The Point At Alexandria

I was a tenant here from March 2015 to April 2016. It was my first apartment and I lived in a single.
Let’s talk financials: I paid $ 1256 (14 month lease) base rent before the unavoidable $ 50 garage fee and $ 10 alarm fee brought it to $ 1316/​month with another 30 – 40 $ for sewage and water, but that varies. And I had a dog so that was an extra $ 40 a month ($ 400 deposit). By the end I was getting taken to the cleaners (In my opinion) for about $ 1415. Security deposit was very small IIRC, but I can’t remember exactly how much — but it was definitely not 1 month’s rent, or even half I think. Standard lease fee and whatever other garbage they can throw at you as well. So, without the added cost of a dog, I would be paying around $ 1370 monthly, which I think was slightly above average for the area. The reason I moved out was because I spoke with a leasing agent and she said the rent would rise by 2−5%, which I assumed to be on the base rent, in this case, $ 1256. When I got the notice, it rose by $ 79, which was a 6.28% increase. That ticked me off; I didn’t even try to hassle them down because $ 1500 was too much to pay anyway. That was the main reason I moved.
The digs: The single I got was nice. I had a large walk in closet attached to the bed and bathroom. Was pretty sweet. All the appliances worked, never had a problem with anything other than the occasional dishwasher/​sink clog. There was an extra storage closet attached to the balcony outside in which I put empty boxes. It was pretty nice!
Maintenance: As some other reviewers can attest to, there were problems with leaks. I didn’t have it so bad, but the utility closet in the kitchen leaked twice — both of which I would consider more than leaks. Pipes musta burst, I don’t know. The first time I placed a call around 5pm and emergency maintenance was in and out by 8 pm. No complaints there, well done! The 2^nd time it leaked they couldn’t get in because my dog kept barking, so they had to come the next day. They fixed it up within a few hours and didn’t have a problem after. I do note that they actually repaired the ceiling and did not just use a piece of cardboard /​other quick fix. I had some other minor leaks from the ceiling which were repaired when I was at work, dishwasher/​sink clog, busted lightbulb, etc. There’s a simple maintenance request on the resident portal to claim these. I had no problems with the maintenance staff. They were all pretty friendly! Also, they are VERY GOOD with snow removal. They had the snow from the January/​February blizzard cleaned up the day after!
Area: The complex is located a literal 2 minute drive (Maybe less) to 395. I took that highway every morning and was so convenient. There’s a little shopping areas down the road, Van Dorn Plaza and Foxchase Square or something. There’s also the Landmark Mall which is a disaster. Don’t go in there. Multiple pizza delivery places, Chinese food, restaurants, bars and grills, etc. within a 5 minute driving distance. It’s a very nice area — I can see why they charge so much rent. There’s also a dog park down the road so you can play with Fido or Lassie. It’s in a nice neighborhood. It’s a little detached from DC, so getting there would be Über or metro.
Amenities: They claimed a state-​of-​the-​art gym — I went in there once to check it out and never went back. Unless I was looking at the wrong room, there were 3 pieces of cardio equipment. Literally. That was it. In a little dungeon-​like room. They recently closed it down for some renovations or to add equipment, but I never even bothered to go in there. There is a basketball court somewhere here, too. I never used it. The pool is open from Memorial Day to Labor day I think, and quite a lot of people frequent it. There’s a little fenced in doggy area and some strategically placed dog waste bags around the property. I never used their theater nor their business center.
Safety: Unlike several other reviews, my car or apartment was never broken into. I had a nice garage spot which kept my car safe from the elements and that was a huge boon. The garage was never left open as far as I could tell, but I did live in the building directly across from the leasing office. It depends on the building you move into. Some of the garage entrances can be accessed directly from the street, whereas some you need to drive onto the property. The latter garages would be more secure. I stated before I paid a $ 10 alarm fee, but I never armed it, I never used it, and quite honestly I didn’t even know how to work it. Unavoidable.
Misc: Electricity bill is separate and you have to sign up yourself. Quite easy. Internet provider is Comcast. Every now and again there would be beer bottles or cigarette butts in the stairwell. Dogs aren’t allowed in elevators but people do it anyway.
All in all it was a nice apartment, but the increased rent was really the motivating factor to move.

