The Duke

Fresh start in new city and province. Megan, Mohsen, Colin and Maryanna have made moving and getting this place from almost 5000kms away much easier. Also they get things done.Buses to downtown, stanley park and Burnaby at corner. 2 skytrains 15 min walk, and they are building a 3rd a block away. Bike share outside building. Car share in building. Walk to False Creek/Seawall in 10/15mins.Im debating selling my car...The view is on the roof...speechless.Appartments are soundproof, I don't hear my neighbors....Main street 5mins away...Almost every other tenant in the building has a dog...making me miss one....I can keep going....

One Star - Renter BewareI don’t generally write reviews, but I feel compelled to share my rental experience at The Duke. I lived in this building for over 18 months in a studio unit. I would highly NOT recommend living here. The management does not have your back as a tenant, and the cost of rent is honestly insane for the square footage. There are other, much better rental properties in Vancouver with better amenities for this price!PROS: East-facing views of the mountains are amazing. Communal lounge is nice and easy to reserve. Building is modern. Good location. In-suite laundry. Aussie guy who works for The Duke is very nice and friendly!CONS: High resident turnover, which says a lot. I think I had at least 3 new neighbours on either side of me in the span of 18 months. No sense of community - very “closed-door” feel to the building, everyone just sticks in their apartments. Extremely expensive rent for what you get. In my unit, there was no oven, tiny sink, tiny fridge, barely any counter space - definitely not ideal for anyone who likes to cook. Tiny patio - could not even comfortably fit a small bistro set. Management will raise rent at every opportunity to do so (I moved out and they increased the rent of my unit by over $400 for the next tenant). Management is very unresponsive, and very unfriendly. Emails to management always required a follow-up phone call. Not always quick to notify tenants when packages have arrived - there were instances when my parcels were just sitting in the office, even though there is a Parcel Pending system that should be used. You will probably see this in many reviews, but the elevators were completely unreliable. There was a period of about 8 months when one or both elevators were not working. Very unacceptable for an 18-story building, especially for residents with accessibility needs, children and older pets that can't do a lot of stairs. The communication from management was TERRIBLE on this ongoing issue, there was no timeline for the repairs, it was always we're working on it" and then “we’re still working on it”. As an effort to boost morale

Experience with management:I usually don’t give reviews, but my experience here has been terrible. I’ve only had people over twice since moving in and the second time I had friends over for a chicken dinner and board games night on the rooftop. The management discriminated and filed a noise complaint against myself and a few guests stating that we were making noise til the early hours of the morning. We left by midnight, by our own choice before the security and manager told us to we had five minutes to leave “because we were clearly drunk and disregarding the warnings” which was untrue. After the first noise complaint from the building manager at 10:10pm, we made an effort to be quiet. By 11pm security asked only us to keep it down, even though we weren’t the only group on the rooftop, there was a family beside us playing jenga (quite loudly) but my group of friends (who are all Indigenous women) were being accused of being loud and disrespectful to our neighbours. None of us were drunk, and I was completely sober.Building and community:As someone who just graduated, I feel like this building is a dormitory style, except there is no community to it. The sound waves travel up and down because of the open concept rooftop and centre of the building. Dogs can always be heard barking, there are lots of police, ambulance and fire truck sirens (especially between the hours of 11pm-2am). The kitchen spaces are small, I live in a two-bedroom, the only bright side is the patio which has a view of south van (which is as long as the unit). The rooftop also has a nice view, but it’s an amenity for few to enjoy. The elevators when working are quite fast, but waiting for an elevator if one of them isn’t working can take a while (one elevator is nearly always out of order).

I am a current tenant. The Duke is a great place to live. Megan and Mohsen and their team are fabulous and have taken excellent care of me. The location is so convenient- everything is close by. I would certainly recommend living here.

I rented here from Dec 2019 to May 2020. Move in was great. Maintenance guy helped to install wall shelves etc. The small studio was new and had a great view of the city. I didn't mind the broken blind pull cord and the bent metal frame of the washroom mirror. A couple months in, manager asked me to pay $250 for a noise complaint, when I did not cause the noise. Then, the management company changed from Rhapsody Living to Real Star. Staff from Real Star was very friendly and they helped to provide a great reference for my next rental place. When I moved out, things were smooth except I found out that instructions were unclear with regards to the water and heating account. I paid all six months of utility at once and they progressively increased from $52.62 to $145.11 per month, not counting internet and electricity. With that being said, roof top view of Vancouver is amazing, I enjoyed sitting there to watch the sunset with friends.

Updated:The Duke is a much better building to live in since Real Star took over, the building is now being proactively maintained and improved. The fix anything immediately and are really friendly and reasonable. The elevators are working. The BBQ has been replaced.Original postDo not move in here until Rhapsody is no longer managing" the building. The elevators are constantly out of order and they will not deliver on the promises they make you when signing a lease."

The new management made this place such an amazing place to live in!!! I lived in the Duke for 4 years and it had a rocky start with the old management but since the Realstar stepped in we had a much nicer and more well organized building! It is truly a special experience to live in this architecturally unique space, also thanks to Megan and Mohsen for their amazing management! 100 % recommend it!

I have had GREAT EXPERIENCES while living here at The Duke. The management staff, and everyone working in and around the building, are so lovely, kind and helpful. I've lived in other buildings with different strata/ management services (FSR) where you can't get ahold of anyone for help whether that be in-suite or outside issues (emergency and non-emergency), and where the on-suite and off-suite management just don't care at all about upkeep of the structure or the tenants. My experience here at The Duke 100% the opposite! It's wonderful! Issues (if there are any) are attended to in a timely and efficient manner. The building is beautifully kept and clean. And everyone working in and around the building is so nice! I also find the building safe and secure. I love where I live and I know that I am taken care of - that is if I ever need anything all I have to do is ask! Its a GREAT PLACE TO LIVE and the management is awesome!

I live in this building and it can be an absolute nightmare. The building has had one elevator out of service for over two months, and the only remaining elevator has been experiencing similar issues.The staff onsite do their best, however upper management seems to not care about the building. The only time I have heard from them is regarding forms they want me to sign, which have often gone against laws or my rights as a tenant.I would strongly advise against moving into this building.UPDATE: Second elevator has been shutting down frequently, and as I predicted, is headed the same way as the first. I was trapped in the second elevator for about five minutes a little over a week ago, and it has been making increasingly louder screeching noises. Avoid the Duke at all costs.UPDATE 2: The second elevator has been repaired, which is great to see. On site staff have continued to do their best in making this a good place to live, which I do appreciate. At this point, the first elevator (which has been down for months) continues to not work, and I still question how these elevators were deemed safe upon opening. Improvements being made, but still a long way to go here.

I was one of the first people to move into this building, and unfortunately just had to leave to downsize costs. If not for going back to school, I would have never left. The new management is amazing, Megan and Mohsen go out of their way to keep the building running smooth, and are always available to help. You can tell it is a passion for them, by all the small extra details they lovingly do to make this building a home; decorate for holidays, put out goody bags for children at Halloween, etc. The buildings architecture is stunning, the views from the apartments and roof are insane, and the location is a rare find. I was super happy staying here, and very sad to leave. Would highly recommend living here.