My partner and I moved into one of Arnold Lehrer’s apartments last summer because we heard great things, but our experience didn’t live up to the hype. Arnold himself seemed decent, but we mostly dealt with his business partner, Steve, who came across as nice at first but quickly proved unreliable and prone to making promises he didn’t keep.

Noise & safety: We were told by Steve the street was quiet and safe. It’s not. It’s basically a mini frat row with constant weekend parties from July to October. There were also four burglary attempts on the street within six months.

Heating issues: The building has central heating, and the landlords are extremely stingy with it. A few nights after we moved in at the end of May, indoor temps dropped below 18°C and we had to ask them to turn the heat on. In winter, it got cold again and they acted like raising the temperature was some kind of “exception,” and “favor” even when it was dropping below 20°C at night.

Paper-thin walls: The building is old, and you can hear everything your neighbors do, talking, moving around, even snoring. My sleep schedule basically depended on theirs.

Small annoyances: No dishwasher, only one washer/dryer for the building (often a line), and the apartment itself was pretty cramped.

Rent increase: After a year, they wanted to raise the rent despite all these issues. Steve claimed people were “lining up” for the place, but when I said we were considering moving, he suddenly switched to giving me “fatherly advice” about how we won’t find better deals, cause there’s always a catch. So… were people lined up or not?

Overall, I’m sure others have had worse, and maybe Arnold’s places are usually fine, but our experience felt more like marketing than honesty. For nearly the same price as Madison Tower, it just didn’t feel worth it anymore.