Willow Creek

Cons:
–Old building
–Popcorn/​low ceilings
–Hard water issues (you will run through water filters like a brita or something like that very quickly because the tap water is so hard and bad.) Like really the tap water is so gross because there is no type of water softener or filter on the building and the plumbing is probably 100 years old, it’s awful.
–Gross old cabinets/​vanities that have just been painted over and called remodeled
–Counter tops are made of like particle board or some type of similar material and just painted to look like granite.
–Building is not energy efficient at all, especially if you want to use your heater/​ac (your PGE bill will be 3x as much as any new buildings)
–Tennis courts usually have a nice dog shit smeared somewhere on the court for you to step in (people treat the court like a doggy play pen for some reason)
–I don’t know about the pool because it was usually too cold to use, but I used the hot-​tub once and it smelled like sewage so I never used it again after that.
— Over priced
–Ashley (leasing admin?) is awful and not used to being told no or not getting her way so is pretty bitchy.
Pros:
Nice floor plans, with good closet space.
Joni is nice.
Maintenance Crew is great.
Suggestion: There is many new apartment complexes in the San Jose area that are literally brand new (never been lived in), much, much nicer, and have comparable prices because of the fact that they offer things like 1 or 2 months free rent (do the math and calculate your monthly cost considering that) and exhaust all those options before renting here.

Final update: The final amount due to us on our security deposit was received last week. It took some time, but the manager finally was able to get our entire deposit refunded to us. As I stated before, the complex is very nice, clean, well maintained, with a hard working staff. At this point we don’t know if the problem with the deposit was a result of neglect by the previous manager or an issue at Greystar itself. But we are glad the everything was resolved. Adding one more star to the review. If you are renting anywhere, be sure you know your rights!
Update on my review that is below: Not long after the review was posted, my husband was finally able to speak with someone at Willow Creek. It seems there is new management and somehow our requests for help had fallen between the cracks (along with our voicemails, appaarently). The new manager was very apologetic and assured my husband that things would be taken care of as soon as possible. She did get right to work and 2/​3rds of the money owed to us was sent last week. We are still waiting for the rest of the deposit, which she said needed to be submitted to the main accounting office. Once we receive that I will let Unilocalers know. We do appreciate her working so quickly to help resolve this, which is why I added a star to the review. We continue to look for that last check.
Parent company is not following California law in returning security deposit! If this review were based solely on our living at Willow Creek apartments, there would be many more stars, as the grounds are kept nicely and service requests were handled promptly. In particular our dealings with Joni were all you could want from apartment management, she was both professional and friendly. Unfortunately, despite being told we would receive our security deposit back (minus carpet cleaning and paint touch-​up fees), as of 45 days after moving we have not seen our money. California law requires deposits to be returned 21 days after moving out. Also, we requested a walk through of the apt as per law in order for us to re-​dress any concerns there might have been, but no one from the office ever scheduled one with us. By law, we should have received our entire deposit based on that alone. There is no way to contact the parent company, Greystar. We spoke with someone in the Willow Creek office some 30 days after our move out date asking about our deposit. He said he would contact Greystar. We have heard nothing. And now, despite leaving repeated messages at the office (no one picks up when we call) we have had no response from them. Our next step will be to take Willow Creek and Greystar to small claims court, and we will if our deposit is not sent to us in full. We will keep Unilocal readers apprised of the situation.

Yesterday I met with Joni in the Leasing Office at WIllow Creek. She was wonderful and the property is wonderful. Mature plantings, 2 pools, a fitness center, plenty of parking and conveniently located.
The apartments are very nice with lots of upgrades in the kitchen and bathrooms. I especially appreciated in unit laundry and lots of counter top space for food prep and cooking! The buildings a older, but seem appear to be well maintained.
I highly recommend checking the place out if you are in the market for an apartment.

