We lived here for a few years. While Dana was the assistant manager, we really enjoyed this apartment complex and had no major issues. Dana always answered her emails. Dana then left and was replaced by Jamie and Torrey. After Dana left, the consistent responding from management ended and I had to contact the Brookfield Properties general email twice because I could not get responses from the 91 Sidney St. managers. In November 2019, our heat broke and would not work consistently. We sent a maintenance request for it to be fixed. Torrey assured us that he was trying everything that he could to fix our heat, and sent out the poor maintenance people (who are VERY nice and awesome but are just not HVAC people and did not know how to fix our heat) several times to fiddle with our heat. We sent email after email, getting sporadic responses from Torrey and spending the winter in several layers of sweatshirts and pants. Finally, on FEBRUARY 24th 2020, I could not take it anymore. I sent an email to Brookfield properties letting them know that I would withhold my rent until our heat was fixed and that the Cambridge Housing Authority was sending out an inspector. I received a call the next day from Jamie saying that the heat would be fixed immediately. I am still so confused as to why we had to wait so long for something that seemed like a quick fix. PLEASE be careful if you decide to live here. Especially if you have small children, pets, or someone who is elderly. Besides freezing, we were okay, but I would be nervous for someone who is not perfectly healthy. read more

91 Sidney is part of the University Park system. It's one of the newer buildings. Pros: Location: It's located near the MIT graduate dorms so it has easily accessible transportation: #1, #70, #70A, EZ Ride, and MIT Shuttles. Also within walking distance to Central. Prices: So the prices for the 1 bedroom has come down significantly. Now, the 580 sq ft bedroom are on the market for about $1700!!! When I was looking around Feb, the prices were around $2100. I'm guessing the referral fee is around $750 because that's the referral fee for 100 Landsdowne. Gym: 91 Sidney has the full machines available. The gym is accessible to other residents within the University Park system though. Parking: If you sign up on the first day, you park at this deck for $100. If you live at KBL or Loft23, parking is also assigned to this deck. Cons: View: The view from the 1 bedroom is pretty ugly. I think I saw bricks. There are no good views from the 1 bedroom apartments as far as I can tell. read more

After living here for a year, I've come to really love it for a dozen reasons. There is a shuttle that takes you straight to MGH or Brigham and Womens which takes only 7-15 minutes depending on traffic. Alternatively, you can catch the M2, redline, or 1 from central square. The MIT shuttle and EZ ride also pass through here, so there's another set of public transportation routes you can use. The units are all very modern, especially if you're coming from the west coast. Central air, clean bathrooms, nice sized kitchens, and ample space all give this extremely homely feeling. All of the staff are really friendly, and maintenance requests are completed within a day usually. Unfortunately, our rent has gone up about 10%. We'd love to stay another year in order to avoid a broker fee to move somewhere, but it appears that rent has been going up 10% every year. Eventually it would be uneconomical to stay here. We really loved this place, but 10% increase in rent is beyond reasonable. Its a great place to stay if it falls in your budget and you're only staying for a year or two. read more

