Fenwick

We have lived here for over a year, having moved in just when the building opened. We should have known then that there were going to be real problems when we had to sign addendum a to the lease agreement like, you know, if we happen to step on nails and pierce our feet we’d be out of luck because the addendum that HAD to be signed removed any blame or responsibility to the building managers/​builders. Even though it was their bright idea to have people move in with a half finished building. This should have also been a red flag because how does one ensure if the unit they are moving into was built correctly? Here’s how, you dont and can’t! Because guess what! You signed the lease and those 100 addenda.
When we moved in, there was something wrong in every room. The master’s bathroom squeaked (and although complaints and maintenNce tickets have been submitted) continues to squeak every time we walk into the bathroom and anytime we’re in the shower. The second room has a cold draft so severe that no matter how much heat is running, it cannot get warm! In the winter months, one can feel the cold air seeping in. But it wouldn’t be a Fenwick problem if it wasn’t at least two-​fold. In the summer, that same room is hot and no amount of AC makes it comfortable. That room also leaks, there’s a clear ring of water damage that the building maintenance claims not to see when it was reported. This happened on a rainy day one. Riddle me this: how the hell are we getting a leak in a 4^th floor apartment of a 6 floor building? Poor building and cheap materials. It is evident all over the building. Between the paper thin walls, the «wooden» floors we can not comfortably step on, and the windows that not only let in draft but ALL of the peripheral noises (forget opening the window, it sounds like you are right outside with honking cars, random banging and whatever else you can think of. Except it’s in your living room (bedroom or any room for that matter)! Heck you cannot even carry a conversation on one room without anyone in another room or the hallway (anywhere) hearing EVERYTHING!
We didn’t have time to look for another place because we had recently expanded our family but that was the intention. And when the management sent a lease renewal notice with a 7% yes, 7 whole per cents more) increase to the rent, it was clear we were not doing ourselves any favors. The COLA is only around 3% and these fools wanted 7%. Which part of retaining your tenant is that in the playbook?!
So we signed the lease, negotiating a slightly lower increase rate but not what the leasing manager, Michael, had assured us would be maximum (4% like all the normal apartment buildings we had stayed in previously). They refused to honor what we had discussed and proceeded to give us a gazillion addenda: no noise after 11; cover 80% of the floors (I don’t know who would install wood floors to then have them covered); parking garage addenda; pet addenda; addenda for how many showers you can take… etc. Too much!
The one that brings me here (the straw that broke the camel’s back) is this parking one. After living here for over a year, I came home today, ready to go to an event with my infant child in tow, only to find my car missing in the garage. It had been towed. Towed from the garage I pay for monthly and in the building that I should supposedly call home. I apparently violated terms because the tag was not showing. Hmmm, how interesting and convenient. My registered vehicle, who’s info the building has on file (plates, make, All that) was removed from my residence by a tow company in cahoots with the building management. In all my time here the tag has sat on the dashboard of my car and today it wasn’t there? I mean how else does a paying resident of a building get their car towed from its legally parked space? I wonder!
Now suppose I had an emergency with my child who’s car seat is in the car, what was. Supposed to do? Where should my child have sat? In what car were we to arrive in?
I’m not sure why I have to be weary of having my car taken from my own home but the Fenwick seems to think making the tenants as uncomfortable as possible is the way to go. I cannot wait to move out of this poorly built, poorly maintained, let’s make sure we nickel and dime you out of every penny you have, too many things wrong so we have an addendum to avoid lawsuits, excuse for an appealing place to live!
It looks pretty, that’s about it. The staff made it pleasant until the new short Michael and some people whose names I don’t even know came on board. Having lived in downtown silver spring for a long while and in new buildings, this is by far the worst building and judging by the changed staff, it’s downhill from here on out! It is too expensive for not much value and there is no value for the tenants patronizing them. There are a dime-​a-​dozen buildings within walking distance to metro and shops, make sure you get your money’s worth and don’t move here!

