Andover House

Choose another place to live! There are plenty of options. We read reviews like this and ignored them, don’t be us. It’s a good location, the units and building will seem nice, the front desk people are great but the bad outweighs the good. There is never anyone in the leasing office to help you with anything. (Wonder why you’re doing a self guided tour) That would be fine with me in most buildings but something will break down in your unit here at least once a month maybe more, they must install appliances used and the water pipes in the building are falling apart, our hvac broke 3 times before it was actually fixed. We got the dreaded big water leak that seems to happen to everyone here and could not sleep in our unit for close to a week. The leasing office will never do anything for you, you are basically on your own to coordinate with the maintenance staff to get things fixed. They also require insurance because if anything happens to your unit you will be dealing with them to get any accommodations paid for. Your unit is unlivable for any reason? Sorry you’re still paying that rent! Like I said they are useless. The rent and extra fees here are not worth it for the service you get. I will never rent a building under UDR management again. I have dealt with a handful of other management teams and UDR is by far the worst.

good location but overpriced. Doing non-necessary upgrades which increases the rent (such as parcel pending, smart lock, fancy elevator..etc). The leasing office personel is not friendly when we need help.

I absolutely love living at Andover House! I’ve lived in the D.C. area for four years, and Andover House is by far the best apartment community I’ve lived. The leasing and concierge staff are extremely helpful and friendly. They are always so accessible and make an effort to get to know you and hear about your living experiences. Highly recommend Andover House as a place to live. Check it out!

Be aware! a month before the end of my lease I was asked to show my apartment which is occupied, to prospects. I received a call early Saturday morning, without prior notice, to tell me that they wanted to show my apartment. I refused, I had just woke up. My experience with any other buildings in DC is that no one would show your apartment when you are still in it. The leasing agent will tell you that it is part of the Handover House lease. The final blow was an inspection/visit of my apartment 10 days before my move. While I would have been fine with it. I only was made aware of the inspection, because someone left a paper on my kitchen counter. No mail or call... they just came in without any authorization. Overall the building is old, the amenities are limited. You cannot use the small rooftop terrace in Summer because it is full of cockroaches. heating and cooling are difficult to set at the right temperature as it is an old thermostat. The leasing office responsiveness, once you decided to leave, is close to zero. Last but not least, you can find the Handover House on Expedia for short term stays, so don't be surprise if the lobby looks more like an hotel at time. You can get way better for your money...

Think twice before signing a lease here. There are a lot of great options around 14th street which are much better. There are a lot of things that don't work in this building. 1. Maintenance issues: be ready to get things fixed three or four times before you can actually say that it was fixed. 2. A large number of new faces circulated in the leasing and management office. None of them took responsibility for the decisions of their predecessors. For example, one person at some point had the idea to build a room for bicycles and then the next person who came claimed that it was too expensive to build. Some bikes were stolen so they installed new racks but most of the reasonable buildings on 14th street have a secured area with fob access for bikes. This is not very expensive to make (don't be fooled). There are cameras in the garage and nobody even tried to get more information about the stolen bikes. 3. There were reports of cars which were broken into the garage. The garage door is broken more often than not and on those occasions anyone can enter. There isn't really a concierge 24 hours. 4. One time I found (a really nice Tiffany) neckless in the floor and immediately gave it to the concierge. They never sent an email asking for the owner. When we asked if they found the owner they seemed not to understand what we were talking about. They said that the owner never showed up to ask for a missing item. 5. When you move out they will try to rip you off. I lived in a luxurious building for real before moving to Andover house and things worked out very differently. The funny part is that when I moved in at Andover house there were even nails on the walls (painted on top). They will rip you off at the move out but don't expect to find the apartment in amazing conditions when you move in. 6. They made some improvements over the years but given the number of new buildings around 14th street, the quality of the apartments doesn't compare. 7. They showed our unit while we still had some stuff inside. They gave us less than a 24 hour notice but we still agreed with the showing of the unit. We asked them to be conscious that we couldn't be there but we had stuff inside. To our complete surprise after showing the unit they left ALL LIGHTS ON, the air conditioner ON and the door UNLOCKED. We went to the unit 3 days after to collect the stuff we left and found this unacceptable surprise! I don't recommend you to let them show your unit if you are not there.

