Allegro

When I moved into this building in September of 2009, the building was still brand new and was only about 40% rented out. It was wonderful to move into a brand new building with granite countertops in the kitchen and in the bathroom. We had amazing free community events at local restaurants and bars which included free happy hour food and drinks.
The location is excellent, within walking distance to the metro, just a few blocks away. Plus, lots of shops and restaurants close by. However, you will pay for such convenience. When I first moved in, Kettler was the property management company, and the building slowly started to go downhill with the upkeep of the building. Bozzuto is just a little better than Kettler, as they do replace lightbulbs in common areas a bit more frequently. However, the best property managers that have been here seem to walk the building alot and notice things that may need to be fixed, or addressed. There have been some amazing concierge people, and some really terrible management staff throughout my time here.
When you need to sign your lease again, they will not offer you any discounts. I also found out during my time there that they charge people different amounts for parking in the garage. When I brought this to their attention, they were clearly embarrassed and offered me the lower rate a friend had been given. The garage continued to be a huge problem as there were a ton of people parking in the garage without their «allegro» hangtag, so they were clearly gaining entrance and parking for free. After again bringing this to the attention of management, only one time in six years did they adequately do a complete overhaul and audit of the parking situation. For such a high cost to park in the garage, you would think they would try to find out who was not paying for parking, as this would result in lost revenue. At any given time, there were more than twenty cars in the parking garage that were not supposed to be parking there.
The trash rooms are constantly filled with cardboard boxes and other things which are too large for the trash chutes, which people are too lazy to bring downstairs. After bringing this to the attention of management, they claimed there was nothing they could do. The problem continued, as well as the trash chutes just getting backed up every weekend from the amount of trash that was being disposed of, and not timely pick up of trash from the dumpster.
If you choose to live here, you will definitely hear your neighbors. Some neighbors are very nice and there are some, if you are unlucky, that will stomp on the floor above you all hours of the night so that you are unable to sleep or even live in your apartment peacefully. Most of the people that live in this building are fresh out of college, so it definitely feels like you are living in a dorm. Lots of these kids smoosh like four people into an apartment, and have their parents pay their rent, so they don’t care about all of the noise they make, parties they have, where they put their trash, or if they pass out in the hallway. I even witnessed renters who were on the ground floor allowing their two dogs to urinate and defecate on their outside patio on a daily basis.
My apartment had a terrible leak from upstairs, which they did fix quickly. However, they also did a ton of work on my balcony trying to figure out other leaks that were affecting apartments below me. All of that was a major annoyance, as sometimes the maintenance workers left a mess.
If this building could have been run more professionally, and noise complaints taken more seriously, this would be a much better place to live. My apartment itself was very nice. However, if you are fresh out of college and not spending your own hard-​earned money on DC rent, you will love living here.

Great place to live! Wonderful concierge! Great location!

As someone who recently moved back into the Allegro after 3 years away, let me tell you that times have definitely changed. The leasing office made the process of finding and leasing an apartment so easy. The on-​line payment system is new and I’ve had no problems so far. The hallways and common areas have been re-​done and are kept much cleaner than they used to be! But the front desk staff is really what makes me give 5-​stars. Vanessa, Sam and their staff have been great — from move-​in to package handling to general communications. Recently I was injured, and they could not have been more helpful in dealing with my many visitors and food deliveries, and bringing packages right to my door. At first I was a little nervous about moving back to the Allegro, but I’m so glad I did. If you see a really rotten review, check the date!

I’ve been living here for more than a year now and really enjoy it. Some of the perks include a free Zumba/​yoga class every week, a chill courtyard, and 24 hour front desk services. I was a little worried about living in this neighborhood, but the floors and elevators are access controlled. The apartments are modern, have huge windows, and new appliances. Most requests to fix stuff are taken care of on time. Yea, rent is expensive but it’s a great location and close to the metro. The noise level in our apartment is a bit loud due to the buses, fire trucks on the street but we have learned to block it out by now, and depends on the location of your apartment. I see a lot of neighbors with pets around, but the common areas are always clean. Also love that you can pick up all your Amazon binge shopping from the front desk 24/​7, so no more missed parcels. Having a bakery, dry cleaner, and restaurant in your building is also great! I would definitely recommend living here, it works great for me as I take the shuttle to Washington hospital center from Columbia heights metro so no more metro.

