Landing at Jack London Square

There are some extremely negative reviews on this place, and most of it is unwarranted.
1.) TRAIN: When you arrive at The Landing for the first time to check the place out, you see the train station. You can’t possibly avoid it. They make no claims of that train being pleasant to be near. They don’t hide that fact. And for the few reviewers I saw that complained that The Landing or Essex does nothing to stop the trains from running are completely absurd. Next they’ll ask why they don’t take responsibility for stopping the shipyards from working or the Bay from having high tide sometimes.
Yes, it sucks sometimes to have the train go by late at night and honk their horn loudly. But we got used to it after a few months and now it only bothers us if we’re watching the quiet part of a movie and have to pause it for a minute.
2.) THE POOL/​GYM AREA: These amenities are fantastic, and some people seem to forget that there’s only one pool/​hot tub/​gym for all 4 apartment buildings. Some people seem to forget that they don’t get their own private space for themselves and their guests whenever they want it. They have to share these spaces with other people, and lots of people want to use them because they are AWESOME. There are very few apartment complexes anywhere nearby that offer these kinds of things.
3.) OAKLAND: You’ll be living in a nice area of Oakland, but it’s still Oakland. There are still homeless people and crime sometimes. There are shipyards nearby that are sometimes noisy. There are venues nearby that blast music until around 10pm on weekends. This is a city. It’s a diverse and growing city. Some of us love it here for that, but if you expect a quiet suburban lifestyle you’re looking in the wrong place by several miles.
4.) CONSTRUCTION: The apartment complex was renovated shortly before my wife and I moved in nearly 3 years ago. Since then, the property has been improved in several ways. They’ve repainted all the buildings, they renovated the pool area for Summer 2016, and they’ve come in replaced pipes and appliances in our home. THESE ARE ALL GOOD THINGS.
Maintenance responds to requests within 24 hours every single time we’ve used them. The staff at the front office and all the grounds people are exceptionally friendly and they ALWAYS give us notice when they’re going to need to enter our apartment for maintenance. They even take the time to answer my questions about how they’re fixing stuff so I can learn how to be more handy myself.
—–
I give this place 4 stars because: Yes, the train will always be an issue. And yes, it is not easy to afford continuing to live here. And yes, this is a noisy city to live in. Otherwise it gets perfect marks across the board for me.
If you work in SF near the ferry building like I do, there is no better commute than the SF Bay Ferry. And this apartment complex is a 3 block walk from the ferry station in Jack London Square. This means when I get out of work, I don’t have to walk down into the crowded, noisy, dank tunnels of the BART and suffer the ear-​splitting screeching noise of the train as I stand packed into a train car like a sardine.
I walk to the ferry building in SF, grab a sandwich or some farmer’s market items for dinner. Then I get on the ferry and relax, seated, with plenty of personal space and the only ‘noise’ being the hum of the engine and the sounds of the Bay. Perhaps some other chattering commuters with their beers and bike helmets on.
I arrive back in Oakland after 40 minutes or so and can stop at BevMo, Ben & Jerry’s, the movie theater, or any number of several very good restaurants and bars on my way home. I walk about 3 blocks along a beautiful boardwalk watching the sunset.
When I get home, I am greeted by my excited dog. I drop off my bag, pick up her tennis ball and walk back down to the small dog park area near the pool for «Yappy Hour». She runs around with other dogs while the humans socialize. When she’s tuckered out we head back up 3 flights of stairs (no elevator) to relax and go about our evening routines.
This is an average, unspecial weekday afternoon. It’s commuter paradise here for us. I’m generally wary of trying to tell other people how great something I like is, but when I saw how many haters were on here, I felt the need to do some white knighting.

I wanted to thank the office and maintenance staff for such a pleasant stay here. I literally live in front of the train station with my 2 kids and husbandand they actually love the train and pretend to honk the horn each time it comes by. I on the other hand had some reserves when I moved in– but I have grown to like this area very much. China town is 15 minutes away, kack london is a great place to have brunch with friends and family (they can’t get enough of it), I love going to the spa and it just looks so beautiful as it steams up in the winter time. I moved in in 2012 and it just keeps getting better. Today I found out that we now have an organic delivery service for. all of our groceries. Man– what a life saver. thought i’d put in my 2 cents. They’be gotten a bad rap from previous management staff and I definitly can see past the other reviews on here. Great attention to detail and attentive to the residents. Would strongly recommend.

