Avalon at Assembly Row

Nicest apartment /​apartment building I’ve ever lived in.
Pros:
— Surrounded by restaurants of every cuisine (sushi/​Japanese, pizza, burgers, French bakery, beer garden, seafood, Mexican, etc.) and lots of shopping as well as a movie theater
— Includes nice full-​sized washer/​dryer
— Very effective heating/​cooling
— Spacious (I was in a 2-​bedroom, 1136sqft layout) and plenty of closet and cabinet space
— The building will sign for your packages, and when I’ve requested it and they’re not super busy, they’ve dropped them off in my apartment
— They have a gym with a solid selection of equipment
— They have a pool
— (Paid) parking and bike racks are available
— Nice community space
— Pet-​friendly if that’s your thing, although if that’s not your thing, you probably won’t notice
— Very close to all kinds of transportation: Zipcar, the Assembly Row stop on the Orange Line of the T (subway), very easy access to highways (I-​93, McGrath, and Route 16)
— Depending on what part of the building you’re in, pretty views of the Mystic river
— Everyone I interacted with on staff was nice and helpful
— Maintenance is fast and fixed the rare problems I had
— Trash service
— Avalon has an arrangement where if you move to another Avalon more than 30 miles away, you can be exempt from the fee for breaking your lease early
— The building is new; I was the first person to live in my apartment when I moved in two years ago
Cons:
— Obviously expensive — über/​lyft/​taxi drivers will sometimes comment on it when they drop you off
— The toilets and showers get moldy if you don’t clean them at least once a week
— When it gets really cold, the inside of the window sills freeze, and when they unfreeze, the built up condensation can get on nearby furniture
— If you’re on the outside of the building you can sometimes hear people outside — especially excited children in the summer from Legoland. Mostly it’s not a big deal
— Not long before I moved out I think a new family moved in above me, and from the sound of it they had kids that love to stomp around, or else they’re always moving furniture… anyway I never had much problem with sound from inside the building before that.
I had such a good experience here that when I had to leave (to move to another state for work) I moved to another Avalon.

I have enjoyed living here since 2014 and recently renewed my lease. Wonderful leasing office, maintenance, and housekeeping staffs. Great amenities and wonderful community!

We moved to this Avalon when it first opened up almost 2 years ago. The building and facilities are well kept and location is extremely convenient for commuters. Whether you use public transportation or you hop one 93 to get to where you are going — the location is ideal. The location offers a little bit of everything for everyone. Shopping, dining, and recreation are all available at Avalon at Assembly Row.
One of the best perks about living here is the Avalon staff. With any new building there were sure to be wrinkles that needed to be ironed out. But the staff was committed to ensuring that your experience within the community was the comfortable and pleasurable environment. Specific to this location — Sarah Lucente is incredible. She is client focus and committed to accommodating residents all while upholding a high standard. She understands and appreciates what is to live in a luxury apartment. She cares about each resident and their individual needs. She is always looking for ways to engage the residents and hold events that are educational and create awareness for important causes that are happening around us. She cares about her residents and it shows.
If you are looking for a luxury apartment complex that has a great community and close nit feel — this is the Avalon to for you.

I moved here in November. It is a great place to live, conveniently located, great shops and right on the Mystic River where there is also a nice running loop. They are pet friendly and always give mine attention though you would never know pets live in the building. The place is always immaculate.
The staff here are super friendly, helpful and welcoming. My move in experience was seamless, easy and without a hitch. Although my experience has not been completely without hiccups, any issue has been taken care of promptly.

Great place to live.
Pros
Staff is really great and accommodating to all your needs. Sarah is especially great and always smiling and helpful in anyway you need.
Moving in was a breeze a loading dock and elevator.
Packages get signed for and go straight to the leasing office and can be picked up or delivered if needed.
Maintenance requests can be done through the avalon website (as well as paying rent) and the staff is always fast and thorough.
Very clean place despite some residents. The janitorial staff does a great job keeping up with the huge building.
Area-​Great restaurants to grab a bite with great variety. Tons of delivery options as well. I hope you like it busy!
Noise-​hardly any apartment noise from other residents. We had a new baby and our neighbors said they never heard her wail. You can hear stuff in the hallway and sometimes above you, but the side walls are very insulated.
Heat-​We lived on the fourth floor and hardly ever had to turn it on (converse-​the ac in the summer)).
Cons
–If you live in the inside of the building (facing the pool), the courtyard with the pool is very nice but can get noisy if you leave your windows open. Also you can see directly into other people’s apartments at night if the shades are up. The positive of being on the inside is you can’t even tell you live in the middle of a bustling outlet mall.