I moved here in August and it has been very positive. The gym has always been kept clean and nice. The staff at the front desk will go to outrageous lengths to help you find mail and packages. Having a free printer has saved me some money. The actual apartments are new and clean. We moved in with all new appliances and have had no trouble with any of them. Everyone that works here is super friendly; mostly young families and students. Living so close to Target changed my life.

I’ve lived in The Allegro for two full years now. Shortly before I moved in, Bozzuto took over the property. They then improved the building facilities, gave everything a polishing facelift, etc. Very nice! The community was nice to begin with, also.
Pros: The front desk staff. I work from home here and they are awesome, awesome people. They are super helpful for any shipping concerns, any building concerns, super responsive, amazingly friendly.
Maintenance is awesome. They are super fast and responsive, very nice, respectful, etc. Great staff here, too.
Leasing office has always been a pleasure to work with and I’ve been happy with my renewal terms every time.
Location. Duh.
Balconies!
Built in outdoor grills! Just overall really nice common areas. Gym, etc.
Cons:
Really the only thing that comes to mind here are… yep if you’ve read any earlier reviews… the other residents. A good part of the resident population seems to be college kids, so we’ve had some annoyances. Some people just generally disrespect the property, their neighbors, and the common areas, leaving trash out in the hallways (pizza boxes and beer cans can be seen Saturday mornings sometimes) or being stupid and rowdy during parties, pouring drinks off their balconies. Normal idiot college kid stuff.

Have been living here for 6 months and could not be happier. The staff is beyond courteous and always go above and beyond to make you feel welcomed. The maintenance is always quick to respond if there are any issues. The facilities are top notch not to mention that you’re within walking distance to everything you could possible need. We will definitely be continuing our lease!

Nice building, amazing staff (especially Concierges Vanessa and Sam), great value. Going on year 3!

So I see a lot of issues in the comments that I personally haven’t had. The leasing office has been fine to work with. On the few occasions I’ve had issues with my rent, they were helpful and never charged me a late fee.
The concierge team has been fantastic. There’s been some turnover, but the morning concierge has been the same since we moved in, and we’ve had about three different ones in the afternoon. They’ve always been pleasant and helpful, and each of them has known our names, said hello, or just chatted.
No bugs, mice, or anything else in my apartment, although we’re on the fourth floor. Never seen a cockroach, even. We barely get summer fruit flies. I had mice in an another apartment a couple of blocks away, and that was a nightmare — nothing here.
Maintenance is fantastic. Sure, stuff breaks — we’ve been here two years, and we had a lighting issue and some issues with the washer and dishwasher, but maintenance has responded quickly. When they can’t fix something immediately, they come back the next day and get it done.
The location is wonderful — blocks from the metro, on major bus lines, and the neighborhood is cool and diverse. There’s an amazing bakery, a dry cleaner, and a nice Laotian restaurant on the bottom floor of the building.
Yeah, it’s expensive, but I’ve felt like we get what we pay for. There’s a 24 hour gym, which isn’t all that big, but I’ve never been crowded out. They’ll feed my cat if I’m away for long periods of time, which is awesome. They put out pastries and coffee from the bakery once a month for breakfast, and they throw a lot of building events which provide food and alcohol. Plus, our apartment is pretty spacious, except storage space — the closets are pretty small, and there aren’t a whole lot of them.
Your neighbors can definitely affect things — I hear loud weekend parties sometimes when I walk to the elevator, and we used to have a neighbor who threw them. That stopped pretty quick though — I assume management intervened. Otherwise, we’ve had great neighbors, and I can’t say I’ve ever felt the walls were thin. If they are, then my other neighbors have all been insanely quiet.
I haven’t moved out yet, so I don’t know if there are issues on that end, but so far, like I said, there’ve been no administrative issues.

