ 780, and utilities and heat are included. I can’t imagine the prices are much better, and while Lake City is definitely getting better, it’s just waay too expensive for the quality of neighborhood.

This place sucks. For a lack of better words. The new management people are rude and completely useless. They’re just there to sign you up for a few months and that’s where their job ends. They won’t bother if you come to them with complaints or maintenance problems (They take AGES to report it to the maintenance guys, like they have soooo many better things to do like Poke friends on facebook), It takes ages. I don’t blame the maintenance guys, they’re great, really friendly and quick to finish the job.
I honestly don’t want to get into the list of complaints I have. Just read the reviews before this, and think thrice before you rent here.
You may be wooed when you enter and look at the amenities which are usually not available. But ask any tenant and they’re usually just waiting for their lease to end.
Jennifer and Joan were amazing (The previous Management). I don’t know what happened nor do I really care. They knew how to take care of people. I even recommended Solara once to a few friends because I enjoyed living at solara with Jennifer and Joan. But since this new management has taken over, this place went to crap.
Their ONLY excuse for any problem you bring to them is… «We’re just cleaning up the mess of Jennifer and Joan» …Like seriously? You’re adults, fix it yourself. I honestly feel like decking them when they say that, only thing holding me back is the law.
Jennifer and Joan were the best thing that happened to Solara. The only mess that needs cleaning up is the trash called the new management.

I lived at Solara for 6 months from January 2011 to Late June 2011. After checking a few other complexes in the area I was feeling pretty good about this one (the one behind Dicks had an Ant problem), so I went back to sign a lease. As I was reading through the paperwork I noticed a $ 25/​month fee for garbage service! I’m a single guy moving into a 1 bed apt and you want to charge me the same price for garbage as a 3 bed with 6 people? That doesn’t add up. Their rent prices are non-​negotiable and are set by Simpson Housing, so they can change without notice. They ask $ 50/​month for parking (also non-​negotiable as their garage is at maximum capacity) but they’re quick to mention many people park on the street in the neighborhoods behind the complex. In this neck of the woods? Me thinks not.
Moving in was OK for me (i was in B building on the 5ht floor, that faces the back alley and 130^th) but I feel bad for those who have to fight to park a truck on Lake City Way to move into either of the other buildings. When i moved in i was told I would be ‘billed directly’ for all utilities. That sounded fine, but when i received my first bill it was not the case. Electric did come direct from Seattle City Light, but W/​S/​G and Gas were bundled together from a 3^rd party company which neared $ 90/​month for my 750sqft 1 bed. I was outraged, but i bit the bullet and paid up (after calling the company to attempt to negotiate) their web portal is terrible and has bad reviews for losing payments. I will mention Solara’s web portal (simpson housing manages Solara) is quite good and easy to use. They have a resident site to list items you are selling or looking for when moving which is cool.
While the Maintenance crew is very responsive (day of or next day service) they refused to acknowledge any problem with my garbage disposal that was unable to rid itself of anything, even small frozen veggies were a challenge, and told me not to put large waste items in there. I just stopped using it.
They offer ‘Valet Garbage Service’, just in case you’re too lazy to go to one of 2 chutes, so people leave garbage in the hallway all week and it smells bad.
While the fixtures looked nice I found the counter tops and cabinets to be of shoddy quality (ghetto fabulous anyone?) my bar counter wasn’t firmly attached and wiggled easily. The bar is also about a foot taller than you would expect and normal (30″) stools do not sit well at it. I’m 6’2″ and i found myself moving food horizontally into my mouth from the counter. It felt weird.
The decks are nice and large, you are allowed to have BBQ’s and smoke on them. The windows seal well and are newer, but if you need to open them you will be bombarded with a barrage of noise. And i don’t just mean traffic folks, i can deal with some cars. If it’s not the bum whistling and screaming and carrying on from ~10:30 to 3AM (yes, the other guy was not making it up) it’s the bus lowering itself to let handicap people on and off (DEET DEET DEET DEET DEET) or the crosswalk signal for the blind that goes off whether the button has been pressed or not (that’s every 2.5 minutes of «Beep-​beep beep-​beep beep-​beep» I seriously considered going out and taking a hammer to it) While non of this is anything the management has any control over, it should be considered when choosing to move in and is not something you would be able to tell from a tour.
It may seem petty, but i need to touch on the garage because i grew to loathe parking there so very much. The stalls are extremely cramped and are not assigned so it’s a total free for all. People let their friends in to park there and fill up the spaces quickly. They posted some parking signs and hired a company to monitor the garage (thanks to new management) but change takes time. Still not enough spaces for all the residents, and it can be very tricky to find a spot near your elevator. I often parked far away to get a decent sized space or any space at all.
Management changed hands while i was there and I found the new manager Chad to be much more attentive and professional than the last. They do throw catered BBQ’s and events in the common area (catered by the AWESOME teriyaki/​sushi place next door!) which were good for a free bite, but it’s not really a social community. I never learned 1 neighbors name in the 6 months i lived there (unless you count the girl at the Teriyaki shop who did live there and the maintenance guys) but it’s really a ‘mind your own business’ type of place.
I chose to move out when I changed jobs and the commute across 520 became unbearable. 6 months into a 12 month lease (i knew i should have signed the shorter one for higher monthly payments) it cost me 1 months rent + $ 500 to move out. Worth every penny.
If you need a place in Lake City in a pinch it’s an OK option. Fred Meyer is right across the street and the Beer Authority is the best get-​away around.