Alder Flats

TL;DR: Low price, great design, new everything, outstanding management and even better view and location BUT you need to come to terms with not having your own oven/​stove or full sized fridge and you probably need to downsize your belongings to live here comfortably.
These are microstudios, 200 sq ft. I live here with my husband and our cat. I also work from home! And yet I still love it here. Building is brand new. Plumbing, electricity and appliances all work perfectly. The style of the place is very aesthetically pleasing, modern and clean. There is an elevator and two stairwells, though the elevator is SLOW.
MANAGEMENT: The management is fantastic. The most responsive and friendly apartment management I’ve ever had. The only downside is that they are not always on site — but maintenance is and I have never had to wait more than 24 hours for a response regarding questions or concerns. Currently Alder is managed by Thrive Communities, when I first moved in Allyson was our manager (she went to another location) and now we have Phil and they are both the best.
LAUNDRY/​MAIL: The laundry room is in the basement and the machines take cards. It’s $ 2/​load but worth the convenience of not having to get quarters every week! In the same room are the mailboxes, and also where USPS and UPS will leave packages. If you move here, never use FedEx. They have keys to the building and management’s phone number yet they refuse to put any effort into entering the building. We have made countless calls to FedEx and management has given them all the access they need, but every week they leave a dozen door tags outside. This has been my only complaint with mail/​packages. There is no one here to hold or receive packages but I have never had any issues with theft.
APARTMENT: The apartment itself is great. I pay $ 950 for a micro and I get a very large closet (seriously, it’s walk in with two racks for clothing + a bookshelf + a litterbox + our A/​C when its not in use w/​room for us to walk in still), a built-​in desk and a very comfortably sized bathroom. There is a stand-​up shower but it’s not tiny, the toilet is elongated and very comfy and there is storage under the sink. We have a queen sized bed, a cat tree, nightstands, a bookshelf and entertainment center and it really doesn’t feel too cramped. There is a common area downstairs w/​a full sized kitchen that is not used nearly as often as you would expect.
LOCATION: The location is great. Close to bus routes 9, 12, 60, 27, 3 and 4 and I’m sure more. I can get downtown in 20 mins via bus. You can walk to Capitol Hill for QFC/​Safeway and the amount of restaurants is staggering. Plenty of options for delivery. There are two corner stores and two gas stations w/​in four blocks. On days she decides to come out, I can see Rainier from my apartment. Seattle U is 2 blocks away, and I use their track regularly which is open to the public and really well maintained.
ROOFTOP: There is also a great rooftop deck. It is fairly small w/​only one picnic table but it has a huge grill and plenty of standing room. The deck is a godsend if you don’t want to deal with crowds on holidays but still want to watch Fireworks, or if you like watching the Blue Angels fly over. Oh, and you can see Elliott Bay, Mt. Rainier, Downtown and a panoramic view of every other area of Seattle. It is breathtaking.
PETS: Alder Flats allows pets! As of right now you’ll face a $ 250 deposit and $ 25/​mo on top of rent. I only have a cat so I can’t speak on dog breed restrictions.
NEIGHBORS: We haven’t had any issues. We are next to the stairwell so unfortunately it sounds like a stomp party above our apartment every night but that is no one’s fault. The complex often smells of weed but. so does the rest of Seattle. Everyone I have met here has been friendly and sometimes even talkative. It feels very much like a community.
UTILITIES: All the utilities are included in your rent here. Electric, water, waste, even internet! Be aware that the internet is very, very, painfully slow but you can always opt to pay out of pocket for your own, faster service.
SERVICES: Everything from rent to maintenance requests are done online. No additional fees for payments, and you can also set up recurring charges to make it even more painless. So convenient!
Again, I love this place. It was our first apartment in Seattle and will always hold a very fond place in my heart. But it is small, and if we had not sold off most of our belongings before moving here and prepared ourselves for certain sacrifices (like only having a mini fridge and no oven/​stove and very limited space) I might have a different opinion of the place. So long as you know what you’re signing up for I think you will love it too!