One of the first people to move in and have been here since. The fit for others will heavily depend on your circumstances.
Pros:
— Location
— 5 minutes to T (Walking)
— 3 minutes to I-​93 (Driving)
— Less than $ 20 for an Über/​Lyft to pretty much anywhere in Boston area
— Don’t have to deal with landlords; professional leasing office is good
— Responsive maintenance
— Assembly Row is growing. They are building 4 – 5 more buildings in the plan, and there are plans to build even more after that (office space, apartments, hotel, condos, etc.)
— Movie theater, shopping, and restaurants are all easily accessible
— Private security
— Package acceptance (and will deliver to inside your apartment if you ask nicely)
— Everett Casino is going to be a 5 minute drive
Cons:
— Cost. Take whatever price you see on the site and add 150+ for parking (keeps going up), and 150+ for electric (more on that below), 20+ for rental insurance; you’re pretty close to 3k for a ~700sq. ft. 1 bedroom apartment. 36k a year for 700 sq. ft. so you should probably make more than 120k as a household to justify living here.
— The heating/​cooling situation is odd. We have never turned on our heat (on the third floor) since the building stores heat well, but in the summer you have to run the A/​C constantly or it will easily hit ~85 in your apartment and windows don’t help much. We’ve seen electric bills for ~90 in the winter and 175−250+ in the summer months (running at 74 degrees only at the times we are home). We’ve been here for two summers and this is pretty consistent. Again this is a one bedroom, I’ve heard worse from larger apartments.
— No grocery or drug store nearby (supposedly coming 2017ish) without driving.
— Most two bedrooms have two full size bathrooms, so are clearly designed for roommates not for married couples Might be valuable if you have kids. The few one bedroom + office layouts are never available.
— Orange line is extremely crowded in the morning once it gets to Assembly, you may miss a few trains before getting on. No new trains until 2019. This will get worse as they build 1000 more apartments and additional office space.

We just moved in to Assembly Row. It’s a great place to live with great furnishings, awesome facilities, great neighbourhood, and best of all, wonderful staff.
The staff here is one of the main reasons why my wife and I moved here. They’re helpful and welcoming. They made the moving process from the moment we signed the lease a breeze AND they’re always willing to answer any questions we might have.
Special shoutout to Sarah and Samantha in the office. Those two are always happy to help.

This is a great place to live. I moved in couple of months ago and I’m really loving it here.
The management staff are top notch! Every single one of them. I say that because I met all of them! When I moved in, there was a stubborn problem in the AC that required multiple visits from maintenance team. They really stayed on top of it until it was resolved. Sarah and Christina did a great job in coordinating that and in updating me about the progress. Great service indeed.
The building it self is very new and clean. Very nice amenities. The apartment is great too. One thing I’m not happy with is my cell phone signal when I’m in the apartment. It is very weak and I tried ALL carriers! No clue why but I don’t think anyone can fix that.
Oh great location too! Facing the mystic river and surrounded by nice shops and bakeries.

I have been living at Avalon in Assembly Row for almost a year and wanted to share my experience — both the positive & negative.
I am leaving Avalon next week because of the rent increase, however my stay here has been great. I have to say the staff here are really wonderful. The girls in the office are very accommodating especially Sarah Lucente. Sarah goes out of her way to say hello to the residents and make them feel at home. Anytime I had an issue or needed something Sarah would make sure it was taken care of. It’s obvious she takes her job very seriously and truly cares about the residents.
The one disappointment in Avalon is the residents and how they treat the building. They leave their trash in the stairwells and have no respect for the building or people living & working here. It’s awful to think what a nice place this is and how these people are but at least the staff makes sure it’s cleaned up.

