La Premiere

I echo the sentiments above. New management (Prudential) that took over this building has no qualms about raising your rent significantly, 17% effectively last year and 9.6% this year...

The catastrophic volume of the construction work on both sides of the building is a tenant's nightmare - never mind the extended construction hours which last from 6am-8pm during the week, and 9-5 on Saturdays. The building continues to advertise views and windows that have been literally boarded over. Douglas Elliman Property Management has adopted a tact of complete avoidance whenever possible - almost to the point of absurdity.

As a former tenant of this building I can second the dissatisfaction with management (perhaps by proxy with owner).

This building is smoke and mirrors, from the gym which has frequently non-functioning equipment (and showy HD flat screens, one without cable, and neither with HD), to the absolute disrespect for tenants regardless of how long they have lived there. This is a faux-luxury building, and even if they get you in at a good price, they will take advantage of the inconvenience of moving by raising rents usually more than double the at-large market.

Worth noting the construction site complained about above and la Premiere are owned by the same parent company. Its little surprise they have not done anything to mitigate the ill experience of the tenants.

phraq - did you manage to get out of your contract or did it just expire? wondering if there is a way of getting out of the lease without the costly legal path.

please do not move here!!! as a current tenant i am speaking out of experience! worst management, HORRIBLE construction all around the building starting at 6am-8pm DAILY!!! windows are horrible so it feels like you are sleeping outside!!! AND ONCE AGAIN WORST MANAGEMENT!!!

My lease expired.

I can validate that the management of this building is terrible. Indeed, they will sucker you into signing a market-rate rent for your first year, and then will proceed to offer an unnegotiable $200 increase on your lease (for a 1-BR) regardless of the circumstances.

The constructions is HORRIBLE! There are three (3) high-rise construction projects that are immediately next to this building that will continue through 2014. The construction crews are loud and they begin working at 6 am everyday. And they work on Saturdays.

STAY AWAY AT ALL costs.

Stay away.

This building has severe noise problems due to construction next door. The developer of the new Marriott purchased 230 West 55 back in 2007. He has since worked with the city to allow 78 hours of work a week on the hotel, including Saturdays. Construction begins earlier than 7am daily, including jackhammering, horns, and constant clanging and crane noise.

My first year there, so I'm looking forward to the inevitable rent increase they are going to try to impose on me.

I hate to echo the negativity, because I think this is a nice building, with nice people in a nice location. Overall I'm pleased and I've never had a problem with the management. However, everything people are saying about the construction is true. IT'S A NIGHTMARE. The 6am start is not an exaggeration. Now there's afternoon protests that one of the construction sites isn't union, so waves of workers come and blow whistles/airhorns and chant "scabs go home!" Additionally....watch out for this....my cell phone service has gotten worse as the construction has gotten higher. If you'd like to use your phone to, you know, make phone calls in your apartment, check your service before you move in. Beware---there's a reason some of these apartments have stayed vacant for months.

Building is clean and the doormen are nice. However, as everyone else mentioned the management is terrible. They don't even have the decency to call you back. The floors are old, the AC unit is ancient, and the apt constantly has problems (dishwasher, stove, toilet, bathtub).