The Allegro is a fine place to live. For a luxury building it hits all the standard notes: 24-​hour concierge, fitness center, online portal, community events, and big common spaces. I moved from City Market at O, and while City Market is a newer building with greater amenities (e.g. roof top pool), there isn’t a huge contrast between buildings. They are both managed by Bozzuto, so you get great attention from the staff. I’ve had some issues while here, and management was quick to address them.
My biggest problem is with the residents in the building. I definitely get a «fresh out of college» feeling from nearly everyone I interact with. And parties on the weekend reflect this. You’ll here the bass bumping from nearly every floor almost every weekend. The situation can get borderline «fratty.» The apartment unit acoustics simply don’t help. If you’re stuck below or beside a unit who throws parties (or listens to music or TV loudly) you will hear it. I’m on the third floor, and I’ve had problems with noise from the unit above me since moving here in June 2015. Are they rolling bowling balls up there? Sometimes it sounds like it.
Anyway, other than that, I really don’t have much else to complain about. However, for me, feeling like I’m living in a frat house on the weekend is not worth the benefits building management provides. I’ll be moving out at the end of my lease.

I moved in 3 months ago and so far so good. The 24 hour concierge is great to get my packages and send out my packages. The location is great with lots of different food places nearby to try. The metro is like 5 minutes away walking. The property manager is alao very nice.
I’ve read other comments complaining of parties and loud music but I haven’t experienced this yet. Yes you may here residents moving around every now and again but nothing like a frat party going on.
They also have a deal with relay foods to have groceries delivered free to residents.
I don’t get a good cell phone signal in the building but that’s the only thing I’d say is a negative but it’s because of the concrete walls to keep the outside noise out so it’s really a positive I guess.

The renovated apartments are great, what’s not is having to get out of bed in the middle of the night once a month because of the fire alarm constantly going off. Management does a great job ignoring this problem and as a results tenants end up spending an hour on the street in the middle of the night. Thanks Allegro, every management company should learn from you.

Lived here for 3 years when I first moved DC. Overall, it was a decent just-​out-​of-​college living situation because we were fitting three people into the 2 bedroom + loft layout. The price has gone up and the building management has changed some. It definitely better now that Bozzuto has take over, but not as nice as their other properties.
–Without a «move in» special this place isn’t worth the price.
–Fire alarms all the time in the middle of the night.
–Super thin walls.
–Lots of construction. They closed down our private roof for over a month to do construction on the outside of the building. We had a construction crew outside of my bedroom window from 7am-​7pm for that whole time. When I raised this issue with management, they pointed out our lease states they are allowed to do construction during the day.
Some benefits, the free gym classes are nice. If you can live on the 4^th floor, you’ll have an awesome view of 4^th of july fireworks.

I have to update this now that I have moved out — the management here can make you actively wish for death. We had tons of problems with Kettler, and Bozzuto did have some improvements, yes. But overall, there is some sort of bad karma in this building that ensures that the property manager will screw you in every potential way without mercy, and it is bad enough that I would suggest people avoid this building as a residence.
We had problems through my entire time there — major financial issues totalling thousands of dollars in discrepancies. Then during move-​out, we ended up in a nickel’ed and dime’d to death situation — basically, you have to build them a whole new apartment or they take all of your deposit, and getting paperwork for those charges is impossible.
Their disorganization became so starkly apparent when moving into the new building, where I have had ZERO problems and pay much less rent for a way better place, and it suddenly occurred to me that I spent dozens of hours still in the Allegro management office arguing over all sorts of things that I shouldn’t had to deal with. Also, I think that some of their practices are actually illegal, but their opaque paperwork makes it hard/​too exhausting to prove.
So. Major points off for constant stress and headaches over rent, money, and paperwork. Sorry, Allegro, but you failed on this one.

