Updated

I originally moved to 3003 Van Ness for the large outdoor pool. It’s the main reason why I stay here. People hang out there in the summer and it’s like having a beach in your backyard. It makes summers in Washington really nice.

The location of 3003 Van Ness also is great — about a two minute walk to the Metro. Calvert Woodley Wine and Spirits — the best wine store in DC — is very close. The excellent Bread Furst bakery is up the street. Cleveland Park is a 15 minute walk away. Great location.

The apartments are large and have parquet hardwood floors. Sliding glass doors onto patios. Large walk-in closets

However, the corporation that owns and manages the building, Equity Residential, is AWFUL. It sells itself as a high-end provider of luxury apartments, but it has run 3003 Van Ness down and taken advantage of residents. This seems to be a company strategy.

Equity was implicated in the rent “concession” scam — a way to circumvent rent control and overcharge tenants. The tenants association fought the company for years over this practice and it even got the DC Attorney General involved. The AG won a $1 million settlement for residents.

Equity Residential has done everything to squeeze money out of the building. It subleased a block of apartments to UDC, which treats it like a dorm. It has cut services and staff. Security is terrible — the doors are broken all the time — and crime is up. There are frequent problems with heat, air conditioning and hot water. The elevators have broken down repeatedly. The ceilings in the garage are falling apart due to massive water leaks.

Some residents believe that Equity is trying to drive them out so they can completely renovate the building and remove it from rent control, jacking up rents. But many residents are determined to stay and to enjoy the things that make 3003 Van Ness great — hoping to outlast Equity Residential.

Name withheld
60s