Things aren't looking good for the Lafayette Towers, a pair of apartment buildings designed by Mies van der Rohe. Two years after automotive mogul Gregory Jackson pledged millions to revive the neglected buildings, management has unveiled what they're calling a "positive online review incentive." Tipsters alerted us to the following deal, which the leasing office verified over the phone: Residents earn a $25 rent credit for each positive review of the Lafayette Towers they post on Yelp or ApartmentRatings.com.
Both reviews on Yelp are negative (one includes several photos of cockroaches), but the complex has 98 reviews on ApartmentRatings.com. Over the last 4 years, only 34% of reviewers have recommended living there. For some perspective, the neighboring Pavilion Apartments are located in an identical Mies van der Rohe building, but with a different owner. Its recommendation rating: 63%.
Lafayette Towers residents have a wide variety of complaints, but they tend to combine some alarming maintenance issue (like not having heat) with an incompetent response from building staff. Here are some highlights from reviews left in 2014-2015.
1. For me it started when a maintenance personnel put my turkey burger in my kitchen cabinet after making repairs on my freezer door. For two days the raw meat was in the cabinet...It took me hours to finally find where the smell was coming from...I called to complain and told me they would fire the repair man. I was not reimbursed for the new pack of turkey burger. [punkerq]
2. I put a large object against my door at night so no can come in while I sleep because someone has a key to my apartment. [coolpopcasady]
3. It was so cold I could see my breath everyday in my own apartment...The water goes out all the time and you're not even able to take a shower or get something to drink. [Anonymous Resident]
4. We recently had our apartment "winterized", which is just putting aluminum tape over the window vents, the apartment is still freezing. Space heaters...will frequently blow a fuse and maintenance doesn't have enough extra fuses...To sum up the office staff, they are just flat out: rude, unprofessional, disrespectful, liars, incompetent, and above all literally useless. [WSU Student]
Do you have a story about life at the Lafayette Towers? Do find us on the tipline.
· New Lafayette Towers Owner Installing Shuffleboard Courts [Curbed]
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