Great luxury apartment buildings in DC area?

[Anonymous]

Are there any good ones? Or do they all suck? We are looking for temporary housing.

[Anonymous]

In DC, Shaw neighborhood has a number of brand new options available. Whole Foods just opened too.

[Anonymous]

The Lockwood on the Hill is great. We're here as our house is being built, really calm and good amenities. People take off their masks when they are on the roof, but otherwise on in all indoor spaces. Staff is doing a good job of regular cleans and there is hand sanitizer all over.

Lots of retirees and young families in addition to your typical single 20/30s, as opposed to the more party-type buildings in Navy Yard and Shaw.

New Safeway across the street is ammmaaaazing.

[Anonymous]

They're pretty much all interchangeable, and amenities are no longer distinguishing factors during COVID (most common areas will be closed or severely restricted). Pick the apartment with the best square footage and layout for the price, close to places you need to be. Having a Whole Foods or Trader Joes on your block is an immeasurable convenience. Being a short walk from green space (legit ones like Rock Creek Park or the Anacostia River trails, not a neighborhood pocket park) should also be a priority.

[Anonymous]

Watergate

[Anonymous]

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/742694.page

[Anonymous]

Friends of ours stayed in The Apollo on H St when their home was being renovated - looked great! The roof deck spaces there are fantastic.

[Anonymous]

If this is for temporary housing, the key is to pick a building that was recently finished and isn't full yet. They are all the same, but they tend to age terribly, so the difference between 1-2 year old building building and a 10-year-old building will be a lot. When we lived at Senate Square, we watched it go from lovely and nice to kind of a shitshow, as all the grad students and other 20-somethings trashed the pool and let their dogs piss in the hallway and just generally didn't care.

Also, a newer building that isn't full often offers some nice deal-sweeteners. I had a friend who lived in one of the new building down near Nats Park and they got a 2K gift card and their amenities fee waived because the building needed to fill up.

For newer buildings, the Navy Yard, the Wharf, and Shaw are good options. There's also a couple things on H Street that are pretty recent. Make sure to pick a place with a pool!

[Anonymous]

I was the poster about the Lockwood, but seconding prioritizing an outdoor space--especially during COVID. Most of the amenity spaces are open with some restricted use (but since the building is basically brand new and not close to capacity they are crowded anyways, we're always surprised to see other people) but just having your own space is good for health in a variety of ways, I think.

A word of strong caution by someone who lived in some of the luxury buildings in Navy Yard years ago--both that area and (I'd bet) the Wharf will be party central. A friend lives in Navy Yard (where I lived for years as well) and she says even now the pools are party central and full of young 20-somethings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the poster about the Lockwood, but seconding prioritizing an outdoor space--especially during COVID. Most of the amenity spaces are open with some restricted use (but since the building is basically brand new and not close to capacity they are crowded anyways, we're always surprised to see other people) but just having your own space is good for health in a variety of ways, I think.

A word of strong caution by someone who lived in some of the luxury buildings in Navy Yard years ago--both that area and (I'd bet) the Wharf will be party central. A friend lives in Navy Yard (where I lived for years as well) and she says even now the pools are party central and full of young 20-somethings.

Sorry, are you saying the outdoor spaces are not crowded? We were considering the Wharf, but now I'm not so sure!

[Anonymous]

The Somserset is quite nice. Not sure if you’re looking for more than a gym, party room, and concierge though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Somserset is quite nice. Not sure if you’re looking for more than a gym, party room, and concierge though.

No, not worried about amenities. Just a place that's not run down and full of loud, partying 20 year old's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the poster about the Lockwood, but seconding prioritizing an outdoor space--especially during COVID. Most of the amenity spaces are open with some restricted use (but since the building is basically brand new and not close to capacity they are crowded anyways, we're always surprised to see other people) but just having your own space is good for health in a variety of ways, I think.

A word of strong caution by someone who lived in some of the luxury buildings in Navy Yard years ago--both that area and (I'd bet) the Wharf will be party central. A friend lives in Navy Yard (where I lived for years as well) and she says even now the pools are party central and full of young 20-somethings.

This is a really good point. You want a building that is mostly professionals, not students (including grad students or people a year or so out of school). An alarming number of people in these buildings think these are just luxury dorms.

You have to be wary of the Wharf because it's the "newest" of all these neighborhoods and it's pricy, so you get a lot of young arrogant jerks there. I would argue that Navy Yard has cooled off just enough to not be like that anymore, though this PP is correct that it was very much like this a few years ago. Try to tour the building on a Saturday or Sunday -- you'll get a better sense of what it's like, especially in the rooftop and pool areas.

How long are you planning on staying? I would expect Covid to tamp down some of the worst behavior at some of these places, but if you will be there more than 6 months, you might want to ask around about specific buildings because the post-Covid partying is going to be worse than ever.

[Anonymous]

The more expensive it is, the less partiers.

The reason the Senate Square building became 'run-down' is because the owners literally let AirBnBers use it for nightly rentals and the local college had some kind of deal turning it into a freshman dorm.

https://www.popville.com/2018/07/it-is-a-frustrating-game/

To put it simply, Senate Square one-bedrooms start at $1.7K. Hepburn one-bedrooms start at $2.9K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was the poster about the Lockwood, but seconding prioritizing an outdoor space--especially during COVID. Most of the amenity spaces are open with some restricted use (but since the building is basically brand new and not close to capacity they are crowded anyways, we're always surprised to see other people) but just having your own space is good for health in a variety of ways, I think.

A word of strong caution by someone who lived in some of the luxury buildings in Navy Yard years ago--both that area and (I'd bet) the Wharf will be party central. A friend lives in Navy Yard (where I lived for years as well) and she says even now the pools are party central and full of young 20-somethings.

This is a really good point. You want a building that is mostly professionals, not students (including grad students or people a year or so out of school). An alarming number of people in these buildings think these are just luxury dorms.

You have to be wary of the Wharf because it's the "newest" of all these neighborhoods and it's pricy, so you get a lot of young arrogant jerks there. I would argue that Navy Yard has cooled off just enough to not be like that anymore, though this PP is correct that it was very much like this a few years ago. Try to tour the building on a Saturday or Sunday -- you'll get a better sense of what it's like, especially in the rooftop and pool areas.

How long are you planning on staying? I would expect Covid to tamp down some of the worst behavior at some of these places, but if you will be there more than 6 months, you might want to ask around about specific buildings because the post-Covid partying is going to be worse than ever.

Because it's more expensive, the Wharf's a bit older than Navy Yard, I think, and is quieter. On weeknights/during COVID, it's pretty quiet along there. WHen there's a show at Anthem, the neighborhood is busy, but I don't know about the rentals. This building, a block back from the river is geared more towards older, transient renters and may be a good bet. https://www.banksdc.com/ You could also look for a rental in one of the condos/coops in SW - they tend to skew older and quieter and the older buildings (Tiber Island, Carrolsburg Condo, Harbour Square and River Park) generally come with a good amount of outdoor/green space.