As you can see above, I rated The Point at Alexandria with 5 stars. The obvious right? Correct. I have been a tenant of TPoA for nearly a year now. I have had nothing short of amazing customer service while living here, and at any point in time-​If I were to have any sort of concern on anything that dealt with the community and/​or my apartment, my questions were answered promptly and to the best of the ability of the agent that I was interacting with. If the agent wasn’t able to answer my question (s) at the time of being asked, a defiant phone call proceeded afterwards with a firm answer. After reading the reviews of others below, you have to understand that no housing community is (nor will it ever be) 100% to someone’s liking but I assure you that the problems that are stated below mine are VERY far in few between.
*I have to highlight one posting in particular below that really agitated me.*
For Elina S:
Tierra Gray is an amazing agent whom TPoA is very privileged to have working for/​with them. Every single time I have interacted with Tierra, she has been VERY professional and VERY responsive to any questions that I may have asked. I do know however, that depending on the team’s schedule, one agent may be there alone working EVERY aspect of the job by themselves. Each agent does the best that they can to accommodate everyone’s needs to the BEST of their abilities that’s given. If the phone is ringing, a plethora of tenants are at the door barking for packages, and customers BEFORE you are asking questions, you need to understand that you were not the only person needing assistance at that particular time and you need to wait your turn. I do not know Tierra on a personal basis just like you do not know Tierra but first and foremost, you need to learn to be patient and wait your turn. You need to understand that she was more than likely by herself at that time and wasn’t able to accommodate everyone’s needs when they said «jump.» Also, who is this other person you speak of that was in the office with her? Perhaps you made that one up because I’m pretty positive that the other agent would’ve stepped in while Tierra was busy tending with other tenants that were there before you. There’s no need to bash someone on a review board just because you perhaps were the one having the horrible day. Lastly, please learn how to spell. You «sow?» — Makes no sense. In closing, TPoA is an amazing community and I’d recommend it over and over again to those that are considering to sign a lease here.
V/​r,
A VERY happy tenant

Don’t bother moving here, not worth the price of admission. The rent increase after your first year lease is beyond ridiculous. Plus, add frequent water leakage and car break in issues… Look somewhere else.

Before moving to Virginia from Kansas, my husband and I wanted to find a place to live before we moved. We relied highly on the reviews of the surrounding apartment complexes. Needless to say, all apartment reviews were pretty bad unless you wanted to spend $ 2000 + on a one bedroom.
We found The Point at Alexandria and of course the reviews were awful. There were many reviews pointing out the leaks throughout the building and the constant problems. We decided to go ahead and lease an apartment, sight unseen because no apartment had good reviews.
I truly wish I would have listened to the reviews and gone with a different apartment. Firstly, Josh was our leasing consultant. He was extremely unprofessional. His first impression was positive but every experience after that was negative. Come to find out, the entire staff is rude. We walked into the office many times to find the employees engaged in personal conversations and it would take several minutes to get acknowledged. And even after that, we would get eye rolls and rude attitudes. I would like to say, Heather –the manager– was very nice and understanding and really helped us.
Our toilet leaked for the first two weeks we were living there. We sent in many request to have it fixed and every time they came to fix it, it was always a half-​assed attempt. Finally they had a contractor come out to look at it and told the maintenance man what needed to be done to fix the problem. We could over hear the two speaking and we heard the maintenance man tell the contractor that they were not going to pay for it to be fixed correctly. That really made us mad.
There are water leaks throughout the building almost every week! It’s very frustrating when they have to come into your apartment every week to fix a leak.
We had a «security system» in our apartment that we were required to pay for in our lease. It was a complete bullshit way for the apartment to make money. It was so worthless. There were multiple times that the maintenance man would come in to our apartment and turn it off and when he left, he wouldn’t turn it back on. One occasion, we went to Mexico for a week, we left on a Monday, a maintenance man came in to our apartment on Tuesday and we got back on Sunday. I would like to say that I was shocked to come home and find out that the system wasn’t turned back on. What is the point if your employees won’t even respect your tenants and turn the system back one.
SERIOUSLY, DONT NOT LEASE FROM HERE! We signed a 15 month lease and only stayed for 2 months. Defiantly not worth the money! I don’t want to live somewhere where it’s a hassle to be at home. A home is suppose to be the one place that you can go to relax but we were constantly stressed.

