The Orion Apartments in Tacoma are a hard no. No rent special, view, or marketing pitch makes this place worth it. I moved out recently, and the overall experience was bad enough that I'm honestly embarrassed I ever lived here. I only survived two months living at this complex and had to break the lease, reason below. There is no real security. Anyone can walk into the building whether they have a key fob or not. The building constantly smells, especially the staircases, which reek of urine. Common areas feel dirty and neglected. This apartment is advertised as a non-smoking building, yet everyone smokes. Cigarettes, weed, you smell it everywhere: hallways, elevators, units. Enforcement clearly does not exist. Management send emails out to the but still nothing changes. Every morning around 8:00 a.m., trash collection will wake you up. Loud, unavoidable, and completely inconsiderate of tenants. My first unit had a constant cigarette odor due to someone nearby smoking daily. I was moved to another unit that smelled strongly of cat and dog urine. When they replaced the flooring, it was obvious there had been pet urine and mold directly on the concrete. Instead of properly remediating the issue, they installed new flooring poorly and rushed. The smell never went away. Then the dishwasher flooded the unit. Management said they would replace it, but by then we had already seen roaches in the unit multiple times, which made it clear these problems were not isolated. After I moved out, I was told they sent an "inspector" to the unit and that nothing was found. That's honestly diabolical, imagine paying rent and then being told you're basically lying about your own living conditions. I even had actual video footage of roaches in both my bedroom and kitchen. This was a unit on the 5th floor near the trash chute, which, lesson learned, is a terrible idea. Never rent an apartment with a trash chute on every floor, those areas are known for strong odors and pest infestations. That was a hard lesson I had to learn. If you ever need maintenance, good luck. In my experience, they bring in random workers, and it was not clear that all of them were contracted or bonded. The quality of work reflected that, rushed, inconsistent, and unprofessional. This is especially concerning when dealing with flooding, mold, and pest issues. After moving out, I was shocked to receive a bill sent to a collections agency, claiming I owed multiple fees and that my rent concessions were reversed because I "didn't fulfill the lease", despite being told by management that I was okay to move out due to the conditions and my circumstances. To be exact, I was charged $1,300 because my couch left a penny size dent on the floor, only in one floor. Also, an additional $1200 breaking my lease early, which I had my concession reversed. Why should I be stuck living in inhabitable living conditions. The City of Tacoma should serious investigate and inspect if this place is up to code and living standards for all tenants. I am sure other tenants have remorse for renting at this complex once they settle into their unit. But folks might be scared to speak up and break a lease. To add, the new flooring they installed was a very cheap thin vinyl sheet flooring, and any normal couch would leave an impression over time that place directly over cement subfloor. This was inevitable wear, not damage. The fact that they're charging that amount tells you everything about how they operate. They also attempted to charge nonrefundable fees that are no longer legal under updated City of Tacoma regulations. Dealing with management (Teresa and Kaitlyn) was exhausting. When I advocated for basic, healthy living conditions, as any tenant paying rent should. I was labeled an "aggressor" simply for being direct in my work orders. As a BIPOC tenant, the tone and treatment I experienced felt dismissive and uncomfortable. If you are a BIPOC renter who advocates for yourself and expects safe, clean housing, be prepared to be treated like you're the problem. The response felt defensive and condescending rather than professional. I was told by property management her maintenance staff was scared of me, which is insane in my opinion. Who wants to live in an apartment that's nasty. Imagine being stuck living somewhere with urine smells, constant smoking, mold, pests, flooding, careless maintenance, and then being punished financially for leaving. Anyone in their right mind would move out. Don't be distracted by the views or the marketing. There's a reason this place has so many bad reviews. STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS COMPLEX IF YOU RENT. read more

