Birchwood

"We came here to view an apartment with an appointment made two weeks in advance. When we arrived they told us they had no one-bedroom apartments available, and even better, zero apartments available to view. We would strictly be looking at the building’s amenities, which we declined. The whole thing felt like a bait and switch. (The reservation was under my partner’s name, hence them saying “we don’t have a record.” We just won’t be renting here so we won’t be reaching out to the management.)"

"I’m about to renew for a 4th year. The building staff are very responsive, bedrooms are spacious, and Ballston keeps adding new restaurants every year. Our building manager Larry is very friendly."

"Great experience living in building 525. Resident Manager + Maintenance staff are very friendly and prompt in dealing with issues/requests. Solid location in Ballston with great floor plan layouts."

"Lived in the 545 building (therefore I cannot speak for the 525 building which is much older) for 2 years and have had nothing but a good experience. My living space is beautiful and spacious, with very nice fixtures. Never have had any issues with hearing noise from my neighbors. The complex has also dealt very well with coronavirus, offering hand sanitizer stations and sign ups to use the gym. I feel very secure here and have been ultimately happy. Management is typically very corporate, but the building manager is always friendly and attentive via both email and if you drop by when he’s in office. A pleasure to work with."

"Management (both at specific locations and HQ) are both inept and will use their weight to back you into a corner. (#4 was the straw that broke the camel’s back) 1) Our bed room had an awkward large counter top running along the full length of the room making it aprox 30sq ft smaller than what was sold to us in the leasing office. It was due to the fire stairs running under our room. We were not shown our specific unit prior to moving in and was told “sorry but there is a disclaimer stating that not all units will be exact to the floor plan provided.” 2) It took Dittmar 4 month to provide us a copy of our signed lease, we asked every week and was always told it is coming and being approved, signed off on, taking a little longer than normal, we are understaffed…. 3) One month Dittmar randomly started charging us for parking when we did not have a single parking spot and also we were told our account was delinquent and we needed to pay for prior months parking. I was told my phone calls were not sufficient and I needed to write a formal appeal letter. It was resolved but with far too much effort on my end and many passing of the torch on their end. It should have been obvious when they looked at our lease and saw us decline parking space, and we were never issued parking decals. 4) Lastly and most significantly… they are charging me for the replacement of the granite counter tops in the kitchen. When we moved in we did not notice the knife marks in the counter from the prior tenant, as months went by, dirt and grime seeped into the cuts and made them more apparent, but it was not horrible and did not bother us enough to say anything, nor did we want workers in our apartment sanding, buffing or replacing the counter tops, depositing dust all over the apartment and putting our kitchen out of commission for days. 30 days prior to our lease ending we had a manager walk through pre inspection, our kitchen counter tops were marked as “normal” wear, thus we did not attempt to buff them out or use an abrasive cleaner to mask the “damage”. After vacating we receive a notice for a significant bill, I called the name at the bottom, passed around to a few people then told “I will have to re-review the pictures to make my final decision and see if there is damage”. We were not denying the fact that there were cut marks in the counter, she did not listen to me and went for the easy cop out. A few days later I receive a piece of mail threatening me that I have 15days to pay or they will turn me into a Credit Bureau and Collection Agency. Dittmar Buildings are beautiful, in great locations, but unless you have lots of patience, and extra money sitting around there are better options for you. If you do decide to live there, which you may have a perfectly fine experience and I did up to the final straw of my vacancy bill. My suggestion is to DOCUMENT EVERYTHING and protect yourself. They will throw around their weight and back you in a corner, they are not interested in the interest of their tenant but instead their bottom line profit."