521 St. Paul Apartments

and management does nothing to fix it. insanity...

Management is bad. Maintenance is REALLY bad. Almost all appliances are crappy. HVAC system is probably from the middle ages as it breaks almost everyday. save yourself the trouble and don't live here.

I love my apartment for the first part. It's a one bedroom one bath and it is spacious and affordable. Management here is awful. It is impossible to get in contact with anybody and when you do the response is always several days late. I had recurring issues with my mailbox that took months to fix. I also had packages go missing. The nearest parking lot is like a block and a half away and so though it is affordable in a decent area management has made me want to leave asap.

As other reviews and photos suggest, the apartments themselves are very nice. New appliances, granite countertops, in-unit laundry, and hardwood floors in most of the apartments. However, maintenance requests go largely ignored. It is impossible to reach the property company via phone or email. It takes several follow-ups to get a response and genuine emergency requests (like AC down during a heat wave, water leakage) seem to be of no concern for them. More transparency and prioritization of these requests would have been much appreciated. A gym is present, but one of the two treadmills hasn't worked for over a year and no efforts have been made to fix/replace. The gym is also never cleaned by the property people, so the common floors/surfaces are just gross. Lastly, the property company has several separate utility bills that end up adding a hefty price to your monthly fees. Despite the property company insisting it is "based on individual usage," I see no fluctuations in my monthly fees when I am out for more than half the month. The water/sewage fees are incredibly suspicious when compared to my Baltimore and Mt. Vernon neighbors.

My partner and I lived here a year. May have stayed longer had we not been burglarized. The layout of the two bed/two bath--lots of light in the main room and having in-unit laundry is great. The gym is suitable and outdoor patio was nice during good weather. Unit price is great, though utilities were a little high despite the "efficient" HVAC units. Property management was distant, especially when our apartment had been broken into. The building layout is in an extended u-shape, and our unit had was on its own at the far hallway around a bend and had access to a stairwell exiting the building. Obviously, a convenient apartment to burglarize as it is on its own and has an easy exit. There was no sign of forced entry, though it was definitely locked in the morning. I work from home sporadically, so it concerned me I could've been home when it happened. The building has a key FOB system, which is secure enough. When I called the property manager to make her away of a break-in her first instinct was to say "our staff would never" which was odd. I wasn't accusing anyone, just making her aware. I got a "we're so sorry" but nothing more. No e-mail to the community stating a burglary had occurred in a "secure building" and no offer to help the detective assigned to the case. It was a strategic break-in and one specific thing had been stolen during the workday. I would've given them 4-stars had the burglary been handled better by property management--I worked in property management myself and that is something I'd take personally if one of my properties was robbed. I get that it happens (especially in Baltimore) and could have been a variety of people or factors--it's the response that was a huge let down.

Initially decent, if you're a student looking for somewhere to live for a year or 9 months this might be your place. If you are looking for something long-term look elsewhere. Maintenance is slow to respond to requests. It took two months and three requests to respond to an issue. Utility bill is always suspiciously high, I travel quite a bit and am very conservative with my water usage, but my bill almost always exceeds my friends that live in the area. Theft within the building has been an issue and the property management has done nothing to make resident property more secure. Property management is also very hard to contact. If you are lucky enough, they stop responding when you raise an issue.

I've loved here for two years. The repair people are nice. The leasing office, located down the street, never responds by email and always seems to be out when you stop in. The front door beeps incessant every 10 seconds or so, which keeps me awake. Furthermore, while the overall location is ok, there's no available parking and tennants of this building don't qualify for street parking. I've also had my car broken into twice in the time I've lived here. Property management chargest a random fee for AC and the utility company that is responsible for metering and billing our usage (EMS) is always behind in bills. For the past half year or so all of my bills say "water read system is down, usage based on known history". My water bill and as bill always seem to be higher than they should be (both billed by EMS) while my electric usage (through BGE) is more appropriate and what I expect.

In the dead of winter, we lost heat for 16 days, during which we had two separate snow storms. For two and a half weeks, I had to hound our property manager to schedule a repair. It took PMC four days to bring us more than one space heater (for a large, two bedroom apartment). Because it was so cold, my roommate and I would wake up in the middle of the night to switch the space heater between the two bedrooms. It was unbelievable. After 4 separate unsuccessful visits from the HVAC contractor, they finally fixed the heat. A few months later, we then lost AC for the entire month of June. If you enjoy having your basic needs ignored, you'll love PMC.

At first we were really excited to move in, the apartments are really nice. It has granite counters and an open floor plan. Its not bad, just not amazing either. However, the balconies that the third floor share, are not very private. Not much you can do about it since the dividers are made of glass. Still not very comfortable sitting out there with your neighbor sitting about 20 ft away from you in clear sight. About a month after moving in we had to pay BGE for electricity and AC, but we received another bill from the management company for AC and water. No big deal at first normally because in most rentals you have to pay the basics (water, sewer, and trash) and usually for water the bill is about every three months or so. But this second bill came every month and it equaled or exceeded our electricity bill! We weren't aware that this expense came every month and we ended paying over 350 bucks a month for what should only be around $150 for water (every three months) and 70-100 bucks for electricity. There have been break in's on the first floor. The ceiling in our apartment right above the window has started cracking. In the summer time it has let in DOZENS of flies. Apparently, right after you send them your notice that you will not be renewing your lease they have the "right" to walk into your apartment at any time to show the apartment to future tenants without notice. This was absolutely unacceptable to us as every other place that we have ever rented out has, at the VERY LEAST, given us a call to let us know. I was walked in on unexpectedly one day and obviously displeased. They will call and harass you for a plastic parking permit to be returned to the office, but will not give one single call to let you know that they are planning on showing the apartment that day. For as much as you pay for the apartments, there is absolutely no parking. Sometimes they do a special where you get 6 months in their "parking garage" for free, but in reality the garage is 5 blocks away on the opposite side of the street from the apartment complex. Elevators are broken about 40% of the time. The key fobs used to get into the apartment don't work some of the time, and the call boxes are down normally after it rains. I had to wait around 15 minutes for someone to happen to be leaving the apartment building to get myself in.

These apartments are very nice and spacious with higher-end appliances. The building in general is well kept and maintained by staff, and in a great downtown location. The only issue we have had is with security in the building, which has been continuous over the past few months. Some crime is expected in the city, however the building management's failure to inform residents of ongoing burglaries (upwards of 5 incidents) and an armed robbery is disconcerting. In addition, their lack of any action to resolve this problem is felt as a lack of compassion for their residents. Hopefully they can make the necessary adjustments so that thier residents feel safe again. In the meantime I would avoid living here if possible.

Hi, I'd just like to post a warning for the people looking to live in this place, DON'T DO IT, there have been many issues with safety in the building, pakages have been stolen to the point that UPS won't leave them on the pakage room, teenages have come into the building and pulled the fire alarm, homeless people get inside and open the pakages from the tenants and the cherry on top my unit was broken into this morning, yes some one came into the building and then into my unit and proceed to steal mora $2000 dolars worth of my property while the wife was sleeping so please think twice about renting in this forsaken place

Very spacious apartments with great rooftop deck and fitness center. Extremely responsive management, but be forewarned. The management company charges an undisclosed "HVAC usage fee" on top of the rent which averages around $200 a month. Quick access to the Jones Fall Expressway and many bars and resturants

First occupant in my apartment, great location, only downside is the parking situation or lack of parking