Vista St. Clair Apartments

Location is great, and some units look nice when you tour them, but once you sign your lease the staff act like they are having a contest to see who can provide the worst possible customer experience. Some of them act like they have no idea what customer service is.

The building is under a constant state of construction as the owner is trying to optimize his profit by squeezing as many new apartments as possible into formerly larger apartments. Expect horrendously loud construction most days of... the week, sometimes even on Saturdays. And all of the new units mean they don't have enough parking for some residents who then have to park on the street and risk getting their car burglarized, which has happened to a number of residents. Some cars also get burglarized in the secure parking garage.

Unless this will be your very first apartment after living in a noisy college dorm I'd look elsewhere. Don't be fooled by this place. Read More

Management is horrible. People keep taking my assigned parking spot and they refuse to tow. I only signed a lease because I got assigned parking. Then I park in the wrong spot, and they tow me. What a joke. Otherwise the building is ok not great, decent location, but I've only lived there for two weeks.

However, if management is this incompetent with parking, I am dreading ever having a maintenance or emergency issue with the apartment itself. 100% regret signing the lease. Don't live here.

I've lived at Vista St, Clair for 3 years and currently starting my 4th. I am very happy here for the following reasons:
- Location, location, location
- The views!!!
- Management is great, they are responsive and they truly care about the resident's needs
- Maintenance crew and and response to requests is very fast and they are good at their job, once fixed it doesn't break again.
- online portal works very well
- The building is very nice with the remodel and it is very comfortable in all... common areas, you can work out or BBQ anytime and it is usually available or most of my neighbors I've come across have shared the space with no hesitation.
- The building was built a while back so the walls are concrete, I never hear my neighbors.
- They have 3 elevators, easy moving in and out for sure with their dock station too in the back
- Easy Highway access, various bus stops, walk to the max is super quick
- great location for a timbers fan

Cons:

- Depending on which side you are facing but it can get very warm in the summer, windows only crack open about 3in. AC external unit available but installation by maintenance is pricey electricity.
- This is more of a complaint but worth mentioning; Street Parking is basically nonexistent, even with the zone parking you will spend game nights after work during Timbers season driving around for hours trying to find a spot and if you do it will be on the other side of Washington park
- You can only get xfinity
- Gym equipment is old and feels insecure sometimes but the room is nice with large mirrors if you like to do yoga or other non-machine workouts. Newer machines would make it as good as LA Fitness for sure.

Cons are not big enough to drop it from 5 stars, overall I'm happy to call Vista my home and could see myself here for longer if need be. Read More

Is the VSC the BEST apartment building in the Goose Hollow/Nob Hill area? No, I cannot say that. But considering how astronomical rents have gotten in the last few years, VSC offers the best bang for your buck. Hands down, the best part of my experience here is the management. Kearsten, Ryan, Jayselle and the rest of their team work tirelessly to respond to resident concerns/questions/complaints in a prompt and professional manner. The maintenance staff is equally impressive by addressing issues... very quickly and effectively.

About the building itself, clearly this is an older property that once used to cater to elite residents. I stayed here 10 years ago and felt it could use a facelift. It is getting just that right now. Granted this is talking a lot of time and certainly has been inconvenient for months at a stretch. But I have to commend the team on timely communication on updates and progress. The apartments are not very big and the kitchens are ridiculously small (at least in the 1br plans). But I cannot complain about storage space. Rent is way more reasonable here than at most places in the area. Garage parking is also competitively priced but the spaces are unfairly small.

Also, you gotta love the location! Washington Park, NW23rd, downtown, MAX stops are all within minutes. But that uphill climb every day sure gives you a good workout !

Tenants tend to vary from 19-22yr old college kids (rich parents?) to retirees. My one big complaint/peeve is that the building is NOT pet-friendly. It may be the ONLY property of its size in the area (or the city?) that isn't pet-friendly. In a dog-loving city like Portland, this is really ridiculous.

All things considered, you get a very good deal and I recommend this place. Read More

Love the location. Management is friendly and helpful. Great views. Nice community of longtime residents.