lived here for 2 years and waited to post this review because of a dispute with hidden fees. Pros: located in a decent area with a lot of great places within walking distance. Water facing apartments have amazing views. has a nice outdoor seating area. maintenance team was always prompt with helping and fixing things right away. communal area is nice for garherings. cons: management. when I moved in the first 2 managers was fine. Then we got A horrible lady named Jaymie, was horrible with communicating about things going on in the building, and just horrible to deal with, sending a collections company to come after me for fees that i knew nothing about, I specifically had asked when i moved I out of i had anything left i needed to know about. parking was 150 but cars would get broken into and the chain link fences would constantly be cute open. if you do street parking, be careful with the homeless walking around, i have seen some people run up to cars and try to open the doors as people are parking. lots of windows get smashed and things stolen. you can pay monthly for a storage but again people have had things stolen from there. security in the building is a big issue. you can download an app to let guest in to the building, but you need a key fob to use the elevator. However, the door to the stairs was broken so people could just take the stairs and bypass the elevators. The washing machines and dryers are always breaking down. they replaced them when I was there and 2 months later they still had issues, management always blamed old pipes. speaking of old pipes, the water is hard and tubs always had bits of rusty pipe coming out of the faucet. Trashchutes constantly got backed up so every floor smelled of trash. read more

Management can sometimes make or break a place-- the staff here is helpful and experienced. Great views and apartment has been renovated recently. This community room is huge and also renovated. There may be a few crazies in the night sometimes, but that's what you get living in the Stadium District. Orion is walkable to anything you need. Love how close it is to Wright Park. read more

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I wasn't going to leave a review after all this time but since they haven't resolved my "unpaid bill" which absolutely has been paid, I'm going to give a full review. Skip to the end if you want the short version. I moved in to the Orion mid 2018 when I was still active duty. I loved the location and view which drew me to this place. They gave me an ok deal $1200/mo for a 1B/1B because construction was so noisy and ongoing for months. Almost my entire floor was empty except for me and two other neighbors. First thing I noticed AFTER moving in was the entire building smells skunky. I am not allowed (by army regulation) to go to my MEDICAL job smelling like a skunk! At one point my entire floor was hazy from smoke because my neighbor had several plants and smoked heavily. When I complained of the issue, maintenance told me that they didn't know what I was talking about even though the haze was very visible. Pipes overflowed and burst multiple times and put us on a boil-water advisory because nobody could ever tell how far the sewage backed up into the tap water. The demolition crew that eventually came to tear down the flooded walls as well as ten other floors worth of walls because nobody turned off the overflowing water for a whole day! So I had only plastic separating me from the next apt over, (luckily it was empty at the time) and had to wait weeks for them to contract construction workers to fix the wall. The empty apartment next door was never locked and people would come and go to nose around all night. It was another complaint I made as they were quite noisy with their umm "activities" sometimes. This led to people always coming in and out of my apt to check for moisture in the walls. I moved out just as this kind of event happened a second time to me and thank god because I already had neighbors by then. I left the apartment absolutely immaculate but somehow the cleaning crew said that they had to clean my old unit from top to bottom. I was charged a cleaning fee even though I have pictures to prove my case. I paid the bill right in front of my leasing agent and for some reason they keep sending me bills. I've asked them to resurrect this situation. They have not. Fair warning, no matter how far you live from the rubbish shoot, you can still hear people throwing their glass bottles down the shoot at all hours of the night, every single night. It's a nuisance. They tried to reduce noise by making trash pick up hours during the day and all they have to do is put trash and recycling outside their door for someone to pick up but apparently people don't use it. The entry is supposed to only let people in after they scan the key fob but it was broken the entire time so sometimes stays locked, sometimes any motion detection open it. Homeless people like to hang around downstairs a lot. If you enjoy having a barrage of never ending demo, construction workers or plumbers in your home and "unpaid bills", this is the place for you!! Looks pretty but I can assure you it doesn't last long. I gave 2 stars for location alone. read more

We've been here for almost a year and we couldn't be happier. They have never left us waiting when small issues happen. Living in the city can have their challenges, but the staff and their security has always gone above and beyond to keep our building safe! The pandemic has really taken a toll on many businesses but this building has once again gone above and beyond to keep us safe, healthy and protected with their mandatory rules, constant mask wearing and sanitary practices. Many people forget that apartment buildings sometimes have no control over tenants that can cause issues, noises, floods or any other situation but since living here I've never had another staff resolve any of those issues as fast as this staff. I love their little community holiday contests and other activities they have done to keep us connected. Before covid I was told by the neighbors they would put on community parties so we could all get to know each other, I'm looking forward to those times when we are safely able to do so. As in any city, parking can be hectic but We've managed to make it work. We are hoping to take advantage of their garage parking once we are financially able too. The utilities have never been unreasonably priced. Our valet trash is affordable and very convenient! We are really looking forward to taking advantage of their upcoming storage units they will have available for us. Recently they even went to all the apartments and made sure we all had up to date thermostats and faucets to keep up with energy efficiency and water saving. They also checked our sprinklers and fire detectors! We are really looking forward to keeping our penthouse a home for a good while. We love it here and we love how everything is ran. Our family feels safe and happy at The Orion! Thank you! I want to add you get very affordable place with million dollar views! read more