My hubby and I moved in last August; We were considering a place nearby in Emeryville. The leasing office here was cleaner and more professional … Kim recognized us and greeted us by name as we came back twice to make sure we made the right decision. She was very patient and helped us make our move smooth and stress free as possible. She is awesome (everyone in the office is great) even the maintenance men are polite and courteous! Kim will even suggest restaurants and venues to visit since we moved from The East Coast ;)
any maintenance or repairs are resolved that day.
The gym and pool are immaculate.
One assigned parking spot with your apartment (free). And the best dog friendly residence I have seen in a long time !
Yes –the pool gets loud and crazy some summer evenings — but there is security to call if it gets too late and wild.
Yes — I hear my neighbors walking above (and crying kids) and the train but you get used to it.
No — never had an issue with theft to my car (knock on wood) and always had ample parking for guests.

I’ve lived here for 8 months now. I’ve seen many other apartment buildings in the area and in downtown Oakland. What made me pick The Landing was because it’s the only gated community and for me that’s important being a single gal living alone when I walk my dog at night. Also during the summer time, there’s a guard who patrols the property at night so I feel much safer. What makes me want to stay at the Landing is the staff, both the leasing office and the maintenance staff. Kim who is in the office is always friendly, upbeat, responsive and personable. Not the fake kind of nice which I’ve experienced at other professionally managed buildings (albeit I was in LA). When my garbage disposal was having problems because I didnt realize I dropped a small ceramic cup in there, she called in the service request immediately for me. Also, she genuinely cares about the apartments and residents. During the holidays, she made a huge ham that was absolutely delicious along with the most amazing and tasty sides all by herself (it was like a big Thanksgiving dinner)! They care about making this a community and they also take good care of the property. Landscaping is in good shape (especially considering that it’s a pet-​friendly apartment complex) and when the gates need repair, they’re on it in less than 24 hours.
If you hear or see maintenance taking place at the property, that’s a good sign! It boils my blood when I see negative comments that an apartment complex is always making repairs. If you see repairs being done, that means management actually cares about getting things fixed and keeping it in good shape! It’s when you start seeing repeats of the same kind of repairs in a short amount of time that could be problematic or barely any repairs being made. Anyway, if you work in an office during the daytime, you’re not even home for the noise disturbances or water interruptions while they do repairs! It’s a good sign that the property is being properly maintenanced and it’s not being performed while you’re at home.
The maintenance staff have come timely in my experience. Never more than 24 hours. Once, he came by in 20 minutes. They are also friendly and do the job fast.
Yes, the buildings’ exterior was painted, but it used to be a Floridian peachy color. Now it’s a lot more sleek and modern looking with blues, whites and grays. In my opinion, an improvement. I was inconvenienced for 3 days not 3 weeks as another reviewer wrote. Considering the buildings look a lot better and it’s a huge permanent outcome, i dont think 3 days is a long time. If you only intend on living here for a short term, than yeah 3 days can feel like 3 weeks (that other reviewer was only here on a short-​term lease).
The pool is amazing with picture-​worthy views. As you’re lounging in the pool area during the summer, you have a straight shot view of the estuary and schools of beautiful white sails floating by. I like it here for the balconies, open space, spacious apartments, access to outdoor activities (biking, sailing, kayak) and amenities (restaurants, bars, coffee shops). Also almost every weekend, Jack London Square has weekend programming whether it be a farmer’s market, pedal fest, food festivals, 60′ foot Christmas tree lighting, jack of all trades, boat festivals, etc. My only gripe about the neighborhood is that there is no grocery store walking distance. Bike ride distance, yes. Not walking. This is a nuisance for someone who enjoys cooking, but Safeway delivers here and so does Instacart. Also, there are several walking distance ZipCar lots in JLS, the closet one being 0.2 miles away and most of the time i get a car i want booking as late as 4 hours in advance. Still prefer a small grocery store close by.
Yes the train is loud. But I’ve blocked it out and only notice it when I have guests stay over, because I’m concerned about them not being used to it. For me, the positives of the Landing outweigh the negatives.
I live on the second floor. The only reason I hear the tenant upstairs is because I can tell he isnt being thoughtful about how he walks living in an apartment complex. I can hear each step louder than the next. It’s not like it’s loud at first and then gets lighter. He just doesnt give a hoot! If you’re used to living in a house, people tend to stomp around like elephants when they live in apartments, not realizing, you just shouldn’t do that in apartment living. There’s little reason I should be able to hear him because these apartments are carpeted on the second and third floors AND these buildings are much thicker than other buildings! I want to say it’s concrete but I’m not sure. It definitely isn’t the cheap vinyl or wood looking exterior buildings. I’ve lived in cheap apartments before.
Lastly about bikes getting stripped or things stolen from your bike. Again, we dont live in suburbia. Lock your stuff up or keep important things out of sight.