My girlfriend and I recently moved to Avalon and are very happy so far. From signing the lease to moving in, Sarah was very accommodating to all of our needs. We like how quiet, clean and spacious the complex is. The location is great and a five minute walk to the orange line. I would recommend both the Avalon and Sarah when moving to the greater Boston area.

I moved in a few months ago and so far things are going well. The living space is nice, the gym is never over crowded and the grounds are well maintained — plus there is always something to do. I relocated to the area for work, initially I was overwhelmed with everything I thought I had to do. Thankfully Sarah L. was there to walk me through it all! Sarah is great and it is her exceptional customer service that supports my 5 star rating! If you’re looking to get in, ask for Sarah!

Very Irresponsible behavior on part of such a well established housing company. Yesterday Jan 24^th Saturday me and my wife reached at Avalon in Somerville around 4 PM to take a look at few apartments. Online and at leasing office it is clearly written that they are open till 5:30 PM. But there was no one available to entertain us.
Hold on. It will worsen,
We then called their head office 10 mins later at the number provided on website, they told us the agent must have gone for a showing 4:30 to 5 and gave us a number to call., we called it twice no one picked up. And as everyone would do. We waited till 5:05 (office is closed and we are standing) we called head office again 3^rd time and asked about status of agent., they told us again to wait for sometime since agent might be busy. We waited till 5:30! Meanwhile we thought of asking the security guard standing outside and to our surprise he tells us, they closed the office at 3 PM because for snow warning today! Seriously??? Closing office is no big deal but how about hanging a tag on door saying «closed» and what about this communication head office delivered us?
Whose gonna refund this 1.5 hour that we wasted? We have pretty busy life styles and can’t afford to waste our time! Avalon really very bad on your part, contact me at my email if you have any questions about the incident —

I was the first to move into Assembly Row back in April and have been very happy. The biggest asset to the community by far is the staff. Michael who is no longer in this office was awesome and now Sarah and Leng are by far the best the industry has to offer. They’re both so helpful and always go the extra mile with a smile.
The community is beautiful and well maintained. I agree with others, some of the in-​unit amenities are slightly less than top of the line but overall– a great place to live.
Looking forward to the summer again for the beautiful pool area!

I just moved into Avalon at Assembly Row and had a great experience. There were a number of challenges we had to overcome and Sarah was extremely helpful and followed through with every request. She made my move easy and pain free.
I would recommend checking out Avalon for anyone looking to move into a vibrant new area with tons of amenities and a great on site staff.

I’m really happy here! This project has been at the top of my list since groundbreaking, and now I’m thrilled to be a part of it. Attended the holiday party the other night where I made about ten friends rather quickly. If you want to make friends here, you totally can. If you prefer more solitude, people here respect that too. In general, the feel is totally positive and congenial.
I’ve been here for about a week now, and the service I have received here has been tremendous. Sarah got me all signed up, and checks in on me to make sure everything is ok. Leng walked me through the operation of the unit and noted anything that wasn’t perfect when I moved in. Christina, Shatara, and Whitney have all been dreams to meet as well. From a service perspective, so far it’s been top-​notch.
The location is exactly what I wanted: smack-​dab in the middle of the hottest area in Somerville. I can get to dining, shopping, movies, 93, basically anything I need or want, within minutes. The biggest adjustment so far has been driving up the ramp in the parking garage — at my other place I was literally fifteen steps from my car.
The unit is in great shape! There was some discoloration of the carpet when I previewed the unit, which Leng saw got addressed ASAP. It’s perfect now. The place is so sleek and simple, which is precisely what I was looking for. There are actually more cabinets here than in my other place, which was renovated nine years ago. Heat works instantly and efficiently, and the unit keeps the heat really well. The medicine cabinet in the bathroom is the only piece whose quality doesn’t seem to match up with the rest of the project.
I’m looking forward to getting to know more residents, attending and holding other get-​togethers and parties, and getting used to the space and making it my own. Each of my friends whom I’ve brought here have commented that although you’re going to pay more for a place at AR than you will in other locations, the value you get is totally worth it. I’d have to agree.