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This place is an unsafe shit hole. License plates being stolen, windows broken out, now my boyfriends tires were stolen (yes all 4 )off his car right in front of the building and the "management" is no help at all and doesn't respond to any messages or follow up on anything. Do not move here. Yeah it's convenient walk to anywhere downtown but if you actually have a nice car that you own and want to keep it that way. Stay away....far away. We have been on a waiting list for a space in the garage but have been told nothing has come up in 7 months. But they advertise you can get a free space if you move into the penthouse. How is that possible if nothing is available?? Tenants leave trash outside their doors for days, again nothing happens when you tell them about it. I don't know anyone who loves the smell of trash that hits you in right in the face as you are leaving in the morning. Then to return in the evening and walk right by the same trash....wtf. Homeless people sleep in the lobby because they can get in without having a key fob in the first door. Hmmmm another great smell at 6 in the morning. Washers and dryers are always broken and this is everyday. Then you have to report it and hope they reimburse your money for not working. The laundry room is always dirty, no one cleans up after themselves and you know them women in the office are not cleaning up shit. Do not move here. Don't let the view and the convenience fool you. read more

I lived here in a 1 bedroom apartment for a year from January 2017-December 2017. This was a great first place to live when I moved to Washington. The central location made it easy for me to walk to work on Pacific Ave, walk to the grocery store, and walk to local restaurants and bars. I never had a problem with getting a hold of management. They were always willing to chat about any issues I had when I went into the office. I was always greeted with a smile and a treat for my dog. I found the staff to be very friendly and welcoming! The gym was always clean and quiet. I didn't have much of a chance to use the lounge area or theater room, but the laundry facilities were also clean and had good machine availability. Unlike the other reviewers, I did not have much trouble with noisy or smoking neighbors or too much noise outside the building. I mostly kept to myself, as did my neighbors! If I did have any problems in the building, the staff listened and dealt with the issue promptly. I moved out into my own home in December but would recommend The Orion to anyone looking for a nice starter apartment in the area! read more

Our experience here was absolutely TERRIBLE! If I could choose 0 stars I would. They brought in new management without letting anybody know. All of the amenities they advertise couldn't be of use except the SHITTY laundry room which they never got machines fixed. So the laundry room was constantly flooded. Oh and if you leave your clothes in for more than the cycle(like start it at 10 and go get it in the morning) maintenance will throw your clothes away and not reimburse you. The amenities like the gym, lounge etc. could not be used bc of covid but could be used during business hours when everybody is working, not even a point to have them open. It is an old building and has terrible windows and instillation, so expect mold and they will blame it on you not their shitty building. It is advertised it is a no smoking building but I had multiple neighbors who smoked and the smell would even come into my apartment with the door closed. When I went to management they said they would talk to them about it but I doubt that I ever happened because it never stopped. Lastly, they want you to get the apartment professionally cleaned or they will charge you over $200 for that on move out, and their stupid ass security deposit doesn't even cover for them to fix normal wear and tear stuff Don't live here it's not worth the hassle. read more

I love living here! The staff is super friendly and the maintenance guys are amazing. They respond so promptly to any issues and do an excellent job. The apartments and the views are stunning! I highly recommend living here :) read more

Wore apartment building ever. Always doing construction! Turned back multiple packages because they were in my wives maiden name. Turned back a express mail package that had important documents they have effected us tremendously from not receiving them. We lost 8,000 dollars because of failing to receive my mail. Always smell funny like weed and BO. The workers in the front office are horrible. I've been double billed multiple times. Someone started a fire in there apartment five floors above mine and there was water damage due to the fire system. They made me change apartments and pay extra or I was going to get evicted and tried to make me use my home owners insurance for the damages. These people are absolutely horrible. Can't wait to move!!!!!! WARNING DO NOT RENT FROM THIS BUILDING read more

