LINK Apartments

Lived there for almost 3 years in a 2bd/​1ba unit (huuuuuuuge bathroom!), they changed management about a year into my lease. Great location — C Line, Trader Joe’s, and YMCA is across the street. Current management hosts various events to bring the community closer, which is great. They are friendly and take the time to know the majority of the tenants in the building, if not all. I lived on a quiet floor, and I couldn’t hear my neighbor from the walls. So either they were quiet too, or good insulation. The community is friendly and nice.
Bad: My apartment faced the city/​alley, sooo I’d hear the garbage truck in the mornings even with the windows closed (if you’re a light sleeper you wouldn’t be able to sleep in). If the windows were open, you can clearly hear conversations from the veterinarians when they took out their trash at night. You can hear the beat from the cars waiting for the garage door to open, and of course the motorcycles. I think my upstairs neighbor must’ve been a weight lifter because he would drop the weights and my stuff would shake from the impact. You could definitely hear upstairs kids pitter-​pattering around and adults with elephant feet. FYI for people who are used to a/​c, there is none but that’s standard for Seattle. It does get hot.
Parking: I was always able to find a spot in the garage, only a few times I’d have to park in the street (free after 6PM) by the VFW. Parking spaces are small, though, but I had my 5 favorite spots to park.
But you couldn’t beat the view, the rooftop community room and BBQ’s (always used in the summer), and firepit. I could watch the Blue Angels fly and the New Years fireworks from my living room. The maintenance was responsive and super friendly. I reserved the kayaks once and it was easy. Gym is spacious and well maintained with 2 tv’s. It’s one of the nicest and best places I’ve lived, and being in the military I’ve lived in several areas. It’s the only place where I was sad to leave.

Good!
–Nice building, safe and clean with nice neighbors. Has good amenities: small gym, bike/​kayak rentals, grills, gardens and private rentable room on rooftop. There is also an attached Chaco Canyon which I believe offers discounts for residents and super good food/​drink.
–In-​building office that is open daily and are very helpful! The office team has changed since I moved in, but I would say for the better. The new manager is way nicer too. They also set up little parties for the whole building every once in a while, which is nice if you’re looking to meet people.
–Neighbors are all nice, a lot of people hang out in front smoking and drinking wine with their dogs and chit chat.
–Great location, right across the street from Trader Joe’s and only a couple blocks to the Junction!
Bad!
–The noise! I lived in an outside unit, so if you were inside the building it is probably a lot quieter. There is a pre-​school next door and while cute, they can get pretty loud. There is also a fire dept. across the street, so sirens go off through the day. Garden maintenance comes by weekly at 8am and are really loud if you’re in an outside unit, they have blown mud on my window and stuck the leaf blower right at my door. They have also filled my apartment with gasoline smells — not pleasant.
–Parking can be a pain, I never rented a spot in the garage (about $ 100 a month, which seems steep to me, especially when it seems to be the cause of dents and scratches). I’ve never had to go more than a couple blocks, but you occasionally have to squeeze into a spot and deal with passive aggressive parents (from the daycare) since they seem to think they are more entitled to a spot.
–Expensive! Considering the price range for the rest of West Seattle, Link is pitching a high price. You do pay more for those amenities! I rented an ‘urban 1 bedroom’, which is essentially a studio, but has a demi-​wall and sliding glass doors, and lucked out with a discounted rent ($ 1200), but it is normally about $ 1400/​month, which seems pretty excessive.
Overall, if you can afford the high rent it is a nice place to live!

