Ridgeleigh at Van Dorn

This is a great location… But the current management team is difficult. They seem to forget that humans are occupants. They also don’t have awareness that their occupancy contains military personnel who may not have 9−5s.

My boyfriend and I absolutely love the apartment, but the staff and management are pretty awful; they’re the reason why we won’t be renewing or living in another Waterton property. They almost never answer the phone and they are less than helpful. Staff doesn’t care about anything and they don’t understand how to triage messages. No working fob? It’ll take us a month to get you a new one. Sorry, no gym for you. Management will flat out lie to your face and insult you. Their «snow removal» included piling all of the snow in the road behind my boyfriend’s car. Their hours are inconvenient for anyone who has a job during the day. You have a package that was delivered? You’ll have to wait until the weekend to get it. So sad that the beautiful apartment and complex is ruined by the idiots in the office.

Took our deposit. No response for three days. We tried to cancel the agreement the day they responded. Since it had been 72 hours since we paid (not since we were approved) our fees were not returned. Dissatisfied with their customer service and timeliness of follow up. In the end, we decided not to rent there and we are very happy with our decision. Park Place offered a better price, more amenities and timely customer service! Do yourself a favor and checkout Park Place!

I don’t understand why this place is not rated 5 stars. Perhaps these are residents that lived here prior to me (I’ve lived here 6 months or so).
Pros: There is plenty of parking. The gym is awesome — large with lots of natural light, the TVs don’t work so well — some work and others not so much, but that is a small gripe. This gym is way nicer than other places I’ve lived. The people at the leasing office are professional and friendly and actually helpful — I’ve definitely lived in at least two communities where they were angry if you didn’t pick up packages right away or you could tell they hated their job. It’s so rare there is an issue. The value is good. We were referred to the Ridgeleigh by the leasing office of another apartment community. Even the Ridgeleigh was surprised to hear that another, unaffiliated community recommended them, but they’re that good. I pay my rent online and it’s so easy. I get emails when my packages arrived (and are picked up so I know my fiancé picked it up for me). The pools are nice and the one of the lifeguards is super friendly. The dogpark is small but super convenient. There’s even a plastic kiddie pool for your doggie to cool off in during the summer. Maintenance issues are fixed pretty quickly and the maintenance people are the most professional and well-​spoken I’ve encountered in my many years of apartment dwelling (in Arlington, Alexandria and Kingstowne). You can also enter maintenance requests online. I have an open kitchen, with a breakfast counter and we love it. The kitchen is nice. The laundry machine and dryer have a nice big room of their own, which is a real luxury and we have a walk-​in closet. We also have a nice big balcony and a large bathroom. The kitchen and the bathroom are what sold us. We have a fireplace we have yet to use (but it has been a warm winter). There is a shuttle to the metro I have not used, but it is awesome to have it as an option (I see lots of people taking it).
Cons: The noise of the traffic from Van Dorn St and Oakwood Rd do bother me. I’m sure the issue would be fixed with better windows that don’t let in so much sound. My apartment backs up onto Oakwood and the traffic does wake me up in the morning (I am a light sleeper though). My advice to potential residents is to avoid apartments backing up onto Van Dorn or Oakwood, unless you’re a heavy sleeper. I also hear dogs at the dogpark barking at 6 AM because there are crazy people taking their dogs to the dogpark and then letting them bark at 6 AM (I mean, get a clue right? — but again I am a light sleeper). Also, the recycling receptacle (it is basically a dumpster) I use is often full (I think there are only two). The TVs in the gym don’t always work well and you have to turn them on yourself if you’re the first one in the gym in the morning and it’s time-​consuming. I think the issue may be the remotes. Reserved spaces are not well-​marked so it can be an easy mistake to park in one.

Can’t talk about other reviews, since I have lived here since August 2015. But so far so good. Management has been great and I have felt safe so far. The maintenance crew have taken care minor issues I have had in a timely manner. The facilities are always clean and the business center has a killer Starbucks coffee machine. I am happy!

