Water Park Towers

Water Park Towers is an exceptionally well managed quiet friendly considerate adult complex in the heart of Crystal City and as its name suggests next to the community waterfall park. We have lived here since 2004 both on the Crystal Drive and airport sides of the building. The airport side of the building has penthouse quality views to die for above floor 8 (the best I think are in the south tower). Great for fireworks viewing. It is like having an observation deck on official DC and airport north runways out your window. The railroad noise is a factor though. Rents are reasonable relative to newer competitors. However factor in utility add on paid to building which can add $150-200 a month to living costs and parking charge of $100 a month if you need it. The building backs up to VRE station with a quick comfortable rush hour ride to L’Enfant Plaza and Union station (Senate side of Capitol Hill). Metro is across the street for everything else. The fitness center has modern LifeFitness cardio equipment. This building does require maintenance and the on-site crew is experienced, extremely competent and responsive. A contract cleaning crew keeps the public areas spiffy. Seem to be here everyday. There is a lot of larger scale maintenance going on and it is noisy but tolerable (we wouldn’t feel need to move over it). This is the center of Amazon HQ2 driven development- new addictive upscale bakery and CVS across the street, movie theater, taco joint and Solidcore coming. Morton’s steakhouse down block to bankrupt you. More restaurants on the way. Biggest grievance: occasional closure of Crystal Drive for road races, Marine Corps Marathon runs past the building. Be forewarned.

Been living in WaterPark Towers for over 5 years, and last two has been a complete hell. In 2020 the construction and demolition started of outside bricks. The noise was unbearable for 6 months, then in spring 2021 the construction came around to out apartment and for 4 months we weren’t able to be home during the day, as we work from home. Constant drilling, hammering and very loud noise. The management couldn’t do anything other than say “thanks for your understanding.” There was no option to leave early, so we were counting down the days of the lease. Building is in a bad shape, constant repairs, noise. The side that faces the airport got much louder as DCA opened third wing, with airplane constant engine noise in the evenings. For few years I was asking the management if there’s a possibility of installing EV car charger in the garage, and 3 different managers said “no, we don’t have money for that.” Very sad, as a lot of people have EVs now. The only positive is location next to metro, great maintenance staff, and very good concierge staff.

When sent the 'please review us' emails upon move in, I chose to disregard and just plead the 5th, until the annoyance has continued. Only plus of this apartment, and that's not even the greatest, is location, with being convenient to the metro and airport. The physical apartment itself is also fine. Negatives - almost any interaction I've had to have with concierge/front desk staff has been frustrating and misinformative. I hate when having to go to pick up my packages for fear of attitude. Their online portal for payment is incredibly unuser friendly and I've spent too much time just trying to figure out if my utilities are set up for auto pay or if I need to pay them. Don't waste your money here, you can find an apartment for the same rate with better location elsewhere and I can't wait for my lease to be up.

-COCKROACHES- We had a cockroach problem from DAY 1. There was a little nest of them behind the fridge. The bldg manager sent Terminex every Fri for a few months, but this was futile bc they were coming from the pipes. They would come up through the drain in the dishwasher and from the shower. The manager would argue with me that there wasn't an infestation in our apt, which I agreed with, but he repeatedly tried to tell me that there wasn't a problem, when there clearly was because of all the roaches we found. There wasn't an infestation because they were just coming up through the pipes...that means no matter what you do, no matter how clean you keep your kitchen/bathroom, those cockroaches will come in anyway. It means you are probably drinking and showering in cockroach water. We also found them ALL over the 1st floor by the garage and in the employee bathroom. We talked to numerous residents who told me they had similar issues with them coming in through the dishwasher...there's just no dealing with them. I complained to the leasing office, who tried to tell me that they've NEVER had anybody ever complain about them ever, and that I probably brought them with me (lived in my last apt for 5 years and never had a single incident, but that apt actually maintained their grounds). When this same leasing agent asked why we were leaving, and we listed cockroaches as one of the issues, she repeated this same line. We honestly can't tell if this her personal line of BS or Equity's policy. I don't know why you would make that your policy; it's so brazenly a lie nobody would be dumb enough to believe them and all it does is anger residents. But this brings me to... -PERSONNEL- The office manager was trying to do his best, but we completely disagreed on the cause of the roaches. He ended up leaving in July. The women who work in the leasing office will just straight up lie and accuse you of things to your face. One woman told me that they NEVER had a single incident with roaches before. Not only did I talk to other residents who had complained to the office, I called Terminex & talked to their commercial line and found they had treated multiple apartments in the complex. The staff are straight up liars. Some of the people who run the front desk are equally unprofessional. On several occasions they lost my packages or gave me someone else's package. I was convinced the one woman had a personal vendetta against me...just a very unprofessional attitude.

The location is very convenient. It is right near the metro, Amtrak, and National Airport. It's also just a $10 cab/uber ride from downtown DC. The apartment itself has a good layout and updated appliances. It's also pet friendly and very quiet considering the airport in your backyard. The neighborhood is ideal. It's quiet and removed from all the crowds in DC, yet there are plenty of shops, restaurants, and grocery stores close by.

Let me say that I have always wanted to live in Crystal City and, when i got the opportunity, I lept at the chance. Since moving in to Water Park Towers, I have had no regrets. The staff is friendly and punctual, the location is great, with dining, activities, metro, all within close proximity...and the amenities are fantastic. i would live here forever and highly recommend it to anyone/everyone!