A close family member of mine has posted a review regarding some unpleasant experiences we were having with the leasing office. I don't know why it is no longer accessible but I believe it is somehow an obligation for me to speak out. Renting a new place is a huge decision, and people have the right to know if there is any potential concern for the place before they make the decision. Here is what happened to him several months ago: I lived here for less than half a month, and then I decided to move out because I am very unsatisfied with the ignorant leasing/management office at 91 Sidney. Before I applied to this apartment, I did see some warnings about this office, not only here on this page, but also from some other buildings they manage, for example, 100 Landsdowne and KBL. I regret that I did not pay enough attention to them. It's always hard to believe the negative comments until something bad really happens to yourself. I wish you can learn from reading this comments, and avoid loss of your time and money. Before I signed the lease, I contacted the leasing agent by email that I wanted to examine the premises since I haven't seen the apartment unit after the recent construction. The agent replied me "I was just in your apartment everything looks good and ready to go". I then made my mistake by trusting him. When I got my keys on Day 1, I found there were about 10 black stains and a gel-like trash on the carpet in the living room, 4 black stains in the hallway, at least 1 black stain in the bedroom, plus more than 20 scratches on the carpet across the entire unit, as well as plenty of damages on the laminate floor of the kitchen and the door frame of the entrance. There was also a strong odor in the living room which might come from the construction, and it gave me a headache after I stayed in the unit for 2 hours. I had to wait for 5 days for the office to do the cleaning of carpet in the living room, bedroom, and hallway that they should have done before they delivered the apt. I was not able to reside in the unit until the evening of Day 5, but they insist I should still pay for those days they are finishing their belated jobs. It's even more unbelievable that the manager Jamie later argued with me "Everything had been fully cleaned prior to you moving in". I have uploaded some photos so you can see what's their level of "fully cleaned". I recommend you do NOT trust anything the leasing office promises or describes before you sign the lease, do a second visit/walk-in inspection yourself even if they say it's not necessary. If you have to choose this place, make sure you get the 30-day satisfaction guarantee; and if you see something terrible on the first day, do not expect they will have the appropriate attitude to solve the problems, return the keys and reschedule with your moving company immediately, so you can minimize your loss. Again, I made my mistake by waiting them to take their responsibility. Some other thoughts you might be interested: 1) This building is over 20 years old with low ceiling, they do pay more attention to decorate the outside than they care about the residents. 2) It only takes 7 min on the Red line from Porter Sq to Central, and 11 min from Alewife, but you can get apartments there of much better qualities. For those newly relocate to Cambridge, do not just evaluate the location by the map distance. ------ Additions on 2/22/19: I got a notice from yelp that the office posted a reply to my comment. It looks rather funny now to me that they say "I have not been able to locate a resident file with your name, otherwise I would reach out to you directly." I've been emailing back and forth with the manager Jamie since Dec, 2018, and I have sent him and the other manager Jasmine these photos and descriptions for multiple times. Unfortunately,they kept denying the truth and their responsibilities. Now, they even go further by pretending not knowing me... I feel this is actually the common theme over my entire interaction with the management office, they just don't care, and keep ignoring the facts or evidence. I can only wish the all the readers here will never need to deal with these people... Good luck with apartment searching. read more

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We lived here for over 4 years. Great location and building is beautiful. The management used to be very good but a few years ago when the management member changed, everything went downhill. Maintenance requests were rarely addressed on time. Heater issue, washing machine broken, etc... I wouldn't recommend this place unless there is a change in the management team again. read more

It isn't easy finding a good apartment in Boston. Before moving into 91 Sidney a few years ago, I had moved every year since moving to Boston. 91 Sidney is by far the best place I have lived in Boston. It is super convenient to everything in Central, yet on a quiet street. There is a nice park out front, a grocery store across the street, a gym on the first floor, community rooms, laundry in the unit, a responsive maintenance crew, and a great concierge staff. You can use the community rooms at any of the four University Park buildings in the area if you are a resident of one of them. With a $500 deposit, you can have private use of a community room for a few hours which is nice if you are having a get together with a lot of people. We have always had good luck with our neighbors here - the quietest neighbors we have ever had. The building is no smoking and doesn't allow dogs other than service dogs. Since I first moved in, they have updated the furniture on the first floor which was nice. In the summer, there are tables and chairs set out on the back patio - great for reading and eating outside. I did miss the holiday party this past year (the first year since living here they didn't do one) and the apples, water, and candy that would appear in the lobby in the beginning of the month which now is more sporadic and infrequent. They are little things but for how much you pay to live here, they were nice gestures. Overall, I would definitely recommend living here. A tip for if you do live here (or any of the University Park buildings) pick up an EZ Ride Shuttle sticker from the management office. The sticker is free of charge for residents. The shuttle runs weekdays and goes from Cambridgeport to Kendall to North Station with multiple stops in between. read more