Just want to complain about Tierra Gray. She’s one of the worst leasing consulting did I ever deal with. I went to the point today ⁰⁸⁄₂₄ to get some info for apartments and I’m glad I sow that type of customer service. She didn’t help me or even talk to me with respect. She was very unprofessional. She ask me to wait .didn’t even tell me please or not even concern why I’m not there .she was not doing any thing at the time I was there her or the other person at the office.

Way to drop the ball!!! So I had made an appointment for my friend, who is local to the area, to check out the apartment complex for me since I’m still out of state. The viewing appointment was made well over a week ago. Even after my friend had CALLED to say that she would be coming early, she sat in the lobby while 2 UNSCHEDULED couples were taken in before and during the scheduled time. My friend had even sat there until 1:20pm, and decided to just leave after not even getting any acknowledgement what so ever.
No wonder this place has gotten horrible reviews!!! Your company can’t even be professional enough to keep scheduled appointments!!!

Wish I spent more time researching before moving in. I’ve lived here for 8 months and had 3 major floods and 3 minor ones. The maintenance staff is very quick to respond and repair, but if you need to be home like I do when they are doing work, expect to use up 1 day a month of your vacation time. I also recently had a bug issue that took way too many follow up calls to resolve. Beyond disappointed.

The Point at Alexandria looks gorgeous from the outside and we were convinced enough to pay a visit. We took a tour with an agent from the leasing office and she was well-​informative. The pool looks gorgeous and the landscaping is nice. But… I just do NOT understand how anyone can live at this place and deal with the terrible smell in the hallways and the apartments. I mean the smell is so awful that it smells like MOLD or some kind of damp and so much smoking. I actually felt like I was in some kind of Section 8 apartments with the smell. If you have a strong nose, this is not the place for you. Just can’t believe that there are people who actually live there and are just absolutely fine with the smell… if you think I am some kind of nut who is sensitive with the smell, come for yourself.

I currently live here and I wish I did not. I moved in recently and I already have leakage issues! Please believe everything that everyone says about leakage. These buildings need some serious piping reconstruction! Not only is there leakage in my apartment, but also in the halls of these buildings! There HAS to be mold issues. Considering talking to the health department.
Also, I spoke with a neighbor who lived here 10 years. She deems herself as one of the ‘lucky ones’, but gave me a complete rundown on which neighbors also have leaks and flooding. Trust me, most do! If you care about your health, and your furniture DONT MOVE HERE. Dont let the nice site pictures and glamorous rental office fool you!!!
They’ll continue to bandaid the leaks in these buildings until they collapse!

Beyond disappointed. I lived here for nearly 3 years and recently moved out. First year, this was a great residence and the staff were pretty spot on. The second year things went awry. Leaks near daily (like flooded to the hallways etc) in the units due to very poor plumbing system. Dogs are not allowed in elevators, but no one listens so the halls and elevators smell of urine. The property progressively started having car break-​ins (happened to me twice) IN THE SECURE GARAGE. The pool season is a waste because the lifeguards are high school students that do not care about all the people sneaking in the pool. My main breaker went out and I was without power for 8 – 9 hrs, maintenance asked had I paid my bill smh. Strange people are always in the building because everyone knows the code for entry! Lots, lots, and lots of mold and bugs… so if you have allergies you will feel it!
At any rate, I tolerated this overpriced (~2040/​month for 2bed/​2bad, only water and trash included in this) subpar living. However, the worst was after move out I received a bill for cleaning several items in the apartment. While I know that every apartment company is different, they are usually very consistent in telling you what needs to be done. This did not happen. All would be fair if this was the condition of the apartment when I moved in. They had to have their maid come clean my place AFTER I moved in because of the filth. Needless to say, I owe them… no deposit returned, but i end up paying out. This happens pretty often in speaking with other prior residents. Save yourself a car break-​in and wasted money. I only dealt with Heather because she actually does care (and is the property manager), but otherwise you are on your own.