I honestly don’t understand all these negative reviews. But maybe because of them, that I’m so pleasantly surprised by this place.
The apartments are quite spacious and there is a lot of attention given to details. The walls are not boring white like most apartments, but a nice warm beige color with white accent. It really makes this place feel like a home. The appliances are nice. Upon move in we got a band new oven, but actually all appliances look brand new and they are all stainless steel. The dishwasher is so quiet you can’t even tell when it’s on.
And you know how some apartments have really thin walls? This place is not like that at all. I never hear my neighbors here. Also, parking is never a problem. These are all huge plusses for me. The proximity to Jack London square’s fancy restaurants, old Oakland’s fabulous gastropubs, and Chinatown’s great inexpensive eats really makes living here exciting and a lot of fun. Lots of places to explore!
Yes, there are downsides because there are train tracks near by and there are no elevators in these buildings. However, I live on the 3^rd flood and I don’t have a problem with the extra «free stair-​master» :). I walk my dog up and down those stairs 4 times a day no problem. Upon move-​in my main concern was the train. But I got an air purifier fan on Amazon which I only turn on at night, and it completely drowns out the train to the point where I can’t hear it at all. Granted, I moved in during the winter and I never had to sleep with the window open yet.
I cannot say enough good things about how dog friendly this apartment complex is. Your pooch will be in paradise here and will have many friends! There is a nice off leash area outside the complex on the estuary side. Within the complex there is a lot of green area to explore as well.
And last but not least, he office staff is truly amazing. A serious shout-​out to Kim and Christie who made this move happen for us. They worked tirelessly to get us the best possible unit available at the time for the best possible price.
To sum it all up, there are some minor issues with living here, but for the most part, it’s been a fantastic experience for us and we feel very fortunate to live here.

I’ve lived here for 7 years and I don’t have too many complaints. Essex took over and revamped the look and feel which is the reason why I felt compelled to write a review. The ladies in the office are some of the kindest and sweetest people I’ve had to deal with in property management. They’ve definitely came a long way, for sure. Some of the complaints on here are some of the usual casualties. The train is across the street and you hear it anywhere. So why would you pick an apartment that is obviously that close, I mean you can’t miss it. Maintenance is top notch because they come within the day. I made a service request about the trash chutes being filthy and that had an odor where 1 sniff would kill you and that week they cleaned and repainted all the trash chute areas. My front door lock decided to break on the most inconvenient day, called the office and they had someone up in 2 minutes. They finally fixed the call boxes and the names are finally legible. New security company that’s present and they added more security cameras. They are really stepping up to the plate and playing to win. Keep it up!

Train is awful and they aren’t looking at solutions. Nice to have a pool/​gym and be near Jack London. But NOT worth the train: loud horn, station loudspeaker, and screeching brakes/​idling are frequent and deafening. Time to move, sucks.

