Apartment Week: AVE King of Prussia
The people who made the "apartment hotel" respectable again have upped their luxury-flexible-stay-for-the-rest-of-us game with their Village at Valley Forge property.
One of the two interior courtyards at AVE King of Prussia. | Photos courtesy AVE
Way back in the late 19th century, when apartment buildings first began to appear in American cities, some of the early pioneers referred to their structures as “apartment hotels” to associate them with a more familiar form of multi-unit residence.
Over the years, the term became more closely associated with single-room flophouses, and after World War II, “apartment hotels” gradually disappeared from America’s older cities.
They’re back now, and they’re far more luxurious.
The main residents’ lounge. A VIP lounge with kitchen on the top floor looks out over the Village at Valley Forge
Korman Communities’ aka brand has set the standard for luxury in flexible-stay furnished residences, as these properties are known technically. The company also operates a less pricey but still luxurious collection of flexible-stay apartment complexes known as AVE, most of whose properties are located in the suburbs of our larger cities.
The cafe
AVE King of Prussia is the latest addition to the chain. Located in the Village at Valley Forge, it offers a level of convenience matched by few suburban apartment complexes of its type — and none in King of Prussia itself.
The fitness center
It also offers amenities rivaling those of a luxury resort hotel. You’ll find a 24-hour fitness center, a business center and conference rooms, a swimming pool, outdoor recreation facilities, kitchens and dining areas, indoor and outdoor movie theaters, and a full-service spa with massage therapy and wellness services. (On some days, AVE offers free massages for residents on a first-come, first-served basis.)
The AVE Screen theater
About the only thing missing is the sit-down restaurant — and residents need only walk for five to ten minutes, or borrow one of AVE’s seasonal bike shares and ride, down Goddard Boulevard to the adjacent King of Prussia Town Center to find plenty of those, including one in the center’s huge Wegmans supermarket.
Living room and kitchen in a furnished suite
The furnished flexible-stay apartments have everything the short-term resident needs to get on with everyday life. AVE provides not only towels and bed linens but also cookware, utensils, dinnerware, flatware and glassware in the kitchen. According to an AVE fact sheet, “We tell our furnished residents to bring a suitcase with their personal belongings and we’ll take care of the rest.”
Bedroom in a furnished suite
Residents of both the furnished flexible-stay apartments and the unfurnished apartments for rent can enjoy a complimentary club breakfast on weekday mornings and a program of catered functions, receptions and special events throughout the year.
Bathroom in a furnished suite. Not only are linens and toiletries provided in the suites, but their kitchens are fully stocked with tools and dinnerware
Originality distinguishes this building’s common facilities from those of others in its class. Custom-designed lighting and furniture make the cafe and central lounge urbane and sophisticated spaces. The same level of distinctiveness can be found in AVE’s meeting and function rooms, its lobby, its gym and its outdoor common areas.
In fact, it’s so original it even has its own scent. The air in the lobby and cafe is infused with a fragrance produced especially for AVE King of Prussia.
“AVE should be ranked among the ‘Best Places to Live’ by Elle Decor,” says chiropractor and resident Beau E. Casey, who wrote an enthusiastic endorsement of AVE King of Prussia in a resident feedback survey. “The apartments are spacious, modern and intelligently designed with full-size washers and dryers, stainless steel appliances, and top-of-the-line finishes and fixtures.”
AVE King of Prussia by the Numbers
Address: 555 S. Goddard Blvd., King of Prussia, PA 19406
Number of units: 274 furnished and unfurnished studio, 1-bedroom, 1-bedroom with den, 2-bedroom, and 2-bedroom with den apartments ranging in size from 550 to 1,414 square feet
Number of parking spaces: 397 in a secure, covered basement parking garage; 16, mainly for visitors, in a surface lot at the front entrance
Rents: Furnished suites: $140 to $170 per day, with leases available for stays of more than 30 days; leaseholders need only give 15 days’ notice to vacate. Unfurnished apartments: $1,600 to $2,900 per month
Other stuff: The building is pet-friendly; amenities include a dog wash station. In addition to the seasonal bike share, bike storage, a bike repair station and electric vehicle charging stations are available in the garage.
More information: AVE King of Prussia website; 215-544-3050