This place is a shut hole with a view.old building with a lot of noise thru the walls,it's supposed to be non smoking but you can smell weed and cigarettes thru the halls Constantly read more

Ashlie in the office is the best, she makes everything easy and deserves a promotion. Location is ultra walkable, plenty to do in the area, the building is secure (as secure as it can be considering the fact that it's a highrise with who-knows how many tenants), free parking is adequate if you time it right, and many more bonuses like the gym, shared spaces, etc. I've been here for a little over six months and every single problem I've brought up to the office, they have addressed and resolved as soon as they were able to. read more

I lived in this apartment for one year. The views are beautiful. I apologize it goes downhill from here. It is an unsafe area, definite gang activity. Cars are broken in. There is also a MHMR across the street. You will hear people yelling at the top of their lungs at night and parking is sparse, tickets are given frequently. You will have to pay for $150 for parking. I was placed on waiting list and was happy when I altered my schedule so that I did not arrive home after dark. We had to be moved due to dampness that I knew caused mold because I was sick for months prior. You will need to take your clothes to the laundry because people leave their clothes in the washroom all day. They placed a sign forbidding you to take their clothes out of the washers and dryers, despite them mildewing while you wait. The electric is allocated, which is not explained in the lease. You will pay based on the number of people in your home, so there is no way to reduce your energy costs. Problem is it an old building and the windows need to be upgraded. You will be cold during the winter (inside) despite the unit constantly coming on to combat the cold coming in from the outside. The apartments have no air conditioning. You will need to buy a portable ac. The walls are thin, almost weekly we heard neighbors fighting and slamming doors. The homes are very small for the price. Despite not smoking weed, you will receive frequent warnings. You will be nickeled and dimed on monthly electric and utility fees and there is an additional mandatory trash pickup fee (little bucket only). The trash room on both floors was always disgusting as trash piled up. When you leave, pay for professional cleaning and carpet cleaning (despite only one room being carpeted). You are agreeing to this in your lease. They do not have to provide you with pictures of what they deem as dirty. You will have to pay their cost for getting the home sanitized and ready for the next attendant. Also, despite the moratorium, your final move in cost will be automatically sent to a bill collector. The elevators (2) are very slow and one usually ran due to ppl reserving the elevator to move in and out. This was the case until I moved out and was told that this was no longer an option. Save yourself time and rent somewhere else. read more

I stayed at these apartments a year. The views are beautiful, however there were numerous things that caused me not to renew my lease. Beware! 1) It is not safe. Cars are broken into. There is definite gang activity. One night I had to walk in the middle of the street to avoid being accosted. I actually bought my first gun while living here. Also, when moving in and out of the apartments, watch your belongings. 2) You will need to pay for parking $150 a month. Otherwise, you will have to leave your car on the street. It is very challenging to find a spot. There is a waiting list. 3) Possible mold. My home had several bulging spots on the ceiling. I was sick for months. Miserable!. 4) My windows were broken. I actually felt the cold breezes coming in from the outside, This will cause your heat to continue to go on. The electric is allocated. I have been told that this is a problem with several units. This means you are paying high energy cost cost for the entire building. Also, there is no ac. You will need a portable ac. Also, even if you keep the windows up and endure the heat, you electric costs will be the same. Remember (all utilities are allocated) 5) The units are very small for the price. My sons dorm room was larger than my home. 6) Mandated trash pickup fees in addition to Sewer and Trash (YES). This equals three fees. 7) Noise, oh my god! Several neighbors had constant fights with their significant other. Imagine sleeping and being awakened by this. The walls are thin. 8) Laundry room. People leave their clothes in washers and dryers all day. One morning I made 4 trips with my clothes to wash. 4 washers were sitting with the same clothes. You can't take the clothes out of the dryers. Management placed a sign there. I contacted management for assistance, this was no help. I ended up taking my clothes to the laundry mat. After bringing my clothes home from the laundry. I checked out of curiosity and the clothes were still there. 9) When you move out you will have to pay numerous fees. Be prepared to pay at least $322 in utilities. This is not something you can prevent as the services are allocated. Which means people who move friends and don't share the correct number of units are causing your bill to increase. 10) Upon moveout, get carpet professionally cleaned, despite having no stains. Yes this means literally paying almost $100 for one room (only room carpeted). 11) Upon move out, you will have to pay for managements cleaning fees for getting the home show room ready for the next tenants. So don't bother cleaning the stove, refrigerator, bathroom. You will have to pay the fees anyway. 12) My floor was vinyl planks, not actual wood floors. I spilled nailed polish remover and damaged the area spilled. This caused a $250 charge. Yes for fake wood 13) Trash constantly piled up in the trash room. You will want to empty your trash. 14) There is a MHMR across the street. You will hear people who are suffering from mental disturbances screaming repeatedly at night if your home faces the side of the church. 15) Elevators. There are two elevators for a 17 floor building. Be prepared to walk up stairs. Many times. Although the location is nice. It is just not worth it. I am assured there is gang activity. Do not walk at night. If you are coming in late, just stay the night at a friends. Yes, apparently there is a service to accompany you to your car. But, you will have to wait....it's just too much of an hassle. Just beware, don't be persuaded by the specials. It is not worth it. Also, they will get their monies back when you move out read more

