The Ellington

I’ve read many reviews about The Ellington. I must start by saying, whoever happens upon 1301 U St. NW shares something very special. It’s more than being neighbors at the hottest spot in town — there’s a special bond shared, knowing you all have made the best choice. It’s more than convenient to everything DC has to offer, it IS everything DC has to offer. You can travel up and down all the fancy new flats around the U Street Corridor, or NOMA or No. VA… but you won’t find anything better. And if you are in The Ellington and considering relocating because you saw that another nearby spot has a fancier bathroom, just stop. Just stay where you are. No amount of upgrades can satisfy the fun, happy vibe, the friendships you will form by residing there and the magic that happens to your life just because you chose The Ellington. If you’re crazy enough to leave, you will regret it. You’ll pass by your new concierge who may or may not remember you. You’ll venture up to your new rooftop that’s just not as fun. You’ll constantly compare your new place to The Ellington and your friend’s will constantly reminisce about the place where you used to live. Best wishes to you and thank you Ellington for creating the perfect space to enjoy life in DC :-)

The building is in a great location with the right amenities and mix of tenants. I found the staff to be very attentive to the needs of residents. I am new to the building but also found the property manager and the lease up process to be be quick and painless.

I cannot say enough about the sweet and accommodating front office at Ellington. We meet with Deanna Pope, who was fantastic while showing us around the property and telling us the ins and out of the building and leasing terms. All the residents we passed were excited to see her, and you could feel the building is a community.
The community and location here is everything we were looking for– from athletic classes, to a wonderful roof top to gather, walking distance from everything, helpful concierge, monthly resident get togethers and affordable! We loved to hear that they were pet friendly and had zip cars/​trucks for rent. HIGHLY recommend checking this place out!

One of the best part of living in The Ellington is the lead concierge, Duane. He is so friendly and engaging. He is always willing to help and knows exactly what is going on with anything related to your apartment (repairs, packages, etc). He knows exactly who I am and engages in conversation when I come and go. He makes it a pleasure to leave in the morning and its always nice to stop and catch up with him. When he is not working it is never as well managed or as good.

My husband and I have lived in the Ellington for 3 years. While there was a period of frustration during some construction a year ago, Ellington Management acknowledged and addressed our concerns. The management team has been super responsive and accommodating: maintenance requests were always promptly addressed, 24 hour concierge was a bonus, and staff is friendly. The roof top is wonderful (especially when the grills are all hooked up!) and our apartment was relatively well sound-​proofed from neighbors and street noise (if the windows and balcony door were closed).
We’ve loved our time and the Ellington!

Ellington finally admitted something was wrong and refunded us most of our power bills. Turns out the construction was drawing on our meter.

After literally months of searching for affordable, nice, convenient housing DC, we found the Ellington. If the amazing leasing office staff wasn’t enough to sell us, the floor plans, rent rates, and amazing rooftop all were.
I really can’t say enough about the people running this building. As someone who has had terrible experiences with the leasing office of various buildings, I was thoroughly impressed with our lease signing and move-​in. Everyone has been incredibly helpful and responsive (which is really all I want!). I have specifically dealt with Stephanie and Deanna and have been thrilled with their level of professionalism and service.
The really negative reviews on here appear to be from the old management company because if you sort chronologically, you’ll see more favorable reviews. Ignore the old stuff, this place is great. Be aware that you’re moving onto U Street, and you’ll be fine.
it’s across from the U Street Metro stop (Green/​Yellow) and it’s ~150 yards from Trader Joe’s and basically unlimited bars and restaurants. You can’t go wrong in this building.

obviously, the location is great, but the staff is equally excellent. deanna and duane are both outstanding. deanna made my renewal process incredibly easy and genuinely cares. duane’s can-​do attitude and warm personality make it a pleasure to see him. while there has been some turnover with the other concierges, i always feel good about coming home. the one time i thought my hot water wasn’t hot enough, there was a person there that day to fix.
i’m very pleased to call the ellington home and glad to have renewed for a second year.

