The Lurana 215 Columbia Street Northwest, Olympia, WA 98501

"The location is pretty good, the views from *some* apartments are great, and the interiors are decently kitted. That's about where my praise for this place ends, however. - Why is there no call button in units? There is no front desk to accept packages, so why can't we simply press a button and let Amazon or UPS in? - Why are there no deadbolts on apartment doors? Why are occupants put in this kind of jeopardy? - Why is there insufficient parking? Why do residents have to fight each other for spaces? Why do the maintenance people have to double park just to perform their services? - Why does the garbage come like 3 times a week? Why does it need to wake us up 3 out of 5 work days at 5 am? - Why is there only one elevator on one end of the building? - Why has nobody - seemingly ever - taken the post office to task over their habitually leaving deliveries in the foyer where they could be stolen by pretty much anyone with the sense to follow a resident into the building? - Why is there no heat in the bedrooms? - Why were some of the units designed with bedrooms that LACK WINDOWS? The fact of the matter is, the Lurana was built on the cheap, and people living here suffer for it. As stated, the units themselves aren't terrible, but everything else about residing here is. And the icing on the cake? There's some transgender on the property who owns two highly aggressive pitbulls that he/she/whatever can't control - I just 'nope' right back into my apartment whenever I see the thing and its dogs in the hall."

"Kind of a shame this apartment building wasn't built better--don't be fooled by the facade. Pros: It is an apartment, so it is a place to live, and is in the downtown area if you need easy access. US mail is secure. There's secure bike parking. NO CARPET in the apartments-very important these days. There's in unit laundry, though they're your basic cheapest at Home Depot models. Maintenance team seems helpful, reasonable, and professional. Cleaning woman was really nice and did a good job. Cons: Parking lot is convenient, but they charge extra for it, and there were many car windows smashed and things stolen in the year I lived there. If you decide to live here, do not leave anything in the vehicle at all (though people may still break the windows). Building is very leaky, they did not construct with an airtight building envelope. Exhaust comes up through the building into the apartment at a "normal" rate, though the building being new, you'd hope for better. I heard that garbage smells come up through the apartments above the garbage room which is shared with a restaurant, so it is smelly (and garbage is picked up ex the extreme early AM so be prepared to be woken up weekly if you live on the east side of the building). The west side is next to a wastewater pump station, so be prepared to smell diesel exhaust when the generator turns on. Also, be prepared to only use your balcony if you don't mind the poop smell that comes out of its exhaust pipe. It's a huge shame they skipped installing an airtight building envelope because it would've helped with the smells and exhaust / pollution exposure (but they probably saved a buck today! to only lose a buck tomorrow!). It is an industry standard now so they chose to skip it. Deliveries can sometimes be difficult because it's key entry only. Apartments do not have deadbolt locks which made me wary about break ins. The fixtures and cabinets look nice but seem very cheap. For example, the cabinets have really sharp edges on the inside so it's easy to cut or scrape your hand when pulling things out if you're not careful. There were shabby and obvious mistakes that the contractors made that show poor workmanship, so corners were cut during construction that make the apartment less comfortable and less aesthetically pleasing than it needs to be (especially at the premium price). The AC/heat design wasn't successful for conditioning more than one room. Management/ownership's only focus is profit, so don't expect any great customer service once they get you to sign the lease (even though providing good customer service and being reasonable to your tenants will make you more money in the long run). Overall, if the price was cheaper this would make sense. But, it doesn't make sense at the price point. I'd recommend the prices be dropped or the quality raised (though that require gutting the building so that is not going to happen anytime soon)."