Park Place at Van Dorn

I’ve recently moved out of these apartments when the opportunity to save money by staying with family came about, but I would have gladly stayed here longer! The location is super convenient to a lot of things. I would have given it a 5 star rating, but there were minor issues keeping me from doing so. I had issues with some of the appliances, mainly the dish washer and garbage disposal. Where the unit was located I could hear people stomping up and down the stairs, not the apartment’s problem just the loud footed residents. Our upstairs neighbors were VERY heavy footed when they first moved in. We asked them nicely to chill out, didn’t happen. Told the apartments, and BAM! No more issues after that. The security gates at times will get broken and can possibly take a week or so before getting fixed. I’ve never had an issue with my car being broken into or vandalized, but then again I do have a crappy car so eh. I’ve had issues with the key cards not working at times which can be a headache, I’m not sure why they would de magnetize. Also, parking after 10pm during the beginning of the week can be really hard to do. Like I said very minor issues, the pros like I stated is the area, it’s very quiet and low key. You can easily hop onto 495 or head 10 minutes down Van Dorn to Duke to catch 395. The shuttle to the metro helped my husband out a lot, I didn’t like that residents from nearby housing can just hop on for free while we’re paying for it in our rent. The office will have little events for residents to come to which I thought was really nice! Wish more residents would take the time to go to them. If I could have better afforded living here (we had a 2 bd unit) I would have just a bit longer, it saddens me I had to leave, but it was overall a great place to stay!

They don’t care about their residents. Security is nonexistent. Numerous residents have had their cars vandalized or stolen. We have had a motorcycle stolen and 2 cars vandalized and Park Place has been of no assistance. They don’t even have plans to put up cameras to catch who is doing it although it keeps happening. Stay away if you have a nice car.

Went to their rental office to ask about their 1 bd apartments. The lady in the office was eyeing me up and down like i was some teenage mom who ran away from home (I had my baby with me). She didn’t ask me to sit down. and I felt the only thing she wanted to know is my price range. Maybe she’s concernd i cannot afford it. i was feeling very uncomfortable. wont rent from there. I am sorry we Asians don’t age. I am not making 6 figure but close enough. so dont judge by people’s look.

I like this place except how the place is so hungry to squeeze every dime out of their residents. Friendly staff, yes… at least it is time for you to move out. Then it is so difficult to communicate to get your security deposit back. This sends me a red flag.
Units along I-​495 gets loud traffic noise so balconies are useless. Units on ground floor gets plenty of spiders. Lastly, there are so many dog owners living here, so try not to walk on grass. There is one dumpster ½ mile away (depending on your unit), so many drive to it to dump their trashes. It is nicely kept, but it is very expensive for what it is. Although 2-​month vacate notice is required, your rent jumps if one year lease cannot be signed. 6-​month lease cost about $ 200 more, and month-​to-​month gets much more. I don’t get the logic especially when you still have to give 2 month notice in writing.

I really enjoyed living here. The prices are about what you should expect to pay in a gated community in Alexandria this close to the metro. There is shuttle service to and from the metro in the mornings and evenings. The service is prompt and very convenient if you don’t want to walk.
My apartment was very nice, great view, parking was great unless you’re coming home after midnight. All of the parking spaces are open access and you don’t need a parking permit, so you don’t have to worry about guest parking.
I didn’t have a single issue with noise, broken appliances or anything. When we did have a clogged drain or things like that the maintenance crew handled it very quickly. The grounds are kept very nicely and the pool area is nice too.
The staff who works in the office is nice, I didn’t have any issues so no major interactions besides picking up packages. There is also a dry cleaning service that allows you to drop off and pick up your clothes at the front office. I used it twice and wasn’t pleased with the quality. That’s an extra service, but all of the included things were great!

Fellow and future tenants be warned… after signing a 15-​month lease, I was provided with a renewal this month that amounted to an 18.93 percent increase in rent, all the while the complex is posting the exact same apartment on Craigslist at a lower rate, this was posted today, (
, see below), at a rate of $ 1986, when they are asking me to pay $ 2030.
I have paid my rent on time, never missed a payment, and this is how they repay a good tenant. I have asked for an explanation from Sharita Harper, the property manager, yet she refuses to return my calls or answer my emails. I have submitted my notice to vacate today, as I refuse to be «raped» with rent increases that are so outer limits and not in keeping with the standard cost of living increases –I didn’t get an 18.93 percent raise in salary, did you Ms. Harper?
I hope this doesn’t happen to you! But, renter be warned!

This place is now the Park Place at Van Dorn. It’s okay… When I head home from work, it’s just a place to stay, nothing all that special. At the same time, I never worry about if there’s gonna be rats or vandalism or any of that shit either.
So here’s the breakdown:
It’s the Van Dorn/​Kingstowne area or Alexandria, so you should just expect to pay a lot of money (me ~$ 1250) for not a lot of apartment (1br, 790sq ft). For $ 1250 you won’t be getting granite counters or appliances made after 2000. The kitchen is small, and the freezer didn’t even have a shelf in it (WTF?), but it’s open to the living room, which is a decent size. The walk in closet is huge… it’s actually so large that it might be an inefficient use of space. Also, the units have washers and dryers, so that’s cool.
The building used to be an Archstone, so you can expect mediocre quality, faux-​luxury construction… you can see a lot of the corner cutting in the building (plastic/​vinyl doors, sloppy paint, an thin walls/​ceilings). The layout of the community is nice with the courtyards and picnic areas with grills. Some of the kids though… the run amok like we’re in the barrio.
A fair amount of people don’t pick up after their dogs, or just fling trash anywhere by the dumpsters (a friend who also lives here put it best «you can take the trash outta the trailer park, but you can’t take the trailer park outta the trash).
It’s not all bad though. The area is nice– a little boring though. It’s a safe and pretty crime free area. It’s right next to 495, but there isn’t a lot of noise from it. If you work on Belvoir, it’s real easy to get there using surface streets, so not too much traffic.
The office staff has always been welcoming, they have never been rude to me or acting incompetently. The grounds staff has always been quick to resolve any issues with the apartment. The pet policy isn’t bad, you can have a big dog as long as it’s a non-​aggresive breed. I’ve yet to encounter a dog here that wasn’t well behaved.
All in all, it’s an alright place, but if something nice comes along when my lease expires I won’t hesitate to move on.