The Hudson

I never realized how important building management was until I had bad management. They will nickel and dime you for every single thing no matter how clean your apartment is. Upon move-​out I even had to pay $ 50! Also be prepared to have your rent go up significantly, mine went up over $ 300 then another $ 80 which prompted me to move out. I am now happily living at Ava Ballard where the staff is super friendly and I’m paying cheaper rent for a brand new building and great parking.
As for the apartment itself– its nice, but believe me when I say that you will hear your neighbors above you. I am very sensitive to sound and you can hear every footstep that your upstairs neighbor will take.
Overall, I definitely wouldn’t recommend this building to anyone unless you feel like dealing with rude staff and like getting ripped off.

Although we didn’t live in The Hudson, my husband and I did live in The Stanton in Ballard which is all managed by the same company. I have a bullet point list of about 7 items that we had issues with them over the course of our 8 month tenancy. The most blatant issue is with how long they take to address maintenance requests. As some of the other reviewers have noted, they have absolutely no clue about RCW’s and what their obligations are as landlords. Needless to say, we waited over a month for most of our maintenance requests to be taken care of. Save for one of the employees, the rest could not care less about you as a tenant, or helping you in any way. Below is a list of some of the issues we’ve faced:
1. Closet railing was coming off when we did our walk thru. They said they’d have it fixed by the time we moved in. They didn’t. We moved in, hung our stuff up (no where else to put it!) and it all came crashing down. After about 3 different times of their maintenance «guy» coming to fix it, it still wasn’t done correctly. AND he LIED about coming and they closed out the ticket. After a month of back and forth, it was finally done.
2. Screen missing from second bedroom, in the middle of Summer. Took almost 2 months to get a new one so we could open the window without bugs flying in.
3. Left a mirror and some Rubbermaids in our parking spot for TWO hours when moving in. Came back, and they were gone. Mirror was thrown in the garbage and shattered. Company didn’t even acknowledge their responsibility in the destruction and no restitution was even offered.
4. Bikes stolen from «secure» bike locker in «secure» parking garage (2 of them). After we told them, and recommended changing the lock… a wheel was stolen from a new bike we had just purchased because they never did anything about securing the locker again.
5. Laundry door came off of its hinges. Maintenance took over a month to repair. Again, their maintenance guy LIED and said he came and fixed it when he never had!!!
The fact that they took long on the maintenance requests is one thing. The fact that they LIED to save themselves from being liable makes it even worse. My husband and I will be taking them to arbitration for not doing repairs within the 10 days allotted by the RCW’s. Anyone else who is having issues withe the time it takes for maintenance, make sure you read up on your rights as tenants, and their obligations as landlords. Essentially, if you send in a maintenance request and they take longer than 10 days to finish it, you are no longer under any obligation of the lease. In other words, you can break the lease with no penalties!
Based on the previous reviews this is not a one time situation with us. While the location, and the building is nice, I would highly recommend NOT renting here to save yourself the headache. Having to work with a property management company who doesn’t care about you as a tenant isn’t worth it.

I just moved in not long ago and have had an awesome experience so far! I love the view from my apartment and the location is great. It’s close to Downtown and Queen Anne so you get the best of both worlds. The management team is very friendly and maintenance has been awesome. I have lived in a lot of mid rise and high rise buildings and I love this one so far!

I think I have a new upstairs neighbor again… And this person never sleeps. 1am: stomping 3 am: stomping. 5am: stomping… And it’s such a pity because I love my view, the gym here and the staff is nice. But there’s no way you’ll get to sleep with upstairs neighbors…
The elevator broke down several times which caused people to use the emergency stairs (this is typically used as regular stairs) and its against the bedroom wall. So throughout the night people haste up and down the stairs. So we had to move our mattress to the living room to get some sleep…
Sound insulation has been a problem for very long now, and our complaints were made clear, unfortunately The Hudson management decided not to do proper floor insulation… Even though there’s been construction in the upstairs apartment for a few months…
Now in the living room, there’s constant stomping and creaking through the ceiling.
There’s also notifications lately saying workers will enter your apartment between Monday to Wednesday 9am-​5pm. It also states that you are responsible for restraining your dog or animals. This means you need to cage your dog or tie him to something I guess for three days when you are at work. I think the Hudson should provide shorter time frames.