Greystar the company that took over this apartment complex from Lyon, is horrible!!! From day one Greystar started renovations that completely took away from the beauty of this complex. They tore down all of the wooden balconies and replaced them with ugly prison like metal bars. this completely took away from everyones privacy. They waterproofed the balconies which was beyond inconvenient, it was almost a month long process that involved hazardous chemicals, extremely rude workers that spit on my balcony and being taped inside my apartment while they painted!!!
There was constant entry by vendors/​mgt, with proper notification, however it was alot and one time the notice said to put valuables and pets aways because workers would be going in and out leaving the door open and or unsecure! They tore out trees and got rid of the majority of the grass for black tanbark. the final straw was the ridiculous increases in rent and neighbor whose child banged on the walls and screamed daily. nothing was done by management so we decided to move after 4 years there. I miss all my awesome neighbors, but couldn’t stand the living conditions!

WARNING! If you like peace and quiet. Don’t move here. Every weekend there are parties eveywhere in the complex till 4 or 5 in the morning. We called the manager, the security and they never do anything. People are allowed to bring radios to the pool and turn them up as loud as they want. The people at the pool stay way later than the 10pm shut down and keep all the residence up. One apt. (206) in particular had a bunch of young guys move in with fancy cars and all they do is have parties, treat the complex like there is no one else living there and play there musci loud, rev their fancy car engines and piss people off. They have signs up by their apt. saying that you could be video taped. I guess they think they are on a reality TV show. It sucks when people don’t respect the residence around them but the real problem is that the complex doesn;t do anything about it. I’ve talked to bunch of the neighbors and they are all waiting for their lease to be up to move.

Willow Creek has a nice ambiance; I’ve been there several times to tour their grounds and apartments. I find Joanie in the leasing office to be very helpful and professional. I am a destination services consultant and I assist people who are new to the area to find their new home, so I have toured 100s of apartments and work with many leasing offices including Greystar and other management companies.

Since my family and I moved here to Willow Creek (formerly KW), it has been a phenomenal experience, Greystar take over has definitely been felt and seen. The appearance and Staff is amazing, very attentive, polite and Professional. The Maintenance Supervisor and Property Manager make a awesome team. I have lived in many Apt places, and thanks to Ashley & Manny, I can actually say that they make me and my family feel like this is Home. Regardless of the construction which is to the benefit of all of us who live here, the effort and attention given by the staff is beyond any words I can write. Its only felt. Love it here!

If you want to live here you have to share the pool with the dogs.
At times some uneducated, rude, low class residents take their dogs to the pool.
I contacted the manager on charge Mauricio and he refused to act at the time of the complaint.
So if you want to take your kids to the pool be aware that you may encounter dog urine and feces in the pool area.
But if you want to take your dog to swim in the pool you be sure the management will not bother you.
Juan

As one of the reviewers already mentioned, we found out that they quoted lesser rent on craigslist just to lure us to the apartment complex. Once we got there, the leasing staff first told us that the prices went up in a day by $ 200 for the plan we initially went for and offered to show us a smaller floor plan for our price. Then 5 minutes in to the conversation we were told that the ad on craigslist was actually a typo.
While we liked the floor plan they showed us we are opting to not rent here. We don’t feel comfortable having to deal with such unprofessional behavior.

Where to start well to begin we were one of the families that loss everything on the fire that happen more than a year ago, (did we get anything from them NO) thanks God we had insurance we we’re offer to move to the one floor two bedroom apartment with the option that when they finish with the construction if we wanted to we could move back to our old place wish is a two bedroom townhouse well guess what that didn’t happen nobody came to us to at least ask if we wanted to go back. And like the other reviews is like you are leaving in a freckling construction site from 7:30 am. To good 6/6:30 pm. You go to the office to complain and they will be like sure we will take care of but guess what nothing happen. Our dear neighbors on the second floor believe this is a motel 6 (or any cheaper motel that you can think of) were they can be having loud TV, music, talking, running, and going in and out of their balcony for smoke every 10 min. Slamming the door at all hrs. Of the night we have two kids that they have to go to school every morning from Monday/​Friday do you think they care is a Tuesday night or any other day of the week NO they don’t now I have to give my child some sleep aid medicine to help her stay sleep, and of course I have to pick cigarette butts every morning at my balcony coz they don’t event bother to put them in their on trash lovely right? We have complain to the office numerous times and the first time they told me there’s nothing they can do but to e-​mail their corporate coz they don’t pay rent the company that they work for pays for them more lovely (if I hated this place from before I hated even more now) finally my husband talk to somebody else last week and he was suppose to do something per him of corse they can talk to the people who leaves there and that he will be doing it guess what NO he didn’t I’m written this review at 11:30 pm because my dear neighbors are having a gathering and if you call security yes they will show up but guess what they just don’t open their door so they just stay in their apartment until the security guys leaves. So here I am with my 5 and 12 years old awake on a Tuesday night waiting for them to go to sleep so we can sleep too and be ready for school tomorrow morning!!!
We can’t wait for our lease to be over so we can move out of this hell.
And I was about to forget after your 1^st. Year if you want to renew your contract expect a very good increase of more than 10%!!!
Stay away of this place if you have a family, they don’t care about their tenants rights even though they have a policy of no loud noises after 10pm.
Why are they cutting so many trees this place is looking so cheap now nothing like when we move in about two years ago!!!