I have mixed feelings about this building (oops, sorry — «apartment living community»); I have liked it enough that I signed a lease for a second year and would probably do so for a third, but if I were showing up fresh-​faced and eager for a brand new DC experience I may have skipped this building entirely. Hindsight is ²⁰⁄₂₀. Still, I’ve recommended it to numerous friends, with the following caveats …
Pros:
+ Pet-​friendly. There really aren’t a lot of these in DC unless you want to rent an entire rowhouse, move to the ‘burbs, or live in one of the ultra-​fancy luxury buildings in Georgetown where they’ll send a complimentary maid up to clean after you if you murder an escort in your shower. The pet rent here is a relatively low monthly fee, although I would like to point out that their list of «banned breeds» is completely ludicrous (even if it’s not enforced.)
+ Can’t beat the location. It literally sits ABOVE the best French bakery in the District, Le Caprice. A few flat, well-​sidewalked blocks to Target, the Metro, awesome Phở, local bakeries, excellent Ethiopian … can’t compare. At the same time, it’s still a diverse and vibrant neighborhood, instead of a homogenous yuppie-​fied reverse white flight haven. For now, at least. It abuts some less-than-110%-safe mini-​neighborhoods, but just be sensible.
+ Apartments are sleek, stylish, and quite comfortable. Lots of natural light (although this can give way to a negative, as all apartments have HUGE windows, and some neighbors seem to forget this at uncomfortable moments.)
+ New gym equipment, weekly complimentary yoga and Zumba classes, and reasonable amenities for the price. It’s not the kind of place with a pool on the roof, but the building is impressive in its own right.
Cons:
— High staff turnover, lax front desk security. Listen: some of the people who have worked, or currently work, at the front desk are hella-​awesome folks who make me smile every time I see them. But there seems to be an inordinately high departure rate, and every new batch seems to reinvent the wheel. Oftentimes, they seem to not be sure what is or isn’t ok; one rather aggressively interrogated my dog walker about why he was there, while other keyswiped the elevators for total strangers who show up at my apartment unannounced. With more consistent staff, there could be a happy balance and more reasonable expectations. It’s quite hit-​or-​miss.
— I have had more problems with the leasing office/​property management here than in every other apartment I’ve ever lived in COMBINED. All the horror stories you’re reading in other reviews about late fees for cheques that are received but not deposited and mystery charges added to accounts? I cannot verify them each individually, but it sounds legit, based on my experience. Particularly when the new management company took over: numerous «mystery charges» appeared on my monthly statement (they send you a rent bill + sewer fee and whatnot) and it took multiple meetings over the course of a quarter of a year before it all got settled.
— Apparently, there are mice and other pesties on the lower floors (you can see the glue traps in common areas), but honestly this is to be expected in almost any major city. Moral of the story is MOVE ABOVE THE VERMIN. It’s not like it’s bedbugs or dropbears.
— Whenever you have an apartment building that’s built quickly and cheaply, things are going to break. It’s the conundrum of modern construction efforts. In the 14 months I’ve been here, I’ve had my AC need major repairs twice, my washing machine need major repairs so often it needed replacing (but hey, machines in unit! WOOOO!!!), my sink disposal replaced, and at least a half-​dozen other minor issues. The good news is that they WILL send someone up ²⁴⁄₇ to help, and repair requests are generally addressed within the day.
— Biggest complaint: thin walls plus the other tenants. I don’t know how there are so many very young (undergrad?) people in a relatively pricey (not for DC overall, but a lot pricier than MY college apartment) building. It’s honestly like living in a dorm. My immediate neighbors are all wonderful working professionals or graduate students (hey, I’m one) and there are no screamy babies. They deal with noise problems maturely: barking dogs are met with training and cookies for adjacent apartments, loud BBQs are rare and offset by neighborly invites. But not everyone is considerate. If you leave your apartment before noon during the «college weekend» (Thursday through Sunday), virtually 100% of the time you will be met with trash in the hallways, beer cans/​bottles on the ground, and digestive byproducts of various kinds (vomit, urine) in the trash rooms or even the elevators, which are broken because someone pried out all the buttons. Grow up, folks. THIS is the greatest obstacle to me wanting to settle here permanently for the rest of the years I’ll live in DC; most people seem to only stay a year or so.

I had a good experience living at allegro. The concierge was great. My main issues was one that my apartment happened to be above the water heater room. So, even with the ac running full blast, the apartment was never below 78 degrees. My other issue was move out. I was charged $ 230 dollars for a ding in the fridge door that was so minor that I didn’t note it on move-​in. Also, like others have mentioned, there is a mouse problem.

