Living here for two plus years, we must commend our exceptional building manager, Henna. Her warmth and professionalism create a welcoming atmosphere. When a persistent squeaky fan from a building across the street became bothersome, Henna promptly worked with the neighbors to address the issue. Henna's diligence in addressing building issues is commendable, from swiftly resolving HVAC problems to single-handedly fixing the elevator that had been out for a year upon her arrival. The building is truly fortunate to have her expertise and dedication. Our living experience has significantly improved under her management. Highly recommend!
Lisa Thiergart
Management is really disrespectful and unreliable, I recommend against living here.I had been really excited to move into my unit, tall windows and beautiful dark hardwood floors. After I moved in I noticed there were a lot of dents and gaps in the flooring and when I reported it to management, after a lot of wait time they told instead of fixing the spots the entire flooring would need to be replaced. First, after we scheduled a date they told me on the day of that they'd need to reschedule to the next day. Next, they told me on the day of the work, that I needed to move out of my apartment while they did the work, even though nothing of the sort had been previously mentioned and no work was being done in the bedroom and bathroom. They refused to cover for last minute hotel expenses. When the worker crew arrived, they had been given a key and entered my apartment 40min earlier than the agreed time, and I was still in the shower. This was honestly really uncomfortable to hear a bunch of men unlocking my door and about to enter my apartment.Worst of all though, when I returned to my apartment the second day, I discovered they had instead of replacing the flooring changed both the material as well as the colors quite drastically. From dark pretty elegant hard wood floors they had replaced with a cheap plastic material and a light color, which felt flimsy and uncomfortable to walk on compared to the wood.When I contacted them about this, they were unwilling to offer any kind of replacement or solutions, even though they had neither approved this work with me nor informed me that it would be happening at all. I would have much preferred they had let me know a material and colors change was planned (which also makes the apartment worth less) and I would have asked them not to go for it.I feel like I've been really wronged, and now need to handle the stress of sorting this out on my own. I feel really sad and screwed over, since this new setup really doesn't work for me and the amount of disrespect and disregard for my preferences as a customer in how this situation has been handled shocks me.This is my home which I've felt really happy in, and they've gone and ruined it.
Al Mandiz
Great place
Arrushi Agarwal
I stayed in this building for over 2 years and if I could give this place a 0 star I would have. The apartment building's only positive is the location. The staff is unfriendly except two people but ultimately no one is helpful with the problems of the residents. It is a pricey building but the thing that caused us pain as residents were the hidden fees and utility charges. They make these charges available at any random time - never when the rent is due - and the building portal is "apparently unreliable". We were given ledgers with exorbitant utility amounts and had to make these payments even when they were not reflected on the portal. One of the lifts almost never works and the gym gets closed randomly. The front office takes leaves randomly so it is difficult to reach out to them. But the worst part is the financials. We are students and we were horrified by the utility charges posted. They have Conservice affiliations which makes it impossible to contest charges even when you have not used those services (Like just trash being around $120 per month). The last straw for my roommates and me was the final ledger. They charged us random utilities (yet again) and had huge amounts in cleaning and painting fees (painting being around $500) even when we had left the apartment in a spotless condition. We never got our security deposit back and were yet again charged with amounts we did not recognize.TLDR : I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND THIS PLACE. DO NOT STAY HERE unless you are ready for hidden fees (over $100 a month) and just taking the word of the front office on monthly payments and having an unreliable portal and management. WORST EXPERIENCE EVER.
C H.
I don't think the leasing team want any new tenant at all. Have been calling them and no one pick up the phone at all. God helps if I move in and I need to have some repairs job done.
Peter Cheng
Nice and spacious Apartments. Quiet and kind neighbors. Very accessible location. Just a bit expensive.
Caitlin P.
Chelsea was such an amazing person to us! She really made everything such a breeze. The apartment is just what we were looking for and recommend this property to everyone.