Lived at Link Apts for 2 years. Reasons for my rating:
1 — High rent and extraneous fee charging. My rent for an Urban 1-​bedroom, which is essentially a 600 sq. ft. studio with a little sliding glass door for the «bedroom», was $ 1397. With taxes, required fees, and parking, my rent was over $ 1550 a month. This is just ridiculous for West Seattle, I’m sorry. You can do better elsewhere.
(Also, during the re-​leasing agreement for year 2, rent went up $ 180/​month. Jesus.)
2 — Parking garage, something you deal with every day, was more than just an annoyance. It has cost me $$ and time. How, you ask? First of all, the spaces are teensy tiny. They squeeze 3 spots into a 2-​car space (and I have a small car). Then they are surrounded by concrete columns. In 2 years, I had the following things happen to me: numerous people hit my door with theirs (and honestly I understand, as sometimes it was the only way to exit the car…); driver’s side mirror break from a column; 2 dents which I did not witness but happened to my car in this garage; and a close call on 2 accidents which occur when people fly around the levels, as they are so tight.
I also posted a picture and complained about a parking space which is placed in the inside turn of the parking garage. Very dangerous, was never addressed.
Parking in general was very hard to come by after 6:00pm on weekdays. Forget that night you’re out on the town and come back late — it’s handicapped parking or nothing.
3 — Unreliable maintenance/​service. For the most part, the front desk manager — April — was lovely and helpful. But two experiences ruined this for me: first, I was inside the building/​garage, but locked out of the main area to access my apartment after hours. I HAD the electronic key, but it wasn’t working. On their website, they say ²⁴⁄₇ assistance… I called the number and the Maintenance guy picked up. Long story short, he said he couldn’t come help me until 8am because he lived «a half hour away». I sat in the hallway of Link Apts for hours until someone came to help me. The next day, I sat down with Claudia and complained. She wasn’t able to appease my sense of safety — there was no promise or guarantee that he wouldn’t do it next time, and there was no offer to make things right (discount on rent, something, anything?). Very disappointing.
The other experience is on the move-​out: April promised me that «Link Apts doesn’t do move-​outs, just leave me your key!» and that «If you’ve had it professionally cleaned recently, we don’t charge you.» I trusted her. because I had it professionally cleaned as well as personally — and it was spotless. WRONG. Of course I got a huge bill for ridiculous claims. I am uploading my pictures here because I am so upset. I honestly go by the saying, «Leave it better than when you found it», and I tried to do that. To no avail.
4 — Yes, it’s dog-​friendly, which is great if you have dogs. If you don’t? Prepare to hear dogs crying, barking, yapping all the time.
5 — For a place with rent so high, I’d expect the location to be awesome. near Alki Beach? Or at least a suitable running route? Nope. It’s dead in the middle of busy streets, yet not a restaurant within walking distance. Unless you count the bowling alley.
6 — Gym. Don’t believe the pretty gym pictures on the website that are all panorama and edited. It’s 2 treadmills (usually the one on the left is broken), 2 ellipticals (the one on the right squeaks so bad you can hear it through your headphones) and a huge Bowflex-​looking contraption from the ‘90s. If you come on the weekends, early morning or after work, expect a wait. However, I did appreciate the fact they even had a treadmill and a water station.
I honestly regret living there because of how much money I wasted. I think I would’ve been find with the price if it were truly luxury living, or whatever they’re trying to sell. But it wasn’t. The ONLY reason I didn’t move was because I was just so darn sick of moving at that point. Now? Glad I got outta there.
Message me if you have any further questions, I’m happy to help you find someplace else in the great area of West Seattle.

One thing I forgot to mention in my review has to do with the deposit and move out policy. Almost every place I’ve lived in, the management ask for a sizable deposit upon moving in and then end up finding reasons to keep it when you move out. Not so with this place.
They asked for a small refundable deposit and a nonrefundable cat deposit that compares to other complexes. When I moved out, I was totally expecting a big cleaning bill but, NOPE! Because I had had that apartment for X amount of years I was not charged for things like carpet replacement and painting.

We have lived at the Link for six months and have found it to meet all of our requirements for accomodations. Adjusting to the big city’s small living space for high rental costs was difficult at first since we had an abundance of space in the previous house we lived in Medford, Oregon. We have found that the layout (Urban) at the Link gives us the best possible use of small living quarters. Essnetially, we have adopted a minimalist attitude and that is a good change.
We have been thrilled that the Link is within easy commutiing distance to downtown, and all other areas wished to be explored. Plus, there is a bus stop out front that provdes a ten minute ride to downtown. Great way to enjoy downtown with no hassle of parking.
California Ave shops, pubs, and restaurants are an wasy walk and gorcery stores are also conveniently close.
I have felt and become healthier by walking more and not relying on the car for short drives.
Building always feels secure and the parking facilites, though tight, at lease provide some security for your vehicle agains the elements, theft, and vandalism.
Staff has always been friendly and attentive to all our needs and resolving the small issues that have come up. Plus, when we have needed a repair, they are done promptly and resolved the problem.
April, the leasing agent and Claudia the office manager have provided exceptional professionalism and we can highly recommend the Link as a place to live in West Seattle.