I pay a lot to live here, and we have a mouse problem, as in a live mouse is on the run in my bedroom. The solution was to leave glue traps, and maybe the exterminator would stop by late next week.
So, choose wisely.
Update: Happily moving out soon. To the person who happily chirped «lessons on city living,» I am not new to city living, having lived in Manhattan for ten years, rodent free. Thanks, though — I’ll write that down? Maybe make a cross stitch of it?
Even if one lives on the ground floor of a «luxury» building, mice should not be tunneling into your kitchen. Not through the trash room. No. There was some kind of hole near the dishwasher. In our what, five-​year-​old building? And apparently the mouse problem has been around for a while. The management finally managed to plug the hole, but we had four mice in the meantime, and we keep our kitchen clean.
One real reason not to live on the ground floor — you will not have cell phone reception. Yes, the Allegro was so thoughtfully designed that it somehow managed to create a dead zone for mobile phones. You’ll have to go onto your patio and hope to get maybe two bars, regardless of your carrier (my roommate and I have different ones).
It’s one of the many thoughtful touches you’ll find here: towel racks that simply fall apart. Lights that short out time and time again. Cabinet finishes that start to peel off from the bottom. This building was clearly poorly designed and built. But you’ll still pay out the nose.
The people at the front desk are nice enough and there is one employee who does know my name. But never did I get the vibe that anyone would go out of their way to help if I went out of town, but I guess maybe they will? It would never occur to me to ask because again, they don’t seem to really go out of the way to be helpful, though they are courteous and I’ve had no problems with anyone at the desk.
I’m glad someone brought up the $ 50 pet rent, because you will also pay that for a cat that never leaves the apartment. You will encounter on your way to your apartment some huge dogs who come up to nearly your waist. Then there are the neighbors who walk their dogs through the hall with no leash — I have seen two who do it regularly, perhaps there are more. Then there is the lovely pet who Cujo barks at me from behind his door for merely walking down the hall to my apartment., which is a great way to be startled into the day, better than coffee, really. I don’t mind dogs, but wow, there are a lot of them here and there seems to be no restriction on size.
The location is good, but there are other options right in this area. Look into them before deciding to live here.

Awesome apartments, great location, very modern, very expensive, worth the rent $$ and the interior is super cool.
Renter’s, please beware and on the lookout for really really huge scary nasty scary frigtening bugs to creepy crawl its way into your place no matter how clean you keep it. Beware of mice in your apt too– I’m not sure if the problem stems from city living or just living on top of a restaurant. Let me get back to the positive part– the parking garage is super convenient and there is someone working the front desk ²⁴⁄₇.