Kevin Lih
I’ve lived in Berkeley Central for about 4 years from Aug 2018- May 2022 while attending school at the UCB school of law. I rented a 1 bedroom on the 4th floor. Based on my experience dealing with various apartment management companies, the Greystar team at Berkeley Central have been a blast to deal with. During my time at Berkley Central, I had the pleasure of interacting with several different community managers and maintenance staff. I believe Chelsea, the current community manager, is one of the best in the community management profession and the best community manager I have interacted with at Berkeley Central. I am writing this review to show my appreciation for the time I spent as a member of this community for the last couple years and also to respond to some complaints I have seen pop up.Chelsea is a wonderful community manager. She is responsive to emails and acts professionally in dealing with tenants. She is a hard worker and a great person to interact with. During the few months I interacted with her, she made BC a better place to be and I am confident that she is continuing that even today. She is also a great, kind person generally. Recently, I accidentally had a package sent over to my previous Berkeley address even though I now live in LA. By the time I realized that I had made an error, it was too late to change the shipping address. Subsequently, I reached out to Chelsea and explained my situation. She graciously agreed to send the package over to my new address and ultimately only charged me for shipping. I can confidently say that if I were to live in Berkeley again, BC, especially with Chelsea Martin as a community manager, will be on the top of my list for places to consider living at.ADDRESSING COMPLAINTSNote: I dont work for BC and I am not a shill for Greystar. I currently live in a property managed by AIR communities in LA.Trash smell: I concede that trash collection has not been consistent especially in the last month that I was living there. But the inconsistency of pick up was maybe a missed pick up here and there (once a week). As a busy law student, I appreciated having the trash concierge service. I could understand the frustration with having the fee included without an opt out feature, but it is certainly more efficient than doing it over and over every day yourself. I guess my gripe would be the lack of pick up on Friday and Saturday, but everyone deserves a weekend.Dealing with the leasing office: my experiences with Chelsea, John, and the different iterations of the BC leasing office members has been mostly positive. Perhaps, others have had less positive experiences that are not overly exaggerated complaints made out of frustration. That said Chelsea and John are just two humans having to deal with the herculean task of managing the day to day of an apartment complex containing over 50 units. It’s a tough job especially when your factor in the fact that they have to deal also with greystar, prospective tenants, and the owner of the building. When I felt that my needs were not being meant, I tried calling, emailing, and visiting the leasing office to speak with Chelsea/John. Reaching out and voicing your concerns will go a long way. Based on my experience, I can tell that Chelsea cares about her job, the tenants, and the living experience at BC.Piled packages in the lobby: people order a lot of packages here and they usually dont collect their packages for days. As such, packages pile up. This building does not have a concierge and even if it did, it is not their duty to being up packages to tenants. BC tenants should be more mindful of this and pick up after themselves.
Cece Jdt
Very good units, the service however is not exceptional compared to the price payed. It can take the agency weeks to answer to emails. Other than that, very spacious units in a very safe building
assma ahmad
Very great place, quiet, safe, lots of great places around the area. Convenient location for visitors as it is in the heart of Berkeley. However, the price may be a bit expensive. We Also hope that the bathrooms were arab-friendly (including the shattaf) but overall it is recommendable.
We (unfortunately) moved in here last Spring. It seemed good at first (i.e. safe and new, close to DT BART), but repairs are not timely and staff is virtually non-communicative. They send emails behind a "Greystar Firewall" so you don't even have anyone to communicate with or know who or how to get issues fixed. Lots of staff turnover: Maintenance, custodial, front desk. We are currently waiting for a new oven and have been waiting for 1.5 MONTHS at this point. (Still don't know what the delay is, besides incompetence.) And we pay almost $3k in rent alone each month for a studio. (They call it a 1-bedroom but there are no doors/walls that go up to the ceiling.)I am never one to leave bad reviews (literally ever!) but this experience has been terrible enough it was finally warranted.
Jessica Bath
We (unfortunately) moved in here last Spring. It seemed good at first (i.e. safe and new, close to DT BART), but repairs are not timely and staff is virtually non-communicative. They send emails behind a "Greystar Firewall" so you don't even have anyone to communicate with or know who or how to get issues fixed. Lots of staff turnover: Maintenance, custodial, front desk. We are currently waiting for a new oven and have been waiting for 1.5 MONTHS at this point. (Still don't know what the delay is, besides incompetence.) And we pay almost $3k in rent alone each month for a studio. (They call it a 1-bedroom but there are no doors/walls that go up to the ceiling.)I am never one to leave bad reviews (literally ever!) but this experience has been terrible enough it was finally warranted.
