The Lofts At Lafayette Square

"Here are some facts you need to know before signing a lease here: 1) There is no steady groundskeeper so when it snows/ices the sidewalks and parking lot are in poor shape. The sidewalks weren’t even salted and management left early during the recent snow. Trash is abundant in common areas/parking lot. 2) The A/C on the upper levels is broken and apparently it’s not in the capital budget to fix (this is for the common areas like hallways) according to an employee 3) Even though I pay $50 per month per vehicle for parking, the fences are too low and cars are broken into on a routine basis - in the “secured” lot. The property doesn’t allow you to review the footage and there is never any follow up. 4) The property manager Shayla (and previous one who left) is unfriendly and generally expresses a lack of caring toward residents and the property. 5) Don’t expect everything to work correctly - our ice maker was never operational so we ended up buying a standalone one. This is common in units from what I hear. 6) The HVAC systems in many units are dated. It is not uncommon for a unit to reach no cooler than 75 or 80 in the summer (this is the coolest temp you’ll reach). Hopefully you are okay with extreme temps because these old lofts do not thermoregulate well. To replace the unit is $8K and it’s only in the budget to replace X number per year. 7) There is a general lack of amenities for the price. 8) They employ a bait and switch technique. Expect general rent prices to increase $100+ (at the minimum) yearly. The first year they may hook you with a “special promotion.” If base rent doesn’t increase, they will increase utility or parking costs to make it appear as though rent doesn’t increase much. 9) There are problems with cigarette and weed smoke - although this is not uncommon just mentioning it for completeness. Smells tend to travel through this building (whether it’s cooking, smoke, etc). Not a good place if you have asthma or respiratory issues. 10) The elevators are out of service CONSTANTLY so if you have any disabilities or issues with stairs this is not the place for you. 11) There used to be employed cleaning staff. Now they contract and to save money, they don’t clean things are often as they should. 12) The trash/recycling is in the parking lot which again is not easily accessible especially when conditions are bad, for example, right now with the ice. There is no trash shoot like you would expect with a “luxury” loft. Also, the trash is only picked up once a week and tends to overflow. At least they have rat bait all around the building to prevent rat infestations. 13) Tenant turnover is HIGH. You constantly see people moving out and a new batch of “suckers” moving in. No tenant Ive spoken to has nice things to say about this place. Save your $$$, this place is not worth the hassle. 14) The parking gate tends to break occasionally. At least it does get fixed relatively timely. 15) Fire alarms go off regularly so don’t expect a nice peaceful living situation. 16) To top things off, as if all of the other stuff wasn’t bad enough, the current property management is HORRIBLE with communication. For example, running water was off a few weeks ago. Water is a critical basic necessity. No communication at all. Upon asking Shayla, she just says “oh yeah I’m going to send something out about that.” A lack of water that affects most floors is considered an emergency, but not to the property management - they honestly couldn’t care less."

"It’s a great building with plenty of flair but property management has plenty of excuses why things are broken or why they can’t support the services that are supposed to come with leases. It’s disappointing as well as embarrassing sometimes living here. No empathy when homeless with warrants for their robbery and assault warrants are I the building and management has zero empathy for residents stress levels as this has been happening frequently."

"I previously left a glowing review for my time at the Lofts, but nine months after I’ve moved out, I received a call from collections. Though I was never notified in any way, I was charged over $200 for late rent (I nearly always paid early and always paid on time - for more than two years) and $100 for “damages” which consisted of holes in the walls from hanging pictures. Not only was I never notified of charges at any point, I was also not notified that I had anything outstanding before the company sent the file to collections. I have worked hard to obtain very good credit and I am LIVID that this management company would so flagrantly harm my financial reputation. I called Chris, the manager, and asked what I was being charged for and what attempts had been made to notify me. He hung up the phone on me and is now not taking my calls. I am still in contact with several old neighbors and I just found out that they just did this to another neighbor who moved out one month after I did (eight months ago). That couple received a collections letter less than a week ago with no prior notification of any charges. Another couple moved out more recently and is now worried that they, too, will receive a random call from collections. We were all very good tenants. I lived there 2.5 years and they lived there longer. We never caused problems, attended and supported community events, and were great neighbors. We’re now considering legal action to hold 2B accountable for hurting our credit and for these completely unjustified charges. I no longer recommend this company. I loved my loft, but have a very low opinion of the management."

"I lived here a while back. It was the best place to live! I really miss it! The office was fantastic. I would love to move back one day after the kids are grown."

"We’re about to move out after living here for just under a year and it’s been fantastic! The lofts are beautiful, Lafayette park is just around the corner, and it’s 5 minutes from any interstate. But surprisingly, the best part about living here was actually the management! Kasie has been so kind and helpful from the start and somehow fixes ANY issue within a day. We have loved it here!"