Which N. Arlington garden apartments are clean and safe? (Alexandria: leasing, condos)

[goldenshell84]

My husband and I moved to Arlington quickly for his job and ended up renting an apartment sight unseen. We were pretty "burned" by the whole experience. We ended up going with a high-rise building in a great location with good reviews, and the rental office lied to us. They offered us a newly renovated apartment for $150 more (via the phone) and we accepted. We got here and the apartment was NOT newly renovated. After months of going back and forth about what constituted a renovated apartment, they admitted that they had made a "mistake" and they had placed us in an apartment that was not renovated despite charging us for the renovated apartment. Anyway, long story short, they are giving us the opportunity to break our lease with no penalty.

The more we think about it, the more we'd like to be in North Arlington around Ballston/Clarendon/Courthouse/Rosslyn, but we do not need to be walking distance from the metro as neither of us use it on a daily basis. If we were, that would be great, but there is no point in paying more for it. We also need at least two parking spots. There are many garden apartments off of Lee Highway, especially near Clarendon, that look fine, and also near Ballston. It looks like you can get a 2 bedroom for around 1600-1700 per month in these locations. However, my concern is that I have been reading a lot about the safety and cleanliness (roaches, etc and 10 immigrants crammed into one bedroom apartments, making a ton of noise).

My friend lives in a garden apartment in the Palisades managed by Borger, and I am trying to find something just like this. It's nothing fancy but it's nice, upgraded (not SS/granite but still nice), her neighbors are working professionals, and it's clean. I would move here in a heartbeat if the location worked for us.

Can anyone recommend specific garden apartments in North Arlington like this? We do NOT want to have to worry about safety/bugs/cleanliness. Some we have seen (that we are iffy about) are: Ballston Gardens, Ft. Strong Apts, etc).

Thank you!

[Carlingtonian]

Honestly, you might consider renting a house. More parking, less noise, and probably cleaner than anything else. I know there's a house for rent on Wilson at maybe Greenbrier Street; you'd get some traffic noise from Wilson but not much late at night. There are surely plenty of others. You could probably rent a 2-bedroom house for $2,000/month if you look hard enough on Craigslist--which is about what a nice 1BR apartment would cost you.

The problem with the garden apartments is that there aren't that many that are very nice. They've torn most of them down because the land values got so high while the buildings got dowdy and in need of repair.

That said, you could try Colonial Village in Arlington. Near Rosslyn and near GW Parkway--they look great to me. I don't know about the parking, though.

I don't think any of the apartments on Lee Highway between say Lorcom and Quincy would be dirty, infested, or otherwise problematic. I used to take the 3Y bus down Lee into DC, and the people coming from the apartments to the bus stop seemed to be regular professional people. But those are sort of mid-rise apartments.

You could also see if there are rental units available in the Chatham condo building, at George Mason and Route 50. We used to live there; there's a lot of parking. Again, it's a mid-rise (about 8 stories).

[Home_Kid]

if you could find it, i would go for a house if it were same or just above what you were looking to spend on the apt. maybe a private leasing agency could help?

i looked at Riverside in Alexandria...... imho, a dump for the prices they wanted (and my standards for an apt are not that high).

[mshan242709]

Don't know if these meet your precise critieria, but these places seem to always be recommended on computer forum I frequent (lots of people live in No VA there):

Schlosberg Properties -- The Barton House, Arlington VA

Virginia Management - Potomac Towers

http://www.ballstonpark.com/s/homepage is also supposed to be decent.

Here is what one person on computer forum said:

"Get on the waiting list for the Barton House Apartments. Best deal in town. If you can't get there, consider Potomac Towers (2001 N. Adams St). The building is recently renovated and the apartments are nice for the money. One side of the building has an unbeatable view of DC.

You generally get what you pay for in Arl/Alex. Visit everything you're considering and have a look at the neighborhood. I personally wouldn't live on Columbia Pike west of Glebe Rd, but it's cheaper there. As far as Old Town Alexandria goes, the neighborhoods can change quickly, especially further north.

If you want a safer bet, narrow to North Arlington or the heart of Old Town. You'll pay more, but you'll be closer to the metro and generally in better neighborhoods. I realize I'm generalizing here, but if you're from out of town, these generalizations are useful until you've had time to settle in and get your own impressions of the area.

If you're commuting to Alexandria, your reverse routes are basically from points north. Arlington or DC. You can live much cheaper to the south, but since the morning rush goes north, you're F'ed.

The best advice I can give you if you're new to the area is to live inside the beltway and near the metro. Maybe spend a little more (if you can afford it) on a one year lease and consider whether you want to move further out."

I think he also said you need to probably go up to about $1800 in Arlington to get building that is not filled with just out of college people. Also said rents can drop $200 - $300 during slower times closer to winter, though it sounds like you can't wait that long.

You can also get general survey of condos and townhome rentals here: http://condo1.com/leasing.asp