Post Pentagon Row

I moved into Pentagon Row around 2 years ago from a Bozzuto property. The move from Crystal City to Pentagon city has been great. Although only a short distance the move has been great.
The Jay and Drew from the leasing team are very helpful. Each time I walk in the office they greet me on a first name basis and are go above and beyond to proactively help me.
The location of the apartment is perfect for my needs and I don’t foresee moving anytime soon!

Post Pentagon row is a very conveniently located apartment community. I work all over Northern Virginia and can get anywhere in around 45 minutes by car, there are also great bus routes in the area and a metro station next door in the mall. DC is TWO metro stations or a 5 minute drive (non-​rush hour) away!
I have several friends who live in the community and all of their apartments have conformable layouts and been nicely updated with hardwood floors and granite countertops. My apartment faces the mall and there is almost no street noise.
There is no concierge but the staff is very attentive and open until 6 on weekdays. Recently they have extended office hours on Wednesdays and have set up a lot of community activities. All of the parking is underground, which was a huge lifesaver during the blizzard of 2016. The gym used to be very subpar (borderline unusable) but they recently completed a full renovation and have heavier dumbbells (up to 75 lbs), a smith machine, a cable machine, and an all in one that is very useful. There are bike lane all around the community (biking is a hobby of mine) and easy access to the bike trails in the area. The pool is a huge waste of space and is indoor but it is not something that I would use if it were better.
The retail in the area is excellent in community its self there is a Harris Teeter (open ²⁴⁄₇), an Irish Pub, a Sports Bar, a Nandos, a Starbucks, a Smoothie King, a Lebanese Taverna, any kind of Oriental food you could want, a Vitamin Shoppe, an eye doctor, and many others. Next door there is also a mall with other eating options and retails, a Costco and another shopping center. There is also an ice skating rink in the winter.
I have lived in several communities and rental houses in this area and this is bar far my favorite.

I don’t know why Post Pentagon Row is getting such bad reviews, it seems that people complain about every single thing these days.
We previously live in Post Carlyle Square and we loved it there, everything was great from the apartment to the leasing agents to the concierges and even the cleaning crew. We decided to move because we don’t have a car and needed more convenience (harris teeter, costco… Etc). Naturally we expected the same quality/​experience. Although I think that Carlyle is a bit better in customer service and having activities for the leaseholders, Pentagon Row is starting to have initiative with more activities and bettering their customer service.
The apartment we got was at a great price, one of the best priced apartments for the size/​location/​amenities.
The building is a little bit older but they just renovated the gym and they have an indoor pool which has been awesome, especially in colder days!
I love the fact that you can get to the metro really quick through the mall.
I’ve never had a problem with my packages, I rarely hear any noise, I honestly can’t complain.
The only thing that happened like 3 times is going to the pool and the lifeguard was either late or never showed up, they use a third party company so I’m not sure whose fault it is.
I gave it 5 starts because we got a great deal and it’s super convenient for us, there are also zipcars within walking distance.

TLDR: Fine for a year, prices go up a ton, amenities are not on par with the price range, noise is ridiculous.
About me: I have lived here for a year and a half. I did not want to live here more than a year, but had just gotten a new job and couldn’t deal with moving when my lease came up. I am not in the apartment I applied for originally, even though I was approved for that one, because after setting up my move I was told at the last minute that, actually, that apartment was no longer available. So I basically had to take what seemed to be the best of the other open apartments without much time to consider my options.
$: Originally, rent is pretty normal for the area, but it does go up a lot each year. The monthly trash fee is high for the fact we only have trash shoots in our trash rooms and have to drag recyclables down to the first floor. And my gas bill is very high considering I rarely cook and only turn on my heat when it’s well below freezing (infrequent this fall/​winter).
Parking: It’s connected to a public parking area, but gated off. However, those gates break frequently and when that happens they just leave them open with no one observing who enters/​leaves. Unreserved parking can be a hassle, sometimes there are tons of spots, sometimes there’s none and you park in the public section. People also frequently park in other people’s reserved spots.
Amenities: Almost all are in building 3. There’s the management/​leasing office, which is open something like 10am-​6pm on weeknights and 10am-​5pm on Saturday. Recently they added extended package hours on Wednesday evenings. Any big packages go to this office. Very large packages will be put in the less secure holding room without consulting you first. You get no assistance with very big packages. There’s a gym which was pretty bad but has recently been redone and a small indoor pool. There’s a lounge area with some tables, couches, a small kitchen, etc. Not much else of note.
Noise: Awful. I can not only hear everything the people beside me do, I can also hear actual conversations the person above me holds. You can also hear tons of stuff that happens outside, including people screaming in the parking lot because why not? During the summer, the complex puts on ‘concerts’ on some weeknights, which are loud and not really what you want to deal with after a long day at work.
Safety: Not very. Basically just key fobs at entrances. People are constantly propping open doors – the one door that leads into the public section of the parking lot had been propped open so much it broke at some point, which led to management simply shutting off the locking mechanism so anyone could get in through that. Also because of the shops and the nearby malls, there’s lots of people in and out of the immediate area.
Accessibility: There is none. I don’t know of any doors that are completely automatic or any apartments on the first floor.
Convenience: This is near the metro, though you have to go through or around the mall to get there. The mall is also convenient, except during the spring/​summer it’s full of obnoxious tour groups and during the fall it’s full of obnoxious Christmas shoppers. Since it’s near the mall, there’s also nearby bus routes that are convenient for getting to other parts of Arlington. There’s a mediocre Harris Teeter in the complex, etc.
Maintenance: Is okay, I normally can schedule a day/​time period for them to come in and fix something or other. However, this summer there was a high pitched, annoying noise at night that took the building weeks to fix (I’m pretty sure it gave me tinnitus). And one of the two elevators in my building seems to break all the time. There were also issues with my apartment that were covered up by purely cosmetic fixes, not real ones.
Other: This fall, my building had the fire alarm go off maybe once a week. Most of them were blamed on the Harris Teeter in the building, though at least one of them was apparently an actual fire in an apartment. I think the latest was around 11pm and the earliest was around 6am, so there was really no escaping them. After the first few rounds, with no fire or even smoke in sight, people in the building stopped paying attention to them altogether. Not a very good state to be in, but inevitable with the ‘cry wolf’ aspect of the alarms.

Wow — I was surprised to see the unhappy reviews. We’ve lived in Post Pentagon Row for 2 years and I’ve loved it here. The staff is very friendly. Maintenance requests are handled incredibly promptly. The building is kept neat and clean. And you really can’t beat the convenience of the location. I honestly would recommend it to others. My only advice is see if you can get a unit in Building 3 — that way you are near the package room/​pool/​gym/​metro. It’s great living here!

The staff is very pleasant (aside from the occasionally ignored e-​mails). However, this complex has a pest (mouse) problem and the garage doors break down often (without notice and/​or warning and the leasing office doesn’t open until 10AM). You are not getting what you’re paying for (which is primarily for location). This is a Class A property and you’re paying Class A prices. But you’re not receiving Class A amenities (no 24-​hour concierge, no front desk, leasing office is located in one of the several buildings in the complex, and units are relatively small) or Class A environment (mouse problem is likely due to all of the restaurants, bars, and stores underneath the apartments). Thankfully, we’ve since moved. Moral of the story: Pentagon City’s a great location but for the prices you’re paying for rent in this area, you should shop around!

Good location, but this apartment has significant problem of floor noise from an upstairs apartment. Attitude of the leasing office staff is awful and very reluctant to solve the floor noise problem even when it constantly happens in the middle of the night.