A great apartment building!
The front desk staff is great. They’re available for lengthy hours during the day, keep the building secure, and offer a smile every day.
Finally, the building is loaded with great features. The rooftop balcony is great for barbeques and lounging, the gym kept me running and the free loaner bikes were absolutely great!
It’s a new building, and my apartment had only 1 issue with a faucet leaking while I was there. Management responded immediately, having the issue fixed within 24 hours of reporting it.
I lived here for one year, and unfortunately had to leave when my job changed location, but I’m missing it!

This is it! In my opinion, Link is the building by which all should be modeled.
The building is great! Only a few years old, in great condition, excellently maintained, with lovely amenities.
The penthouse lounge is great for throwing parties.
The rooftop has pea patches, numerous BBQ’s, a fire pit, and a gorgeous downtown view.
24 hour gym with space for yoga.
Free loaner bike and kayak.
What really puts this over the top and into five stars is the staff. The property manager, Claudia, is one of the kindest and most caring people I’ve ever met and she keeps great people with her. From the office to maintenance, everyone here is friendly, helpful, and efficient. My 2 year old calls them «Friends!», knows them by name and still asks to go visiting.
All puppies & rainbows aside, there are always some things that even a 5 star is lacking. And here are mine:
~ Most importantly, the building alarm. In two years it went off 4 or 5 times. No fires thankfully, but the alarm is something dreadful. It really kicks in your flight instinct. In fact, it left my toddler rather traumatized. We’ve been working on calming her reaction to loud sounds after the last two times. Take me seriously here, if you have a heart condition STAY AWAY!!! This alarm could kill my mother, no joking.
~ I hate the washer/​dryer. I was always banging my elbow on the washer or my head on the dryer door (which would swing shut as I reached for clothes). And it’s teeny tiny. Give me a front loader any day.
~ Parking is abysmal! The building has limited parking in the garage and many choose street parking. Then to make things worse the city took the majority of parking away. First to bus lanes, second (for day time parkers) to two-​hour zones. You can find parking, but sometimes it takes 5+ minutes, a few spins ’round the block, and at worst it’ll be a few blocks away.
~ West facing units get HOT in summer and there is very little air flow with no cross ventilation. Buy an A/​C and fans!
Now for some sprinkles… This place is soooo walkable! Grocery stores, shopping, food, parks and playgrounds. Easy bus, car, and bike commuting. Large dog friendly (though breed prejudice, as they all are) with a reasonable pet deposit. Trash chute with recycle and compost in the garage, free bike locker (though small & frequently full — also in the garage).
I can’t tell you how badly I wish our new «luxury» apartment was even half as nice as Link or the staff as amazing!
We shall miss you!

I have lived here for almost 2 years, and loved every minute of it. Though I am moving at the end of the month to be closer to work, I will say that this place is awesome.
I have had really good encounters with the staff, along with the maintenance crew. They are all very nice, and have taken care of my issues promptly. The building is full of nice folks who are not afraid to say hello to you at 4am. The surrounding area is very safe, and besides… The building is secure ²⁴⁄₇ anyways. The gym is all that you need and more. The top floor is the selling point for this building. I think I BBQ’s for about 60 straight days last summer. The boiler makes it so that you NEVER run out of hot water. (Yes…I am guilty of taking a ½ hour shower)…Also, since this building is «green», my power bill averaged about $ 40 per bill (bi-​monthly). A quick 5 minute walk up the street gets you to California Avenue as well.
Negatives… My rent was projected to go up 12% this year, so I jumped ship. Parking in the garage is worthless… I always park on the street or up on the hill for the unlimited parking. Almost every morning, someone’s dog urinates on the steps in front of the building… But it gets cleaned up as soon as the maintenance folks show up around 7am.
If you like a nice, quiet place to lay your head… This is it. You do pay a bit more for it, but if you take into account the views of the city, the rooftop, gym and other amenities it is well worth it.

