Gables Dupont Circle

I lived at Dupont Gables for over a year and absolutely loved it! The staff was amazing! They went above and beyond – very courteous and friendly. The neighborhood is awesome – I always felt safe, even at night. If my job hadn’t transferred me to another state, I would still be living here.

I have lived here for several years. This building is consistently known for the highest rents in the area (with the least amenities) and the WORST management (national property management company, Gables Residential). The current on-​site «Assistant Community Manager» is Justin. It is unclear if there is an actual «Community Manager». Anyway… he is obviously inexperienced and as such over-​compensates by being inflexible, condescending and patronizing to the residents, the majority of whom are highly educated, busy DC professionals and deserve better. He apparently has no authority to adjust even the smallest of billing errors, so he just refuses or fails to respond at all. Every memo he sends out contains threats of fines and statements trying to make everything the residents’ responsibility. Case in point, the garage door is constantly breaking and for some reason parts are never readily available. One time the door was left open for several weeks and management did not post a security guard at the entrance, not even at night. The vermin issue aside, the residents were placed in real danger by this situation. One of Justin’s memos stated that the safety of the residents and the resident’s vehicles was the residents’ responsibility and not the management’s (We pay $ 225 per month to park in that garage). They can say whatever they like, but negligence like this cannot be disclaimed. Don’t even get me started on the fake «utility bills» residents are required to pay (not based on the resident’s actual usage but some mysterious formula and fluctuate wildly) or the chronic plumbing problems that plague the building (Some days no hot water and some days no water at all). The latest «innovation» is «ParcelPending». There is a full time concierge desk, yet it appears that it is just too much trouble for them to accept residents’ packages while they are at work. Resident’s are now required to sign up with a vendor, provide a credit card and will be charged more fines if they don’t pick up their packages quick enough! Per Justin’s latest memo «If you don’t sign up, you can pick up your packages at the carrier shipping hub.» This is a LUXURY apartment building? The Gables motto is «Taking Care of the Way People Live» (Whatever the heck that means), but should really be «Taking People». I am moving soon. DO NOT RENT HERE!

Laughably bad management. This was the 5^th apartment complex I’ve lived in within 5 years, and the quality of managerial service was well below par. Factor in the inflated rent, and it becomes an embarrassingly bad decision. Moved out beginning of August, and I couldn’t be happier. Somehow I’m still tying up loose ends, as it will take management weeks to respond to emails. The only saving grace is the front desk attendants, they were spectacular.

I agree with the post below — Eric is 100% accurate. Not just an angry resident writing a over-​dramatic review. I have already wasted so much time arguing with management about prices, changes in services, etc. that I refuse to spend another minute on this review. Do not do it. I am warning you.

I used to love this building but, after almost a year of living here, I’m totally fed up. There is at least one major inconvenience emailed out to all residents every week. Here’s a short list of the most recent ones:
— Heat stops working for extended periods of time
— Water is shut off for several hours at a time at least once a month
— Front door is renovated and closed off for more than a week
— Garage is power washed (why???) and your car can’t be in there for 3 days, two weeks in a row
— They decide they don’t want to accept resident packages anymore. No joke. So many residents put up a shit fit, they reverse the decision within a day
— The garage door breaks frequently
Positives:
— The front desk staff are generally very nice, put in the effort to know your name, and are usually pretty helpful
— location
— apartments were recently renovated and have pretty nice interiors
Negatives:
— the leasing staff/​management is impossible to work with
— this building literally never stops undergoing renovations or repairs… and they are ALWAYS noticeable to every resident
— They charge you far too much, and then waste your money on things that don’t really improve the building. For example, power washing the garage so they can paint it clown colors, or doing a massive renovation to the courtyard only to install a bocce court that 4 people have ever used, construction of which took two months longer than expected. There is still no gym, no pool, no business center, no printers, or anything else that I would rather have them prioritize.
OVERALL IMPRESSION:
This building is physically really nice, in a really nice location but the management is completely out of touch with what residents expect/​want. Their priorities are out of whack and they are losing residents because of it. I would NEVER recommend this building to a friend. You can very easily find a far nicer building with a more stable water supply and more intelligent management in a similar location for the same or less money. AVOID AVOID AVOID.

This place is great! Having lived in several buildings in DC, I have to say that this one trumps the rest. It’s on a quiet street, but close to everything; the staff are friendly but not overbearing; and the building itself is very quiet and well-​maintained. It’s crazy expensive but totally worth it to be in this location. A+

After one week, I gotta say that I’m a fan of our apartment complex. Here’s a quick rundown of why:
1) Quiet on a quiet street.
2) Very secure parking garage, with video cameras everywhere.
3) All issues with our apartment upon move-​in were fixed within 48 hours in one swift maintenance visit.
4) Free coffee/​tea anytime I want it? Yes, please.
5) One block from the Metro, very close to good food, Whole Foods, a gym, CVS, etc.
Hopefully not much will change, because we plan to be here for quite sometime. It’s not the cheapest, but our friends who’ve toured other Dupont Circle places say ours is nicest for the price. Whew.