3939 Chestnut Street offers a strategically convenient location for students at the University of Pennsylvania, particularly those attending the Wharton School. It is located approximately a 6 to 7 minute walk from campus and near the Acme. The unit occupied was furnished informally, with furniture left behind by a previous resident. This arrangement suited a short-term, one-semester stay. However, the apartment was extremely small and narrow, more akin to a dormitory than a real residence. Room faced east but temperature controls were fine, though the AC was really loud. The provided blinds were inadequate for nighttime light control, requiring blackout curtains. The kitchen was equipped with a refrigerator, microwave, oven, and dishwasher, but had little counter space and was dim. Due to the apartment's long, narrow layout with a single window at one end and only a few weak overhead fixtures, lighting was poor throughout. The kitchen's orientation and lack of ceiling lighting made it feel dark and underpowered for cooking, and ventilation was limited. Though additional floor lamps could have improved the brightness, it did not feel worthwhile for a short stay. The bathroom was relatively spacious but similarly dimly lit. It included an undersink cabinet for storage, but water throughout the unit had a strange taste, prompting the use of a filtered water pitcher. Laundry was handled by an in-unit washer-dryer combo located in a closet. very convenient. The machine functioned but was underpowered, especially for drying, and the closet had no lighting. Property management was a persistent issue. Communication with the assigned property manager was often curt and unhelpful. This is par for the course for housing near a university. A utility billing issue resulted in a convoluted and confusing process due to incorrect setup instructions between the apartment and the utility company and apparently a 3rd party billing company. They didn't care about fixing this. Resolution only came after contacting the leasing manager, who was competent and responsive. A serious maintenance failure occurred during a water emergency originating from the unit above. Water began dripping through the bathroom ceiling, but the emergency maintenance line was non-functional, resulting in multiple unreturned calls. The tenants above eventually contacted like firefighters from Philly to shut off the water. Management was unaware of the situation until my phone calls finally reached them. This incident likely caused avoidable damage and resulted in several days of disruption, including large fans placed in the unit to dry the space. Like you just lost a ton of money by trying to cheap out and somehow disconnecting the emergency maintenance line. The firefighters told me the water leaked down to the chinese restaurant on the 2nd floor. The move-out process introduced further complications. A $100 carpet cleaning fee was automatically deducted from the security deposit. While this fee was noted in the lease, it was not highlighted clearly in pre-move-out communications. Additionally, the building lacked a dumpster or designated space for disposing of large items, requiring residents to make independent arrangements for removal. On a more neutral note, package delivery was consistently reliable, and the elevator remained functional throughout the stay, with only a single possible exception. Area felt pretty safe too around and in front of the building. no pests were seen in the apartment Overall, 3939 Chestnut Street met the basic requirements for a short-term stay due to its location and availability of informal furnishings. Flexibility was really good. However, significant drawbacks included the cramped layout, poor lighting, mixed property management ability, and lack of emergency preparedness. While not unlivable, the residence is best suited for short, time-bounded stays. Final rating: 3 out of 5. Generally would not recommend unless you had to stay only a semester read more

Having lived here for over a year, I want to give a shout out to Norris, who handles maintenance for both buildings! He's always super quick to respond throughout the day, and after hours in the case of emergencies. He's very skilled at what he does, and makes sure everything is fixed properly and running smoothly. His reliability and expertise have made a huge difference for all of us :) read more

Been living here for over a year now, very good experience so far! Would like to highlight that Norris, the man that provides maintenance assistance for the building, provides very good service. He is always very quick to show up when assistance is needed and properly fixes problems. read more

Not enough space to really say all the issues and don't wish to bring back the bad memories. And the monthly rental price given the issues, including long periods without AC in summer, are just the tip of the iceberg. read more

My lease ends 7/31, but I had to leave the apartment first. I left three boxes of my personal belongings which my friends will help me ship to my new place later on. But before my lease officially ends, my friend found out that they already started to clean my apartment and OPENED MY PERSONAL BELONGINGS! This is ridiculous. Even though I don't live there anymore, I still payed the full month rent, and why would it be ok to open up my boxes without any notification? Let alone horrible management - always takes days to respond to a simple question. Simply ridiculous. The picture shows that they torn my box open and went through my stuff. Find somewhere else to live. Don't stay here. The utilities are extremely expensive btw for a small studio I always end up paying at least $80. read more