I have been living at Kimberly Woods for a few years now. It started out great when Lyons was running the place, but then it was sold several times and every owner that has come in since then has been worse than the last. The office employees rarely know what’s going on, and you always have to talk about serious matters over the phone with someone that is not on sight.
What prompted me to write this bad review however is the unannounced construction project that has been going on for 3 weeks now. First there was no notice and people randomly showed up and started working on the balconies. Then after a week they gave a notice that they will be «waterproofing». After that 1 week notice ran out, they put another 1 week notice up. They gutted the whole balcony and put prison bar looking things up. Now I have no privacy and have to keep my blinds closed all the time.
The whole place has been smelling like paint and lacquers. It’s buzz saws and welding in the day and then at night your whole apartment smells like paint. I have been waking up to the smell of chemicals for a week now. It’s spring time, what a bunch of assholes.
These apartments don’t give a shit about you. I’m stuck on a lease here for another month. I can’t wait to leave this nightmare.

I have lived here since 2011, and this complex has gone downhill since Greystar took over. Since Sandra left, the office people have no idea what’s going on. They never know who I am. Today they called me about my interest in the property and to schedule a tour. I freaking live here! I have filled out many of the surveys they send periodically addressing my issues with the propery, and not once has anyone ever asked to speak with about it. I have given them more chances than they deserve. This place is a mess. If you care about value and service, look elsewhere, you will no longer find it at Kimberly Woods.

This review is only about the process of renting because I did not lease here.
In short, I believe I was a victim of «bait and switch» — the prices that I saw online at an external website and called to set up an appointment, and I verified price and availability. When I showed up, I was told the rents were ~$ 400 more than what I was told on the phone because those were the low income prices.
Bottom line — check their website for accurate pricing before going, not advertised pricing elsewhere.
Insult to injury: I called on my way over and told them I was a couple minutes late because of traffic. When I pulled up, the manager didn’t answer the phone to buzz me in, so I had to just sit there until I could sneak in. She was looking at her cell phone when I walked in, and when I asked about it, she claimed she was the only one there all day so she was. «Extremely busy» (looking at her phone?) Back to my original point though, this confirmed that I had spoken to her about pricing and the discrepancy which wasted a trip from Santa Clara to San Jose for me.
Renter beware. She was happy to try to show me the much more expensive apartments if I could «stretch my budget a little bit» — like 30%.

I really enjoyed living here from 2009 – 2010. My utility bill was always decently low due to the great foliage and ground cover, they accepted bully-​breeds (which was a must for my roommate at the time with a 120lb American Bulldog).
I got on the wait list for a garage and that investment really paid off. Parking was the pits sometimes, since you only get one covered spot and all other residents and guest park in the same places. I had a sneaking suspicion that even though the gates were click-​in only, they were left open long enough in the mornings for the community college kids to park.
On the upside, I got really good at parallel parking (before my coveted garage acquisition).
The office staff was generally very helpful, and we only had an issue with *one person.* We would walk by, see that she’s working, and just wait until the next day to get someone that would solve our problem without throwing an attitude about it. This was in 2009/​2010, so take that with a grain of salt.
Maintenance was very responsive, grounds were well-​kept and quiet. Workout room was fantastic, with already paid-​for aerobics channels. Awesome neighbors and a tennis court that was well-​maintained despite being largely unused.
Floor plan was huge — if you love large living rooms, this place is for you. We had a fireplace and the master bedroom was quite impressive.
The only downside to the layout was that the front door was three feet from the guest bedroom.
My boyfriend didn’t like how easily he got lost in the complex, since it’s not on a grid. If your building was toward the middle of the complex, you can expect to park decently far away.

