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Old 12-26-2014, 07:09 PM
 
Location: Anchorage, Alaska (most of the time)
1,226 posts, read 3,635,381 times
Reputation: 1934

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The McKinley Tower is both amazing and quite bad. It all depends. (4 years of experience)


If you are looking for apartments that are really nicely kept up with and newly renovated, the McKinley Tower is perfect. Hence why I'm still there. But if the reviews you've found mentions anything about "Miss Linda" take head - she IS still here! I found review after review before moving in that stated the same as me - love the apartments, but can't stand Miss Linda and that's why they moved out. I thought she was long gone when I moved in (the reviews were all over 5 years old at the time and since there were so many of them I assumed they had terminated her position. Oh I was wrong - she is the sister-in-law of the owner. Good luck firing her. And she lives on my floor, yay!)

The rents have gone up lately, and the owner (he's a really nice guy, we always talk whenever I meet him) says that they will gradually continue to go up. The rent is already pretty high (not for Alaska, I will add though, sorry folks but it's true), so that is a minus.

The parking is awesome though - I have two cars and one of them has it's own designated spot so no trouble finding parking. The overflow is almost never full so even if you have friends or family over that would be no problem.
(If you live there long enough, or are willng to pay $35/month, or if you manage not to annoy Miss Linda for any reason, you can also get your designated spot in the downstairs covered garage. It is also being built in to be made secure - it is Downtown - and should be done this winter sometime. I'm not there because Miss Linda has for whatever reason disliked me since day one and has only offered me the worst spot possible - the one that gets run into every Winter by cars coming in a bt too fast. She doesn't like women in general - I have made friends with several women in the building and we all share the same experience, but the men we know do not.)


The building is so-called "secure", but we have had plenty of "domestic" issues with drunk military guys trying to break down doors in the middle of the night or just causing problems, so that secure thing I no longer believe in. I have a gun and a bat by my bed and I block the door with a piece of furniture at night just in case.
Also, it is a hud-approved building with quite a few "weird" people living in it now. Most of my friends live in the Valley and have some weird antics, but nothing like a few of the people I've met recently in the elevator.

The main thing nowadays that annoys alot of us residents is all of the "mandatory" this-and-that inspections. In my job I meet a lot of people from different professions that are related to real estate and the laws of renting, and everyone has told me that there is no such thing as all of the "mandatóry" inspections that Miss Linda claims are demanded from the city of Anchorage or the State of Alaska. For three months there was an inspection on my floor and two others every two weeks. They were all "city mandated" and were supposed to inspect very basic and important features of the apartment building and its apartments, yet it only ever happened on the same 3 floors.
(No one on our floors believes that - there's a rumour that they thought someone was growing pot and that they were trying to catch them.)
The mandatory inspections have calmed down, but they still happen every 3 months, so be prepared to keep your apartment clean at all times just in case if you decide to move in - they only announce them 24 h in advance.


All in all, I still live there so clearly if you understand how Anchorage works in general and what renting in this fine city is like normally, the McKinley Tower is pretty good. I cannot complain about the quality of my apartment. I love it. The view is amazing and the location is perfect.
However, I have experience with renting outside of Alaska and in another country where what goes on in the building would be cause for shutting it down. I have been told by several neighbours that "this is how it is in America" and that I am oversensitive due to what I am used to from "back home", so please make your own judgement. Like I said, I still live there and intend to do so for a while longer.


One thing to really consider though is if you want to be in a high rise when there is an earthquake - that 6.24 shook that building quite a lot especially on the higher floors.

Last edited by Sweden; 12-26-2014 at 07:15 PM.. Reason: Me and my keyboard cannot agree on what letters to use in what order
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Old 12-29-2014, 06:47 PM
 
2,025 posts, read 4,140,962 times
Reputation: 2534
There is the story about the lady who was living on the top floor who almost found herself being flung out of the windows during the 64 quake. The building was swaying that much, and every sway put her closer to the window....
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Old 12-30-2014, 11:25 AM
 
Location: Naptowne, Alaska
15,603 posts, read 39,654,137 times
Reputation: 14881
There never is a quake when I'm there. I'm always on flat ground or on the boat for the good ones.
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Old 01-02-2015, 12:00 PM
 
Location: Anchorage, Alaska (most of the time)
1,226 posts, read 3,635,381 times
Reputation: 1934
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rance View Post
There never is a quake when I'm there. I'm always on flat ground or on the boat for the good ones.
I wish I had been! The 6.24 made it really difficult walking up there and getting out. Of course it was my ONE day off! It was traumatizing, be glad you weren't there.
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Old 01-02-2015, 10:36 PM
 
Location: Anchorage
134 posts, read 193,767 times
Reputation: 130
I've lived in 2 apartment complexes in Anchorage. Weidner has a bad reputation for a REASON. They lie to get you in, then do all they can to not only keep your deposit, but charge you more for what was considered usual wear and tear when you move in, but charge you for it when you leave. Then threaten to ruin your credit unless you pay it. They say they have a quiet complex and will talk to the neighbors when they get out of hand, but when you move in and the neighbors do make noise they say you just have an empty apartment. There is so much more, but I'm not taking up this space for it, and I don't want to bring up any more bad thoughts. Anyway, there are tons of reviews that have lots of horror stories about the greedy weidner empire. The other complex I lived in was owned by PacRim properties. I had a wonderful manager on site, and a wonderful manager at the main office. The apartment was older, but worked great in a great location. I hated leaving but needed something bigger, and an upstairs neighbor was psycho. My next move I plan on being to some land to build my own place, I'm done with psychos in apartments, besides rude/lying/etc staff. At the price I paid for a 2 bedroom at Weidner, I could have rented a house. Keep doing what you're doing, and watch the seasonal rates, craigslist, reviews, etc. good luck, there's lots of scams too, pictures don't always tell the whole story.
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