Whatever you do, DO NOT sign a lease here. I signed a year lease with Andover sight unseen because I had to quickly move to DC last year. If the building wasn't so remarkably over priced, I would be able to deal with all the issues I've had. I should have known better when I saw their incredibly restrictive 20 page lease. (Beware of any UDR property). - poor quality appliances. Garbage disposal took a couple of fixes before the sink would stop backing up even with it running. Fridge motor is so loud it wakes me up at night. Dish washer absolutely does not clean dishes. - Plumbing issues. Water has been shut off in the building numerous times over the year. The bathtub clogs regularly (and I have very short hair). Kitchen sink backs up if even an errant noodle gets down the drain. - Stinch. The garbage bins are close to the lobby. So any time it's relatively warm out, you are greeted to the odor of rotting trash. - During my walk through when I moved out the staff member told me the carpet the carpet would be replaced. A month after moving out, not only did they keep my full deposit, but charged me $160 to replace the carpet. The carpet was definitely not dirty. - Service requests. Each time I haven't been home for a request something annoying has happened. One time I had some belongings in their way unknowingly, so they literally tossed them all across my apartment. Another time they tracked dirt all over my floor. Another time they changed the calking on my tub that was peeling off and just left it all in the tub. - Billing. They tack on charges for every possible service. I've had like random amounts like 42 cents added for bug spraying. Not sure why this annoys me so much. They also have a ridiculous late fee. I'm meticulous about paying rent early. But happened was late one month. I believe the fee was over $100. UDR is not customer focused at all. - Other issues. The doors on all the apartments are old and loud. Any time that someone within a few apt radius comes home or leaves, your apartment will shake. Apartments on the street side have street noise so loud you can't sleep. There's essentially no roof deck. Three times someone came to show my apartment without sending email notice. You'll notice they pay people to stand outside with signs to attract attention. There's a reason they can't keep the building leased when ever other building in the neighborhood is at capacity. Awful management and awful facilities.

Most important at a Class A property is how the staff handles the residents--even the unreasonable ones. You will not find a more accommodating staff than those at Andover House. Jenn, Jamil, Ms. Janice, Ryan, Carlos, Al, and Raoul--GREAT to have them as caretakers and managers and concierges! I have lived here since June 2011. I am NOT a UDR employee. -Main office people are professional and personable, but old worn lobby furniture in their office is overpowering. -NOT a fan of the new concierge desk design but I AM a HUGE fan of the 24x7 concierges! Carlos, Ryan, Ms. Janice, and a weekend lady are my faves! -GYM is newly renovated/enlarged. -Great modern building with a newly renovated party room (2 balconies, bar, fireplace, grill). New furniture and wood floor! 2 TVs! Fee for exclusively reserving is steep--they should require a steep deposit then return it after inspecting. -I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH THAT ALL (and I mean ALL) maintenance requests are handled within 24 hours or less. If there is an issue with fixes, the resident gets a note. -Pet fees are reasonable, but... There's a "pest fee" which is kind of a pest. Trash fees go up. Move in/out and amenities fees are high and unnecessary. -Lobby furniture is absolutely, 100%, undeniably hideous. This is NOT how a Class A building should look. I would rather see NO furniture than the Jetsons/Goodwill style decor they have now. I literally cannot stand looking at it. The snowflake chandeliers are okay. SOME INTERIOR DECORATOR OUT THERE HELP OUR LOBBY PLEEEEEEEZZ! -The new elevator lobby furniture is fabulous as is the 11th floor party room lobby. -The Starbucks coffee maker is nice. The business center is in the same room and could use a TV. The fax/printer has not worked in about 6 months, no kidding. If you have a business center, in a Class A building, things should WORK ALL THE TIME. NO excuses. -Yoga room is barely used-but I don't really look in there much. Nice for the FREE classes they offer. -There are resident events like Super Bowl Sunday with snacks and drinks!! -Building is QUIET and has quiet hours. College kids need not apply. While I agree with the negative comment about the building as being neglected in some areas, it excels in others--like the staff and quick responses-- HOWEVER, they need to step up a facelift to keep people from moving to the other, newer, buildings next door and within blocks that have better aesthetics, amenities, and prices.

