Good value for money

After living here 2 years, this place is definitely in a great location. The common areas and hallways are kept quite clean and trash is taken out regularly. They would have occasional events for building residents to get together which was very nice and I do feel like the management were cordial.

However there are a few things that had I known prior to living here I would not have moved in:

1. The biggest thing is that some of the walls are paper thin. Not all of the walls but one of the sides of each apartment has a thinner/newer wall next to an adjoining apartment so you can hear almost everything from that neighbor including those private noises you’d rather not hear. This is the biggest reason I’m moving out - the other items listed below are annoyances but more manageable.

2. When things aren’t working they can take a while to get fixed. This included one of the elevators that was broken for over 6 months (at one point, both elevators were broken although briefly) and the washing machine on my floor that took a long time to get repaired (we share laundry so the wait is longer when fewer machines are working). Furthermore, my air conditioning was broken when I moved in (during summertime) and every time I told management, the maintenance people would do something that wouldn’t fix the underlying problem. When I would tell them it still wasn’t working they would brush me off until finally someone on the roof saw my unit was freezing over and finally they replaced it but the whole thing took months and it would get hot and humid in my apartment in the meantime.

3. The elevators make incredibly loud noises that wake me up at night. They are very screechy but I was on the top floor so this may not have affecting lower floors.

Great value for money

Overall, a great value for money and property management, but missing some amenities (e.g., no doorman, no nice rooftop, and bare-minimum gym)

My experience has been pretty great so far. Everything is clean and works well and I also love the high ceilings. My only complaints are around the electric stovetops which I don't love, the noise level is pretty high (you can hear everything from the street, but sound is good within the building) and you can definitely tell the apartment has some age. The management team is responsive and supportive. I think this is incredible value when comparing to the other apartments on the market. Of course, we are not getting super luxurious amenities and appliances, but personally it is far more than enough. There is free laundry on every floor and a small lounge in the laundry room, and a small gym with free weights and a few treadmills. There is no doorman but if you get locked out you can ask for help from the nearby building (Beacon).

My unit is a spacious, corner unit with high ceilings, tons of natural light, and hardwood floors throughout. There aren’t a ton of amenities but it’s enough for what I need (small gym, free laundry on every floor, Amazon hub lockers instead of a doorman), and I pay less in rent so it’s a win-win for me. Pearl is also a wonderful management company. Highly recommend!

1600 Chestnut Review

1600 Chestnut Review

Most units are studios or 1 bedrooms, so tenants are almost all young professionals or students. No pets are allowed and the insulation between units is quite good, so I can't really hear much unless I'm in the hallway. The laundry is free (almost every floor has 2 washers/dryers), have never been waiting to use. The gym is small in the building, but does the job.

There's no doorman, but I've never had any issues with safety. The insomnia cookies next door is open until 4am and the SoulCycle across the street opens about an hour or so afterwards, so there's always people milling about. That being said, the location is at a fairly busy intersection so you'll hear the sounds of the city during the day. If you are a light sleeper and live on a lower floor, there is a fair amount of light pollution (from the H&M across the street) and occasional sound pollution from the night life nearby.

Overall, this building is great value! Management is super quick to resolve any issues and open to unusual lease terms (more than 12 months). As a student, it's a bit further from University City, but it opens up all of Center/Old city for exploring. Would highly recommend if you can deal with the noise!

Good building but good value