I booked an appointment with this place last week and my friend went to visit yesterday, since I live in California, and the prices went up 200 – 300 dollars! I never would have sent my friend there to visit if I knew the prices would have gone up that much! I called and to ask what the deal was and they told me the market went up… are you kidding me?! This place needs to rethink the way they do things if they want people to pay 1800 for a studio. Absolutely ridiculous!

I normally don’t write reviews but … Listen do yourself a favor and DO NOT move to the Fenwick. The management here only cares about fleecing the residents for every dime possible. Moved here in May 2015 moved out by November thats how terrible my experience was. Where do I start… moved into a studio for $ 1556 ended up paying close to $ 1800 per month… how do you ask… utility chargers changed drastically each month even though i was barely ever home, even got billed for 2 cars by mistake. The staff here is okay but this one person name Kenneth from the leasing office is extremely rude and completely unhelpful when its time to explain billing charges… not to mention no one in the leasing office seems to know anything and will refer you back to the original person whom helped you, so if that person is unavailable your out of luck.
Not to mention you will get a noise complaint for absolutely anything in this building… If your dog barks too loud. Noise complaint… watching a movie beyond minimal volume. noise complaint… no point in having a balcony … if you use it to entertain a guest… noise complaint. so after paying $ 1800 a month I felt like a college student living in a quiet dorm. Absolutely no point to move to this building. 2 noise complaints and your facing eviction. They jam packed this place with apartments creating paper thin walls, and really tough to find a parking spot with a garbage being almost to capacity each evening.
Finally look out for all the hidden fees they charge you when moving out. they charged me $ 200 extra bucks for 4 bags of garbage. Im still waiting to see pictures of these 4 bags of garbage Kenneth claimed was removed. This place is a joke and these people only want your money and will sell you some okay amenities to sign the lease. and good luck renewing your lease. my neighbor across the hall rent was increased 180 $ a month to renew. Moving here is pointless save yourself the hassle.

I’ve only been here a short time, but really enjoy it. The location is phenomenal, the building is clean, the covered parking garage is well lit and the staff is super friendly. I was kind of prepared for the worst in terms of customer service after moving to the DC area from the Midwest, but everyone has been fantastic. Very, very pleased. I also want to send out special kudos to Erin, one of the leasing agents. She was particularly helpful and made the transition as smooth as possible. I recommend her highly.

The Fenwick is a nice community visually, but it was constructed cheaply. The walls to the corridors are paper thin, you can hear every word of a conversation even with the TV on. Don’t even get me started when the dog down the hall starts barking, its like he is in my living room. The windows reduce absolutely NO noise, you can hear the bus announce what stop its on (and I’m on the Second Ave side, feel sorry for the people near the train).
I live next to the exit stair, every time the door closes, it slams so loud that it wakes you out of your sleep.
Next to my bedroom window is a downspout that every times it rains it makes the loudest echoing noise from the rain beating on it, which makes it hard to fall asleep.
I guess other than that its a cool place. The staff is friendly, the amenities are nice, location is great. But if noise quality is something you need, I would not recommend this place!

The rating is 2.5 stars. We moved in a few months ago. The positives are that the building is in a great location — close to 16^th Street and the metro — and brand new. The front desk staff and leasing agents are very friendly and helpful. Paying rent, submitting maintenance requests and receiving notifications about packages is done online. The big negative is that our bedroom window has a gutter next to it that creates a tremendous amount of noise when it rains. Water rushes down the metal gutter, making sounds that range from a loud, metalic-​drip to gushing water. It is loud enough that I have to sleep on the floor as far away from the window as possible. This happens about 1 – 2 times a week. The maintenance people have looked at it and said it was related to a warranty issue. After doing some work, they recently told us that they have done all they can, which is unfortunate because the problem remains. We chose a unit on the Second Avenue side to reduce outside noises (i.e., the metro) and had no way of knowing this probelm existed. Sadly, this major flaw prevents us from loving where we live. I recommend choosing a unit away from the gutters if at all possible.