I have had many issues at The Ellington since moving in a year and a half ago, but I believe things are heading in the right direction for this place. While I must admit that my experience at the building has overall been unsatisfying, in the past few months a new management team has arrived and a marked improvement has been made in terms of problem-​solving and communication between management and residents.
The new property manager, Deanna, has been an invaluable resource to my roommates and me in recent months. It is undoubtedly a stressful job to field multiple complaints from multiple residents about various issues, but Deanna has demonstrated an unwaveringly genuine concern for the comfort and happiness of her residents. She is kind and eager to help address all concerns. She has managed to exceed our expectations in coming up with a solution to issues that had previously left us disgruntled and disheartened. If not for Deanna, The Ellington would be getting a lower rating from me. But because she is now running this building, I truly believe things will only get better. Prior to the new management team, good customer service was hard to find here, but I have been pleasantly surprised at the change I’ve seen so far.
The Ellington is located in a prime location, with clean and spacious units, and all the necessary amenities. A new fitness concierge service provides regular free classes, including yoga and cardio drills, to residents several nights a week, which I’ve really enjoyed. All of the instructors and classes have been fabulous.
Overall, it’s worth checking out The Ellington. Rest assured that the new management is taking this place in the right direction, and more improvements are likely in the works.

DO NOT MOVE IN HERE. This building has been a horrifying experience. Since we moved in there’s been construction taking up our entire deck which we pay an arm and a leg for. The construction was not disclosed to us before we moved in. The building has told us that construction would be over several times with each deadline passing and more scaffolding being put up. Drilling often starts as early as 8 AM on weekdays and workers have been here on Saturday disturbing the peace as well. One day I woke up to five workers building scaffolding outside my bedroom window. Not exactly what I would call a premium view.
While the front desk employees and gym are nice, the property managers are clueless and seem to have no idea how to address issues in the building.
We woke up in the middle of the night to our apartment flooding from the walls. The building blamed it on a washing machine malfunction from upstairs, but there is NO WAY that much water came from an overflowed washing machine. Keep in mind we are on the 7^th floor.
Our washing machine has overflowed, our dishwasher pulls out of the wall… basically this place is built like the Bluth House, only worse.
When we tried to get credits to our rent for these issues the property management company, Bozzuto, has been dodgy at best. Only after the threat of legal action are they SLIGHTLY attempting to remedy our many issues. We are currently trying to change the lease to month to month.
BOTTOM LINE: This place is a racket. Do not move here. You will be in for a whole lot of lies and a whole lot of discomfort.

I like the layout and look of the apartment. The folks at the front desk seem generally nice. The location is great — lots of restaurants, shops, bars, metro, etc. As far as management goes I’m unsure I came to visit a friend. He appeared to like it.

PROS:
— Location: Great location if you don’t mind the noise from busy U St
— Concierge Desk: The people who work the concierge desk are typically very pleasant and helpful
CONS:
— LONGTERM NEVER-​ENDING CONSTRUCTION: Over the last year and a half that I have been living here there has been construction since day one (which I was not informed of when signing the lease). In addition to waking up to the sound of drilling and hammering Mon-​Fri, every now and then you will often find the workers peering into your window, so be prepared to keep your blinds closed all day or give the workers a free peep show. The construction also obstructs the view that they charge a ridiculous premium for and they charge a $ 600 annual amenity fee for amenities that are always under construction (i.e. the rooftop). Based on the sloppiness of the work being performed and the fact that they have been working on the roof for over a year and a half, it appears that the work is being done by unprofessional/​unlicensed workers. For the amount of money that you are going to pay, the least they can do is attempt to finish the construction as soon as possible or compensate residents being impacted by the constant construction.
— High Turnover: Over the last year and a half there have been three different managers
— Outdated Appliances: For the amount of money you pay for rent, the appliances are old and not up to par. In my unit the dishwasher, dryer and washing machine does not work properly. Management will send someone up to «fix» appliances but will fail to replace them.
— Misleading Floorplans: Similar to Micheal M’s review, my exact unit was not available for me to view prior to moving in. The floorplan that I was shown on paper and agreed to lease was a totally different floorplan than the unit that I actually moved in to.
I would also check out the filtered reviews for this place provided below.

