315 on A Apartments

After reading some of the negative reviews, I felt compelled to write about our experience. We moved in to 315 on A just 3 weeks ago, but everything has been great so far. Our move in was a breeze, thanks to the very helpful and friendly concierge. The maintenance staff even helped us hang a few larger items on the wall, which I think is above and beyond what’s expected of them. The foyer and sky lounge are decorated beautifully and the views from the gym and sky lounge are breathtaking! Yes, these apartments are expensive but with the 24 hour concierge, the amenities and proximity to downtown Boston, I feel like it’s worth it. I would highly recommend living here.

Quick update:
1) The furniture in the Sky Lounge is being updated and Equity even had sweets in the lobby today as a treat.
2) Management has been extremely helpful and informative with updates regarding nearby construction and the impact it has on entering the building.
3) Hicham, from maintenance goes above and beyond. Love him. He’s fantastic and responsive.
A lot of new faces in the management office recently but Kelsey (who has been here since April) is so knowledgeable about the property and is easy to talk to if needed. :)

Renters Beware! For the prices in rent here, you can do better with MUCH better management. Equity killed this place and I am just thankful my husband and I only had ½ of our lease dealing with the inept management who refuses to take responsibility for any of the unhappiness or inappropriate protocols they have implemented since buying the property. BTW– if you tour be sure to ask them about their «winterizing» the property without letting residents know. That was awesome when it was in the mid 70s and not having AC. Or you could ask about how an elevator typically breaks down once a week with at one point all three elevators being broken for a period of time one day. That’s awesome for people living on those higher floors (for me it was the 17^th floor). Any apartment complex who has residents trying to form a union (yes this is true!) in order to stand up to management has MAJOR issues. Don’t say I didn’t warn you and if I could give 0 stars I would.

We moved here about a month ago from Pittsburgh so minus the Boston rent «sticker shock», we have been very pleased with our experience at 315 on A.
We thought downsizing from a three level town home was going to be more difficult than it actually was. It turns out, we are more than fine with about 1000 sq feet and all of the necessary amenities that come with living in this building (gym specifically). The sky lounge and coffee machine that’s located up there are great «perks». The other common areas are nice. There is bike storage.
The units are quiet, and they seem extremely efficient. Even on the coldest of days so far, we haven’t had to turn the heat on. Actually, we often have to open the window.
Whoever mentioned a frat party vibe… Haven’t seen that at all here. Young and older people reside here and everyone has been cordial thus far.
You are within walking distance of so much but you aren’t in a crazier section of town here either. I feel safe here. The concierge and building staff are wonderful as well.
We love it here and are glad that we chose this building! I know that I would recommend it.

We moved in mid-​May and we are very happy living here. We lived in two other buildings in the South End and Back Bay and this is by far the best one we have lived in. There are lots of good bars/​restaurants in the area, it is close to South Station and Financial District/​North End. There is a Sweetgreen down the street which is nice and waking distance to the Lawn on D. I travel for work and it is nice to be 10 minutes from the airport. The maintenance staff is very timely and thorough. We had a couple of small issues and they were addressed the very next day. The building is also very clean, energy efficient and very pet friendly. The top floor has a really nice common area with great views of the city. It really feels like a small community here and residents are very friendly and respectful of each other. One of the reasons we picked this building is because it seems very safe. We have a baby and we had some security issues in our last building. There are also sprinklers in each of the apartments. The metal doors and concrete ceilings prevent any noise from neighbors. We have never heard a peep. There is also Zipcar in the building which is convenient for quick trips. The staff has done an good job of trying to address everyone’s needs and they really welcome feedback. I really don’t understand all the negative comments but maybe the transition to new management wasn’t smooth as it could’ve been. But now all the main complaints (coffee machine, firepit, sky lounge hours, etc.) have been addressed. I really appreciate their email notifications to keep residents in the know. There is some construction in the buildings next door but they only work business hours so we really don’t mind it. I have few complaints and pretty trivial in the grand scheme. The only con is that the washer/​dryer are a bit smaller than we are used to it but we are so used to it now, it doesn’t bother us anymore. And sometimes we can hear garbage being removed from the building next door at 10 pm b/​c I think they are doing renovations (it only takes them 10 minutes).