I have been trying to apply for this complex and the complete lack of any sort of management or customer service has 100% changed my mind. When I first found these micro studios I fell in love, new and clean looking and close to downtown.
HOWEVER, I have left numerous messages, e-​mails, and there has been ZERO response from any type of management or leasing agent. This place is gorgeous, but I refuse to put money forth in an application ($ 500 to hold a spot) when there is a clear foreshadowing that management will be nowhere nearby to respond when needed. Disappointed.

The cleanliness of the apartment complex has gone down hill since the management changed. They do clean it, but less frequently.
Also it seems they are really slow to fix things. The keypad entry system has been dead for months. The light above the entrance has been out for just as long if not longer.
I feel how lackluster Alder Flats has become doesn’t warrant such draconian behavior on the part of management.
I feel like Alder Flats is becoming an overpriced slum.
Also I am not happy with the update to the community standards. It seems more like intimidation on the part of management, instead of talking meaningfully about substantial issues with tenants. I understand about not smoking in the apartment and staying 25 feet away, but the thing that really bothers me is that they said they would «take legal action» if they find marijuana on the premises. I am sorry, if you are not smoking inside, what you have in your own home is your business as long as it doesn’t violate the lease and this «community change» seems petty. I feel like they should just file it under smoking in the apartment (which is already a $ 250 fine if you are caught), instead of trying to tack on scare tactics.
I feel like Thrive Communities is overstepping their bounds. Though they cite «They are going by federal standards.» If it’s legal in the state an apartment shouldn’t bully tenants that just possess marijuana.
Other than this issue and the other issues with immature residents. It’s not a terrible place to live. I am not sure how management can change it without driving everyone out.

This is our first apartment (my girlfriend and I), and we are pretty happy with it despite a few things. The building is nice (almost brand new), we have a good view, it’s affordable with paid utilities, and we love how easy it is to get in contact with Bill.
The problems are mostly the other residents as a lot of them are young and disrespectful college students. They always leave messes everywhere, the elevator is always a mess, all the shared common places are almost always trashed because none of them have respect for a communal living space.
There have been some elevator issues but not for a month or so and some issues with the fire alarm going off in the middle of the night. Those things haven’t been that big of a deal to us.
The one thing id really like to see change is the price of the washing and drying machines. 2 $ a load is pretty expensive and the dryer always leaves a lot of items still damp.
We are happy here despite those few things. It’s in a good location and affordable and the apartments are really nice.

Ill keep the review fairly short and give the highlights!
Starting with the pros: great location, affordable (utilities and Internet included), new building with a awesome veiw, roof top access with a grill!
Cons: fire alarms about once a month at the most inconvenient times (1am-​6am), elevator out of commission on average about every 2−3wks, the immaturity of some residents (many younger people, very near Seattle U), inability to receive packages due to broke call box & lack of custodial services to maintain the building!
If you’re looking for a cheap place to be in the city then this is definitely a possibility, but be ready to pay for it in other ways (I.e lack of sleep, cleanliness issues, unusable amenities, and possible safety concerns).

I REALLY wish that the pictures were falsified, but unfortunately, they aren’t.
We have been living here for 6 months, and I wish I could love this place! Reasonable rent, all utilities included, fast internet, and a beautiful view of seattle! Unfortunately, we haven’t had the best living experience here.
We can start with the fire alarms. We were averaging 1 a month, during the middle of the night. Apparently, one of the tenants was responsible, but they were becoming more frequent (fire department hated us) and discovered it was a wiring problem mixed with someone pulling the alarm. We forgive this, hell, it’s a new building, and it was fixed after 3 months. We could have let that slide, but then…
When we moved in, we had no idea that this would be a frat house. You can smell weed from every part of the building. We couldn’t keep our windows open in the summer because weed and cigarette smoke would come into our house. Smoking cigarettes/​weed in the hallways, the roof, front door… Beer cans in our hallway, vomit in the walkways, people urinating on doors. It’s really bad.
Our biggest issue was the fact about the drug deals that took place here. The taped drugs in the hallway? All the time. Tenants would leave the back door open and have dangerous people come into our building and purchase drugs. Scary right?
I really love my apartment, but it’s pretty scary to live here. If you are a person who doesn’t mind the constant smell of weed/​cigarettes, and you like to party and can tolerate constant noise and disruption, this could work out for you.
Two stars because this place is really awesome, but 98 percent of the people suck.