So as of now I am giving 5 stars based n the process of hunting for & finally selecting an apartment with my GF.
I had started my hunt a couple months ago and have looked at many places in my Unilocal searches to see what others say this was one of the few places that had some consistently better reviews than others.
After setting an appointment and sitting down with Sandra, seeing the 2BR 2BA unit we were interested in we were sold and decided this was going to be or home. between the initial decision and our move in this weekend, I have stopped by at varying times in the day just to see what noise levels were like befre signing the lease, and I can tell you that in contrast to other communities it is actusally rather quiet. I like that the property is well maintained, and do not care as much about the pricey side rent… that generally detracts lower income families and the noise and partying that seem to follow.
I have noticed a larger contingent of SJSU students roaming around, but still all in all I am hapy we chose this place the Apartments are quite roomy withy lots of staorage area and HUGE closets… I also love that the units include all the appliances including a small laundry room.
I’ll be sure to update this after actually moving in and being here a bit so check back soon!!!

Just moved in a week ago! Love it so far!
It’s a bit spendy but worth it! It’s very quite and peaceful and my dog feels at home!
They keep them nice and clean and the gated security is nice!

The new company that bought Kimberly Woods is terrible! They’re letting this place turn into the slums that match the area. Lawns aren’t watered or landscaped, trash is left all over the place, and crime is still high for a ‘gated’ community. Several neighbors have had their garages and cars broken into recently, one even had their identity stolen and management did nothing about any of it. The ‘security’ drives by once a night or so and rarely comes out if you call them. Every night a woman comes and rummages through the trash and garbage, taking recyclables and people’s paperwork.
The new manager is incredibly rude, pushy, and doesn’t listen to anything you say. She just says you’re wrong. The other desk worker, Sandra, is from the previous company and she’s the only bright part of this group. She’s even admitted that since the new company came, over 25% of the residents have moved out and there are many vacant apartments.
Add to this the huge fire on Thanksgiving that destroyed 6 units and left many without anything, I strongly urge everyone to avoid this place. The apartments look decent, but are poorly constructed. We’re paying much more than we should on electric (considering we don’t use the heat) and maintenance told us it’s because the windows and doors are poorly constructed and leak air. We can see outside between gaps in the front door and windows, but they say there’s nothing they can do about it other than suggest we push towels under the door. Our walls have been leaking an odd yellow goo since we moved in and we’ve had maintenance look at it a dozen times and tell us they’ll get back to us with what it is. Still no response almost 2 years later. We just end up wiping down all the walls in the house every week, just in case it’s toxic.
Many of the neighbors have little respect for noise levels and come driving in here drunk and loud after 2am several nights a week. If you aren’t a fan of smokers, also don’t look here. People smoke outside their homes all the time, and sometimes in them, then toss the cigarette butts anywhere they want on the ground. The area outside the apartment is also sketchy. We hear gunshots periodically and sirens several times a night. Down the street a car tried to run over a police officer. All in all, avoid this place at all costs. Anyone living here more than a year is likely to agree.

