Alexander House Apartments

I’ve been living at Alexander House for nearly two months and I am really happy I decided to move here. Here’s what I like about Alexander House:
— Responsive Leasing Team. I stumbled upon Alexander House while walking in Silver Spring with a friend. I met with Cierra my very first day and she was so helpful. Before signing my lease, I was in constant e-​mail communication between Cierra and Blanca and I truly appreciate all of their help.
— Responsive Maintenance Staff. Whatever maintenance request my roommate and I have had, it usually has been filled within 24 hours. I was expecting certain issues to take a few days to get resolved, but the maintenance team has been pretty diligent.
— No rodents. I refuse to deal with rodents. And I haven’t dealt with any.
— Convenience. Alexander House is literally one block from the metro. ONE BLOCK. I. Love. It. Plus, I have the freedom to walk to Giant, Safeway, or Wholefoods for my groceries AND there are tons of places to shop and plenty of entertainment in downtown Silver Spring.
— Concierge/​security staff are nice. Shout out to Francis and Andre. You guys have been nice to talk to. Kevin has also been awesome and everyone has been helpful when it comes to reserving the loading dock, accessing storage, using carts, etc. Thanks everyone :).
— 24 Hour Gym. Although the gym is small and nothing fancy, I am very grateful I have access to one. The equipment works. There’s a TV. I don’t know, it gets the job done lol.
The reason I didn’t give Alexander House five stars is because the business center is NOT the business. It’s super outdated. One of the computers doesn’t even work. I mean, it’s good to print something quickly and to make copies and what not… but it needs a serious upgrade of equipment in there.
P. S. I haven’t experienced any issues with constant building wide fire alarms going off… my roommate did say that last night it went off, but I wasn’t home. It’s been the first time since we moved and HOPEFULLY the fire alarms won’t become an issue.

You will notice the oddities with which the Alexander House operates from the moment you walk in… actually before that moment because the front door is so malfunctional, it can’t be manually opened unless you lift weights for a living!
The phrase «you get what you pay for» goes a long way to describe Alexander House Apartments.
–The hallways are not climate controlled in summer. It’s 85 degrees with 100% humidity in the hallways all summer long! The hallways also are decorated like a hotel that hasn’t been updated since 1994. They are dark and the carpet is disgusting.
–The so-​called Business Center has nonfunctional, antiquated computers. The internet and computers there have not worked correctly for YEARS (it disconnects and requires constant manual resets by staff). Look carefully and you’ll notice very little business being done in there (it’s impossible).
–Ask about the frequent water outages and fire alarms. The maintenance staff does not seem capable of maintaining the building-​wide systems. They have GONE HOME leaving the building without hot water on multiple occasions, and leaving the poor security guard to deal with the angry residents. There have also been late-​night fire alarms related to building systems failures, but these seem to be resolved. There is also no live-​in maintenance person, although I am told in the past there was.
–Being close to the Red line is not that great on the weekends, when it’s usually running with delays for construction or buses are replacing trains, which completely defeats the purpose of being close to a train.
–There is significant noise from nearby train tracks (for the apartments facing west). Trains blow their horn at full steam at all hours.
…Like I said, you get what you pay for here. When this building first opened, it was a premier spot in Silver Spring. Now the management has allowed it to show it’s age.
To be fair, the nice aspects of the building include that they sign for your packages when you are not home, keep the building and grounds fairly clean, and maintenance responds to issues in your unit pretty quickly.

My boyfriend been living here for about 6 months now and im glad that he moved from va to downtown silver spring! is really close to the red line which is perfect for him once he does work in the city, it takes 25 min rush hour to be in the city and very affordable! His apt is on the 12^th floor with views to the washington monument, cathedral and downtown silver spring, we really enjoy the view once the apt have a pretty decent size balcony. The layout for my apt is really open concept and overall a good size.
The management is always very helpful and flexible.
The people in the building is a mix of friendly and weird but i guess this is everywhere in the DMV area.
The only down part is the train not the metro but the train can be annoying at times but if u close ur doors and windows is fine.
We really enjoy the neighborhood with great restaurants, shops and grocery by our door step.
He is happy here and I def recommend this place!

