Parc View Apartments

I recently moved out of Parc View Arlington. I had a horrible experience with the current management group of the property (Gates Hudson). It started when I first visited the apartment complex. I was quoted a particular price and was told the price was guaranteed if I filled out an application that day, which I did. Upon receiving the offer letter, the amount I was quoted was raised over $200 per month. I was furious and contacted the manager (which has since changed), and was told nothing could be done, but I was given 1/2 month's rent as a concession and decided to move in. We worked out the calculation in her office so that the concession would be pro-rated, I setup auto-pay. All is well at this point right? Wrong. After 6 months of continually paying on time via auto-pay, I log on to their portal and I see that the concession was never applied, I had been charged late fees, and the late fees were compounding on each other. The manager agreed to apply the concession and remove the late fees. All fixed now? Wrong again. The concession was finally applied but the late fees were never removed, and of course the current manager left and a new manager came in. I went to the new manager to address the issue and I was told to put it in an email and send to him to be sent to Gates Hudson management. Cool, except I never heard anything back on the matter, and I decided to let it go and chalked it up to a learning lesson. I wish that was the end of the story, but its not. I go through the process of moving out, and recently discovered I am being charged for carpet replacement. The carpet was one year old (replaced prior to me moving in) and was in great condition, so why I am I being charged for something that wasn’t according to my lease agreement? For what it’s worth, the apartment is in a nice location and reasonable for the size, but I would NEVER live here again as long as Gates Hudson is managing it.

(I was a previous resident of Parc View Arlington, May 2021 - May 2022). Gates Hudson is the company that manages Parc View Arlington. I need to warn any prospective renters about this place - the management is incredibly spotty and highly unethical. Do not be fooled (as we were) by friendly leasing agents. On the day my roommate and I were supposed to sign and move in to our unit, the manager raised our rate by $250 a month. We had in writing (by Parc View) and confirmed by phone AND email a specific rate, yet when it came time to move-in, they did not honor this agreement. Of course - we were already stuck because we had informed our last place we were vacating and had reserved a truck to move that weekend. They offered free parking as an incentive to sign the lease (confirmed this in writing too) - we never received it. The unit was also not sufficiently cleaned when we moved in. They overcharged our first month of rent for $100 over what was in our lease (which was already $250 more a month than what we thought). When we asked the manager about it, he said “I didn’t know $100 meant that much to you”. I had to go to Parc View’s management company to get this $100 credit back. It’s an older building, so things frequently break - we had several water shut offs and AC outages. The AC outage took several hot summer days to fix. There was also a major leak in our roof (water was dropping from ceiling) that was not fixed for days. Calls/emails to management have gone completely unanswered (or unanswered for days). The utilities are billed as a flat rate, which appears to be “above market” what you would expect to pay for gas, electricity, water, etc. Last but not least - they charge a “cleaning fee” to move out. This fee is not mentioned anywhere in the lease or when you move-in, and they took it from our security deposit. Not a lawyer - but this doesn’t seem legal and definitely is not standard practice for renting. All in all - save your time, money, and sanity, and look elsewhere. The units may be nice but have been poorly renovated. You’ll notice it in your first week if you move in. There are likely much better apartment buildings in the area that are newer and more ethical than Parc View Arlington. Unfortunately, this speaks incredibly poorly about their management company, Gates Hudson, as well.

My boyfriend and I lived here for a year (14mo lease) and until I was late-accepted to graduate school our experience was great. Jorge was the shining star of this place. He does all the maintenance and over the time we were there, he fixed our dishwasher when it broke, our oven when there was a horrible gas smell, and the fact that somehow this apartment had no screen doors to the balcony. All fixes were done within 24hours of putting in the request. Overall despite the lack of luxury and fees for pets/parking, we were actually really happy here until we had to move. Mostly due to the location and the ease with which we were able to park after work and enjoy the benefits of living so close to Pentagon City/Crystal City. NOW TO THE BAD STUFF Despite being good tenants, we were not treated with respect or honesty when we made the decision to move out of state. Our lease was ending in 30 days and I had literally just been accepted to graduate school out of state. My BF and I decided we would move and immediately informed the office of our plans. A couple days later we were informed that we had not complied with their rule to give 60 days notice and there was a fee associated with this. Were we ever told of such a fee? Were we ever sent an email or warned "if you don't give us notice on X day you will be charged X amount" NO they did not. So I think to myself: okay that's fair we did only give them 30 days and i'm thinking we will pay $100-500 as a fee. HA. HA. jokes on me because they had the nerve to email us stating that we owe them OVER $1800 JUST FOR THIS LATE NOTICE FEE. I couldn't even believe my eyes. This is a poor excuse for a management company that has the nerve to charge someone MORE than a months rent (including all parking pet rent utilities) for not giving 60 days notice. we DID NOT break our lease early! We simply informed them 30 days beforehand that we would not renew once our lease ended (our last DC apartment required 30 days). This alone completely ruined any good experiences I had at this place and is the reason I will use all other forums to warn anyone from giving any more money to this place. Moral of my unfortunate story: this place is not worth the headache or the consistent charges for ridiculous things. Sadly, before this happened I was prepared to right a great review but to me charging someone a ridiculous fee like this without warning is unforgivable and SO unnecessary.