I've been a resident at Andover House for 3 years (and signed up for a fourth). The location is great- walk to work downtown, and to the restaurants/bars on 14th. The building is well-maintained, and the staff is very prompt and helpful in responding to requests. The building also runs specials for parking, so can be a steal for the area if you can catch it at the right time (they advertise specials on a number of apartment-advertising sites). Pet-friendly, and they seem to be making an effort to build a community-feeling in the building with resident happy hours. Newly renovated gym and yoga studio are nice if you use them. The rent is comparable with other buildings in the area. Biggest downsides are no pool/rooftop, and a lot of the apartments face an inner courtyard where the loading dock and dumpsters are. Unless you're an early riser on Saturdays, make sure you're on a high floor if your apartment faces this way. The recycling gets picked up at about 7 on Thursdays and Saturdays, and can be pretty noisy.

Just want to shout out to my peeps (do people still do that?) at Andover House. I have lived there for 4 years --- BEST. staff. ever. --- Jenn, Ryan, Gail, Carlos, cleaning staff, maintenance staff, Miss Janice, Dorothea, Jamil, and (formerly) Emily (who got stolen by another UDR property). Very responsive to all resident requests and maintenance is done within 24 hours. You can't beat the 24 hour concierge staff---absolutely friendly and professional. Redecorated party room with two balconies, TVs, fireplace, and a grill is awesome. Upgraded gym and yoga room is great. Business center with Starbucks coffee is nice. Some not so good things: The lobby furniture desperately needs an upgrade -- looks like a hodge-podge from the thrift store.

We stayed in apartment 1207. It is very cheaply built out. The faucets in the bathroom leaked the entire time we were there. The dishwasher is so noisy you can't run it when you are home. The apartment was furnished. The bed was so cheap. The bed was very cheap. The best part of this apartment is the coffee machine on the second floor. It was not worth the monthly rent. We left after two months.

If you want the ultimate location in DC, Andover is an awesome choice. Compared to other apartment buildings in the Logan Circle neighborhood, Andover definitely has the biggest apartments for the money (relative, of course.) This being said, we have way less amenities, so they don't charge for them. The gym is pretty mediocre and we do not have a pool, which a lot of the other properties have. Our coffee bar is all right... but forget about the printer in the "business center" because it is never functioning properly. The 11th floor party room is really nice now that they re-modeled it. Overall the amenities are sub-par but to me I'd rather put my money into having a bigger living space. We can walk to just about anywhere and the McPherson metro is super close (.04 miles) and Dupont metro is about .7 away. We have an awesome Whole Foods 2 blocks away, tons of coffee shops, local restaurants and cafes.. it's the best. The location can't be beat. I wouldn't move for the world!

Great location, edge of the Logan Circle/U street neighborhoods as well as downtown. Quick walk to lots of great areas, restaurants and shops. Also a 10-15 min walk to the blue/orange/silver, red and green/yellow lines. We moved in three months ago, but so far we love living at Andover house. The concierge staff are great, particularly the weekday evenings. We frequently use the gym and yoga room and they are a great alternative to paying for a gym membership. We love our apartment, the walls are thick and we hardly hear our neighbors. The service calls are fulfilled quickly.

My wife and I lived here for just over two years (May 2013-July 2015). During that time, the building management let things get into a state of disrepair. Beyond that, the actual apartments received poor maintenance, especially if you were in one that had not yet been renovated. General building issues: -Front door handles frequently fall off. The most recent case the one door had no handle for the past 2 months -Trash accumulates in the individual trash rooms in the building for days -There is something wrong with the fire alarm system as it is constantly being tested, frequently into the evening to the great annoyance of the residents -There is an underground parking garage with an access control door. The door was broken and was left in the up position. Andover House waited more than two months to have the door repaired. During this time multiple cars were broken into, and more than 10 bicycles were stolen -Every use of every amenity seemingly comes with some sort of additional fee. -If you reserve the elevator for move in/out, or a delivery they will allow the same elevator to be double or triple booked and let the various residents work it out. Specific apartment issues: -Maintenance was slow to address the frequent issues with the dishwasher. In 2 years the dishwasher never worked right -Our water froze because maintenance had neglected to secure the utility door properly and we had no water for a day -There are custom track light bulbs - that the building does provide - but they burn out constantly, as in more than 20 light bulb requests per year The location for this building is great, but there are a lot of other buildings in the area with similar price points. If we had to do it all over we would've chosen one of the 10 buildings within 5 square blocks of there.

I rent a spacious 2 BR 2 BA apartment in the Andover House and have for many years. The staff is incredibly nice and responsive. Terrific amenities. Large garage with open parking. Great location close to Whole Foods and tons of restaurants.