Do not be fooled by the signs in front saying that this is a smoke-free dwelling. People smoke everywhere in the apartments-tobacco, marijuana, and vaping-and the fumes waft into the hallways at all hours. Neighbors love to scream, argue, and party loudly. Also, be aware that the building is still under internal construction, and if you choose to live here, you will agree to hear hammering, sawing and drilling for at least eight hours of each weekday. God forbid that you have an evening job or a work-at-home gig. You will NOT be able to concentrate. Neighborhood is extremely noisy as well, especially at night, and more so now that the Rhein Haus has opened a block away. Drunken street fights galore! Basically, give up your dreams of fresh air, peaceful and quiet enjoyment of your apartment, or any sort of amenable living. Oh-and did I mention that this all costs upward of a grand a month for a 500 square foot apartment? Do not move here. Edited review (June 6, 2017) Since I wrote the initial review, there was a four alarm fire at this building, caused by some poor guy who was smoking in bed. Extensive water damage from sprinkler system, and not surprisingly, lots of additional noise as water-damaged items are removed from various floors of building. The workers have completely taken over the resident lounge during the daytime hours, so there is no refuge to be found there. Still, the smoke-free Washington sign is still proudly displayed in the lobby. read more

the stench was unbearable. it smelt like sewage water when we went in the elevator. there were flees, the hallways were extre dirty and unkept, there was even dog poop left in the halls. the room we stayed in was ok, but there is room for improvement. read more

If only I could give 0 stars. My boyfriend & I have been residing in The Orion Apt since the beginning of this year and we've been counting down the days to move out since we have arrived. Our problems started by moving into an ongoing construction zone, which we were not made aware of before moving in. The Orion has been renovating all the apartments, which creates endless loud noise throughout the day. On May 25th a fire broke out in a resident's apartment reportedly from cigarette smoking, ironically The Orion advertises itself as a "smoke free facility." The associated smoke and water damage have caused quite a mess. Instead of offering anything to the affected residents, The Orion continues to make requests for patience, compliance, full rent and refuses to allow its affected residents to move out without penalty (at least in our case). Since the fire, we have been subjected to people coming into our apartment daily, loud fans/dehumidifiers running 24/7 forcing us to sleep in our living room, walls being torn down twice in our bedroom, sheetrock dust covering all our belongings, multiple clean ups, multiple occasions of moving our belongings to accommodate such construction, faux walls being errected, gaps in the walls allowing us to see into the adjacent apartment, etc, etc, etc. When we spoke to management about compensating us for our inconvience, we were told we would receive nothing and that management has no intention of compensating the residents affected because they are spending "millions" on clean-up. We are paying $1,500-1,700/month to live in these conditions. If any of this interests you, we recommend The Orion. read more