The Hub on Chestnut - Apartments Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I worked at Penn as a health economist for almost two years, and lived here the whole time. On an upper floor, I felt privileged to enjoy the best view in West Philadelphia (outside of the UPenn high rises, but... seriously? No comparison). The boy chose the apartment before I arrived. When I first saw it, the "industrial" look of bare concrete made me cringe a little, but the floors were smooth, shiny, and nice... it grew on me. We paid $1500 a month for a 2-bedroom apartment on the 7th floor, facing East. Huge, floor-to-ceiling windows made the corner bedroom drafty in the winter, but it was so worth it. The view was amazing and the sunlight therapy made me happy, streaming in during the morning hours and warming me when I got up. You also pay for the security: the door security codes are changed fairly regularly, the cameras in and outside of the building are monitored, and there's almost always an Allied security guard or two wandering around outside on the corner of 40th and Chestnut. Everything is well-lit, and the one time I remember seeing that the building was tagged, the offending spray paint was removed within hours. (Of course, since there are cameras aimed at every corner of the building, only a moron would tag it... but whatever.) The Hub is a bit pricier than living in one of the dilapidated old West Philly houses, but it was worth it. The majority of individuals our floor and nearby were adults--young professionals, families, Penn faculty and staff, etc. Since the Hub is so close to so many college campuses, you pay a premium to live in a building with other adults who don't blast Kanye loudly on work nights and ralph in the halls. I didn't think I'd turn into a fuddy-duddy so soon, but after a run-in with a set of alcoholic undergrads who objected in very obvious, annoying ways to the fact that my fiancee and I have an interracial relationship, I bit the bullet re: the rent in the hope that I could avoid living in close proximity to fratboys. That said, the building is new, nice, and well-maintained. I never saw ants, bugs, or mice/rats (and those of you in West Philly know how rare that is). One of the benefits of living in a concrete building, I guess. The location couldn't be beat--a block from the FreshGrocer, gym, and UPenn, within a few short city blocks of a dozen yummy restaurants, the Aveda Salon, the Science Center, Drexel, and subways to everything not otherwise in the vicinity. In addition, each apartment had a washer/ dryer unit and dishwasher, which made me SO HAPPY. The management was also good--Rob as the building superintendent, and Nicole in the office--both of them legitimately good people and with whom I've kept in touch since I left my beloved apartment (and the state) to start a PhD program in CA. If something malfunctioned, it was fixed ASAP. If there was a concern, it was addressed right away. Rob even offered to take care of my apt when I was away and water my plants. Overall, a good experience. I was sad to leave and am not nearly as fond of my new apartment in California. read more

The Hub on Chestnut - Apartments Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

DO NOT LIVE HERE! The hub on Chestnut is incredibly disappointing. The company, Reinhold Residential, deducted nearly $3000 from our security deposit, claiming that our range and carpet need to be replaced. However, we have no other problems except for normal use. Account manager Trina Reddick is also rediculous, she refuses to negotiate and acts unprofessionally. In addition, there was an outbreak of flies in the apartment for a whole month last summer. No one cleaned it and the corridor smelled bad. I would definitely NOT recommend this apartment. If you need alternatives, I would recommend the Chestnut Hall on 39th street or the Evo on 29th Street. read more

Don't rent with the Hub on Chestnut!!! Let me tell you the true story from my daughter's rental experiment as well as the communication I had with them: 1. The outside of the building looks ok but inside is terrible: a. Appliances are either very old or not working even request for repair. My daughter and her roommate are never able to use the dishwasher since they moved. b. There are persistent mice issue in the entire building whatever how clean your apt is. The management team knows that but they never tried to get rid of it. Mice run over to your kitchen, bathroom even your bedroom. It made my daughter so upset and stressful during her stay in HUB. c. Old air condition unit makes big noise so that you can't sleep well. 2. You are never able to get your deposit back 100% - Whatever your effort made in cleaning the apartment before you leave, they will charge you deep cleaning fee for at least $220. So you can save your time and energy on that. The worse thing is that they charge you for the repair cost for normal wear and tear, even damages made from prior tenants. My daughter took pictures for all the damages when she moved as proof. But the management never admit them so my daughter was charged by $326 for the repair they claimed. The HUB is the worst ridiculous company I have ever seen. They never take care of their tenants except ripping you off. I wish HUB is just an incident from its upper management company Reinhold Residential. Please avoid this apartment during your searching process. It will save your money and time. read more

