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100 Memorial Drive Apartments
Category: Home Services Real Estate Apartments Apartments [Edit]
100 Memorial DrCambridge, MA 02142
Neighborhood: Kendall Square/MIT
(866) 668-1511
- Nearest Transit:
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Main St @ Kendall Station - Red Line (64, 68, 85, CT2)
Kendall/mit Station - Inbound (Red Line)
Kendall/mit Station - Outbound (Red Line)
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 10 am - 5:30 pm
Sat 10 am - 5 pm
Rachel F. said: "Love this place. Gorgeous lofts, tons of amenities, and it's only a few blocks from my workplace. Yeah, it's expensive and we're currently paying a little more than we'd planned to, but it's priced similarly to other apartment…" read more »
2 reviews for 100 Memorial Drive Apartments
2 reviews in English
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Review from Solomon B.
Pittsburgh, PA
6/29/2009
I'll admit, I kinda didn't want to move in here. I had spent so many of my recent years at MIT, why would I want to spend any more in Kendall when I could join the hipsters in Central...or the...hipsters...in Porter...this town is full of hipsters, huh? Anyhow.
The last review had a few comments that I think are worth speaking directly to. I don't normally do this, but an apartment is a big purchase, and it's worth getting alternate opinions on things like this.
Firstly, the doors in this building slam because they slam. It's annoying, yes, but that's just the way they are. My roommates and I try our darndest NOT to slam my door, but it just has just the wrong weight and is just the wrong strength, and 2 of 3 times we come home to a huge kerBLAM! - caused by us. I always chalked that fact up to it being an older building - they're heavy, solid doors, the sort you don't see much nowadays. It'd be nice if they could install door-softeners of some sort, but I wouldn't dream of calling it a reflection on the community here.
Moreover, I've never notice any hint of coldness from the people in the building. In fact, there seem to be more families and elderly people here than in other places around town (and the friendly door staff are a big part in keeping spirits generally high, even in the winter.) It's not the neighborhood feel a street in Central or Porter would have, but it's far from sterile. (If you want sterile, try the MIT graduate dorms....)
But I digress. This guy's gripes are fairly well-placed - this building has a lot of weaknesses. Too many, for the price you're paying. Nevertheless, I've always found them to be pretty reasonable in dealing with them. A number of these issues stem from the simple fact that the building is old (...quite old - I think built just after WW Two), and they've been slow to completely replace things, instead trying continual repairs. For instance, the elevators break down constantly, and I suspect need replacing. However, there are three of them - and I know they hire overnight repair crews as soon as more than one breaks (at an enormous cost), to ensure that all three never break at the same time. The water system was a horrible ordeal, and the office could have handled it better - but the work always got done when they said it would (and is now largely replaced). To me the more important stuff is individual unit repairs anyway - and for my unit, they've made all unit repairs, no matter how big or small (from fixing leaky faucets to changing light bulbs and adding window shades) within 2 days or less. The place isn't energy efficient, yes, but the rent includes all heat - so just crank up the heater, and if you're feeling moral, buy some carbon offsets to make up for the waste. ;) Finally, if you can hear your neighbor's doorbell, it's probably less because the wall is thin, and more because they are, quite possibly, the loudest, most obnoxious doorbells money can buy. (Maybe my unit has better walls, but the only thing I consistently hear is my neighbor's doorbell.) My unit briefly had bathroom roaches, but they hired Terminex overnight, and I sympathize with completely wiping roaches from a 60 year old building....
My friends and l have assorted grumblings, but by far our biggest common gripe is the money. (In fact, I think we'd complain less about the other things if the place cost less.)
The fees here are absurd. And the rent, even moreso. Don't get me started on the rent hikes. A T-stop or two away you could rent a 2 bedroom a few blocks from the red line for the price of a 1 bedroom here. You're paying a premium for the location - and pretty much only for the location. (The staff is great, the service is great, but let's face it, there are places in this town you could get this sort of 24-hour manned building and a new television monthly for the same price.) I think there's also some premium for having a 24-hour doorman in Cambridge - it seems very few buildings exist in Cambridge with the doorman thing that someone from, say, New York City might expect to see more often.
Is the location worth it in a town with such great public transport? For most people, probably not, especially if they've lived here a year already. But for an MIT student new to town who doesn't feel like paying the even MORE absurd rent at Watermark and just wants to focus on classes, it's definitely worth considering. It's a good "safe bet" - and sometimes it's worth being "ripped off" as a price of convenience. In fact, while you're spending so much, I'd actually look into getting a higher floor - I seem to hear more complaints about lower floors, and I'm beginning to wonder if a high concentration of students increases some of the problems on those floors. (Unfortunately, not everyone treats this building with respect...) -
Review from Jeremy K.
Aside from having one of the best possible views onto the Charles river and Boston itself and a very nice, convenient location within the city of Cambridge allowing for easy access to pretty much anywhere in the area and with only one minute to walk in order to get onto the red line subway station, there are many negative things which are to be heavily weighted and considered before signing a lease with the management of this community.
First off, the management doesn't care much if at all about people's comments. Recently, and for the 5th time in the past couple of months, the building has been faced with plumbing issues. As usual, because of the plumbing work, each resident, including myself received a memo about the work being done again. But every memo states that the work as to be complete. And because it has been attempted so many times, many residents started to write on the memos which were placed in the elevators that they have had enough with it and every time such comments were written, they had been taken down my the management team as an act of sole censorship which I find disgusting considering that they aren't the ones who can't shower in the morning because of the water being cut. Keeping in mind that people pay an absolute fortune to live in this building, I also believe that it should be better maintained. The materials used are very cheap and its very easy to hear your next door neighbor's door bell ring right through the wall along with the numerous doors slam at all hours, which all generate quite a disturbance.
The third-party concierge team is great though and are in most cases very helpful. Which I could say the same about the management team which tries to charge residents for any kind of service possible. You lock yourselves out of your apartments: $50. you need an extra key: $5. You lose your laundry card: $10. Its absolutely ridiculous. And you can also consider that the central air doesn't work well, and that the plumbing is absolutely horrible, and especially the toilets which are one of a kind and really, really crappy (pun intended). The kitchens are tiny and the windows are very very rusty, and semi-functional; they also leak an extreme amount of air which is bad in the winter when its really cold and energy-wise, very inefficient.
Overall the building is very overrated despite its convenient location. They either need to charge a LOT less per unit or heavily renovate the building, especially the windows.
Recently they decided to take it upon themselves to fully replace all of the toilets throughout the buildings with more water-efficient one.. I didn't like the old ones and the newer ones aren't much better, and I'm not the only one who stated that since I've spoken to a few residents about it...
Also for some stranger reason, the residents in the building don't seem to respect one another much. Rarely do others ever hold a door or elevator for myself or anyone, or do they not slam their doors at all hours. The door slamming is actually one of the main issues with this building. People constantly slam their doors... And that is very very loud. I've definitely had enough of this building and look forward to moving somewhere else in the near future...