My husband and I moved to AR after a much delayed opening and we are happy we waited. We had the option of renting before Avalon AR was finished and there were several delays because of construction. We are both happy we waited because after living in several other apartment complexes we are truly satisfied with where we are now. The first and absolute best reason for living here is the first rate customer service. Avalon has given us excellent customer service from putting us up in their sister apt bldg until AR was built, to listening to our complaints and addressing them to our satisfaction. We know that the bldg is new and there are a few kinks to be worked out but ultimately the amenties here far exceed any of the drawbacks.
We are well located, have assigned parking, a gym, community area, pool, shops and restaurants. Access to the train which Avalon provides shuttle service to and a front desk staff that will collect and deliver your packages if you ask.
We know from living in other places that there will be compromises and challenges but what we truly appreciate is knowing that service and attention are priorities to our management, which is what has been our experience here to date.
We would absolutely recommend living here.

If you are considering leasing an apartment at Avalon Assembly Row — take my advice and don’t waste your money. My husband and I moved here from a 200 year old house where we rented the first floor in Cambridge. We moved because we wanted an updated apartment with all the ugraded and amenities we wanted for our hectic lifestyle. Instead, what we got was a cheaply built and horribly maintained apartment community. We were a part of the first people to move into Avalon as had problems with the unit since day one. The paint was running off the walls, our bathroom shower was leaking, our window wouldn’t open, and our niece who was living with us couldn’t even sleep in her bedroom due to an incessant knocking sound in her ceiling even though we lived on the top floor. Management tried to address the problems, but maintenance never followed through. My husband and I work constantly and instead of having the worry free lifestyle they inconvenienced us multiple times because they needed in the apartment to address the issues even though they were never fixed. When we asked for weekend appointments when we had time we were told that that wouldn’t work because most of the maintenance staff doesn’t work the weekend and they were too busy. To top it all off, one of the leasing agents was incredibly rude to me after I can home from working an 80 hour week and couldn’t get into my apartment after work one Friday. My key just stopped working and since they are fobs, I had to go down to the office where I waited 30 minutes for them to figure out what was wrong. When I got upset, the agent started giving me mean glares for no reason and muttered something under her breath. Of course, I said this was unacceptable and started to get even more upset so Sarah, another leasing agent (who is wonderful btwthey took me to my apartment and let me in, but I still had to wait another half hour before they brought the key to me. I couldn’t even walk m dog or leave the apartment because I didn’t have a key to get back in. Needless to say we are now moving to another apartment community and warning anyone seeking to rent here to reconsider their decision.

I am only giving this place 3 stars– because of the excellent service that Sarah in the office provides. Please continue to read the issues we have had here– but through all of this Sarah has been a true gem. She has been more than helpful and if you do I fact decide to rent here– she is the one I suggest you ask to do business with!
If you are considering leasing an apartment at Avalon Assembly Row — take my advice and don’t waste your money. My husband and I moved here from a 200 year old house where we rented the first floor in Cambridge. We moved because we wanted an updated apartment with all the upgrades and amenities we wanted for our hectic lifestyle. Instead, what we got was a cheaply built and horribly maintained apartment community. We were a part of the first people to move into Avalon as had problems with the unit since day one. The paint was running off the walls, our bathroom shower was leaking, our window wouldn’t open, and our niece who was living with us couldn’t even sleep in her bedroom due to an incessant knocking sound in her ceiling even though we lived on the top floor. Management tried to address the problems, but maintenance never followed through. My husband and I work constantly and instead of having the worry free lifestyle they inconvenienced us multiple times because they needed in the apartment to address the issues even though they were never fixed. When we asked for weekend appointments when we had time we were told that that wouldn’t work because most of the maintenance staff doesn’t work the weekend and they were too busy. To top it all off, one of the leasing agents was incredibly rude to me after I can home from working an 80 hour week and couldn’t get into my apartment after work one Friday. My key just stopped working and since they are fobs, I had to go down to the office where I waited 30 minutes for them to figure out what was wrong. When I got upset, the agent started giving me mean glares for no reason and muttered something under her breath. Of course, I said this was unacceptable and started to get even more upset so Sarah, another leasing agent (who is wonderful btw) took me to my apartment and let me in, but I still had to wait another 2 hours before maintenance brought the key to me. I couldn’t even walk m dog or leave the apartment because I didn’t have a key to get back in. Needless to say we are now moving to another apartment community and warning anyone seeking to rent here to reconsider their decision.