Seventh and James Apartments

Renter Beware
First of all, your right across the street from a freeway overpass, so enjoy the sound of that. But even better is that there is a tent city that will pop up and last for about half the year every year before the cops sweep it again. I lived there for two years and watched that happen 3 times. While the cadre of homeless people live across the street you will notice your neighborhood smell more and more like human waste. If you’re as unlucky as we were, you will even get to stumble across a man popping a squat in between two cars parked on the street right outside the building.
The best part comes once you give notice though. They literally stop acknowledging your existence. We had 2 maintenance tickets in because there doors are the kind of «hidden» doors that roll into the wall, and they constantly fall off the tracks and then you have to have the maintenance people come fix them. Well he came once, said he needed to order parts, then we gave notice and he didn’t come back for 2 months. They also charged us erroneously for the last month. We said we would leave before our lease was us (the 9^th). They charged us a prorated amount and then also another amount that didn’t even make sense because it was less than our typical monthly rate yet when paired with the prorated amount the total was higher than our typical monthly rate. When I tried calling and emailing to find out what the problem was they never replied, when I repeatedly called in the same day, they never picked up the office phone. When my girlfriend went into the office the property manager continued to ignore her even though she said she wasn’t leaving until they called me. When we turned in the keys they charges were still not fixed and we were told «It will happen automatically on the 9^th». That’s not how this works, so don’t let them tell you the same thing! Since there is NO way to get ahold of the regional property manager or ANYONE at their Seattle office (apparently no one answers that phone either) I guess I just have to wait until it magically remedies itself…

*Update now moved out*
Removed a star due to being charged twice for utilities and an ‘early termination fee’ for handing back the keys a day early, even though I paid rent until the last day of the lease.
I lived here for 9 months and moved out in July. For comparison, I’ve lived on Capitol Hill off and on for 5 years, so I’m used to the neighborhood and noise level:
The good…
The tenants I’ve had the good fortune to engage in conversation are friendly (also see The Bad below).
Location: takes me 10 mins to walk to work in the morning, 15mins home due to the incline.
Close to some cool bars, local shops and only 10mins walk from Broadway QFC.
The interactions I’ve had with the staff are positive.
Despite the neighborhood being full of ‘vagrants’ as people have mentioned, I’ve personally had no issues and in fact, have sat out front on many occasions, chatting to them for hours. Never had or seen an incident of a car being broken into while here (but then again I treat the ‘vagrants’ with respect, so might be better looked after).
The ‘gym’ (treadmill, elliptical, bike and weight machine) are usually never in use before 4pm and after 6pm and I’ve yet to see the sauna used when I’m there.
I’ve never felt unsafe in the neighborhood, even when staggering home at 3−4am on a weekend.
The rats outside are really friendly (no, that’s not sarcasm, I genuinely like them)
The Bad:
Garage parking is run by an external parking company and I was quoted $ 160 a month but there’s a couple of parking garages 2 blocks away which offer parking for almost ½ this cost.
The cleaners do their best but the building is a little ‘tired’, despite not being that old.
Utilities are based on size and occupancy and in a studio, mine have averaged around $ 65 a month (not including electric) — fine if you take a bath every day and flush the toilet more than most but if you’re eco-​friendly, you’ll get no discount here (in comparison, my 3 bed house averaged $ 50 a month).
I was never allowed to see the apartment prior to move-​in, due to ‘insurance requirements’ (that’s a first) — I just found out the pictures I was sent are the same ones being posted on craigslist for the generic studio, so I suggest you demand a viewing, prior to move-​in.
There’s a strange smell of ‘toilet freshener’, which permeates the apartment.
The ugly:
I ran out of hands on which to count the amount of times I’ve seen urine (dog or otherwise) in the elevators. Absolutely no excuse for this.
Some of the tenants are not used to socializing in the real world — yelling in the hallway at 3am, plain rudeness when being greeted (would a smile hurt when someone says good morning, instead of responding ‘retard’?) and a couple of times, I’ve seen exploded cat litter bags and garbage bags, left for the cleaners to eradicate in the morning.
If you live on the south side (or god forbid, the freeway facing side), you’ll only get sound protection from your windows and doors being closed. Not a problem in the winter but the apartment is a furnace in the summer, so you get to choose between heat or noise.
After my lease expires, rent will increase 20%, depending on how long I want to sign for (even though the same studios on the same floor will be rented for less, for new tenants). After paying less than 1300 a month and being told ‘there’s a 30% chance I could get 1300 if I sign for 12 months’, I think i’ll pass and move on. (Incidentally, the month-​to-​month is being quoted cheaper than a 9 month commitment)
You can pay rent via credit card and over the phone but with an extortionate fee — and here I am naively thinking it was illegal and/​or immoral to charge CC fees these days
I recommend coming here if you’re ok with the occasional midnight screaming, 2am emergency vehicle sirens, urine in the elevators and you don’t want to socialize with your fellow tenants. I’ve been in worse places but enough better places to know this is pretty mediocre and not worth the rent.