Beautiful apartment. Wonderful front desk staff. Atrocious management, with no transparency, bordering on unethical.

My wife and I moved into the Ellington in a little over two years ago. We had a two bed two bath apartment and one of those giant patios facing south. We loved it! YES its very expensive, YES they nickel and dime you and YES its very loud outside, especially the motor cycle club that revs up and down U st in the summer all night long. The seventh floor doesnt have the internal noise problems from other residents, nor was there puke in the hallway (except fourth of july but we expected it). We are all adults on that floor, no matter the age, but we all partied together all summer… until the construction started.
The building was always VERY clean. Dawn, Curtis and Reggie ROCK that building. I cant say enough good about them. Lets see how long they last with the new owners. I feel sorry for them, trying to hold onto their jobs with an almost empty building.
EVERY AND ALL «BUILDING MANAGERS» ARE A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME (maybe not on a personal level, but for my purposes they are). DONT WASTE YOUR BREATH. ALL THEY DO IS COLLECT MONEY FOR «THE OWNERS». The owners, past and present, must believe they are god. haha. More like the Wizards of Oz.
Anyway…PROS:
Clean, seemingly safe, great service from concierge. Good parties with professional people (Im in my 40’s, but there are mostly «kids», nice kids).
CONS:
Non stop unending construction 24 hours a day. Drilling, jackhammers, «tinktink» noises all hours of the night. Doesnt matter what floor you are on I bet the sound travels. Workmen crawling all over my patio, hanging outside every single window I have, for an entire year. I cannot ever leave my drapes or windows open… ever. This includes weekends. This has been going on for over a year.
Puppet management who isnt given the authority necessary to do their jobs. I’m tired of talking to a middle man who cant/​wont/​isnt allowed to make a decision. They hire pretty men and women to collect rent and soothe tenants, basically yes us to death. They are otherwise useless, in a business sense.
Pet rent. nuff said. Never heard of it before coming to the DMV area (where Im from dmv means dept of motor vehicles lol)…which is kind of how this place is run btw.
Price. wow. My rent is $ 3800 a month plus plus plus.
I heard from people on the second floor that the sewage would back up through their garbage disposals and flood their apartment, more than once. There was one girl who had it happen so often she moved. The Ellington told her «TOO BAD HOW SAD» and did nothing to assist her.
The kitchen is almost useless. None of the drawers are wide enough for a silver ware tray so all of our eating utensils are all in a big jumble pile in the drawer. None of the cabinets have good access… either too high, too deep or just wrong. cheap little fridge and bottom of the line appliances all the way around… so not luxury. for almost 4 grand a month I should have stainless steel. Just because you slapped a pitted granite counter on the useless cabinets and put a cheap stackable washer dryer in a closet doesnt make it luxury. LUXURY IS SERVICE. Dawn and Reggie make it seem luxurious.
Walk throughs — IT SEEMS LIKE THEY NEED ACCESS TO MY APARTMENT AT LEAST TWICE A MONTH. I had to finally put my foot down and say no. There ARE laws governing this stuff. THEY HAVE ACCESSED MY APARTMENT WHEN I WASNT THERE AND WITHOUT TELLING ME and certainly without my permission. They spilled soapy water all over the bathroom floor and left it there. (hello ellington, I dont care if you know who I am).
I could live with all the cons if it werent for the perpetual construction. AND DONT BELIEVE THEM. ITS NOT ENDING ANYTIME SOON. Everytime they fix a leak, they create a new one. They have no idea when its going to end, I heard the workers talking about it. I cant even talk on the phone sometimes, the noise is so loud I cant hear what is being said.
I do wanna say, I never saw a cockroach IN my house. We did need to get the patio sprayed cause they crawl up the side of the building. Giant size too. But inside, for two years, never saw one yet. This is most important to me.

