Come experience “luxury” at the Union Apartments, where: 1. You’ll be greeted at the door every time you walk in… not by the staff, however, but by the ever-growing number of individuals experiencing houselessness that frequently crowd the MLK entrance and aggressively try to follow you inside upon observing you pull out your key fob; 2. You’ll enjoy a constant array of snacks on-site… and I literally mean on-site, because they’ve lingered undisturbed so long that they’ve become subsumed by the structure itself, now an indelible part of the architecture and visual landscape. For example: the Butterfinger wrapper pictured in the review has been on the 4th floor for over a month now, accompanied by other eclectic articles of forgotten detritus, camouflaged in a polychromatic patchwork of filth, grime, and muck that, if I’m not mistaken, is fast-approaching sentience (I’ve watched The Last of Us; I know how these things start). I suppose the differential character that makes this a “luxury” amenity is that it’s a King-Size bar, not merely the regular or “fun-size” bars commonly enjoyed by peasants and serfs. I live on the inside and only use this elevator when I need to park close to the building to haul in my groceries, but it’s almost too disgusting to endure even bimonthly; 3. You’ll never have to worry about hauling those unwieldy Amazon packages up to your apartment… because of the concierge? No, because the packages will likely be stolen from the parcel or mail rooms before you even have the chance to pick them up. Don’t worry, if you’re lucky enough to have your deliveries left in one of the disproportionately small number of parcel lockers available for this 6-story complex, it’ll likely be safe from pilferage or plunder; otherwise, I hope your mom splurges for the delivery insurance when sending you those irreplaceable homemade gifts and goodies this holiday season. The complex does have cameras in and around the parcel lockers, but if my calculations are correct, you’d have better odds of winning the Powerball Jackpot than getting management to feign interest in your plight, let alone execute any constructive solutions; and 4. You’ll never be bothered by the temporal inconvenience of unanticipated repairs… because maintenance is on the same schedule as Halley’s comet. I could open a Ticketmaster with all the tickets I’ve put in on the same recurrent and unresolved issues. The maintenance persons are very friendly, for the record, but I have a feeling they might be slightly understaffed. Suggestion: Get back to the basics and focus on keeping this place and its spaces clean, safe, and maintained, THEN worry about the bells and whistles, like “espresso bars” or Halloween meet-and-greets (because trust me, the conditions of this building are scary enough on their own).

On 11/5 I had the pleasure to be paired up with Matt M to take me on a tour of The Union Apt. Building just a few steps from the Portland Convention Center and the MAX station, unbelievably convenient! That said, his demeanor was very respectful of my needs and the reasons why I was visiting with him and couldn’t have been a perfect mix. As always there’s a lot to cover and being new coming back into the rental process has changed 100% from what it was 20 years ago. Matt M. couldn’t have been more patient and glad he’s representing The Union Apartments. His demeanor matches the sophisticated beautiful building that he represents. With all the respect, great job Matt M.

Matt was always professional and helpful. Prior management took way more pride in keeping the property clean. I stayed at the Union for a year & half and it was highly overpriced and the homeless stayed in front of the property regularly. I recently moved and found a better place to live with way more amenities and bag for my buck.

After living at The Union for a little over two years, I’ve downgraded my review to 2 stars—and honestly, that feels generous. If you’re looking for constant headaches and zero accountability, this is the place. The downsides easily drown out any positives. Pros: -Central location -Plenty of public transit -Amenities used to be decent -Maintenance generally fixed things in a reasonable time -Rent was lower than other buildings when I first moved in Cons (there's a lot): -Fire alarms constantly going off in the middle of the night. Nothing like standing outside half asleep at 2 AM in the freezing cold...multiple times. -The entire property outside smells like dog pee. There’s nowhere for pets to go, so everyone just lets their dogs use the sidewalks. -Front office is nearly impossible to reach. Emails ignored, phones never answered. They’ll bend over backward to sign new tenants, but returning messages from current residents? Apparently not a priority. -When I moved out on Sept. 23, their Wi-Fi was down so I was told I'd receive digital documents later. Almost two months passed with complete silence. No documents, no info on my deposit, nothing. Only after I notified them of potential legal action did someone finally respond. -Staff turnover is constant. Every time you go in, it’s someone new who has no clue what’s going on. Which is no fault of their own. Everyone is genuinely very nice, but they're set up for failure from the start. -Rent jumped over $100 after the first year. -Security is not what they advertise. My luggage was stolen from the supposedly “secured” mailroom. Management only cared once I got the police involved—luggage never returned. -No real system for disposing of large items. They’ll tell you to “ask the front desk,” which gets you a shrug and instructions to hire an expensive junk service. Completely unhelpful. -New management is awful. They clearly don’t care about upkeep—broken exterior doors, missing gym equipment, etc. The gym was always dusty, never had paper towels or cleaner for tenants to wipe down the machines. I’ve since moved out of state to a cheaper and genuinely better complex. I loved The Union when I toured it, but everything went downhill fast. Hopefully they get their act together someday, but based on my experience, I won’t be holding my breath.

We have lived at The Union for over eight years now – it’s a great place to live. The building is concrete – solid and very well designed, and is not quite 10 years old. It's also very secure – you need a fob not only to access the first floor, but also to access any of the elevator floors or stairwells as well as the package room. The apartments are QUIET – you occasionally hear people in the hall, but never through adjoining walls (in our experience, you may sometimes hear people walking upstairs or moving furniture, but nothing out of the ordinary). We’re less than a half block from three Max trains and at least three bus routes. If we walk down to a Moda Center event, we’re already back home before most people get to their cars or board Trimet. The Union floor plans make excellent use of space – nothing is wasted. There are high ceilings (including in all the closets), which make the apartments feel even larger than they are and allow for good airflow. Lots of big windows let in plenty of light. Some of the apartments have extra built-in storage, which is great (our corner two-bedroom has a deep counter inset in the hallway with three substantial drawers below and three deep shelves of cabinet storage above). Every unit includes an efficient washer-dryer combination, which is a real timesaver – no dragging laundry to a community room and having to watch it. Enclosed garage parking is available downstairs. And up to two pets are allowed per unit – there are lots of cats and some really friendly dogs. The Union had a change of ownership in December 2024. It had become clear to us the original owners were holding back on certain improvements in anticipation of the sale, which holdbacks were impacting the residents. Thankfully, I can tell the new owners have initiated the investments we need to keep the building running as it should. The very best part was that they retained our management staff. Ally, our Property Manager, is first class, highly professional and efficient (and NICE), and has been with us for many years. Matt was also retained and has fantastic customer service skills. Jackie is new to the Union office team but brings years of experience with her. Rigo has been handling many of the maintenance responsibilities since shortly after the sale, and he’s a great addition to our team. Cindy does a great job on the halls and other common areas. (Thanks, Team!) Our completely new and expanded workout room on the ground floor will be open soon. Management also sponsors regular community gathering events to bring neighbors together, which have been fun. This is our home – more than just a collection of faceless people. There were definitely some early speed bumps last winter during the ownership transition, but I feel very positive about where we are now and going forward. Issues can come up at any property – what matters is how they are handled when they do. The key is our onsite people, and with Ally and the rest of her team, I know we can count on excellent service AND follow-up. Check out The Union – you won’t be disappointed!