I've lived in multifamily houses in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville, and I've lived in big apartment buildings. By far, 91 Sidney (aka University Park) is the best building I ever lived in for a host of reasons. I moved to North Carolina a couple years ago but kept my job in Boston, and lived at 91 Sidney part time for the last 2 years, while commuting to/from Boston. Coming home after a long day of travel, or after a long day at work really felt like "coming home." The location alone is excellent, in one of my favorite neighborhoods in the Boston area - Central Square. Central Square has changed a lot over the last few years, and it can be a very noisy area, but not at 91 Sidney. I looked forward to coming home, walking into the building, greeted by a smile at the front desk (and like anyone else, I have my favorites), often quickly and easily picking up a package that might be waiting for me, and then taking the elevator up to my floor and always with another friendly tenant. 91 Sidney is a clean, tidy, quiet, secure building. These things are important to me. This is my home, after all! The one thing that I love most about 91 Sidney though, is the quiet. As I understand it, the building was originally built for condominiums, each one to be sold. That changed, during the economic crash of 2008, and instead it became apartments. But what that means is that the units were developed to be condos, and thus of high quality materials, hardware, and for me - most importantly - for quiet! There is literally zero noise between units. I literally never ever, not once, heard any of my neighbors, from those on either side of me, or above me. My biggest pet peeve is noisy neighbors! I hate it so much, especially at night when I need to sleep. But I literally never heard a single thing from the apartment above mine, or from those next to me - nothing, not a peep. And the people above me have children. Children run, the cry, the make lots of noise. But I'd never know that until I met them, cuz again - I never heard a peep. This is in stark contrast to other places I lived, like Archstone for example, where we once lived but had to break our lease to leave - it was nothing like 91 Sidney. The noise from one of our neighbors, and from above, was too much to bear. It was truly awful. 91 Sidney on the other hand, is peaceful. I cannot overstate how important that is to me. If I ever had problems, needed maintenance for example, I got it promptly and professionally. Maintenance people at most apartment buildings usually, well, they are usually lazy and don't care about their work. That's not the case at 91 Sidney. The maintenance staff, to the front desk concierge, or the back office people, are true professionals, care about their tenants, invest in the community, and in delighting their tenants. This too makes 91 Sidney a place I can call home, and mean it. The building manager, Jodi, is awesome to work with. She represents the company that owns the building of course, but you'd never know it, because she lives in the building too and cares as much about everything (and more) than anyone else. She's a total pro. And she, and her staff, are always easy to work with. They're friendly, courteous and even fun but always professional and accommodating. And the staff invest in improvements, in quality of life, but never interrupt the routines of the tenants. In the winter, when there's ice and snow, you'd never know it at 91 Sidney, because they maintain the place so well. The lobby never looked like people were in and out, leaving salty puddles behind them as they walk in from the cold, nothing like that. It's always clean, always tidy. The sidewalk, the driveway, always very well maintained Back to the apartments though - all high quality hardware and fixtures. From the bathroom, faucets, shower, medicine cabinets, vanity lights, to the kitchens, the refrigerator, the cabinets, drawers, and knobs, dishwasher, and to the carpeting, bedroom and closet doors, all solid, high quality, well designed and integrated. Garbage disposals, HVAC are issues in all buildings, no one is immune, but I rarely had issues and if I did, maintenance would be there to deal with whatever the issue was in very short time. Lastly, the tenants are great. Various ethnicities, mostly professionals, young families, and importantly no undergrads. Undergrads are usually the most disruptive tenants, but if they do live at 91 Sidney, I'd never know it. Again, this is in stark contrast to other places I've lived in and around Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville. This review is longer than I intended, but I guess that's a clear indicator of my experience at University Park. If you're considering living there, do yourself a favor and sign the lease agreement and hire the moving company (I recommend Big City Moving Co.). You won't regret it. See you around! read more

This was a great place to live while I was at Harvard. Great location and everything was so clean. Great staff too. Thanks!

I was enrolled at Harvard and Harvard Business School when I lived here. This was basically the best location to have access to both campuses without living in the river between the two...which was basically the only other option. This is likely the best apartment I've ever lived in. I had the 1-br with the den, and this is not an easy floorplan to get since it rents in about a day on the market (if it even comes up since most people renew). It has a very quiet view of the back courtyard and the soccer field. The units are also generally very quiet, except for music from neighbors if they are blasting it (but all the undergrads have left the building by now, so that era is over). The building is a short walk to the T and the grocery store is right in front of it basically. The parking is also next door, shared with the pharma company - but usually I could get a good space. The maintenance here was always the best of the best. Forest City really sets the bar so high. Everything is fixed so quickly, it is never a problem. Once of the maintenance guys accidentally left his email printed out with all the items he had to do for the day and they were REALLY detailed and the manager wrote something like "I expect this all done now!" in the email. It was everything from a leaky faucet to a bulb replacement - across all the units. Where I live now, in one of the most expensive buildings in another city - I have had problems that have lasted 3 months that 91 Sidney would've and DID fix very fast (I lived there during the elevator screeching period - and the building fixed it right away, despite it being a lot of work and expense). I lived next to the elevator so that wasn't fun, but knowing the management was on top of it was light years apart from the "luxury" mess I am living in now (for a higher rental payment of course). I wish Forest City could manage the building I live in now, and thinking about it made me want to write this review. If you can actually find an available unit in here, I'd take it in a second. The square footage may seem low, but they are laid out very well so you can fit a lot of stuff in. I know their prices went up a lot though. I think it's still worth it. People like to say "there's no such thing as a perfect apartment" - but this is basically it. read more

