AMENITIES

The facilities at 3003 Van Ness are generally nice. However, many of the amenities that Equity Residential claims to offer at 3003 Van Ness have been eliminated. Other amenities that had been promised to residents in a formal agreement also have been cut.

POOL

The pool is one of the nicest things about 3003 Van Ness. It generally is clean and well-run. It usually opens on Memorial Day and closes a week or two after Labor Day. In the summer, it generally is open from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM for lap swimmers, closes for an hour and then opens again from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM for general use.

A pool pass is required for entrance. Each apartment receives one pool pass per occupant and a limited number of guest passes. The 3003 leasing office distributes tenant pool passes in the late spring.

The pool is clean and very well-run, with lifeguards on duty. It is owned and operated by V.N.N.C., Inc. - the Van Ness North Cooperative apartment building on the north side of the pool. The pool is open to tenants of 3003 Van Ness under an agreement with Van Ness North. It also is open to residents of Van Ness East.

PARKING

Reserved parking generally costs $160 per month — although some residents have found that the amount is negotiable. If you want parking, it’s worthwhile to negotiate.

Having underground parking is a great amenity, but there frequently are problems. There have been some break-ins recently and people have had personal items stolen from their cars. In one case, a resident’s car windows were smashed.

Residents enter the automatic garage door with a fob. However, it is not unusual for another car to wait behind the car entering through the gate, and drive through before the gate comes down. It isn’t clear whether these are residents trying to get free parking or non-residents entering the building.

The automatic door to the parking garage has been broken several times. Each time, Equity takes weeks to have it repaired. During that period, the door is wide open and security is compromised. When pressured by the tenants association, Equity has posted security guards at the garage door, but the guards frequently are off duty or AWOL.

Overall, the garage is NOT secure. It is very, very easy to just walk in the garage behind a car. It isn’t clear whether the few security cameras that are in the garages are actually working.

FITNESS CENTER

3003 Van Ness has a decent fitness center, equipped with cardio and strength training equipment, restrooms and a studio space. The fitness center is relatively up to date and well lit. It is well used and a popular amenity. It is sufficient for an apartment building fitness center.

There are occasional water leaks in the in a corner of the gym. Sometimes broken equipment goes a long while before being repaired, but it generally is in good condition.

LAUNDRY

There is a laundry room on every floor of the two buildings, each with three washers and three dryers. Washers and dryers are frequently broken and sometimes individual machines are down for weeks at a time. The equipment is owned and maintained by a third party service provider, which is very slow to make repairs even if you follow the specific directions requesting service.

Some laundry rooms have had backed up floor drains and flooding coming from the washing machine drainage. Management is very slow to respond to complaints about this. Trash in the laundry rooms often is not emptied on weekends so it can pile up.

We are hopeful that the new Equity Residential general manager for 3003 Van Ness, Dan Burkes, will improve the situation in laundry rooms.

Broken washer

AMENITIES LISTED ON EQUITY RESIDENTIAL’S WEBSITE THAT NO LONGER EXIST

As of Dec. 31, 2021, Equity Residential’s website claimed that 3003 Van Ness had the amenities listed below. However, this list is quite outdated and it includes some amenities that Equity has eliminated or some that are inaccurate descriptions of current offerings. For example:

  • The most glaring misrepresentation below is the claim that 3003 Van Ness is an “Access Controlled Community;” in fact, non-residents often enter the building without being checked and doors and locks are frequently broken.

  • The building is not “Smoke Free;” in fact, residents frequently complain of cigarette and marijuana smoke wafting between apartments even with doors and windows closed.

  • There is no “Bike Storage,” after frequent break-ins, that service was eliminated.

  • The building used to have a doorman, but no longer does. While it is true that there is a concierge on duty 24 hours a day, he or she does very little in the late evening and early morning hours besides sit at the front desk. In past years, the concierge would handle noise complaints, arrange help for urgent maintenance requests, help residents if they accidentally got locked out of their apartments, and any other duties necessary to assist residents. Currently, if a resident calls the concierge/front desk with e.g., a noise complaint, he or she merely will advise the resident to call the police.

  • In addition, the concierge on duty is forced to deal with a large number of packages that arrive daily, so he or she cannot focus on who is entering the building, whether the person is a valid visitor or not, or spend more than a few minutes helping residents. In the past, packages were handled by another employee in a separate package room. In addition, the current concierges are agency temps, without substantial knowledge of the building or its residents. This makes it easier for non-residents to enter the building.

On the other hand, the list below fails to include the pool, which is by far the best amenity offered at 3003 Van Ness.

Downloaded Dec. 31, 2021