I lived at The Point from May 2013 until November 2014 and would have stayed had I not been required to move for work. Heather, the property manager, is incredibly kind and always helpful. You can tell that customer service is a top priority for her and her complex! I also ALWAYS had wonderful experiences with all of the maintenance staff. They were friendly and so hardworking! They really bring warmth to the complex always saying ‘hello’ as you see them walking through out the complex. You can tell they really take pride in their work! My only complaint would be water problems with plumbing on several occasions but it was repaired each time in a timely manner. If you are moving to the Alexandria area and want convenience to 395, a fairly quick route to the metro (with the complementary shuttle or by bus), and a budget-​friendly yet clean/​safe complex this is a great choice!

Mold filled air-​conditions and my car was broken into four times!
Worst rental experience I have ever had in Alexandria! Not only is this place overpriced and small, but it is poorly maintained and managed. The buildings are dirty and they smell. Before I moved in I did a walk through and noted things that needed to be fixed in my apartment, I was told those things would be taken care of prior to my move in date. When I moved in nothing had been done, it looked like someone turned on the air condition without looking at or doing anything in the apartment.
After two months, I discovered the air condition leaked and there was mold growing on the wall. I was suffering from serious allergies and respiratory problems. After three times, three of their maintenance people came in to «clean» it, but there was still black goop in the air conditioner. The management sent me a letter saying the problem was solved, there was no more mold. It was so bad I had to have multiple steroid and allergy shots from my doctor. I had to hire professional mold specialist to test and clean the air conditioning unit out of pocket or move. The mold specialist I hired said, «It looks like this air unit has not been cleaned or serviced since this place was built in the 70’s.»
My car was broken into four times, while parked in the «secure» parking garage. It has a key card, and a garage door that is supposed to be secure, but for the last six months that I lived there the parking garage door malfunctioned. It was left open almost every other day. After my car window was smashed, the cops told me they had 20 cars in the garage broken into in one night, when the garage door was left open. I asked them if they could look at the security camera footage and they told me the security cameras had not worked on the premises for years. Yet there are signs everywhere saying premises are under security surveillance. They totally sell you a false sense of security. The doors were constantly left open so anyone could get in to the garage or the building.
This place has had to change their name a few times because of their poor reviews, check out Barton’s crossing too before you rent. RENTERS BEWARE — I really wish I would have listened to all of the people who gave them negative reviews!

Real small apt

My husband and I our stationed out here and have lived at The Point for a year now and we are about to move out. We have had a good experience in building 145 for the most part, but there’s a lot of things that haven’t sat right with me about this place. I understand every place has their flaws, especially apartment complex’s, but some of the things here are ridiculous. For instance, the water being turned off without notice at least twice a month due to pipes breaking. You get home from work or want a glass of water and find that your water is off. This happened quite often with the building we were in. At 4AM one time, we had maintenance knock on our door and start sawing into our wall because a pipe busted. That was fun. Secondly, THE PARKING. God forbid you ever forget to put a pass on your car or someone who’s visiting you that you’ve registered to you with the leasing office. My parents came from out of town the one night and had their car outside for all of fifteen minutes and it was towed. If they’re not going to have someone writing visitor passes 24 hours, then they shouldn’t be able to tow. Did I mention they had to pay $ 175 to get their car back?! People never want to come over and visit because of the parking situation here, which I can’t blame them. Third, the size of the apartment. We live in a one bedroom which is 713 square feet. We pay $ 1550 a month and there’s truly nothing special that we pay for. I get part of it is the location, but I’ve seen places a lot nicer than this one with more room and a cheaper price tag. I’m from Ohio and I’m not sure if this is reasonable out here for an apartment but my husband and I can’t wrap our head around how much it costs. The kitchen is pretty awesome but it takes up so much of the living area that is makes the room feel so much smaller. There’s no linen closet which I have hated not having. The washer and dryer, while nice to have them in the unit, are small and I can barely fit 12 things in there. Lastly, the leasing agents have been great, Heather especially. The maintenance team has been prompt and are all super friendly. Overall, great first apartment, but in my opinion the parking is almost a deal breaker and the price is way too much for us. On to the next…