Apartment living is apartment living and compared to others in this area this place is doing a great job anytime I have a concern they are willing to help as much as they can I think their customer service is always welcoming. I recently had some concerns about the CENTRAL ac and heating (all homes have this). I submitted a work order and they came out to fix the next day, after that It worked great.
The next day i must have not operated it right and I felt that it was not working again and this was at 10pm I called the on-​call maintanence and they answered quick, said they’d be out in an hour and they arrived in 30 min (that was great!) once at my apartment they did a few things and had it working perfect and they showed me how to properly use it. I felt bad that I called them out late night for something that was my mistake. I felt they wasted their time to come out for nothing but they gladly told me «thats what we are here for please call us whenever you need help» this really made me feel very comfortable to contact them anytime in the future when I may have anymore concerns. Ive lived at other places where they make you feel like you are bothering them when you have a service request and even more when its something they feel that you should have know. Thanks Kimberly Woods.
I really love my apartment its very big lots of storage space and I have a fireplace large patios in every apartment ! The pool is heated along with the hot tubs. The place is gated every resident get a covered space and there is plenty of GATED GUEST PARKING. I believe this place was built in the 80’s and I could not tell its been kept up very well. The neighborhood is convenient with plenty of places to eat and quick freeway access. The property has lots of lush greens and is kept up well. I would definately recommend this place its a great value for the price convenient to local businesses and the staff has been very friendly and attentive.
If your looking for a great clean modern apartment Check this place out dont just go off the other comments here take a look for yourself!

Whoa… how on earth did I forget to review this place? Where to start…
My neighbor once described kim woods as the kingdom in the middle of the ghetto. Therefore there was CONSTANT crime that happened. My car got broken into, stolen, and the staff wouldn’t even return our phone calls. They did nothing to create safety precautions. They were a pain to deal with!
The reason for two stars is the actual units, and maintenance staff. The maintenance crew was very friendly and helpful. They were very easy to work with and sometimes went to them with my problems directly and they would help me out. The units here are awesome! I loved my place and the neighbors

We have lived here for a year, and are only leaving because we’ve bought a house. We looked at 25 different complexes in the south bay area that met our high standards (allowed dog and cat, 2 bed 2 bath for 1800 or less, washer and dryer in unit, close to a shuttle stop for work, etc.).
The office staff here had changed once (a full change over) since we moved in, and the new manager seems fine, but we really liked the old one. The maintenance staff is *AMAZING*. We use the form to tell them about a problem and they are always here next day. My father was pet-​sitting for us over Christmas break while we went on vacation and used the form to say that the oven door wasn’t closing completely. The guy came the next day, agreed, and the following day installed a brand new stove.
The windows are only single pain, so you can definitely hear a lot of the neighbors outside, but the walls are well insulated so we don’t hear our side neighbors or the downstairs neighbors at all. I’ve talked to the people downstairs and they said they’ve only heard our baby screaming once, and never heard our dog.
I love the layout of our apartment (2 master bedrooms separated by a living room), I just wish the kitchen was bigger. I have heard about a fair bit of crime in the area (there was an apartment dealing drugs but they were kicked out, the complex brought in the Sheriff to make sure they left, and there have been thefts). We weren’t a victim of this until about 2 months ago when my husband’s bike was stolen from our parking space. Aside from that we haven’t had any issues.
The rent is comparable for the size of the apartment, but the complex is a lot nicer than others. I love it because we can walk our dog all over for a good 20 – 30 minutes inside the complex on the cement sidewalk where there are lots of trees for shade, and never once have to go into the roadway (which loops around the outside of the complex).
They’ve become very strict on what you can have on your patio lately which bothers me, as I see others getting away with a lot and I don’t understand why they’ve complained about ours, but c’est la vie, someone is always unhappy with something.
We haven’t moved out yet so I can’t speak to the move-​out costs, but I will update when we move. When we moved in we took advantage of the Touch of Color program ($ 100 per wall), in which they paint your chosen wall the chosen color (they have about 5 to choose from). It’s supposed to cover the cost of painting it before you move in, and repainting it when you leave (I’m about to find out if this is true!).
Most people at the complex are very nice, the Jacuzzis, pools and barbecues are well maintained, although I wish the pool were a little warmer. The pool doesn’t often close until after 10 (we have often been in the jacuzzi until 11, and sometimes see it still unlocked at 12, even 1am), but the jets shut off in the jacuzzi around 10:30.
We have had no real issues with the apartment itself, no pest problems which is good! Overall, we’d be happy staying here longer!