So, this place has some good things about it, and of course some bad things. For the good — they offer a lot of different floorplans to choose from. And it’s a very large building so there’s usually quite a few options to choose from. We never heard our neighbors, but we could here the elephants who lived above us at all hours of the day/​night. We garage parked one car, and street parked another. The stalls, as everyone else has said, are TINY. I always took the car that needed to be street parked just to avoid the garage. All around the black is timed parking which is annoying, but there was always a spot to park either by the fire station or going across from Trader Joe’s where the residential neighborhood started.
There are also A LOT of dogs that live here. If you don’t care for them, this may not be the place for you. We have a dog so it didn’t bother us, but I’ve seen a few people freak out. Never had an issue smelling dog pee in the elevators though, which always seems to be a complaint.
When we moved in, we had some really awesome guys in the office to help. They’ve all gone now, and they seem to have rotated through about 4 or 5 other people in there. I can’t really say anything about them or maintenance since we’ve never had an issue with the apartment we were in.
As for the annoyances/​cons? If you’re on the side of the fire station (as we were — on the 3^rd floor) — it’s not quiet. We tend to keep our windows open year round, and it gets NOISY. Don’t listen to them when they say the fire trucks or ambulance only turn their sirens on if they absolutely have to. No… they turn them on EVERYTIME, regardless if it’s in the middle of the night. And Alaska gets quite busy in the morning hours with commuters and busses passing by. The apartments can also be very dark if you don’t get the light finishes. We had dark brown carlet, dark brown wood floors, dark brown cabinets — it was basically like living in a cave. The finishes were nice though, so it had that going for it. Walkability was ok. You have Trader Joes across the street — if you like playing chicken with cars to get out of having to walk almost around the entire block to get to the crosswalks. Alaska Junction is just up a road, which is quite nice as well.
The biggest concern was really the apparent theft going on from people in the building. The flat screen was stolen out of the penthouse suite, and there was a pretty big bike theft thing going on in the bike storage lockers in the garage — my husbands bike included. When he went to the office to tell them about it, they never made an effort to follow up on it — and didn’t really seem like they cared to be honest.
Overall, it’s an ok place to live. It’s mostly a younger crowd here, which isn’t a bad thing, but quite a few kids. There are better places to live in West Seattle with a smaller community, and better pricing.

I’ll update this now that I’ve moved out. The only change to my previous posting is that the garage parking has been resolved and it is much easier to find a spot now — on any given day there are more than ten available spots.
The office staff, however, has extremely high turnover and because of this, the service suffers. They were always friendly, but many times unhelpful.
If you don’t mind thin walls (and ceilings) and less-​than-​exemplary staff, you’ll like it here.

Okay… marking these guys back down to 1 star. About 3 months after moving out of this building I got a $ 350 Seattle City Light bill. The leasing office staff were unable to explain this so I called City Light. The bill was tied to the Link apartment address but they could find no record of who created the account. I went ahead and paid it to spare me any more phone calls about it, but after everything that happened, this was just the last straw. I would avoid any building that is managed by Riverstone Residential. Very overpriced, tiny units and low quality buildings disguised by chic décor.