I moved here off campus during my senior year, and the location is really perfect. Frogro has never been closer, nor has been Utown, Pottruck, or Cafe Bene. It's a bit of a schlep to Huntsman in the cold, but it can be thought of as building character. Also it suddenly becomes easy to hang with friends who live on Sansom, and the high-rises are still only a stroll. If you get a prefurnished room, you'll get lots of IKEA furniture, including wardrobe, dresser, desk, bed, and chairs. Bonus is that IKEA mattresses are super comfy! No ceiling lights in the bedrooms or living rooms, so if you have crappy floor lamps in your room you'll have to pay for replacements yourself. The fact that maintenance doesn't respond over the weekends is sometimes inconvenient. If something happens on Friday, your request doesn't even get processed until Monday morning. That being said, once it gets processed they're quick and efficient about whatever you ask for! The heating systems are super inefficient and take forever to heat up the rooms, and afterwards the air gets really stale and stuffy. I've asked for them to change our filters and replace our weather strips, but my fingers are still too icy to write with when I'm home sometimes. Also the payment systems are a pain to deal with. They pull things like being unavailable for payment between Dec 27 to Jan 5, and advise us to make our payments early to avoid late fees. However, they don't even give out the actual billing statement until Jan 1. It's very silly. Overall, a great respite from campus with a blissfully convenient location and comfortable utilities besides heat. Neglectful service and annoying payments that nevertheless never caused me too huge of problems besides excessive chagrin. read more

Sure, this place is decent to live in if you're in the philly/university city area, but poor management really tries to take advantage of you. A friend spent ~15-20 hours making sure the apartment was spotless when they moved out, and the establishment still kept $150 of the security deposit beause the place was "dirty". It wasn't possible to follow up with them and get a real explanation from them, so clearly they do this to everyone and hope unsuspecting college kids don't know about it. Absolutely disgusting practice. read more

The building is nice. Its a great location. The apartment itself is fine, minimalist with nice big windows. The problem is the management. They will try to take advantage of you at every turn. There is no way you will get your security deposit back, no matter how spotless your apartment is. They are impossible to get in touch with, rude and unhelpful. In general this is a poorly run building that takes advantage of its tenants. read more

Beware, utilities are sent from a third party and not from the utility company. In this way, there is a surcharge each month. At times, the surcharge cost more than my electric bill. Tenants living else where i.e. The Radian get utility bill sent directly to them. Equinox Management and the owner(s) lack accountability to it's tenants, by squeezing every penny out. Read terms under the lease. If I could give zero star I would! read more

First of all if you have the money to live at this new clean apartment it is a great place to live. However, I can't speak highly about the customer service (which is nonexistent). They are impossible to contact as they only have office hours for prospect residents by appointment only. There is NEVER anyone to answer your phone calls. Their customer service is merely for their only benefit of renting out more apartments. However, if it is a issue regarding your billing or a mistake they made good luck getting in contact with someone who can help you. Their website markets their apartments very well. However, they did not even have a listed property manager to contact is issues or questions arises. They don't even tell you who the property manager is. So when they kept billing me the utility bill after I had moved out I had to google and hunt down someone who was capable and willing to even help me fix a mistake they made. The woman on the phone was very unapologetic and kept telling me to call the leasing office which I explained to her never answers the phone and is strictly for people who they will potentially making money off of. If you want good customer service, please be advised not to rent here. read more

The Hub is an all right place to live, location-wise; however their management style is incredibly poor. They don't answer their phones or emails in a timely manner, and will look for any tiny reason not to refund a security deposit. My roommate and I spent four days cleaning the apartment from floor to ceiling and it was spotless; however, the Hub took $150 from our deposit for "excessive cleaning"-- and then wouldn't tell us what that meant. Finally, almost three months later, they've just written to tell us that the appliances weren't clean, which is patently untrue. The roommate and I both moved into houses in West Philly and we've found that these places (which aren't "specialized" in housing students) are much more professional and easy to deal with. Don't rent with the Hub, you'll save yourself money and stress renting elsewhere. read more

This building is terrible. Completely shoddy infrastructure. In the past 6 months, there has been flooding in my apartment about 5 times. Maintenance leaves the place a MESS when they come to clean up, it's terrible. They put my dirty shoes and trash cans in my KITCHEN SINK and I had to use a tub of bleach to get my disgusting kitchen clean again. You can find better places to live in University City for an affordable price, I would NOT live here again and NOT recommend it to a friend. read more