DO NOT MOVE HERE!!! The absolute worst place we have ever lived!!! Management are not honest; violate tenet rights, rude service, rent too expensive for square footage, and unethical business practices. DO NOT LIVE HERE!
NO RENT CONTROL: In our 11 months at the Hudson our rent increased by $ 700.00!!! Yes, they gave us a two month notice informing us that our rent will go up $ 500.00 more additional dollar (after already a $ 200.00 increase). We decided enough was enough and needed to leave. Since Seattle does not have rent control, businesses like the Hudson can change rent every time your lease is renewed. This seemed to be usual practice for them and would recommend you consult with a lawyer to make sure they comply within Seattle ordinance before raising your rent.
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UNETHICAL/​HIDDEN FEES: After cleaning our apartment, we were still charged a $ 250.00 cleaning service fee. I honestly do not know if this service was truly utilized since we cleaned our apartment spotless (We took pictures to prove it). And we had a «walk thru» prior to leaving and the employee said it looked «great.» So this unexpected fee was another money pit for renters.
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DIRTY FLOORWAYS. TRASH NOT TAKING OUT: In our new apartment, we used the lower basement level to enter/​exit the building. On numerous occasions the trash was left on the floor and the hallway gave off an awful order which I am pretty certain evidenced OSHA violations. They would go for days, sometimes a week or two before throwing away the trash. Trask was all over the floor, and outside the building. Was horrible to sight and smell. If you know of this problem still exist please inform OSHA.
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SMOKERS EVERYWHERE: There are smokers all over this complex. We were surrounded by smokers, so we constantly smelled smoke in our apartment. If you are allergic to smoke, beware.
BROKEN ELEVATOR: The elevator did not always work. This concerned me because this complex used to be a nursing home and recently, within the last 1.5 yr, was bought out by the Hudson, therefore there are a few residents who still reside there from their nursing home days. They were unable to leave their apartments when the elevator did not work, which I am pretty sure this was a violation of the American Disability Act. I myself have a physical disability and it impacted my accessibility in and out of my particular building. I lived on the Dexter side and used the bus, so I would be very late catching my bus (missing it at times) due to the elevator being out of order. At night, I would walk in the dark to the other side of the entire complex to enter through the front door. Not only was this a big inconvenience, but also unsafe. For further information on WA state disability rights:
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CONSTANT CONSTRUCTION and VIOLATION OF TENET RIGHTS/​LEASE: The employees/​management at the Hudson violate Washington state tenet rights. We had many arguments with the employees at this establishment regarding renter’s rights. I personally contacted professional consultants knowledgeable in WA state renters rights; to help us navigate through our experience at the Hudson. The management was resistant to our complaints, unable to conceptualize the legal implications, and attempted to violate our lease until we threatened to sue. They would allow construction workers to enter premises without proper consent or notification. Once example, involved construction workers, without our consent, tried to enter our apartment to demolish our closets, which would have involved a 2 week construction period without usage of our bedroom! Luckily, after consulting with a lawyer, we were able to stop them and then relocated to another apartment. On many occasions we did receive «notifications», which were about once a week, they ranged from water being turned off, construction in apartments and balconies, lighting fixture work, pipe work, closure of hallways, closure of elevator, sprinkler system, and so on. Several times the water was turned off without receiving notification which was extremely inconvenience. Be aware of your legal rights as a renter before moving here.
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Again, we do not recommend moving to The Hudson, previously called The Viewpoint. The lack of professionalism and capability from management created an awful living experience which become our renters hell.

I’ve been a resident for a little more than a month. Except for footsteps crashing from the apartment above me, it is quiet in the building. My apartment is in great condition, the few things that needed to be fixed when I moved in were taken care of. Love my balcony and view of Lake Union and the Cascades.
Construction continues, although from the «B» building, I’ve hear no noise. There is still work to be done, particularly to the hallways that need paint (eg, the stairway doors and exit door to the garage).
The housekeeping is better in the «A» building where the office is than in the «B» building. The elevators are a mess and need new flooring and repairs, but I’m hoping these will be done as construction continues. While the building is pet friendly, there are no dog waste receptacles which would make my life with pooch easier.
Unlike other reviewers, I have had only great experiences with the office staff.
Because work still remains to make this a «classier» building, I am hoping that the owners will take care of the cosmetic issues and attend more closely to building cleanliness. Hence the three star rating.

Not only is there never ending construction at this place, the staff are condescending, rude, and inconsistent. The rent is RIDICULOUS, and they will use any tactic in the book to get you to move in, including giving you cheap rent for a short term lease before switching it and bumping it up $ 500 as soon as it’s over. We were promised that a washer/​dryer would be in the unit before we moved in, but not only was it not there, but we had to fight to get it, we went back and forth with the staff, building managers, and contractors to get it in, only to finally get them 3 months after promised. The same thing happened with the glass balcony railing. I understand that it used to be an old-​folks home, and that they need to update it, but seriously? The contractors would try to come in unannounced, the notice of entrance would «get lost» or some made up story, but my dog was not locked up (and rightfully so!) Do NOT rent at this place, you will regret it, and will have to move out just when you’re settling in and done packing. Even one of the employees couldn’t be bothered to live there, she moved out a few months after moving in. Seriously, save yourself the trouble.
EDIT: ALSO, we moved out in the end of May, but apparently, they kept charging us for electricity well into the month of June. They took half of our deposit, when we had done absolutely NOTHING, as we only lived there for 9 months! They will nickel and dime you, which I guess they think they can do, since their damned lease is like 70 pages long. DON’T DO IT.