UPDATE: I wrote the negative review below after having a bad experience with the leasing office. In an awkward turn of events, it turned out that my future roommate (who was also looking at apartments for us for next year) had booked us a tour at this very same building for the next day. I didn't realize this had happened until I got there. Although it was awkward going back so soon after having a bad experience, I will say that Xavier apologized many times, gave us a thorough and professional tour, and made a point of saying that he'd be really happy to have us in the building. He was absolutely spot-on, enthusiastic and helpful. He put aside the personal hurt he must have felt at reading my earlier poor review, which I found admirable. He also acknowledged that he had read it. (I do feel bad about calling him a "nincompoop" in my earlier review - that was unkind and unnecessary.) He definitely went above and beyond this time, offering to show us all the facilities and holding open every door. The truth is, these are beautiful apartments, and I'm sure that they have a long waiting list of possible tenants. That said, it really does make a huge difference when the sales office is polite, welcoming and helpful (which he was). At the end of the day, we all like to feel special at home - that's what makes it home. I'm averaging out the star rating for my two visits - the second time I went, I had a five-star experience. ORIGINAL: This low review is mainly for the terrible, unprofessional and unwelcoming behavior of the front office staff when I went by the University Park main leasing office. I've been looking at apartments in the Cambridge area near MIT. I came across the KBL building. The front desk person directed me to 91 Sidney, where a man in the main office sent me to the main "Welcome Center" at 23 Sidney. This was truly the worst experience I've ever had with a Cambridge realtor/leasing office (kinda shocked that they're a for-profit business). I walked into 23 Sidney and there were four people in the lobby - I don't know if they were tenants or what. A harried-looking girl named Sarah came over to talk to me, and from the start, she seemed completely disinterested in anything I had to say. I mentioned a move-in date of August 1, and she told me to call back in August to see if they had anything available. I mentioned that August would be too late, at which point she finally started paying some dim attention, but she still made a point of telling me that they were "very busy" - like she was doing me a favor by talking to me! I asked if I could schedule a tour (this is something that the guy in 91 Sidney had told me was possible). She went over to talk to an agent named Xavier. There, within my earshot, they start discussing me. The guy asks her what I'm interested in, and she says "she doesn't know" in a very dismissive way, despite the fact that she hadn't bothered giving me any information about the building or asking me any questions. He said "we have 66 floor plans" as if this is some massive feat. I went over to talk to him, since they were talking about me in front of me anyway, and he leaves me standing there like an errant child. Finally he asked why I seemed upset, and I said that they seemed totally disinterested in helping me. He repeated "we're very busy, as you can see" and then told me that they normally close the office at 5. (Keep in mind that the door of the office says "9-6") Considering the sky-high rents these people charge, I find it hard to believe that the only people they can employ in their main office are such utter nincompoops. If this is what customer service is like, I would hate to put in a maintenance request. Insane! There are 10 buildings within a 2 block radius who would be happy to have your business - go there. read more

This is the best apartment building I ever lived in. In no particular order, here's why: - On site management on floor 1 - all friendly and on top of issues right away - Door staff / concierge / package receiving / dry cleaning - Covered parking space (extra) - Laundry in unit - Heat and AC under YOUR control - not the building. Very new / modern unit - and if it breaks, they pop it out in 10 minutes and put another one in. It's not noisy. It's not a loud window unit thing...it's the same system they use in luxury high rises in nyc. The only issue is you pay a lot for electricity to run it since it's 100% your unit. Winter bills are easily around $150 for a 1-bedroom. - Quality carpeting that never seemed used - even after a few years. - Kitchen has corian counters and vinyl (pergo) floors w/ white appliances, but it is very spacious and super clean with a lot of counter space (some kitchens have granite and ss but who cares). - Maintenance is very fast and friendly - Since the building us U shaped, any unit on the back is very quiet and overlooks trees or a soccer field (though sometimes there's dog barking back from people walking their dogs there in the neighborhood - not the building). - Walk to Shaws supermarket. Short drive to Whole foods. - Easy 7-min walk to central square T stop (red line) - They fired the snobby leasing agent who was awful and incompetent (Bye Kaura! You're a corporate recruiter now? How fitting.) - A variety of floor plans. The best, IMO is the 1 bed + 'dining room' for the money and versatility of the layout. - No annoying floor to ceiling windows that make your apt feel like a glass box (and make the place freezing in the winter)...it feels more l like the windows in a house. You can tell from the outside. - When it snows (and it snows a lot in Boston) - they are on top of it instantly with plows and salt. - Not an overcrowded building due to 10 story size. - Loading dock makes move-ins easy. Most of Cambridge is a huge pain to move into. - Free gym on the first floor - Party room is nice and even has a catering kitchen that I used for an event with caterers. The prices are a bit crazy, however... but I guess the market is doing that. I never found a better building in Boston or Chicago...and I've seen a lot. read more