Lived there for two years, and was so relieved to get out. The other reviews have pretty much summed it up already, but I will share some of my impressions.
The dog thing. Every apartment has a dog, and it’s difficult to get from one place to another without being yapped at, growled at and/​or jumped on. «Oh, he’s friendly!» I got so sick of hearing that. I’m sure he’s fabulous by he’s also jumping on me and making it hard to get these groceries up the stairs, so do you mind? If your life revolves around a 6 ounce quivering yap machine that you consider your «actual» baby, this place is for you. I started cleaning the pee in the hall myself after putting in two service requests. After all, it’d be such a bother tp have to walk all the way down stairs, why not just leave the problem for someone else to handle? That’s the mindset of these residents with most things.
Rent hikes. Had I accepted a 3^rd year, it would have represented an 18% hike from my first year. They tried 12% for year 2, ended up being around 10%. Not worth $ 3500 a month plus for this place.
Theft. I lost 2 bikes, fortunately they were not as expensive as some who have lost here.
Security. There’s no consequence for jumping the fence and partying naked in the hot tub over and over again. The residents do it to avoid the alarm, bums do it, party crowds do it. You call whichever impotent security company they have at the moment, and maybe an hour later they will come out ask them nicely to pick up their bottles, put out the joint, put there clothes on and leave. They’ll be back whenever, because why not? There’s no consequence. Let someone else pay for it.
One time a bum jumped the fence and passed out in the hot tub. I just skipped Paul Blart and called the police. Well, this is Oakland, so no cops came, but they did send EMTs to make sure the guy was alright.
Weed. If you love it, this is the place for you. I was neutral on it until I lived here, but came to hate the fact that my apartment reeked all year round since everyone is smoking it non-​stop.
The pool parties. The management likes to constantly send out some PRish sounding happy talk about how they appreciate you and are fixing the problems. BS. Nothing changed the whole time I was there. They had a guard that would babysit on weekends, then that ended, but the second no one is stopping them, an obnoxious Bud Lite Lime commercial breaks out down there. WoooHoo! There should be a sign just under the rules that reads «Just Kidding»
The people there aren’t my type. They drive 40 miles and hour doing Tokyo drift stunts through the garage, they throw empty cases of wine and packing material down the trash chute, the thrum of bass shaking everything. I imagine it would appeal to a lot of people who are self possessed and obnoxious, so a large part of the current Bay Area metro area which has really deteriorated in my lifetime, so to many, I am sure it’s a paradise.
The management. Which management? There’s so much turn-​over that it’s hard to talk about a particular one. They at least have one whose job revolves around getting on Unilocal and trying to put lipstick on this pig (much like their renovation projects).
My move-​out experience typifies what you will get. We gave them ample notice and owed a pro-​rated amount for the last month. We paid them everything owed and the check cleared. On the day I was moving out I came back from the trash area to find a 3-​day notice to pay rent or quit! Seriously, they were saying I didn’t pay for the full month. Yeah, no kidding, check your own paperwork! Another hassle to solve since they are so disorganized. I left them an explanation, copy of the cleared check and my forwarding address.
I knew they’d try to find a way to snag my deposit, so I swept, wiped down the surfaces and just left at that point. I didn’t expect to get it back anyway and it was worth it just to leave that heap for the last time and be free. Weeks go by and my wife gets a call asking where to send the remainder of the deposit. Oh, I don’t know, how about the address we gave you! Weeks after that a portion of it comes back with no itemization as to how it was derived.
Some people will love this place. If you like to pose by the pool in your wide brim ball cap and put back some cold ones and show off your tats and smoke a little doobage with your bruhs and some hotties, then by all means.
If you’re looking to use your dog «prop» to start up a possible hookup conversation at the dog park, you’re home.
If you’re looking for an experience should match the location and rents, then keep looking. This is a churn and burn place that’s looking to jack rents on you as fast as possible, get you out, and another sucker in. This is a typical Oakland apartment dressed up to look high end, and if you think that’s what you’re getting, then you’re in for a surprise.

