Ink Block

I caution anyone that moves here as if there is a problem in your unit response time will be incredibly slow and communication to tenants is opaque:
40 days ago there was a small fire a floor up from my unit which did little initial damage but the sprinkler system activation had repercussions for multiple adjacent /​lower units, mine included. I get that this is an unavoidable accident that is not InkBlocks fault but 40 days later, my apartment is still not habitable. I was offered the ability to move floors (and pay the corresponding rent increase, mind you) but who wants to move a second time, a month after initially moving in? I figured with the very limited damage to my unit, repairs would be swift and easy.
How was I wrong. I travel during the week and I have come to dread what’s waiting for me when I return each Thursday night. Notably:
— The incident occurred in August while it was still quite warm in Boston, one week I returned to find the air conditioning (which I had turned off in my absence) cranked down to 60 degrees and the floor to ceiling shades had been raised, exacerbating the problem due to the sunlight pouring in. It actually broke my A/​C (it couldn’t keep up) and my electric bill ended up being 5 x what it had been. I paid for this and the building did not reimburse despite it being completely due to lack of oversight of the workers not even bothering to turn the A/​C back off when they were done
— One week I returned to find my dish towel had been used to clean up the work site, stained, wet and discarded in my sink
— Last week I returned to find my closets emptied and all of my furniture scattered about my apartment which was a 15 minute exercise moving just so that I could climb into bed. I’m still dreading how long it will take me to get things back to normal
— and the icing on the cake, this week I stepped out of my shower and had a screw pierce the bottom of my foot — callous lack of attention to detail led to a screw being hidden in my bathmat
InkBlock wants to be a luxury apartment building in Boston and the exorbitant rent for my studio reflects that but understand that the service you will receive if you move here is incongruous with that.

Apartment itself is nice besides the bathroom tiles (got dirty real quick, can’t ever get it to be as white as they once were). But bathroom (and walk-​in closet) is very spacious so I do like that. Concierge is awesome, especially when it comes to getting packages (you can pick them up anytime! And i buy a lot of things online so that is so convenient). Location is great since it’s a 10 – 12 min walk from chinatown & downtown. My main complaint is I’ve had a few problems during my first few months of living here: toilet, bathroom sink, and shower flooded at midnight the first month I moved in (due to Whole Foods flooding. Lucky me I live right above their bathroom). They came to install a new toilet and pump out the water but I ended up calling out the next day because I had no sleep AND it was a new job so that did not look good (Steve did let me stay in one of the model studios so that was nice of him). Anyways, there was also a constant squeaking that no one could help me with until I figured out it wasn’t upstairs but downstairs (Whole Foods again. There were two pipes that would move and chafe each other EVERY time someone flushed one of the toilets. I noticed when I ate down there once). Eventually that was fixed. :)
My main problem now? I can hear my upstairs neighbor walk. I don’t mean normal tapping noises you are bound to hear in apartment complexes. No. It’s super loud, annoying SQUEAKING and this/​these neighbor (s) are constantly walking, as early as 8AM and that noise does NOT go away until 1:30AM sometimes. I know b/​c it keeps me up and I’ve taken clips of the noise. When I put it a work order, Steve sadly couldn’t help me since it’s not a maintenance problem. It must be the foundation b/​c I only hear the noise right above the living room/​bedroom area not the kitchen or bathroom. And this place is new?! Maybe I got unlucky and chose the wrong unit. I was told to contact the concierge but what is that going to do? I can’t prevent the neighbors from walking jt’s not their fault the floor is so squeaky (although they can use a break especially past midnight).
But to be fair, everything else is good: gym is nice and clean, the deck is beautiful, there’s a lot of common rooms with TVs, and the extra bathrooms throughout the building is convenient (no need to drag guests back to my apt bathroom). And the building is pet friendly which is great when my puppy arrives! :D But the noise still irritates me and disrupts my sleep every night. –_–

Okay, I love Ink Block and they deserve 5+++++ stars so I’m updating my review yet again.
I had to deal with an awful, awful, delivery man today who was delivering our couch. The head concierge (Stephan) was literally so nice about the situation, letting me take the couch from the front instead of the loading docks because this awful man wouldn’t move the truck to the back since the couch was already partially out of the truck.
After the delivery man left and I had returned to my apartment, Stephan actually called me (I love that the concierge at Ink Block remember me! He took the initiative to look up my number and reach out!) and wanted to make sure everything was okay. He told me how the delivery man’s rudeness was unacceptable and he hoped I got the contact information of the guy so he could be reported. Stephan did not want anyone else in the building to need to deal with the company if their service was not top notch.
I literally was so touched. Unfortunately, I did not get the delivery guy’s information, but I felt so cared for by the Ink Block staff. Thank you Stephan and the rest of Ink Block for being truly awesome and amazing!
I fall in love with my studio here more and more each day, especially now that we got the couch in here, and can’t wait to see what other activities Ink Block has to offer (Turnstyle Cycle is opening here and that’s really exciting).

Now that I’ve lived in the ink block for a few months, I want to update my review. The beginning experience was a little rocky with it being a brand new building, there are always a few problems. Steve who runs maintenance took care of all the issues in my apartment. The floors do get dirty and are slightly yellow, there’s nothing you can really do about it otherwise I would put a 5. The concierge staff is awesome and with someone there 24hrs, you can easily get a new key made and let in if you’re ever locked out.
Pool is amazing and it’s so great to have people over and entertain outside with the grills and common areas. Lobby is also great for working and has excellent wifi. With whole foods right downstairs, parking and a pool you can’t go wrong here :)