I am baffled at the all the low ratings given to this property. I’ve lived in several apartment complexes and this has by far been one of the best apartments I’ve lived in.
Of course the fixtures will be cheap it’s not an apartment luxury complex ffs. But maintenance has always been prompt to address any issues I’ve had. The maintenance crew is fantastic and the best I’ve experienced. The people in the leasing office are polite and helpful and continue to be polite and helpful even after you sign a lease. The property manager, Ashleigh is great, she seems to care about the residents and the property. At ridgeleigh you are not treated like another cow in the herd. My complaints about cigarette butts littering the property was taken into account and a letter sent out to residents, now there are no cigarette butts all over the property!
The break ins that other reviews have mentioned are true but that is out of management’s control. They did what they could however with the garage break ins and attached latches from the inside. They also have the option of having a security system in your unit if you are still concerned about safety.
All in all it was a great experience and I wish I could stay!

Am living Here since one year, the worst place ever, the management all they care about is the money and how best they can charge u

I moved out of The Ridgeleigh recently, and overall the apartment itself was nice. I did not have any major issues, but maintenance was quick to respond when need be. I never hear my neighbors, and I never had a problem finding a parking space. My interactions with management left me unhappy. The manager made an assumption that I was lying about an incident and when asked, the manager said she would send my information to her supervisor. Of course I never heard anything from the supervisor, and The Ridgeleigh chose the path in which they made money. In addition, upon move out I contacted management over a week in advance asking if I could be present to do the inspection. I was told to give a 30 minute notice, and that was all I needed. I then called at 4pm on a Friday, I was at the apartment, and Yolanda told me I was given false information. She was not able to do the walk through, and when I asked her suggestions as to what to do I was told, «I can’t help ya.» I then sat and waited while she talked to another customer for 4 minutes.

So 5 out of 11 months were great here. Then the druggy’s moved in below us and I got to deal with endless weekend parties and my favorite… drug use on the balcony below ours.
I have a 4 year old daughter and I had to keep her off our balcony because of the constant billowing clouds of weed smoke coming up through our floorboards.
I called the police several times (so did other neighbors) and I also complained formally to the Ridgeleigh staff. Nick, one of the property managers threw up his hands and said «What do you want me to do Gary?»
I was told Ridgeleigh had a zero tolerance policy for drugs, but it turns out they tolerate it quite well.
Here’s the icing on the cake: they had an outside carpet company come in and «inspect» our carpet and this company recommended that the entire apartment carpet be replaced due to some BARELY and I mean freakin BARELY noticeable stains in the LIVING room.
They’re trying to charge me $ 1,000 for total replacement.
Another note to be aware of… we MOVED IN to that apartment with a large pink stain in our bedroom and I told them…“hey, it’s okay, I’ll put my bed over that spot and we’ll never see it”…
On my exit inspection, old Nick said he was sorry about the pink stain and that they «should have» replaced it.
I’m not paying these idiots ANYTHING… I’ll be fighting it in court and should actually SUE THEM for making my uproot my family because they valued drug smoking idiots over hard working people like us.
Suck it Ridgeleigh.

This place sucks! There’s not enough parking, but they keep designated parking spaces to rent. Their gym equipments are old and dangerous to use. The property is not safe. There are frequent car beak ins, and instead of having security cameras by the parking lot, they installed one by the dumpster, to fine residents for violating ‘dumpster rules’. The management is horrible (except for Nick). They are very unethical. They will do anything to get an extra buck from you.
Don’t try to contact their regional manager, ‘Mendowa’ if you have any complaints. She will purposely ignore all your phone calls and not reply to your emails. I sometimes wonder how some people get to keep their jobs with such horrible work ethics.
Do not move to Ridgeleigh at Van Dorn!

Horrible horrible horrible!!! The property itself it’s nice, however the staff was beyond horrible!!! The girl that works there is nothing but rude and lacks personality… They also gave us FALSE information which ultimately ended on us losing $ 290 which they refused to give back. I am very glad that at the end my husband and I decided to not move there!

I have lived at Van Dorn for going on a year. Originally I thought it was a great area and much different then being in the city where I resided before. I have notice on many nights strange people walking around the community. While living here many have awaken to vandalized vehicles. This really worries me as after the first time management made no attempt to comfort the residents. They remained silent and stated all was under investigation. It has gotten to the point that cars are left on their rotor pads. (this is scary) the maintenance staff seems to be very nice however management does not display great customer service. I have decided to not renew my lease as I am better off back into the city.