Em T.
1/5
TLDR; if you have a car or need to use public transportation, want washer/dryer in unit, never care to step outside or care about local activities, are ok with shitty amenities at luxury prices, AND you have no other options or backups, this is a fine place. It gets the job done. But if you don't want to save your money and can literally move anywhere else that isn't infested with pests or mold, move there.
This apartment is 100% not worth the price. Not because of one more heated complaint about a missing security deposit or unrealistic expectations of maintenance, but because it's just simply not worth the price tag. The building itself is located in an undeveloped part of Newark. Next to the building is an abandoned mid-construction lot that hasn't been touched in the nearly two years we've lived here (at least there's an uninterrupted miniscule NYC view from my bedroom). In front of us is a disgruntled makeshift $150/mo paid parking lot with iron fencing sprinkled in trash. Beside the building is Arbol's very own abandoned construction plot (rumor has it it was once a promised dog run, something they used to market to people as a bait and switch), also with iron fencing and littered with trash. This very lot *used* to be infested with box beetles that made using any outdoor space impossible, but after constant complaints, they finally debugged that plot. Every day during any non-winter month, alcoholics and what seems to be unhoused folk stand around the perimeter or crowd around the liquor store next door. Several times, neighbors have shared video of them peeing on the property and once even defecating (I can't blame them, this "luxury" building" offers nothing back to it's low-income neighbors).
As for the building itself. Management is only helpful and communicative when it comes to leasing and getting paid. They have a constant change of hands, probably due to being underpaid and having to deal with too much from residents (it's all circular, I feel bad for them, too). The amenities are almost always partially broken or run down, something they somehow charge $50/mo for. One of the two elevators is always down for maintenance. Deliveries are often left unsecured *outside* of the designated package room. The maintenance team will mark requests completed without ever attempting to complete them and have historically come to "fix" something, only for it to be a bandaid fix. The walls scuff easily because cheap, matte paint is used for all rooms except the bathroom. The cheap cabinet hinges always fall apart. The only internet connection you can use is 5G wifi, which always drops. The walls are thick but the floors are EXTREMELY thin. If you don't live on the 2nd floor (its a cement floor underneath, directly above the common spaces) you can literally hear and feel the creaks under your foot, that's how flimsy they are. The electric bill skyrockets because the windows aren't properly sealed or insulated and both winters and summers rack up bills over $200/mo regardless of any eco efficiency.
The only upside is that it's sandwiched between Broad St. station (nearby at an 11min walk, but that entire walk is between two industrialized streets that are unsafe to walk at night) and the Norfolk St. light rail stop (nearby with just a 5min walk and just past a few schools, but you have to cross a no-crosswalk two way street that's unsafe during commuter hours). This comes in handy because if you have a car, parking is abysmal and street cleaning towing is enforced 15min before designated times. Save yourself the $300 to pick up your car and just use public transportation.
If you have no other backups and must live here, it's doable. We made it work. But if you can save your pennies and go somewhere else worth spending them, do yourself the favor. Promise me. It's not worth the hassle.