I’m writing this review to come to the defense of the Equity Residential team at 315 on A. I’ve lived there since October 2014 and have generally enjoyed the experience. We all miss the old Greystar team. They were great. Alan was an awesome concierge. I think we were all a little taken aback when Equity took over because it happened in the middle of the day with no warning. We never got to say goodbye to the old team, and that was unfortunate.
There were definitely some bumps in the beginning for Equity. Many of them were just tonal issues with how the new people conducted their business. It definitely felt at first like they were totally lost. They blamed a lot of early issues on the building/​old team, and while that may have been true, it probably wasn’t the best angle to take. But you know what, running a 220 unit building is hard, and this new team was thrown into an awfully tough position. I have seen them working in the office late at night, and they do really care.
This new Equity team has for sure had a ton of complaints from me. As examples, I’m not happy that there are dogs in the building that violate stated breed restrictions. I’m also not happy that the new unit next door to me is now a corporate apartment. Not a great way to build a community. I’m also not happy that instead of addressing these complaints, they directed me to their attorneys.
All that said, 315 on A is a great place to live. The new Equity team is trying really hard. They have been very receptive to my feedback in other areas, and I applaud them for having transparent rental prices listed directly on the website. The new maintenance team is awesome, and Junior has been able to quickly fix a number of issues in our unit. The cleaning staff is incredibly friendly. The concierges in general are fantastic. They’re very quick to address building issues. They’ve made nice changes like purchasing extra luggage carts. Overall, it’s a great place to live.

Visited Boston and stayed at 315 on A with my sister who is a resident. The place was amazing! My wife and daughter felt so pampered having such a gorgeous space for the long holiday weekend. The gym was convenient and had enough equipment to not be crowded. The 20^th floor view was spectacular along with the complimentary morning latte. Security was helpful too since we had our arms full coming and going. Our 2-​year old loved the resident dogs. We’ll be back!

Location, location, location. 315 on A is a lovely place to be. The building is a great mix of modern + character. There’s a debate about the new management. I experience them as fair minded and concerned with good hospitality. I personally welcome a reduction of the frat house vib. Let’s just say there’s at least two sides to the story.

We moved out due to new, less friendly management, loud noises of pipes and ?? clanging all of the time, dogs barking all of the time and the ‘frat party’ vibe of the tenants. The value and experience just doesn’t add up to what the building markets itself as: Luxury. Not. Really.
Many of the other original tenants moved out as well and our friends that are still there say it’s not gotten any better with time. For 5,300/month I expected much more.

***New Management as of April 2015***
Please read up on other Equity properties in Boston before you decide to move here.
The building itself has been cheapened considerably. They have let the lounge area fall apart. They are considering removing the coffee machine, the pool table cue sticks have been taken away, the grill is never cleaned. Their operating model is how to extract the most money from renters by ripping them off with a fancy first impression (smooth website, fast responding leasing agents, etc.).
The vibe is the complex has become really toxic too. We now just hustle up the apartment elevators to our unit because the people here are just not as pleasant. The new renters never smile, the 315 on A workers (minus the cleaning staff — they are awesome still) seem like they just want the day to be over. People used to hang out on the roofdeck, and now nobody is there. There also used to be free monthly social gatherings and a «dog of the month,» which I don’t think 315 is going to continue. Actually, they covered up the pretty and colorful April newsletter in the elevators with this awful glaring sign about «Testing All Elevators.» BAD VIBES, BAD VIBES.
The indoor pet relief area is DISGUSTING now. A bunch of the new renters take their dogs in and don’t pick up their poop. The space itself is super small so it stinks up real fast. Management has done a poor job cleaning it.
I’m pretty sure everyone who originally moved in Summer of 2014 are getting the heck outta here. Every time I see potential renters come in, I just want to tell them what an awful choice they are making. See ya later, suckers!
Avoid at all costs. Even highway-​views InkBlock is better than 315 on A under Equity. A bunch of luxury apartments are shooting up in the area so look there. There is also Factory 63 and the Channel Center.

Have to agree with P.B. I’ve lived here for just about a year and I’ve been surprised by the reduction in service since equity residential took over. The building was formerly managed by Greystar and the staff was great… The doormen, maintenance staff, etc were incredibly friendly and helpful. Now? Not so much.
The little things are also becoming noticeable. The area around the building isn’t as clean, things stay broken longer, and it just doesn’t seem like a luxury building anymore (and for $ 4k a month, it should).