By far, this is the worst place I’ve ever lived. We chose this place because we needed a short term rental while we sold our old house and bought a new one. Here are the general reasons this place is terrible:
1. Almost every apartment has a dog. When you walk the halls, it sounds like a kennel.
2. They’re constantly doing work with no regard for the tenants. They sealed up all our windows in the apartment for close to 3 weeks while they painted the exterior of the building. They stopped by on a random Saturday with no notice and expected us to leave our front door open for 40 minutes, even though we were on our way out, so they could paint the front door. They turned off the water at least 6 times for entire days at a time so that we were unable to shower, or wash our hands for 8 hour periods at a time.
3. Whenever it’s warm, or particularly sunny, the pool is over run with drunk twenty-​somethings who don’t live here.
4. The train that runs through jack London square wakes me up about 5 times a night.
5. My bike was stripped of about $ 800 in components when it was in the bike parking in the garage, where they told me to keep my bike. When I contacted my renters insurance, that the complex requires you to buy from them, I was told I was SOL. When I asked for the surveillance video footage from the complex’s cameras, I was told they wouldn’t give it to me without a subpoena. I’ve been told from multiple people in the complex that their bikes have also been stolen.
6. The hot tub has this sludgey pseudo-​sand in the bottom. I alerted management to it about 2 months ago and they still haven’t cleaned it out.
There are many more things, but I think you get the point.

Lived here for 4 years. Don’t live anywhere near the pool unless you enjoy being woken up at all hours of the night because people have hopped the fence and are drunk, loud and naked in the hot tub. You are required to call security to get them out. Rent prices are ridiculous and go up 12% yearly. We bought a home and are paying $ 1,000 less a month. Don’t even bother cleaning your apartment because you will get nothing back. Oh and don’t forget the jerks who get on the roof and fire mortar firecrackers off. Nice location, but that is all I can say.

The apartment complex just reeks of a cheapskate management company, Essex. You’ll pay absorbent amounts of cash to rent but get little in return, except theft in the garages because of insufficient number of surveillance cameras to help deter and protect your vehicles, bikes, or motorcycles from thieves. The office hours are during regular work hours, so good luck being able to get face-​to-​face except on Saturday. Apathetic staff and the home office is just the same, there is no caring — whatsoever.
Just big business doing its thing here. If that’s what you want, then by all means it’s your perfect little home! But when one of the nav links on their website is, «Investors,» you know it just cares about squeezing out profits and cutting corners, wherever, as much as possible.

I used to live there before I moved to San Ramon At first I was a little hesitant about living in Oakland so I chose this location because of the gated community. Love the amenities. The staff is very very helpful and personable. Would definitely recommend.

No elevators and no ground floor apartments… must not want wheelchair users to live here.
And who is the jerk in the front office answering the telecom?
And why does the call box work only sometimes?
Where’s security? There’s no security guard in sight.
No thanks. I can find other ways to throw away $ 3k+ a month.

Came to visit my best friend as usual lol and I love his apartment nice and spacious. The pool and jacuzzi are awesome and let’s not forget pet friendly

Our lease is finally up this month and we aren’t renewing. In fact, we wanted to move out so bad that we paid the rent for our last month and still moved out early.
This complex has a great location, it’s in Jack London Square which always has something going on. The two stars are for that. Regardless, Jack London square is still Oakland, pretty much west Oakland. That’s all I have to say about that.
My biggest complaints about living here:
Let’s see, homeless people get into the complex all the time and dig through the trash. I’ve seen people hop the fence and go skinny dipping in the pool and hot tub numerous times. Cars get broken into on a daily basis still. Bikes get stolen weekly. If you’re going to charge $ 3500 for a two bedroom apartment, you really should up the security. I don’t care what management says, Having security patrol once a night does nothing.
Some people don’t pick up their dog poop in the grassy area, so when other people who have dogs are out there you step in dog poop.
All the homeless people who hang out right outside the complex.
The fact that there is ALWAYS one gate that isn’t working. Whether the call box does work, or it doesn’t accept the gate remotes.
There is no cross ventilation in the apartments. Making them very hot, and very dusty. Also, every time we go on vacation, and come back. The apartment smells musty. For some reason moisture stays in the apartment.
Rent increases. Who wants to pay more for being loyal and staying at an apartment for more than a year? Let’s not forget, that deposits are only like $ 600 but don’t plan on getting any of it back. They charge $ 110 for carpet cleaning, they charge you for «paint» and they charge to clean the apartment even if you’ve already cleaned it spotless.
And management is just shady. Someone got a «rent discount» for leaving a positive Unilocal review. This is the cold hard facts about living here. We don’t recommend living here. And most of our friends who do live here want to move out. That should say something.