My wife and I moved to DC about a year and a half ago. Being from San Francisco and not really knowing the area, we wanted to move to a neighborhood that had everything within walking distance. So we targeted U Street and found a great 2-​bedroom apartment in the Ellington.
THE PROS:
The apartment is beautiful. Exposed ductwork, polished cement floors. It has floor to ceiling windows with awesome views of the city and Washington Monument. Curtis and Dawn, the two main concierges, are great and friendly. And Reggie, the building Super, is the best you could possibly ask for and is always there to help with whatever you need. You’re right across the street from a ton of restaurants, bars, shops and the U Street Metro. Seems too good to be true, right?
THE CONS:
Our first week in the Ellington, we started to get junk mail for a dozen different people at our address. We thought, «That’s weird, why has there been so much turn over in this place, our apartment is amazing…»
Here’s why:
The Ellington will nickel and dime you for every penny you have. You want a parking spot? Extra. Storage? Extra. Have a pet? What kind? If they do allow your pet, you have to pay a huge non-​refundable $ 500 deposit and then a monthly pet rent. Yes, I said, «pet rent». And the kicker is, that after a year of renting and paying all of these crazy extras, we received a note saying «We’re pleased to announce that we’ve approved you to lease for another year…» then raised our rent by $ 200 and had to sign another year lease. Sure, they would let us rent month to month, but we’d have to pay the extra $ 200 on top of the raise of $ 200 a month just for the privilege of going month to month. Arg. Oh, and to break our lease we have to give them 60 days advanced notice and pay a fee of one months rent extra. Yikes.
The Ellington is also always under construction. There is an amazing roof deck that we’ve never got to use because it’s always being worked on. 18 months. Really? What the hell are you guys building up there? They are also constantly coming into your apartment for something or another. Sure they leave you a note the day before, but it just seems weird to be so frequent. Something is fishy there.
The building is also very young, so there is always something happening. Loud parties or drunks wandering down the hall trying to find their way home from the bars on U Street. There are always remnants in the hallway of something that happened the night before (especially Sunday morning). Puke, abandoned French fries and pizza crusts… (ok, ok, some of those fries were mine). To their credit, The Ellington does a good job of cleaning up (man, I just re read that and I sound so old. I used to play in a rock band for f’s sake!). I know someone is reading this and thinking, «this place sounds really awesome!». Just some times when you’re at home you want to relax, hard to do that some nights when the kids are re-​enacting a scene from «Animal House».
Anyway, that’s been our experience at the Ellington. Great apartment, great front door and maintenance folks, but the surroundings and constant nickel and diming finally got to us. We recently broke our lease, paid the HUGE fee, and moved out. So now someone else will be moving into our gorgeous apartment with exposed ductwork and polished cement floors, getting junk mail with our name and dozens of others on it, and wondering why the turn over is so high.

I have to agree completely with Maurice here. I reserved an apartment with The Ellington, but was unable to view the apartment because a resident was still living there. When they finally showed me the apartment it had a different layout then the paper floorplan they had given me. I am not talking about it looked smaller then I thought, It had a different kitchen layout, different flooring and different hallway and door arrangement.
I immediately told them that I was no longer interested in the apartment and I would like my security deposit back. After that the manager told me that because two days had passed since I reserved the apartment, my security deposit would not be refunded. I told them that I understood the rule but felt this was a special case because I wasn’t given an accurate floor plan. Currently I am still working on getting my $ 500 security deposit back.
On top of that, both the property manager and the assistant manager called me a liar when I told them the layout was different then what was given. Eventually my girlfriend had to go over to the property and force the assistant manager to come up to the apartment with her. After doing that the assistant manager admitted that she hadn’t really been in the apartment before and it was different, but we would still not be getting any money back.
The assistant manager mocked me on the phone when I was trying to talk with her about the deposit and she told me no matter what I do I will not be getting any money back.
Renters beware!

No point in writing a big review, this place is aces. I have lived in this building twice, for a total of slightly over 3 years and never had an issue.
The front desk staff is great, the building management is very proactive and otherwise also very responsive. The building is very clean.
the building essentially sits on top of the green line metro and 14^th and U is maturing into a great area.
The building is a little pricey, but not much worse than other similar apartment buildings and just offers a lot.
I am a huge fan.