I would like to strongly caution anyone that is considering becoming a tenant at the Orion Apartments. I lived there from July 2017-June 2018 and could not get out of there fast enough. The view of the water was great but that's as far as it goes. My worst experience with them was upon move out, but first I'll share a few details from living there. I was told upon move-in that construction would last for another 3 months at most. That was not true. Construction was a daily burden the entire year I lived there. The walls are made of concrete so sounds travels unusually well (told to me by the front desk when I complained) and the sounds are LOUD. Jackhammering, drilling, and banging all day long. I will say I was more affected by this than most probably because I work nights and sleep during the day - so it was a total nightmare and no pair of earplugs or level of fan noise could drone it out. The renovations look nice on the surface but the materials and appliances are cheap and break easily, and you will be held responsible. Someone else complained about packages being turned away if they aren't in your name and I'll second that. My fiancé who lived elsewhere went out of town and had something shipped to my apartment so it didn't sit on his empty stoop for days. Although they had met and talked to him numerous times and knew he was my fiancé, they sent it back and never said anything. Another time he was calling me from the callbox but I didn't hear it, and he ask if they could just let him in and they wouldn't. There is no sense of community or trust, just a bunch of strictly enforced, rigid, inane rules. But that's not even the worst of it. Less than a month after moving out, I got a call from a debt collector saying I owed Orion x amount of dollars and I was overdue. Now I had paid every rent and utility bill on time so naturally I was confused. To make a long story short. I did a final walkthrough of my apartment with a staff member of Orion and she raised no concerns. I had signed a piece of paper saying if I wasn't present for my walkthrough, I forfeited the right to discuss charges. I was present, and no charges were raised. Then a secret, second walkthrough was done without me and several items were listed and charged. This was unethical at minimum. This bill was addressed to my new correct address but was returned to them somehow. Although they had my phone number, email, and correct address apparently - and had used those means of communication with me several times before, they did not reach out or try to resend. I only discovered this bill after I called to figure out why a debt collector was calling and after getting no where, I went into the office and they casually handed it to me like they meant to all along. BUT it turns out, that bill had already been submitted to collections before they even ATTEMPTED to mail it to me. And once a bill is submitted to collections, you have no opportunity to challenge or dispute the charges. Of course I tried to talk to Orion management and Allied Residential management but was never given any explanation, recompense, or apology. I had no choice but to pay. I feel this approaches financial bullying and intimidation. Don't live here. You will be swindled. read more

The renovated apartment is simply beautiful, my finance and I moved in here last fall and we have the best view of the water! Everyone is super nice and the staff is amazing they are willing to help with anything!!! I'm so close to shopping and the best restaurants Tacoma offers! If you're looking for a well kept community I would highly recommend moving here and becoming my neighbor!! read more

Noisy with constant construction going on. Smoke detector goes off during the slightest heat generated when the oven door is opened for more than a second. Shower water pressure is so-so. Shower heads are for people less than five feet tall. Hallway smells - often it is smoke though the sign in the lobby clearly states that this is smoke-free living. Sometimes it permeates and I can detect it from within my apartment. Neighbors on the same floor and on the floor exactly above - fight like cornered animals. The amenities - movie room - common area - have been inexplicably off limits after 9pm for more than a month. Building management is typically non-communicative - except I will give them credit for their handling of getting information out to residents after the fire that broke out on the eleventh floor. The fire was started by a man who was smoking in bed. I do not recommend living here. A great deal of suckage. read more

DO NOT RENT AT THE ORION IN TACOMA. Absolutely horrible advice from the leasing office. We've been living here for 15 months now and have been solid renters. We signed a six month lease with advice from the leasing office that we could get out of our it no problem upon finding our first house. They have a month to month renting option that THEY DID NOT steer us towards during the process of discussing our options. We decided to trust her advice and sign another lease. Come to find out they want $2800 to break the lease early and didn't disclose this to us when making the decision. They would not workout any other options with us and told us if we didn't pay they would send it to collections. They also told us that we could get the money back if they rented the apartment quickly, they rented the place before we were even out of it and they refused to give us back the money. They could barely send a maintenance guy to our apartment to fix a request we made two months prior. We had fans and dehumidifiers in our room for a week because another tenant had flooded their apartment, and offered no reimbursement for the inconvenience. Their parking garage costs around $100 a month. They're sales people trying to sign as many leases as possible and will trick you into doing so at your own expense. read more