I tell everyone how great my apartment complex is and I just can’t help it!
Seriously not only do we love the location and dog friendliness we love the entire staff here.
Life is hella easy with Rob, Robert, and Daniel in maintenance. Whenever there is an issue, which is rare, they are at my door day of to fix it! Seriously, day of? You rock guys!
The office makes everything else a breeze with Soraya, Marc, and Jonathan. Between scheduling, taking my rent, signing for my packages, and always offering me a hot cup of tea I couldn’t imagine life in the bay anywhere else.
Seriously if there is ever an issue or problem Soraya makes sure everything is handled correctly and follows up with a phone call to make sure we’re happy.
Thank you guys so much and happy holidays!!!

If The Landing treats its current residents the same way I was treated as a potential one, I feel deeply sad for all of them.
I don’t expect compassion or special treatment from anyone here. This isn’t a nonprofit. It’s a business. But, I at least expect the common courtesy of being able to talk to a human being, after standing outside of the property during leasing office hours for about 30 – 40 minutes.
I used the outside telecom to speak to someone in the office and it sent me to a central call center. The centralized call center asked me to call a local number. I called the local number and was forwarded to the central center and asked if I had tried the local number.
Basically, when a person doesn’t answer the phone locally, it gets rerouted but the person to whom you are rerouted cannot help you see any of the residences… if you are literally standing outside of the penitentiary/​The Landing for about 30 – 40 minutes, hoping that one day your call will break through the vicious loop of ineptness.
One may ask, why didn’t you call beforehand? I did and I said that I was going to stop by during office hours without an appointment. I am new to the area and I ended up walking forty minutes and taking two BART trains to this location so I didn’t want to commit to an exact time. But I did say that I would be there and, to me, when a business has hours that typically means they are open. No one told me this place was by appointment only.
I understand that the place may be understaffed and whoever was onsite might’ve been giving a tour to someone else. That’s cool. But, managers or whoever makes the big decisions here, at least send me to a voicemail to leave a message for them to call me when they have a chance, even if it is at the end of the day.
Instead, as I was directed to the central call center, I was told to keep trying until someone locally answered. And every time I called the local number, the person asked me if I had called the local number. «Uh, that’s why I’m talking to you.»
I feel terrible for the employees who clearly aren’t empowered by their employer to help customers. Instead, these employees must listen to people like me, upset and frustrated, and probably wanting to help as human beings but stuck in the same nonsensical situation as me, wanting to get out.
We’re like staring at each other through bars made out of idiocy, greed and a lack of imagination.
Except that I was just a visitor and, thank God, I was able to get out.

I have been a tenant at The Landing for roughly 2 months so far, and I’m surprised how great it’s been! At first I was nervous from reading all the negative comments here on Unilocal,but I wanted to try the place anyways.
The Landing is in a great location, I’ve come to enjoy walking the Jack London marina /​embarcadero area in the afternoons and weekends. There is plenty of guest parking for any of my guest I’ve had so far. The management team /​fixers have responded to all of our requests very quickly. Moving in, I noticed that the dryer wasn’t working so I called to have it checked out that same day. When I came home later in the afternoon, I was surprised and happy that they replaced the whole machine! Can’t beat it!
The train noise is pretty often, I live in the buildling RIGHT across from the train tracks. I don’t get what the fuss is all about — you knew before signing your lease that there is are train tracks right across from the Landing… is it that much of a surprise? I have gotten use to the train noise, that I can barely notice it anymore. At night with all the windows and patio door shut — you don’t notice the noise at all.
Maybe I will check back in a few months, but all in all, the place has been great so far. 10 minute walk to Bart or the SF Ferry, it’s like a commuters dream!