When I was looking for an apartment I had the usual list of priorities: close to Metro, convenient to shopping and restaurants, and reasonable rent. There are some great places in the area that met all my needs. I initially started looking at The Point at Arlington Park because it's all inclusive rent (utilities, water, trash) was consistently lower by several hundred dollars than other properties. The parking fee ($50) was also lower. The building is a little older and lacks some of the flash of other nearby places but is in a unique and amazing location. To the south and west is a nice residential neighborhood. To the north is Virginia Highlands Park, a beautiful green-space with tennis, basketball, soccer fields, a playground, and very nice walking/running trails. To the east is the Aurora Hills Branch Library. Within about 5 blocks there are numerous eateries, shops, dry cleaners, a Harris Teeter grocery. My walk from the apartment to being on the platform for the Pentagon City Metro is about 9 minutes. The Crystal City Metro station is about 12 minutes if you wish to go towards Alexandria. The staff here is very friendly and helpful. The grounds are well maintained, snow and ice are quickly dealt with, the maintenance requests I have had have been dealt with in one day (and really fixed with no half measures). The management company recently renovated the ground floor corridor which looks great. With our initial lease coming up for renewal my wife and I talked about relocating and came to the conclusion that we really like it here and are going to stay for a while. We just signed up for another year. I felt I had to rate it a "5" if I couldn't find anything better for our purposes. In the interest of full disclosure, I think it is important to point out a few things that might be less than perfect. We live in one of the Barcroft floor plans. The location of the heating and cooling radiator in the living room made it a challenge to place furniture. The master (larger) bedroom has one wall dedicated to a large closet which gives you plenty of room for clothes but takes away a wall where you might otherwise place a dresser or TV. The building is a little older so some of the wood trim is a little nicked and beaten up and there is very little you might call fancy about the apartment itself (a reasonable trade-off for lower rent in my opinion).

Overall, a good building that has been working to improve since going under new management. Pros: The price is a great deal for the area and has a great location. Gym is usually empty and has a TV. There is bike storage, but not quite enough. Beautiful view from our balcony overlooking the park. Lots of storage in the unit. The club room is great for larger get-togethers. The management makes an effort to have resident socials, which can be fun. The park is undergoing renovation but will be back open soon with new basketball and tennis courts! Cons: Leasing office closes earlier than posted time on most days. Heat/air conditioning is central and the transition has not been timed well. Maintenance staff will sometimes enter the apartment without giving notice. Fob keys often won't work on some doors.

Overview: A great deal and very convenient, as long as the drawbacks aren't deal-breakers for you. Pros: Cheap for the area. Convenient to the metro (2 blocks to Pentagon City Station). Literally next door to the library and park. Short walk to groceries and other shopping. Cons: Small maintenance issues keep popping up (leaking window, warped floorboards in hallway, etc.), maintenance staff fixes everything substantial in good time but purely cosmetic things take much longer. Recurring minor mouse problem, about once a year and they keep an exterminator on call who takes care of them quickly. Switching between heat and AC is centrally controlled, and it seems like they never time it just right. Guest parking is extremely limited. Other: Dog-friendly. New management bought the place less than a year ago and it remains to be seen what changes they will make.

As expected/advertised--clean and spacious with decent access to Metro--plenty of privacy. Decent price as well.

I have lived here for almost 5 years. I really have no big problems. The office staff is nice and keeps you abreast of all issues in the building. The maintenance staff is quick to respond and always does a good job. The only problem I have is that you can hear every noise made in the hallway and I wish the amenities were better. But other than that, it is a decent place. I have never seen a bug. They never enter your apartment without notice. They keep the place clean.

When you find a 1BD for around $1650 (including utilities and parking) that gives you walking access to the metro (8 minutes, 2 stops from DC), malls, Costco, public parks, libraries, grocery stores in the DMV region, YOU DO NOT HESITATE! The building might be a little old, but it is clean, and maintenance requests are responded to instantly. The only drawback is it does not have a freight elevator, which can be a pain if you want to move big pieces of furniture above the ground floor.