I'm not sure why the only review is from someone who doesn't live here, but anyway... here's a review after living here for 2 years: There are almost no negatives to this place and I am *extremely* picky. Of course, the rent is very high - but it's high for a reason. So, starting at the beginning... I originally disliked some of the snobby attitudes of the leasing staff & it was so bad I almost didn't live here. I just couldn't deal with them. However, most of the bad ones have left over the years and they aren't so bitchy now. The best thing about this place is that it is away from everything yet close to everything...so it's quiet but convenient. I should say that even though this building is quiet (no street or train noise), there are some noisy neighbors. Specifically, undergrads from other countries who drive $80k cars whose billionaire parents send them here for an American degree come home every night at 2:30 AM when the bars close and try to have parties (which have now been banned by management). Also, I heard from people who face the front that they hear the undergrads coming home yelling / puking all night - so be careful where you end up. The building has gotten a lot more strict about tenant noise which has improved things markedly -- they have security in the complex who will go up there & then call the cops if it continues. I think people have had their leases terminated over this actually (rumors). Who you are living by is very hit or miss, so just keep that in mind. Most of that crowd lives in 100 Landsdowne now - I've heard. The apartments are by far the nicest of anything in Cambridge where most things are run down and creaky / gross. You can't hear your neighbor, the AC is in the wall - not the window (you can use it year round) and everything works 100%. By the way - whatever you do - avoid the "apartment rental experts" who will put you in absolute crap for almost as much as these places (I wasted a full week with them and it was a disaster - but at least I can compare this place to others). Central square is wacky and this complex is a little removed from it -- it certainly does not fit in at all but who cares - you can walk to the subway in 7 minutes and be anywhere in Boston. There is not much take-out food here except 1 place on the corner that is only open on weekdays. Star market (huge new grocery store) is 10 seconds away and the newer/nicer whole foods is a very short drive. Parking is never a hassle (for guests either) but spaces are not assigned and therefore I have accumulated a lot of dents thanks to some of the lovely people who live here. The excercise room is very nice & usually pretty empty. I would 100% recommend this place - just maybe face the back & get the concierge number on speed dial so you can report your neighbors as soon as they start annoying you in the fall (when the new students arrive and haven't learned the rules yet.) I think there is a 3 strike policy now so call EVERY time & then they'll shut up once they learn. The concierge staff is extremely nice & the maintenance people are very nice & helpful too. Actually, so is the management which is rare for a big building. You never have to wait too long if you have any repair issues (I hardly had any issues in 2 years). They do have a lot of "rules" here because so many spoiled/immature students live here which is sort of annoying for older people...but I guess you get used to it. If these were condos, the 1-brs would probably be 400-550k... and the 2brs would be 600-800k ...so yes they are condo quality. Some units have granite / stainless but the other units have corian counters and white refrigerators -- which I had and it's fine. They're 5 years old...so...I'd take this any day over a crappy 600k boston condo. read more

Huge rent increases every year are forcing many tenants out. We've seen 10% increase every year past 4 years. Apartments are generally nice and well-maintained but Forest City is a lousy landlord and only cares about dollars. Central air and heat system are very noisy, appliances are getting old. Elevators break down too often. Rents are way too high for this apartment building and especially for central square. Maybe they are right for top-rated and luxurious buildings on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, but not central square. read more

It's basically nice, but the problem is that this building is full of loud, obnoxious, "international" undergraduate students from universities in the area. The multi-millionaire parents send these self absorbed children here to get degrees and pay for them to live in this building which would otherwise be a pleasant place if not for their 2:30 AM "after parties" and frequent vomiting and screaming in the front of the building every night. Yelling in the hallways is common. The walls are fairly thin and running water in other apartments is almost always audible. You're not on any major streets here so there is no car noise, but the resident noise is unacceptable. The building managment does nothing to stop it since these are their core customers. I feel like I am paying too much to live in a dorm, albeit a nice dorm. The walk to the T is not bad. The maintenance people are pretty helpful. It is sad that such a nice building has been completely acosted by a crowd of people who have no respect for others. Also, don't live next to the elevator because I have heard it squeaks and they haven't been able to fix it for months. The building is only 4 years old and already showing signs of wear. read more