Reviews

Review Details

• Review fromRobert D

  Date: 08/10/2023

  2 stars
  It pains me to withdraw my praise for the property manager of Riverside Apartments in Alexandria, VA, & Elme Communities, which owns Riverside. It still faces a crime wave & the prospect of a return of a rat infestation behind Building 3. Many cars are still being vandalized & broken into with the theft of car parts, including airbags, catalytic converters, tires, etc. The property manager fired the old security company & hired a new one, the 3rd in ¾ of a year. This company likely will be fired too. It is being set up for failure. It has no more chance of compensating for Riverside’s numerous, horrible security deficiencies than the other companies. Riverside has too many entry points, instead of just 1 with a guard conducting security checks. The perimeter is extremely porous, most of it lacking fencing & having exploitable gaps in many places. Parking lots remain poorly lit. CCTV is inadequate. The service entrances to the apartment towers are often open or unlocked. The new security chief, who has just 2 patrol cars, discovered homeless people & others have duplicated fobs to gain entrance to buildings. He subdued 1 such person in a community center bathroom, subdued him & sent for police. The property manager & his aides’attitudes do not help. The first said he has no responsibility for the safety of residents, while 1 aide said residents should remain indoors after sunset to avoid getting attacked & having their heads bashed in. The rat infestation also may return. AmericanPest killed the rats with Rodenticide & sealed off rats' nesting sites & hiding places. The problem is Riverside is now less aggressive in cleaning up trash piling up around Building 3's loading dock & removing foodstuff left as trash. Riverside is not hosing down the sidewalks with non-poisonous chemicals, such as bleach or ammonia, to deter the return of rodents. Riverside risks a return of a large-scale rat and mouse infestation, which would be a public health crisis.
  
  

• Review fromRobert D

  Date: 08/10/2023

  5 stars
  It pains me to withdraw my praise for the property manager of Riverside Apartments in Alexandria, VA, & Elme Communities, which owns Riverside. It still faces a crime wave & the prospect of a return of a rat infestation behind Building 3. Many cars are still being vandalized & broken into with the theft of car parts, including airbags, catalytic converters, tires, etc. The property manager fired the old security company & hired a new one, the 3rd in ¾ of a year. This company likely will be fired too. It is being set up for failure. It has no more chance of compensating for Riverside’s numerous, horrible security deficiencies than the other companies. Riverside has too many entry points, instead of just 1 with a guard conducting security checks. The perimeter is extremely porous, most of it lacking fencing & having exploitable gaps in many places. Parking lots remain poorly lit. CCTV is inadequate. The service entrances to the apartment towers are often open or unlocked. The new security chief, who has just 2 patrol cars, discovered homeless people & others have duplicated fobs to gain entrance to buildings. He subdued 1 such person in a community center bathroom, subdued him & sent for police. The property manager & his aides’attitudes do not help. The first said he has no responsibility for the safety of residents, while 1 aide said residents should remain indoors after sunset to avoid getting attacked & having their heads bashed in. The rat infestation also may return. AmericanPest killed the rats with Rodenticide & sealed off rats' nesting sites & hiding places. The problem is Riverside is now less aggressive in cleaning up trash piling up around Building 3's loading dock & removing foodstuff left as trash. Riverside is not hosing down the sidewalks with non-poisonous chemicals, such as bleach or ammonia, to deter the return of rodents. Riverside risks a return of a large-scale rat and mouse infestation, which would be a public health crisis.
  
  

• Review fromRobert D

  Date: 07/06/2023

  5 stars
  I would like to amend my review
  I would like to praise the property manager of Riverside Apartments, an Elme Communities Executive. In Winter and early Spring, Riverside, which is located in Alexandria, VA, faced two crises: skyrocketing car-related crimes and an infestation of rats behind Building 3. The property manager slowly elaborated plans to resolve both crises and, with the help of contracting companies, succeeded.
  Many cars were vandalized and broken into. There were instances of car thefts, car break-ins and vandalism, to include the theft of airbags, catalytic converters, tires, etc. In a single night, 12 autos were broken into. Riverside Apartments seemed to be “ground zero” in a regional crime wave.
  Under the supervision of the Elme Communiy property manager, Master Security monitors cars entering/leaving the compound and patrols parking lots. Master Security employees investigate potential car break-ins and vandalism. When crimes occur, they collaborate with police. Along with occasional police patrols and better illumination of the parking lots, Mark Security has been vital to the property manager’s success in ending the crime spiral and deterring criminals from retuning.
  In the Winter and early Spring, Riverside also had another crisis, an infestation of rats behind Building 3. One night I saw 9 rats within a few seconds behind Building 3 on/near the loading dock. Collaborating with AmericanPest, the property manager also resolved this problem. AmericanPest sealed off rats' nesting sites and hiding places. The property manager ordered personnel to clean up trash piling up around Building 3's loading dock and remove foodstuffs left as trash. Riverside personnel have been aggressively hosing down the loading dock and sidewalks. AmericanPest is using rat poisons -- specifically, rodenticide -- and bait boxes in a more intelligent, aggressive strategy to eliminate the existing rat infestation and deter rats from returning
  

• Review fromRobert D

  Date: 04/18/2023

  3 stars
  Riverside Apartments in Alexandria, VA, now under direct Washington REIT/Elme management, faces serious issues: surging crime, vandalism, a rat infestation, power/water outages, etc. It is ground zero in a Mount Vernon District crime wave. There have been numerous car thefts, car break-ins and vandalism, to include the theft of airbags, catalytic convertors, tires and other car parts. In a single night, 12 autos were broken into, with 8 driver’s side windows smashed behind Building 3 alone. That was just one night. There is no longer a single front gate with a guard, but multiple entries with no guards. Perimeter fencing is horribly inadequate, parking lots are poorly lit and security is extremely lax. Security protocols are hopelessly deficient. I found 2 of the security patrol car drivers asleep on duty. Only one of the drivers appears to patrol aggressively. The others often park for long intervals of time in obscure corners of the compound. If any headway is being made in bringing a halt to the crime spree, it is because police cruisers sometimes patrol at night. Aging boilers need frequent repairs, with intermittent water shut-offs and occasional periods without hot water. Dominion spends a lot of time repairing generators/other equipment, with short or long electrical outages. Aging elevators, some damaged and unsightly, occasionally need maintenance and repairs. Due to inadequate trash removal, there are many rodents, mice and rats, behind Building 3, perhaps also around the other buildings. I saw 9 rats behind Building 3 in a period of seconds one night. There is a rat population explosion behind Building 3, if not elsewhere. A portion of the back wall of Building 3 began to buckle last weekend and cracks appeared at the bottom of the back facade, a sign of possible structural weaknesses, This is no "patch job." Riverside is boltering parts of Building 2's facade. Maybe, it should have been focused on the back facade of Building 3. .