The Louis Apartments

I lived at the Louis for almost three years. Here are my top pros and cons of living there:
Pros:
1. Location. Being at 14th and U is unbeatable in terms of access to bars, restaurants. Bus access and metro (green/yellow) is good.
2. Maintenance. Whenever I put in a maintenance request it was fixed, quickly.
3. Pool/amenities. This is a pro and a con. It’s a pretty young (early 20s) and partying crowd at these. If that’s what you want, perfect.

Cons:
1. “Cheap” building. This construction... was clearly done cheaply to maximize profit from relatively short term renters. This means lots of little annoyances: no way to buzz people in the building whereas my friends’ buildings can let people enter through their phones; elevators frequently broken; cheap fixtures in the apartment that break; no medicine cabinet and few lights in the apt. These aren’t terrible on their own, but it’s a vibe that gets old.
2. Management. Every time I had to deal with the property ownership, it was frustrating (not the individuals in the office, they were great, but the policies or people from Greystar). For one example: when moving out, I got a cleaning service to make sure I got my deposit back. I did a walk through with Louis staff before handing in my keys and they said it was good and I wouldn’t be charged. Then they subtracted $150 from my deposit for a cleaning fee. When I protested this, they would not give me a full refund. These kind of nickel and dime charges happened fairly regularly from greystar.
3. Noise. You’re living on U street. It’s going to be loud. Just accept it if this is where you live.
4. Price. It’s an expensive building relative to others. Eventually I left because I just wasn’t getting the value I could elsewhere compared to the amenities. Read More

I love the location of living at the Louis! The fact that Trader Joe's is connected to the building is such a plus. To be right in the thick of the city with a wonderful rooftop is amazing.

Don't live here. I got drawn in by the convenience of the location and the fact that it was such a new building and the amenities. The fact that it took so much effort to get in contact with the leasing office--blew off my first tour, never returned phone calls, and was only responsive when I decided to sign--should have made me rethink my decision to live here. Management is really unresponsive to tenant needs and issues, and I've lived here for less than a year, but already have had multiple... (apartment and building) maintenance issues and sleep with ear plugs because of the street noise. Read More

Honestly,

I've had a terrible time at my current apartment. It's called the Louis on 14th, it's a new JBG building, barely a year old. We've had severe leaks causing black mold in the ceilings. If that isn't bad enough, the management company is the absolute worst. They're impossible to get in contact with and pull a lot of shady stuff causing far too much stress. I can't wait to move! Unfortunately, living in DC and working I'm going to have to be paying a significant more just to live the in... a building that treats its residents with the respect they deserve. Read More

The building is located in one of the best parts of DC, and was constructed by some of the most incompetent humans in DC.

The vanity in the bathroom is falling away from the wall (we've lived there for 5 months!), there was a disgusting stench of mold coming from behind our washer and dryer that took them 2.5 months and legal threats to fix, and the bedrooms don't even have real doors.

It's clear that this apartment was put together with some of the cheapest cabinets, flooring and other... accessories that they could possibly find, and thrown up as fast as possible. The building manager is almost NEVER there and in order to get any help you need to hound the management.

The building is over priced and under-served. Don't be fooled by the amenities, there are plenty of other buildings in the area that are priced better and constructed better. Read More