My boyfriend and I lived here from June 2013-​May 2014 and had a great experience!
We moved only because of job relocation.
Staff: Glenda assisted us with the application process, which was quick and easy. She explained the lease (Including the proper use of the parking permit — honestly, I would just always park in the garage because it’s available and you’re more than likely paying for that in your rent. The parking permit needs to be used anytime you’re not in the garage, if you look around there is a parking permit in literally every single car). Josh has helped us on numerous occasions and is very attentive. He even offered to help me carry some packages to my car! They are always available via email (respond same day) and directly in the office, always helpful! HEATHER JUSTICE IS AMAZING! By amazing I mean in every way possible.
— Side story: I noticed my water heater leaking. I contacted the office and maintenance arrived the same day (within an hour). They realized they would need to replace it. While they were there, a pipe exploded and my kitchen was flooded in a matter of a few minutes! The maintenance guys did their best to clean up and got the job done in record time. I ended up contacting Heather Justice just to inform her of what had happened in case any water damage was caused — she set up an appointment for our carpet to be shampooed and assured me that she documented everything so I wouldn’t be unfairly disciplined upon check out. The perfect turn out!
Price: One bedroom roughly 714 sq ft for $ 1480, you pay for utilities, cable and pet fees. One garage parking spot is free but we ended up getting another for an extra $ 50/​month. All parking outside is free, again, as long as you display the parking permit.
The price was reasonable considering the size and quality of the unit. W/​D in the unit, small but tolerable. Extra storage on balcony!
Maintenance: Awesome!!! I mean that pretty much sums it up — discreet and respectful.
Community: This is the only con because in the DMV area you obviously want to be near a metro. Luckily there is parking at the closest ones (Van dorn ~2 miles away and Huntington ~4 miles away). I prefer Huntington because there is a parking garage but it is a hassle to drive down Duke). They began a shuttle service to Van dorn during rush hour which I ended up using a few times, definitely worth it since it’s free! Also, off of Holmes Run, there is a walking/​running trail that passes the Foxchase Plaza (has Harris Teeters and frozen yogurt!) and leads to the park! A good 3-​mile walk (1.5 mile one way).
Since there are only two reviews posted at this point, I tried to be as detailed as possible — I would definitely recommend this complex to a friend! I honestly would have given a ⁴⁄₅ due to the community part (metro), but I just had to give a ⁵⁄₅ considering the other review which I completely disagree with!

Well where to begin. I give this torrid complex two stars because the move in process was fair and they did discount some things because I am in the military.
Upon moving in and completing my paperwork I was given a piece of paper to write down the information for my vehicle, a card to access the garage and a tag to place in a vehicle that wasn’t on the lease. I was told verbally by the representative that was what the tag was for. I have been here for almost a month now and several nights I have left my car parked in the lot without a tag in it. Why? Because my vehicle is registered at that complex. After not having any issues for several nights I thought I would be ok. I took with the representative said at face value. Well I should have known better because this is the Washington DC area and very few people can tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Whether it was negligence on accident or gross negligence is of no significants.
It turns out that if you park your car in the parking lot that is registered with the apartment complex it is not good enough to simply have the car park there. When I came out this morning to go to work I noticed that my car was not where I left it. I than walk down to the entrance of the apartment complex and got a copy of the phone number for the company that is responsible for this lot. Upon speaking with them I found that my vehicle was parked in their lot now because my apartment complex of which I reside and have a vehicle registered to decided to tow my vehicle. This necessarily isn’t the part that frustrated me so much. The towing company has an obligation to tow vehicles that aren’t permitted to park in that parking lot.
I finally got to the place where my car had been towed too. No issues retrieving it from them. I am now almost 3 hours into this ordeal.
I call the apartment complex to let them know of them issue. I asked for them to call me back and did they absolutely not. So after I got off work being 2 hours late of course. I went to the leasing office and try to work something out with the representative he was there at the time. Of course they pulled out a lengthy page of bylaws Midstates vaguely that vehicle must display a permit if parked in the lot. I explained to him that my vehicle was permitted to park in the lot because I have a lease with this establishment and I registered my car with them. This individual smugly responded that the vehicle information that I gave to them was simply for the garage. I asked why would I need to register a vehicle that’s parked in the garage that I have to have a key fob to get into. As most individuals all they know is the paper that’s in front of them and they do not have the mental acumen to think outside the box. As of now there’s been no resolution made.
Being that as it is I am going to be breaking my lease as soon as I can. They had a tow company remove my vehicle from the apartment complex that I paid to reside in; they will get this epic review and of course one less tenant.