Stay Alfred at Historic Electric Building

I lived here for a year, and it was horrible. The windows in my apartment, including the fire escape, were painted shut after I’d been there six months. They promised to reopen them but never did, and I was scared I’d be trapped if there were a fire. Water also poured down my walls, and they never fixed it from inside my apartment. They’d add utility charges they couldn’t explain, and three months after I moved out, I still hadn’t gotten a response about my deposit. I left several messages. I spoke to the manager, Danielle, who said she’d call me back, but she never did. I left the apartment spotless and am sure they’ll try not to return my deposit. I could go on, but I don’t have the time. Stay away, you’ll regret it. They don’t care about residents. For the first eight months, I had no hot water or no water at all. We held several resident meetings off the property to figure out how to get repairs or leave our leases without penalties. We went through at least 10 managers in my year there, and none could believe what we were dealing with. There were roaches, and the elevators never all worked at once, if any worked at all. Several nights I had to climb 12 flights. I even watched a disabled resident crawl from the basement garage to the first floor to use an elevator that would take him up to his floor. At one point, homeless people were staying above me, and all kinds of people were staying across the hall in a unit leased out as an air B & B. It was horrible and not safe.

Only one elevator works now, and it keeps breaking down. The building has gone downhill. There’s lots of smoking despite this being a smoke free community, and my child has been hospitalized because of it. My apartment flooded three times in one year. The front office adds charges to your account without telling you, and the corporate office doesn’t seem to know what’s going on because nothing is ever reported to them. The front door doesn’t lock, so it doesn’t feel safe. The post boxes were broken, but they finally fixed them.

I love having access to the downtown lifestyle, and I’ve enjoyed my stay at Historic Electric Building overall. The maintenance people, from the regional team to the in-house staff, are excellent professionals. They handle my issues as though they were their own, and I understand the building’s age presents challenges. When repairs take time, they offer clear solutions. I’m looking forward to big improvements soon, which I hope will lead to more positive conversations among residents.

Rory was a nice guide and answered what he could, and I don’t blame him. But the apartment and the building were appalling. The place smelled like mold and was unbelievably dirty. The windows were so coated in dirt you could barely see through them, and the blinds and floor were dirty too. The windows opened, but had no screens, even though this was the 9th floor. The walls and windows had layer after layer of paint, with patches and so-called repairs everywhere. It’s almost 100 years old, but somehow looked a thousand years old. The tour began in a dark, nasty, very tight parking garage that looked like an underground sewer where the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would live. Parking costs $135 a month. The stairwell to the main floor looked like somewhere drug addicts and homeless people would hang out, and didn’t feel woman friendly. I felt sketchy just taking the elevators, after reading the past reviews about them. When I asked about utilities, I got a long explanation and still had no idea how much I’d be charged or how the charges worked. I heard “third party” several times, which raised red flags. Past reviews mention it too. After the tour we saw two people moving in who seemed to be into the “party” life, to put it politely. Not the kind of neighbors I’d want. I’m a 41 year old single man, and I can’t imagine a woman or children feeling safe there. It also looks like they mix federal housing residents with paying tenants, which does NOT mend well. Fort Worth should shut this place down immediately. It seems hazardous, and I can’t see how it meets building codes and standards. Move in at your own risk.