The Marcus

I have very mixed feelings about this apartment. It's nice because it's brand new, but the overall design and management choices are honestly very strange for the price point.

The building seems like it was built without much thought to convenience. Residents on the upper floors don't even have mailboxes. All mail gets delivered to the leasing office, which isn't really a leasing office at all—it's just a random apartment being used as an office space.

They charge $15 a month for trash, but… there is no valet trash service and no trash chute. You're basically paying to walk your own trash outside to a large dumpster, so it's unclear what the fee is actually for.

Another issue is renter's insurance. You're required to carry your own renter's insurance, but they also charge you for renter's insurance-related coverage, which feels like paying twice.

There is no security, and the hallways are not cleaned regularly. The package room is another ongoing frustration because the screen used to access it is constantly broken.

The gym situation is also disappointing. There are two gym areas, one on the second floor and one on the third floor, but both are extremely small. Splitting the equipment between two tiny spaces makes them feel even more cramped.

There is only one elevator for the entire building, which can be inconvenient. The building's access system is also poorly designed. Guests can't simply be given a temporary code. Instead, they have to download an app just to gain access, which makes having visitors unnecessarily complicated.

Another odd issue is that there doesn't appear to be air conditioning in the hallways. The hallways get very hot, so management leaves vents open, which leads to bugs constantly finding their way inside.

Overall, the apartments themselves are nice and modern, but the building feels poorly thought out in many ways. The only thing that really stands out is that it's brand new. Beyond that, there are a lot of design and management decisions that make living here much less convenient than it should be. Read More