This is my first review since I moved to DC in mid-​August. I’ve been using Unilocal to help get acquainted with the city and find places to go and things to do. It’s been really useful for me since I knew nothing, no one, and basically moved here blindly to attend grad school at Georgetown, where I’m often treated like I know nothing and yes, still know no one.
That being said, Allegro was the last apartment complex I looked at with my parents when we came in July. Admittedly, we took it down to the wire and should have started this search earlier but that’s neither here nor there. We’d done an internet search and Allegro looked like it was in a good neighborhood and was conveniently located, although it was the farthest, in miles, from GU, which does not have a metro stop. Many sarcastic thanks to the ridiculously wealthy of past generations who thought installing one would somehow tarnish their precious streets.
Ever been to DC in the summer? It’s hot as hell. And this is coming from someone from upstate New York, where extreme temperatures know no bounds. I was tired and pissed and didn’t want to see any more buildings, but we only had one more to do. We headed to Columbia Heights and were led on a rather uninspired tour by an employee who still works here and would (maybe, haven’t asked) like to continue to, so I won’t name them. I will say though that they mentioned that working here was «not their intended career choice or what they should be doing» and I wholeheartedly agree.
Allego is modern, new and the layout is nice. It’s got a lot of convenient stuff closeby including a Thai restaurant, a cleaners and a bakery that’s opening in a month — all in the same building. There’s a restaurant literally steps away from that where you can get a burger and a drink. A few blocks down is Starbucks, Target, Best Buy, Marshall’s, Chipolte, the Giant grocery store and the metro stop, among a bunch of other businesses. There’s also a bus stop right out front that will take you a great deal of places you’d need to go during the day including downtown and L’Enfant Plaza.
The building itself is quite secure and there’s always someone at the front desk and they’ll open the door for you if they see you struggling with five grocery bags, a backpack and a case of water. There is a guard at night and he’s pretty friendly.
I was using the building’s gym every day to train for an upcoming race and although it’s limited, it worked. Because of my class schedule, I was usually the only one there. I recently got a membership to WCS down the street — will surely do a review of it — so now I don’t need Allegro’s fitness center, but it did serve it’s purpose and will still work in a pinch.
This a pet friendly building but I didn’t bring my dog (sorry buddy) because my dad would have had to sell a kidney to pay for it. Seriously. I understand I’m not in Binghamton anymore, Dorothy, but this is a pricy place. (Out of the ten apartments we checked out, the only one that was more expensive was 2400 M Street, which I spent some time at with a classmate. It’s not that much nicer but you’re paying for the convenience to school, which cannot be beat.) I also didn’t bring my car to the city because the parking spot at Allegro would have cost an additional kidney.
The cleaning staff is really cool, always nice to me, and I think they’re underappreciated. They work six days a week cleaning up after people who let their dogs barf/​crap on the carpet (on floors 1 and 2 this week) and I think that’s pretty messed up. Those guys need a serious raise.
My only main complaint is whoever lives right above me is so unbelievably loud that I am starting to think they’re doing it on purpose. I am in no way a complainer, have never written to a company or sent food back at a restaurant (four years of serving will do that to you) but I have contacted the leasing office twice about this problem. There’s no reason a woman (or man???) needs to be walking around in high heels from 5:30 to 8:30 in the morning and then return in the afternoon only to drag furniture around while jumping up and down and playing with a hammer for another couple of hours. I honestly don’t know what they’re doing and I really don’t care as long as it stops. I never hear anything from any of the rooms directly next to or across from me, so there’s no way these people are trying to NOT be obnoxious.
Last thoughts: to the guy who I presume is the office manager — short, brown hair, don’t know your name — I docked two stars for the excessive noise but gave one back because you, much like DC in the summer, are hot as hell.

I lived in this gentrified Barbie dream house for a year and moved out in Fall 2010. If what you are looking for is a bug free, relatively safe and secure apartment that is pet friendly — there would be 5 stars here. Unfortunately, those aren’t the only things that matter.
My first red flag should have been the fresh faced twenty something whose dad was co-​signing for her in the leasing office. Her Veruca Salt-​esque demands and squeals of anticipation foreshadowed the 4 story frat house I was about to move into.
Throughout my time there, I had one difficult run in after another with the college age residents who drink and have parties at 3am on Tuesdays. If it was a few units that would be one thing but there were a lot of young kids and a lot of rowdy parties with party goers stumbling through the halls and drafts of pot and loud music on — yes — on weeknights. My neighbors and I must have called the cops and informed security a dozen times. Management said they would give warnings but were rather apathetic.
The worst though was when the fire alarm got pulled at 4:30am. Other than having flashbacks of high school, it was the first glance I got of the majority of the other residents — who all must have been under 24. (Who the hell pays their rent?)
The complex itself is also akin to Ikea, cute but not sturdy. Carpet was cheap and walls were thin. I finally started sleeping with earplugs to drown out the partying and loud (ahem).
Lastly, if you have any social consciousness at all, you will begin to feel like a douche for living at the Allegro. It is the only clearly gentrified complex in a series of blocks that still has the long-​term Columbia Heights residents that are fighting to not get priced out. They’re angry, resent the Allegro and won’t be afraid to show it. You may feel comfortable walking over the homeless man as you galavant to your international development job saving others in Africa but there is real poverty in Columbia Heights and places like the Allegro are not the solution.
I moved out but live in the same neighborhood and pay hundreds less for a much more satisfying place.
Rent here if you want a party. Steer clear if you need sleep to function.