Seventh & James Apartments is a great location with great staff. Rick and Sam are very responsive and super friendly. Not to be forgotten is the maintenance guy who is also very friendly. The building is a little older (1991) and is well taken care of and when anything gets damaged it’s repaired quickly. For the price, few apartments in Seattle with this proximity to downtown come with fireplaces and balconies. Though close to the freeway and near Harborview Medical (think: Ambulance sirens), with windows closed you can’t hear it much if at all (full disclosure, I lived on the courtyard (west) side of the building so didn’t hear much). Every so often they hold resident events on the rooftop and it’s a nice opportunity to meet your neighbors.
With all the good above, there’s some things to consider when living here — though most are not within the control of the staff. The good pricing tends to attract people of all types which is not inherently a bad thing, but younger people tend to be more loud than professional types who have jobs that require you to actually sleep at night. Loud talking in the hallways, people out late in the courtyard or talking loudly on their balconies is a frequent occurrence. There’s no AC, so your windows are likely to be open. I’ve heard yelling in the hallway to have opened my door to two SPD officers with two drunk residents having an argument. Not the only time I’d been woken up by drunk kids out in the hallway. The property is non-​smoking yet some of the aforementioned residents smoke either indoors or outside (not permitted) and it gets right into your apartment. They also do it on the rooftop and are dismissive if reminded politely about the policy. Rooftop parties can occur on the nice summer weekends and the drunken noise is enough to make you leave the apartment building to achieve quiet. Honestly, at times, it reminded me of a college dorm.
Though the location is great — minutes walk to downtown/​water and up to Capitol Hill — it’s also next to the freeway and the problem isn’t the traffic noise. Lots of vagrants live under the bridge, coming in the evening and disappearing during the day. There is also the Northwest Harvest food back on Cherry behind the building that draws people on Mon, Wed, and Fri. Across Cherry there is an older building that’s to be demolished and replaced with a low-​income housing. As of right now it’s vacant and there are vagrants camping out on the property. Note that they seem to leave you alone, however I’ve seen street parked cars with broken out windows and they tend to leave a LOT of trash all around. There’s been some bikes stolen from the garage over the last year (so I’ve been told).
Overall if occasional — yet disruptive noise — and younger college-​kid-​behavior-​residents doesn’t bother you, and you want a good decent building in a great location for a good pricepoint, look no further.

I am a travel nurse who lived here for 3 months for an assignment. Upon walk-​through with maintenance on Seventh and James we had a couple of discrepancies re: how the apartment was left. For instance, there were 2 black spots on the carpet upon move-​in and the guy insisted they weren’t there in the first place. Instead of acknowledging and listening to what I had to say, he just cut me off abruptly and insisted that that can’t be. I’m not sure if there was a language barrier but his tone and approach seem very delinquent. The same maintenance guy also came in unannounced to do a walk-​through a couple of weeks before move-​out date when I was sleeping during the day since I have been working nights. My boyfriend told him I was sleeping and he still wanted to come in to check the bedroom! I haven’t encountered any other problems otherwise aside from the maintenance personnel’s lack of etiquette and professionalism.

My bf and I love living here. Great place to live because it’s close to pretty much everything — the stadiums, the Light Rail, downtown, Pike Place, Capitol Hill… you name it! It also has a great rooftop patio for throwing bbqs in the summer.
The gym is a bit small but you can tell they tried to make due with what they have. We live in a «Jefferson» layout and it’s definitely cozy for one or two habitants. Though it’s kind of tight for two, there’s plenty of room in the balcony for storage space.
Parking is available in the garage and it’s on the pricy side, but then you have to remember you’re living in a city. If you’re willing to pay for location while not splurging too much on a nice complex, this place is for you.