George Wallace
Can't reach anyone at the office, get passive aggressive emails from management, and it's impossible to find packages sometimes.
Reese P.
You should avoid moving here if AT ALL possible. AVOID living here under all costs. In my experience, the apartment complexes in Berkeley managed by Greystar are truly atrocious. This is the second complex in Berkeley I have lived in that was managed by Greystar, and it is so poorly run it is honestly quite sad, given how nice the space could be. Some examples of inattentive and incompetent management: - elevators out of service - packages continuously going missing - interesting/stinky spills in the elevators - many days waiting for serious apartment concerns (such as faulty plumbing, electrical sockets not functioning, missing lightbulbs, etc.) The management (with Allanah) was atrocious, and it has gotten even worse under the current manager (with Chelsea). The management is inattentive to the concerns of residents. To give one example, the current manager recently emailed me clarifying that not having a functioning shower is not considered an "emergency." When I responded explaining how severe I thought it was, she (Chelsea, the current manager) responded: "I am sorry you feel that way." This is just one example to show that they are truly unable to correspond professionally with residents (often sending rude or insensitive replies to resident concerns). The maintenance staff is very kind but severely overworked. The building management continuously sends emails to residents (under the moniker "Berkeley Central Manager") that could easily be construed as threatening. You only have to read the other resident concerns to see how bad (and continuously so) it is here. Avoid living here. You will save yourself much headache by doing so. Edit: Do not take the response from the building management seriously below. They do not care about resident happiness. At all. If they did, they'd address concerns much more promptly and professionally than they do.
Jessica B.
We (unfortunately) moved in here last Spring. It seemed good at first (i.e. safe and new, close to DT BART), but repairs are not timely and staff is virtually non-communicative. They send emails behind a "Greystar Firewall" so you don't even have anyone to communicate with or know who or how to get issues fixed. Lots of staff turnover: Maintenance, custodial, front desk. We are currently waiting for a new oven and have been waiting for 1.5 MONTHS at this point. (Still don't know what the delay is, besides incompetence.) And we pay almost $3k in rent alone each month for a studio. (They call it a 1-bedroom but there are no doors/walls that go up to the ceiling.) Having been an SF/Berkeley renter for 7 years at this point, I am never one to leave bad reviews (literally ever!) but this experience has been terrible enough it was finally warranted. :(
Living here for two plus years, we must commend our exceptional building manager, Henna. Her warmth and professionalism create a welcoming atmosphere. When a persistent squeaky fan from a building across the street became bothersome, Henna promptly worked with the neighbors to address the issue. Henna's diligence in addressing building issues is commendable, from swiftly resolving HVAC problems to single-handedly fixing the elevator that had been out for a year upon her arrival. The building is truly fortunate to have her expertise and dedication. Our living experience has significantly improved under her management. Highly recommend!
Management is really disrespectful and unreliable, I recommend against living here.I had been really excited to move into my unit, tall windows and beautiful dark hardwood floors. After I moved in I noticed there were a lot of dents and gaps in the flooring and when I reported it to management, after a lot of wait time they told instead of fixing the spots the entire flooring would need to be replaced. First, after we scheduled a date they told me on the day of that they'd need to reschedule to the next day. Next, they told me on the day of the work, that I needed to move out of my apartment while they did the work, even though nothing of the sort had been previously mentioned and no work was being done in the bedroom and bathroom. They refused to cover for last minute hotel expenses. When the worker crew arrived, they had been given a key and entered my apartment 40min earlier than the agreed time, and I was still in the shower. This was honestly really uncomfortable to hear a bunch of men unlocking my door and about to enter my apartment.Worst of all though, when I returned to my apartment the second day, I discovered they had instead of replacing the flooring changed both the material as well as the colors quite drastically. From dark pretty elegant hard wood floors they had replaced with a cheap plastic material and a light color, which felt flimsy and uncomfortable to walk on compared to the wood.When I contacted them about this, they were unwilling to offer any kind of replacement or solutions, even though they had neither approved this work with me nor informed me that it would be happening at all. I would have much preferred they had let me know a material and colors change was planned (which also makes the apartment worth less) and I would have asked them not to go for it.I feel like I've been really wronged, and now need to handle the stress of sorting this out on my own. I feel really sad and screwed over, since this new setup really doesn't work for me and the amount of disrespect and disregard for my preferences as a customer in how this situation has been handled shocks me.This is my home which I've felt really happy in, and they've gone and ruined it.