My partner and I moved into the Fenwick this past weekend. This apartment community is absolutely wonderful in every way. Though the complex is six stories, it’s not oversized. The complex is new and comes with countless luxurious amenities not only throughout the property, but in each apartment! The Fenwick is very pet friendly and clean, which was crucially important for the both of us. It is also VERY safe and secure with almost every point of entry requiring a RF device or to be let in by the management or resident. There are many floor plans to choose from and going through with touring the property, as well as the lease setup was quick and uncomplicated. We worked with both Jasmine and Mike, who are both incredibly outgoing, friendly, and professional. The rest of the management team seem just as nice, and the concierge team and maintenance team are just as pleasant.
If you are moving to the Downtown Silver Spring area, I highly recommend that your first tour Fenwick… I’m sure you’ll discover that other properties in the area will not come close to matching this gem of a place to call home. I’d also like to mention that I am disabled and regularly use a cane and power wheelchair. The entire Fenwick property is VERY handicapped friendly.

The Fenwick community is not a bad place to live, but I don’t know if its necessarily the best either for the amount of money you pay, but the location cannot be beat! They give you all of these addendums to your lease with all of these rules and regulations, which is understandable because they’re trying to keep their community nice as it is a brand new building recently opening in July. However, the staff can be snooty and rude sometimes, except Kevin, he really helped me through the entire leasing process. Some of the concierge is cool too, especially Bryan (I think), he really goes above and beyond, but some rarely even speak, or disappear from the front desk for ridiculous amounts of time. The major issue I have with the Fenwick is the noise level. Even though in our lease, it specifically tells us that «quiet hours» are between 11p-​7a, it seems that some residents do not abide by this, and I don’t see management doing anything to correct the issue even though I have complained about it several times. I don’t know if my neighbor (s) are just obnoxiously loud or if its poor building structure, but either way, its extremely annoying if you have a job to attend in the morning. It sounds like a bunch of drunk college kids literally screaming all hours of the night, random days of the week.
But on a positive note, I will say it has cool amenities, and community events. A gym with various machines, an office with Mac computers and printers, free coffee/​hot chocolate and a pool. The pool is only like 3 feet though and its in ground. Most pools in that area are the same depth, because they are on the roof, but I don’t know what their excuse is. Would it kill you to have a pool of at least 6 feet?! The courtyard however, is gorgeous! I can’t wait to enjoy it during the summer!

UPDATE: I received a message from the Property Manager Ms. Maguire today and I was pleased by her acknowledgement of my experience at the Fenwick and her apology. So I updated my rating because of it, that was truly good customer service!

I wanted to update my review after seeing a terrible review for the Fenwick by a fellow Unilocaler. The staff at the Fenwick are so kinda and friendly. Momwe, Katherine, Kevin, Brian, Joanne and Mike have all made us feel so comfortable and are available anytime to answer questions or help out. The Fenwick boasts a multicultural atmosphere which was very important factor for my family when we decided to move here. Raising my son in an environment that is tolerant of all people is one of many reasons I chose the Fenwick.

Although I’ve only been a resident of Fenwick Apartments for a few days, it already feels like home. The apartment building is fantastic, from the elegantly decorated common areas, clubroom and business center to the pool/​courtyard, which truly feels like you’re in a relaxing oasis somewhere far away from the hustle and bustle of the DC area. The apartment itself is great — with beautiful cabinets, floors, tiling, appliances, bathroom fixtures, etc. But by far the best thing Fenwick has going for it is the staff. They have been extremely helpful and accommodating, making move in a breeze and offering help every step of the way. I did a lot of research for dog-​friendly (of all sizes) apartments in downtown Silver Spring, and for the same price, you couldn’t live anywhere else remotely as nice as this. Do yourself a favor and visit Fenwick Apartments if you’re looking for a place to live. You won’t regret it.

Update: Looks like their Leasing process is smooth as well! The other leasing consultant Kevin was equally nice and helpful. Officially got the go ahead to move in!