Don’t move here unless you want to lose your deposit to the carpet and want to be embarrassed every time you have company over for living near tent central. Plus, rent’s way too high for this place.
Broke our lease early to upgrade into a better unit/​area/​building. Management is nice and maintenance is extremely helpful. My issue with them is the fact that this is the first time I lose my entire deposit to a $ 650+ carpet replacement. Granted, we did have a few drink spills (though they decided they were pet damage?) and on the last day we spilled bleach while cleaning but I’ve done worse in other apartments with being charged no more than $ 200 – 300 for much larger units. Part of me wants to demand the invoice to justify the charges but given the age of the building, quality of the rooms and terrible location, I feel pity for the sad little apartment as they need all the money they can get to make this pig somewhat presentable. Not worth my time so I’ll post this review instead.
Also, newer tenants are inconsiderate– loud in the late hours and constantly leaving the hallways trashed. I rather pay a little extra to live in substantively better living conditions ($ 1180 for a 600sq ft «1 bedroom» with a weird french door setup that doesnt shut vs. 776 sq ft with hard floors, 2 REAL gyms, pools, rec rooms…). I understand budgets can restrict where we live but I would recommend to the newly constructed Slate Apartments in Interbay for the same rate but bigger units, hard floors and NO PET RENT! We stuck to a comparable apartment in DT for the location but Slate was very tempting.
In summary: nice staff but I argue unfair; disappointing building, amenities and units; high rental rates for the product; located next to the «shantytown» under the I-​5 bridge and food bank (so expect random food scattered when you leave your building); oh, and carpet that will swallow your deposit. Check out Slate Apartments, instead!

My partner and I lived here for a year. (Dec 2010-​Dec 2011)
We absolutely loved it. The only reason why we moved is because our financial situation changed a bit and we wanted to move closer to work. I keep saying that if I could lift the building off and take it with me I would. The management was absolutely top notch. They made sure to go far and beyond for us and they were attentive to our every annoying question. We moved here from Texas and Kopley (the manager) helped out us with the process and everything under the sun with our move, it really left a great feeling.
The essentials: washer & dryer in unit, great management, great environment, not loud, clean, good neighbors, easy bill pay (online), great location (Easy acces to/​from I-​5), overall a great place to live.
I wouldn’t doubt in recommending this place to anyone.

THEY WILL ROB YOU WITH FEES!
Example: Rent is due on the 2^nd, if late, you are charged 10% of the «balance due» PLUS $ 5 PER DAY until paid!
Staff is VERY nice, however Equity Realty should be considered criminals for the way that they gouge their tenants. We moved to a 5 bedroom house and are paying $ 400 LESS than our 1 bedroom apartment here…
CONSTANT CRIME NEARBY! Hope you don’t want to venture outside often…
KEEP LOOKING — you can and will do better!

Solid place to live. Great management and maintenance. People don’t bother you. Not loud. Clean.

I would not recommend this building to anyone. When I moved in the management was nice and on top of things but they forgot to mention to me that the building was scheduled to be renovated beginning less than 10 days after I moved in. The renovations would increase rents +$ 75 per month and the only major changes were crappy stainless steel appliances.
Yes, the neighborhood is close to everything but in order to get to everything just blocks away you have to contend with highway noise, the food bank next door and the discarded food everywhere it leaves behind and cat calls from the low security prison across the street.
The apartment is nice and quiet when the windows and doors are closed but it runs so hot in the apartment that you’ll need you windows open and its so loud its practically impossible to make a phone call without someone commenting on the noise.
One of the selling points was the hot tub on the roof — that broke and with the renovations they decided they didn’t want to bother/​pay for its repairs so there just won’t be one anymore.
A lot of the apartment have balconies. Mine was great for getting a little fresh air in the morning and watching transients defecate outside your home. In addition to the noise the highway creates, it creates an unhealthy air quality as well.
There was also a car stolen from the «secure» parking garage. They use the term secure very loosely as a good portion of the time the doors are propped open — often by the leasing agents.
So, no, I wouldn’t recommend it.

It’s all about location location location when you live in the city. 7^th and James location ROCKS! Easy freeway access from I-​5 — very nice layouts — good amenities with tanning, weights, sauna etc!
And some very friendly staff!
Though freeway facing units are loud — but the view is loud too :) as in Sweet … where DOES that shadow on the Columbia tower come from? LOL .
You’ll like living here!