I will start by saying that I rented for 10 years in NYC, so I know the ins and outs of the rental business — shady managers, landlords and all — rather well. The management of The Hudson (formerly the ViewPointe on Queen Anne) is no exception. I am (vey thankfully) a former tenant who used to live in a building managed by The Hudson — The Stanton in Ballard — and my experience is on par with what other recent reviewers have said. The management company took over our building sometime in November 2014, and I find that they don’t care about their tenants and are terribly slow to respond to requests for repairs and other inquiries, taking several days, sometimes weeks to either follow up or to actually do the work they agreed to do. The last straw was when one of management staff didn’t show up for my final walk-​through appointment, which had been scheduled one week prior; when I called the office almost 30 mins after the start of the appointment, no one had any idea my appointment had been scheduled. This shows very clear disorganization and lack of proper internal communication: in 2015, I have no idea why everyone on staff isn’t aware of all of the appointments that are made — I mean, Google Calendar is free and has existed for at least a decade!
They will also nickel and dime you for EVERYTHING. For example, our building’s old management company was only going to charge an additional $ 50 to convert the lease to month-​to-​month after one year, and these people want to charge an additional $ 300! Another is example is that they tried to hit us up for $ 150+ in late fees, when in fact our lease states that they are only entitled to $ 85 plus any reasonable legal fees for serving us notice of late payment. They’re also increasing the monthly parking fee. I have no idea what these crazy increases are for since there are ZERO amenities in this building (unless you count an elevator): no management people working on site, no concierge or anyone accepting packages, no real property to maintain or landscaping, no gym, no roof deck, no community room — nothing. Meanwhile there’s construction happening in the adjacent lot behind The Stanton for a new apartment building that, once complete (and who knows when — good luck getting any info out of the management), will be a story taller than this building, which will block any views that the units facing that direction currently have. Not to mention the construction noise. But they continue to advertise «stunning views,» and all sorts of incentives, without any mention of the construction. They have also offered new leases to vacated apartments at significantly lower rents than what current tenants are paying, and refuse to offer current tenants any kind of concessions if they wanted to stay.
I also echo others in ensuring you read all of the fine print and know what you’re getting into when you sign a lease here or their other properties. Thoroughly read your lease, ask LOTS of questions — especially about how quickly they respond to you, fix things, what they charge you for, anything under the sun — and get everything in writing so you don’t get stuck losing money or paying AMC more than what they are entitled to. It is heartbreaking to hear about the older folk who are being mistreated or forced out by this money-​hungry management company, but sadly this seems to be the direction the Seattle rental market is going. Do yourself a favor — look around for a better place to live with a management company that has a better reputation; these people are not deserving of your hard-​earned money!

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Edit 3:
Here is a video of upstairs neighbors walking upstairs and entire apartment shaking:
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Original Post:
Come live in a paper house under construction.
Want to get to know your neighbors? Come live at The Hudson you can talk with them through walls of the hallways.
Never experienced an earth quake before? Come over and see how your lights shake to the beat of upstairs neighbors walking. Who needs proper foam insulation of the floors, looks like not the hudson, here we are happy just throwing laminate down. Remodeling is quicker, cheaper and looks just as good in craigslist pictures. If that is not enough just wait for some of the doors to open and close that are lacking proper padding to get you vibrations like your bedroom door is being slammed .
Want to meet some spirits? We got some. This was an elderly home for over two decades.
In one of the posted pictures you could see that it doesn’t look like there is any proper insulation that should be put down for laminate floors, which adds to the effect of neighbors shaking the ceilings. I could be wrong and there might be some super thin cheap insulation underneath but by the sound and vibrations of upstairs neighbors that really doesn’t seem to be the case and it really seems like laminate was just thrown on the floor. (How to lay down laminate
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The inside of the apartment does look very nice even though they really try to save money whenever possible. Some example of appliances: new stainless steel fridge doesn’t make ice, stove top scratches easily.
There is construction going on and the hallways will probably keep looking beat up for a while which isn’t really an issue for me if the construction focused on doing things right instead of making apartments look nice on craigslist.
Also here is the link to the previous reviews on Unilocal of the same place before it was renamed
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Edit 1: There is some more construction going on around and you could clearly see they are just throwing laminate down on concrete no insulation.
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Edit 2: Had a fire alarm malfunction that blared extremely loud alarm about 6 or 7 times during weekday night. Management didn’t even send an apology/​explanation email after well knowing about the incident.