After spending 4 years of living at Alexander House in good standing, life circumstances dictated that we had to move. I was more than a bit bummed about the matter but made the necessary arrangements, which included giving a 2-​month notice (even though our lease was ending within that time frame anyway) and submitting the unit to a pre-​move out inspection.
About the first requirement, we gave our notice by email on the 1^st of the month exactly 60 days out. However, the leasing office charged us for an extra day’s rent (~$ 70) for not providing notice before the previous month ended. Here I was thinking that 60 days meant 2 months out – silly me. Although this is somewhat petty, odd, nit-​picky and an unjust way to treat a long-​term resident, there was not much of an argument to provide against management’s decision so, aside from nicely asking about refunding the extra charge, we went along with the paying the fee.
About the second requirement, the move-​out inspection was scheduled and then rescheduled by management. Thankfully, we started the process early and there were a few weeks to spare before the end of our lease. Knowing that we had time to spare, I specifically indicated to the rental office that we are interested in getting our full security deposit back so would want to make any necessary repairs if the inspecting staff said our apartment did not qualify for a complete refund.
Get this: maintenance left a nice little note at the completion of the move-​out inspection stating that our apartment was «all good» and that «no damage was found»; however, about 2 months later, we received a check for only one-​third of the security deposit. Huh? When I brought up this point to the leasing office in writing, a copy of an invoice from a decorating company was sent back indicating that the apartment had to be repainted (no way – after 4 years of living there with zero repainiting?!) and that dry wall had to be repaired (okaaay…not it for causing any damage as all walls, doors, and ceilings were perfectly intact – as per the apartment’s own inspection team!). We were out of luck of getting the remaining 2/​3rds of our security deposit.
While many more paragraphs can be written about the evidence presented to the leasing office and the staff’s consistent yet unyielding-​and-​non-​refunding responses received back, I will spare you the trouble. Our move-​out experience really spoiled my opinion of Alexander House. As such, I now rescind my previously indicated recommendation that anyone move here. Quite obviously, the management simply does not care and, worse, does not play fair even to long-​term residents. Until management learns to keep its promises, forget about living here.

I lived here from 2008 – 2009, and the only reason why I moved was because I wanted to be in Washington DC. Building management is fine, not overly helpful but not annoying either. Some of the building occupants are on the strange side but chances are you won’t interact with them ever. Units are large and come with great amenities (I still miss my washer/​dryer and dishwasher and humongous bathroom!). If you can find a good deal and don’t mind living in the burbs then sign a lease ASAP. BTW you really can’t beat less than a block walk to the metro!

In light of some other going-​ons at two other downtown silver spring apartments, and now that I’ve had some more time in the apartment, I feel like I need to give Alexander House an update.
First off, let me say that although downtown silver spring does have it’s own share of panhandlers, occasional street urchins, and annoying metro-​stop hustlers (no, I do not want your stale, crusty goods), overall it is a very safe and quiet neighborhood. The streets are well lit, there’s a strong police presence (cops on bikes, on foot, cars, on HORSES during the Saturday Market on Fenton Street) and there’s more businesses opening their doors there like Swedish frugalista powerhouse H&M which will be opening this fall. I see Silver Spring getting such a bad rap from others on different real estate/​apartment rating sites calling it «sketchy» and «shady» and painting it out to be a constant horrific crime scene and that simply just isn’t the case.
Ok, back to Alexander House, a few things to add —
Pests
I have rarely seen so much as one lowly little ant since I’ve moved here. I don’t know about others here but I’d have to say for me pests have been a nonexistent problem. Maybe they’re all over at the district court house across the street standing in line paying overdue fines.
Security
You can only enter the underground garage via a fob key outside at the garage entrance or through the elevators. The courtyard area (which is small, but pretty zen) closes off at 5pm every night. Visitors must sign in and the front desk conducts ID checks. Doors aren’t propped open. You cannot exit from the stairwells unless it’s during an emergency (fire alarms, etc). Lastly, this building is directly across from the District Court house so there’s a steady police presence in the area. I have not heard of any apartment or car break-​ins but there’s been a few cases of people getting a box or two stolen from the elevator during their move-​outs.
Prices
Are still rather reasonable compared to some of the other apartments in this area which still brings me pause because builders are seemingly throwing up new apartment buildings here left and right. With so much competition there’d be some reasonable deals to be had, right? Not so much. But there’s a few that offer some decent amenities for a fair price.
Business Center — can still be a hit or miss but they do seem to stay on top of the computer/​printer maintenance a bit more.
Fire Alarms — I don’t want to jinx it, so I won’t say anything more beyond I’m getting a better night’s rest than during my first few months here.
In short, Alex has redeemed itself in a lot of ways since I’ve been here. If you’re considering a move to this part of Silver Spring:
a) don’t believe those who paint this place to be ‘Menace II Society: MoCo Edition’ because it totally isn’t
b) check out Alexander house while you’re here but also don’t rule out condominium rentals
c) walk around the neighborhood and get a feel for the area — there’s a few apartments that don’t really advertise because they’re so popular and/​or small therefore, always having a full wait list like Georgia West on first ave

