The Piazza

Management has ZERO compassion and flexibility if you need to make any changes to your lease terms. We've lived in the Piazza complex for two years when we had a baby. As the baby became more mobile, it became clear that there are multiple hazards that make the apartment unlivable for a toddler. We had renewed our lease multiple months prior as we didn't anticipate these issues. Management refused to make any exceptions to the lease termination terms. I don't know what I expected from a large soulless corporation - all they care about is getting the most money possible, squeezing thousands of dollars from us because they know we won't risk the health and safety of our toddler. Hope nothing terrible ever happens to you that requires any sort of human empathy or compassion.

Expect double digit (19%) increase to monthly payments when you go to renew (with no renovations or upgrades), constant unanswered emails from management, packages stolen with management admitting to removing them from package room to the center of the piazza, and of course plumbing issues (leaks/floods). Total disregard for resident concerns, especially when they give you 5 days notice in middle of winter to vacate your covered garage. Construction not the best either considering an infant was nearly severely injured at the pool last summer from overhead items falling down. Only good thing about this place is the location and new facilities.

Don’t. It’s terrible. The constant construction makes living there unbearable, and if you’ve seen the latest renderings for the “piazza terminal,” or whatever, the construction is never going to stop. Management doesn’t care about you. At all. The construction was so loud, and so unruly that I went to the management office to complain. I politely told them that the construction workers were often screaming obscenities and slurs in the hallways, on top of the construction sounds; there was a banana peel left on the floor of the stairwell for weeks; there’s graffiti in spots of the interior of the building. It’s all WELL below my definition of a luxury apartment. Management’s response? “It’ll be nice when the construction is done!” Thanks, but my unit isn’t being renovated, and the hallways were just fine the way they were. Don’t. Just, don’t. There are higher value places all around NoLibs and Fishtown.

I loved living here until we got new owners. My door handle broke and wouldn’t lock. After submitting multiple maintenance requests and calling the emergency maintenance hotline I was told that it wasn’t an emergency. So I had to sleep through the weekend with a door that wouldn’t lock. Very unacceptable. Not worth the price.

DO NOT MOVE HERE! Constant construction (extremely unlivable if you have a dog or are able to work from home at all- my dog barks constantly due to the noise, and I can only take calls in my bathroom due to the construction noise when I am working at home). Management is not helpful in any way. Package system has extreme flaws. Out of the last 6 amazon prime packages I ordered, only two were found in a timely manner (other 4 were either found in the package room over a week later or were returned to sender). Managements response to my package room complaints were to get my packages delivered to my place if work. On top of it all, I pay $150 for the parking garage. They just made renovations to that and I haven’t been able to access the garage (aka drive my car) for 3 days now due to their oversight. This place is garbage. They are also installing a pool in the middle of the piazza, so I don’t foresee the construction stopping anytime soon. So many better options. Be forewarned.

I've been living in this complex and didn't have issues until new management took over. We have had our apartment entered UNANNOUNCED twice now in just a 4 month span, one being while we are away. I have come home to the maintenance having left a mess throughout my apartment, the elevators haven't worked according to code in months, and they just raised rent about $200 a month. I will not be staying.

I'll begin with the things I'll miss the most, my apartment. I used to live in the Erbe building, and it was 1) an incredible space and 2) very reasonably priced compared to the rest of NoLibs (and even Fishtown) for the value I was given. I moved in when parking was including, so I never had to "pay" to park. I did lose parking for about a month in 2016 when my parking lot suddenly became off limits, but they resolved that as timely as they could which I was grateful for. I also had the greatest view of Center City that made my friends and family insanely jealous, though my downstairs lost the view due to the building across the street. No fault to the Schmidt Commons, but it was the one thing that always stunk. I also loved the fact how dog-friendly the area is. I brought home over a year ago a 9-week-old English Bulldog, now fully grown, who had the best puppyhood. The fact a dog park was on the property and all the businesses were so dog-friendly made it a blast. Location, location, location was a huge plus. El Camino became my go-to spot. Urban Village is incredible. The fact there is a WeWork downstairs! I also ended up going car-less while living here, so the ease to the El on Girard (and Spring Garden) made life a-okay for me (and ended up saving me money vs. car payment, car insurance, gas, tolls, parking, oil changes, etc). The team at the Schmidt Commons were always good to me. Maintenance was super friendly and helpful. Leasing office always was friendly and loved my dog. They would also protect my packages if I weren't able to get it; which is great vs. having it in the hallway for someone to randomly take. Perhaps best of all, I had some great neighbors who have become lifelong friends. I moved into this area knowing no one and ended up with many friends from my time in the Erbe building. The only things I'd encourage the Schmidt Commons to improve on is their online billing system (auto-pay never worked for me, and I would make monthly payments just to find out weeks later it didn't go through even though it was successful) and to focus on fixing the elevators. It seemed every week at least one elevator is broken, and they take forever to go up only five floors (you start to think you live in a skyscraper by how long it takes to go up and down). Again, nit-picking there; but nothing to complain about.

I chose my title based on my primary grievance with the apartment, in that the sound proofing is rather poor. You can clearly hear everything that occurs outside the building, which is a nuisance when the Piazza, which is where the apartment faces, has an event, there is a drunk couple arguing after closing time at one of the bars below, or when skateboarders want to practice their tricks at 4am. Additionally, cooks beware, as the kitchen space is limited to that more suited for a studio-sized apartment. The appliances are very pristine and modern, but that doesn't help the inability to find a place to chop and arrange your utensils while preparing the usual meal. Finally, plan to be reminded on a daily basis that you live amongst filthy and irresponsible residents, as you will find debris and spills with smells anywhere such as in the trash/recycling room, and in the staircase.