Ava Ballston Square

This is by far the WORST rental experience I've ever had - and I've lived in quite a few apartments. The leasing office has been extremely rude throughout my 1 year lease and the agency does NOT comply with the terms of their leases. They will find ways to charge you fees and penalties for things that are NOT in the lease you signed. They have changed their current lease to reflect these new penalties, but expect more penalties than even those. The only bright side is the wonderful people at the concierge desk. They are fantastic and so friendly. and 15% rent hike per year is INSANE. I would highly advise you LOOK ELSEWHERE. more

Immediately, I would advise anyone considering this building to LOOK ELSEWHERE. Having spent a year with Archstone, I can say that it is not worth the hassle, that the building is overpriced, that the quality of the rooms are sub-par, and that the management team purposefully trick you into paying completely unnecessary fees. Let me explain, as the leasing and management team is the most common complaint of this building. I lived there for 12 months, always being current with payments, never once late on a payment, never having any complaints raised against me, and keeping my room and hallway area clean and organized. I was a great tenant. 2 months prior to moveout, I went to speak with the leasing consultants as to when I needed to inform them I was moving out. They explicitly told me 30+ days, and no charges would be applied. Perfect I thought. So 42 days in advance, I gave my notice. The reason I asked is I was unsure of their policy. It was written in the lease, 20+ pages of text that as a reasonable human being I had no way of memorizing. They knew the lease backwards and forewords, so asking them should have given me the right information. Turns out, its a 60 day notice for moveout (which, if you look around, is one of the highest in the DC area). So, they essentially lied to me, and now forced me to pay 18 days of ""pro-rated"" rent. They admitted they told me the 30 days. They admitted that its 60 days for everyone. So why did they tell me the wrong information? To force me to pay fees. This is not an isolated incident. I chose this building as it seemed decent, but more importantly, I had a number of friends who lived there. They have had similar incidents brought upon them, and it is just completely foul of a company such as Archstone to use this practice to trick its tenants into paying large fees. Please, do NOT give Archstone your business! They are tricksters who do not practice fair housing standards. They continuously say they are unwilling to work with you on matters such as these, no matter who you are or how clean your record might be. I am in a much better building in the city where the management takes an active role in solving problems with its tenants! more

No? Then by all means continue searching because that is exactly what you will find at the Archstone Ballston Square apartments where Danielle and the ""management"" team will make sure that you are treated as exactly what you are...a rent check and nothing more. I would not recommend living here to anyone. After two years of fairly happy residence here (in which we were never late on rent and never caused any troubles for management, by the way), my fiancee and I are likely to leave our home after learning that the rent on our one bedroom apartment will go up $190/month this year due to ""the market"" or whatever the lame excuse was they gave me. What's more, we received the note about this rent increase on May 26 and have until June 6 to inform them if we'll be accepting the new rental rates in order to be in compliance with the 60-day move-out notice requirements. This is a fine building and we really like our apartment but the treatment we've been shown as long-term tenants is just lame, rude and a really lousy way to run an apartment building. Do not rent an apartment here unless you are able and willing to pay much more than your first year's rent in subsequent years. more

I had no problems with Archstone until they showed their true colors. With the current economy, we had inquired about average rent increases upon move-in. At that time we were told by a leasing agent 3-5% had been the average increase after the first year. Worst case scenario we had expected 8%. Imagine our surprise when they slid the letter under the door stating a whopping 15% increase in our rent after the first year. I went and talked to management. Rent increases normally don't soar much higher than current inflation rates. The average rent increase for Arlington in 2010 is 6.3% yet our increase is more than double. I also explained we had been great tenants and very understanding of multiple problems in the building (including a flood), yet this is how we are being repaid. We were even going to sign a new full-year lease. Management's response was that everyone up for renewal in September is looking at a 13+ % increase, and ""their hands are tied."" What a joke. I WILL NOT BE RECOMMENDING ARCHSTONE BALLSTON SQUARE, or any Archstone property for that matter, to anyone in the future. DO NOT RENT HERE UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO BE PRICE GAUGED! Pros: Good location Cons: No appliance/kitchen updates, small gym, price gauging more