Totally agree with Alex K. That is all true.
Only good thing is the location.
The worst thing out of all is the management. Not only they don’t care about the tenants, they are laaaazzzy. When I signed up for a parking space, even though I paid the fee and ALSO I put the ugly sticker on the front glass of my car as they told me so, they still put violation sticker on my window and my car almost got towed! Just because they forgot to put me in the system.
Maintenance people are nice but I can’t say they are professional. They told me to put a rolled-​up bath towel to avoid draft coming in from a big window… and one of the guys showed me how to roll up a bath towel… Really?
Yes. That’s the kind of service you get here. I have several more stories to explain why I give this place only one star but, I stop here. Oh, one more thing, after they’ve brought in the new management, it has gotten even worse…

Thank god I moved out of this place last year.
The people that work here are sketchy at best. As soon as the lease is signed, don’t expect much.
The facilities leave a lot to be desired. The ‘gym’ is really an old one bedroom apartment converted into a fitness room with a few pieces of cardio, one weight machine, and no free weights. The business center is a joke, the printer never works and the internet is dog-​shit slow. I never used the pool. To be honest, I couldn’t tell you how to get out to it.
The hallways are always dirty as the residents and staff alike seem not to give a damn about the property.
Pretty much anyone can get in the front door and, in Silver Spring, that’s not something you should allow.
I have a feeling a lot of this stems from it being subsidized housing.
The only good bit was how close it was to the metro station but it means you have to ride the problem prone red line into the city.
Not like there are many luxury apartment options for living in Silver Spring but you can definitely do better than Alexander House.
Let me reiterate how happy I am to not be living there anymore.
Oh and the other reviewer talking about the fire alarms going off constantly is right on.

I wouldn’t choose to live in Silver Spring if I could afford anywhere. It also is an issue that my significant other lives in this building, and I want to live w/​him. So… this is home. The building itself is not bad. Nice, postmodern, or really neo-​traditional yellow brick buildings w/​huge balconies.
I have a view of the Washington Monument and the city lights beyond, as well as the tree canopy of Rock Creek Park to the west. Still, I’m perched high in the burbs, I’d rather be rooted in the city… Northwest DC somewhere. But with this 50 – 60 foot long balcony and a low rent, I can’t complaint too much.
Oh wait, there is the little fact of all the fire alarms going off once a month or worse. Yeah, really close to bed time… especially when it’s freezing out. Yay, walk down 13 flights of stairs for nothing! It’s so bad that some people just stay in for these events. They know that nothing is wrong… well, one day, something bad will happen and a lot of people might die.
Section 8 residents sharing the building is fine, better than having them concentrated in projects… but sometimes it can be bothersome. Other residents are just kinda weird… but you will get that anywhere I suppose.
Over all, and A-​OK place to call home… it’s just not city living.