My husband and I moved into one of the Link’s east facing, 3^rd floor, one bedroom apartments as soon as the building opened for residents. We lived there for one year before my husband’s job dictated a move out of state. Our time at Link was truly enjoyable. The location is perfect for commuting downtown via the bus and walking to all the shops and grocery stores on California Ave (there is a new Trader Joe’s right across the street!).
The view from our apartment was inspiring and the big windows meant turning on the lights and heater was a rare occurrence. A lot of thought went into the design and material choices for these apartments. We really appreciated the large granite counter tops in the bathroom and plentiful under sink storage. The kitchen had a deep sink with sink hose and a pantry – features usually very hard to come by in small city apartments. We were unsure of the sliding glass bedroom doors at first but came to really like their aesthetics and the amount of natural light that they allowed to penetrate the bedroom. The apartments also seem to be much quieter than others that we have lived in, though, if you leave the windows open you will hear whatever is going on in the alley quite clearly (i.g. garbage truck, car shop, and kids playing at Bright Horizons Day Care). Overall, the Link feels very homey with lots of local art and community gatherings. There is a bike cage and a million other places to stash your bikes safely and lots of (at the time) free motorcycle parking.
As someone who works from home, I most appreciated the Link’s ample community spaces as extra office options. The top floor lounge is beautiful and modern with sweeping views of the city, neighborhoods, and mountains (there is also a cosy fireplace, kitchenette, and big screen TV). As we searched for apartments in downtown Seattle and other surrounding neighborhoods, I can honestly say that we did not see anything close to the amazing rooftop deck at the Link. Also, I really enjoyed working in Chaco, the café on the first floor, because of their great staff and business design.
The negatives: Parking in the garage is unassigned and the spaces are very small so if you have anything bigger than a compact then parking can be frustrating. The apartment we had got full morning sun so it heated up quickly and stayed warm. Like 20 degrees warmer than outside warm, so if you are adverse to an apartment in the 80s when it reaches the high 60s and 70s you may have to purchase an air conditioner. For the most part we were very comfortable year round but I’m sure on the freak 90 degree days these will be very uncomfortable, just as most other apartments and houses in Seattle. Our friends in a west facing, 1^st floor, apartment were typically much cooler and kept their heater on most of the time.

i moved into Link in August 2011 and have to say it was by far the nicest apartment I had lived in. The construction was good, not great. Granite counter tops, nice faucets. I lived in a unit with floor to ceiling windows, I LOVED IT! The first set of property managers were very nice. They had a lot going on but still took the time to remember who everyone was and where they lived. The downside, I had an F150 and the spots in the garage are TINY! If they had assigned parking the parking situation would have been a little more pleasant. The second set of property managers that took over around March 2012 were not as friendly but tried. It was apparent that they had been taking a beating from many of the tenants and were on the defense. I walked in on two of the tenants yelling at the property manager. She handled it quite well, in my opinion.
The location is amazing, views are outstanding, and the amenities are great.

Used to be such a nice and well managed building, then sold, and now managed by Riverstone Residential. Since this management company took over the building is filthy, the garbage is left to pile up for days, the office suddenly closes with no warning and does not keep their posted hours. Reports of tenants being told their lease terms have been changed with no required notice given, etc… AVOID this very poorly managed building!

First, the building managers are really cool. I mentioned that I liked corgi’s and she said, «Oh, there’s 6 corgis in building» and was able to name 5 of them. The only reason she wasn’t able to name the 6^th was because its owners had «just moved in.» Anybody who takes the time, and has the ability, to remember the names of the tenant’s dogs is (in my humble opinion) the exact type of person who I want responding to any problems that could arise in the apartment.
Second, as the review below states, the tenants I met on my tour were really nice! I met 5 different tenants during my tour, and they were friendly, kind, and were really welcoming. I’m the type of person who grew up in a neighborhood that had «block parties» and the apartment building really has that idea in mind.
To conclude, I don’t think I could honestly say that I have been excited about moving into a new apartment, until I put down my deposit for Link! They do charge for parking, but that’s not a big deal since there’s a lot of free parking in the area. I HIGHLY recommend taking a tour., and seeing if it’s the right place for you.
(Update)
I just signed the lease that was 35 pages long. I was not expecting such a detailed lease, but that seems to be my standard experience with larger apartment buildings. I recommend that everybody read EVERY word of EVERY page of the lease. I found some mistakes in mine, but I called about it and they were corrected. Also, my lease requires that I provide renter’s insurance, which was not disclosed to me prior to putting down my deposit., but since a typical renter’s insurance policy is only $ 80 for the year, that’s not a deal breaker for me.

Just moved in a couple days ago. Everyone in this building is super friendly. Every time I get in the elevator with someone they always say hi and are very welcoming. Also the roof deck is amazing! Super excited to be living here!

Great apartments and common areas. Toured multiple times, had a deposit and then ended up taking a job in another city. Nic in the office was incredible to work with and very flexible. Great location with quick access to the city yet felt like a small town being in West Seattle. Sorry I will not get to see the area develop around the apartment as it will be a hot spot in the next year or two.

I am not a tenant, but did tour a couple of rooms today and saw the rooftop deck etc. This is, for a large apartment building, really nice! Check it out if you want to live in a great location.