I used to be a tenant of The Landing till over a week ago. We had really enjoyed living here… Until we got a 12% increase after hitting our 10 months. We thought «it’s fine, we will negotiate the increase». WRONG. We spoke to Shem about a possible negotiation. He said there is no negotiation because the building was up for sale, and they are turning the apartments into condos. We thought. Ok, guess we will start looking for a place. So we did. Found a new place, and went in to give our 30-​day notice, and spoke to someone other than Shem. She asked us why we are leaving so we told her about the increase, and what we were told… We were shocked to hear… They aren’t selling the complex nor are they turning them into condos. Then she had he balls to asked us if we wanted to look into negotiations! Little to late hunny… We already signed a lease and are leaving. SHADY.
We were actually sad to leave this place. And we were looking to stay for a couple more years (at least). But if we were going to get an increase like this every year, there’s no way we could have stayed.
So beware if your looking at this place. You can’t trust anyone anymore these days. And for sure not this place. So get everything in writing.
Ps. This place is crazy loud… With all the remodeling, and the train next door.

If you look at my previous reviews you’ll see that at some point I really enjoyed living here. NOW I HATE IT! Where do I start… Well first I will say that we just had our second rent increase in 2 years. An $ 198 increase — an almost 15% increase– everything shines a little less and stinks a lot more. BRE Properties is a monster corporation and they ONLY CARE ABOUT MAKING MONEY. They are also EXEMPT from following many of the housing laws in Oakland so renter beware! I know because I tried to file a compliant about the rent increases.
Here is a list of why you should not move here… unless you are just looking to really waste your money.
1. THE RENT IS SUPER INFLATED. JLS– has some good overpriced restaurants and like 2 cool bars, but nothing else. It gets old quick. It’s not that cool. During the summer there are some outdoor events, but they are OK at best and during the winter it’s a ghost town. Plus, THERE IS NO SUPER MARKET! Unless you are a human who lives on water then you will have to go to Alameda or Lake Merritt to do all your shopping. That sucks. The high rents are not worth it. I live in a unit that is not remodeled… EVERYTHING IS PLASTIC AND THE CHEAPEST OF MATERIALS. REALLY POOR QUALITY FOR THE PRICE THEY ASK. I think the new models will be rented for $ 3000/​mo for a 2÷2… Not worth it! I don’t care if they put in solid gold toilets.
2. NO ELEVATOR– Oh, no problem you think… I’ll get some exercise. Well I thought the same thing, but 2 years later. It sucks bad. Bringing groceries up is a hassle. If you have kids it’s a hassle. If you ever what to bring anything, ever into your apartment, it’s a hassle. If you play any sport or might get an injury, you will be screwed. If you have any disabled friends — they can’t come visit you. Thinking of moving all my shit out of here and down all those stairs is overwhelming!
3. THE DESIGN SUCKS! You have open stairways that do not go into the parking garage… makes no sense. When it rains you will get wet! The apartments have no windows on one whole side= no cross ventilation. On a hot day it feels like a sauna in there. Again, no elevator. This is not luxury living. When the rents were cheaper it was acceptable, but at the price they want… no way.
4. THE TRAIN NOISE IS LOUD! REALLY LOUD AND ANNOYING AT ALL HOURS OF THE NIGHT. TRAINS RUN ²⁴⁄₇ and now with the rent increase I feel like the trains are even louder and more annoying! Just when I think I am getting used to it… I am not.
5. CONSTRUCTION! If you like loud construction noise, a giant FORKLIFT (see photos) crossing your path at all times of the day and blocking your car, and looking at containers and containers of construction supplies taking up half of all the parking spaces then this is the place for you! It’s awful and makes my blood boil that they would even consider raising my rent with these conditions. The audacity! Check out the pictures.
6. FAKE SECURITY. Never seen a security at all. The gate lets in several cars at a time. I hear gun shots regularly.
Don’t rent here. I am reluctantly staying for another 11 months because I work 5 miles away and my daughter’s daycare is 2 miles away. Otherwise I would be SO DONE WITH THIS PLACE AND WITH BRE!!! Just today my daughter cut her foot at the pool because some A-​hole broke a bottle at the pool and it wasn’t cleaned up. People are always leaving garbage around the garbage shoot and recycling bins. Not very luxurious at all.
Yes, I am bitter. 11 more months BRE!!!