Great place
I stayed in this building for over 2 years and if I could give this place a 0 star I would have. The apartment building's only positive is the location. The staff is unfriendly except two people but ultimately no one is helpful with the problems of the residents. It is a pricey building but the thing that caused us pain as residents were the hidden fees and utility charges. They make these charges available at any random time - never when the rent is due - and the building portal is "apparently unreliable". We were given ledgers with exorbitant utility amounts and had to make these payments even when they were not reflected on the portal. One of the lifts almost never works and the gym gets closed randomly. The front office takes leaves randomly so it is difficult to reach out to them. But the worst part is the financials. We are students and we were horrified by the utility charges posted. They have Conservice affiliations which makes it impossible to contest charges even when you have not used those services (Like just trash being around $120 per month). The last straw for my roommates and me was the final ledger. They charged us random utilities (yet again) and had huge amounts in cleaning and painting fees (painting being around $500) even when we had left the apartment in a spotless condition. We never got our security deposit back and were yet again charged with amounts we did not recognize.TLDR : I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND THIS PLACE. DO NOT STAY HERE unless you are ready for hidden fees (over $100 a month) and just taking the word of the front office on monthly payments and having an unreliable portal and management. WORST EXPERIENCE EVER.
I don't think the leasing team want any new tenant at all. Have been calling them and no one pick up the phone at all. God helps if I move in and I need to have some repairs job done.
Nice and spacious Apartments. Quiet and kind neighbors. Very accessible location. Just a bit expensive.
Chelsea was such an amazing person to us! She really made everything such a breeze. The apartment is just what we were looking for and recommend this property to everyone.
I’ve lived in Berkeley Central for about 4 years from Aug 2018- May 2022 while attending school at the UCB school of law. I rented a 1 bedroom on the 4th floor. Based on my experience dealing with various apartment management companies, the Greystar team at Berkeley Central have been a blast to deal with. During my time at Berkley Central, I had the pleasure of interacting with several different community managers and maintenance staff. I believe Chelsea, the current community manager, is one of the best in the community management profession and the best community manager I have interacted with at Berkeley Central. I am writing this review to show my appreciation for the time I spent as a member of this community for the last couple years and also to respond to some complaints I have seen pop up.Chelsea is a wonderful community manager. She is responsive to emails and acts professionally in dealing with tenants. She is a hard worker and a great person to interact with. During the few months I interacted with her, she made BC a better place to be and I am confident that she is continuing that even today. She is also a great, kind person generally. Recently, I accidentally had a package sent over to my previous Berkeley address even though I now live in LA. By the time I realized that I had made an error, it was too late to change the shipping address. Subsequently, I reached out to Chelsea and explained my situation. She graciously agreed to send the package over to my new address and ultimately only charged me for shipping. I can confidently say that if I were to live in Berkeley again, BC, especially with Chelsea Martin as a community manager, will be on the top of my list for places to consider living at.ADDRESSING COMPLAINTSNote: I dont work for BC and I am not a shill for Greystar. I currently live in a property managed by AIR communities in LA.Trash smell: I concede that trash collection has not been consistent especially in the last month that I was living there. But the inconsistency of pick up was maybe a missed pick up here and there (once a week). As a busy law student, I appreciated having the trash concierge service. I could understand the frustration with having the fee included without an opt out feature, but it is certainly more efficient than doing it over and over every day yourself. I guess my gripe would be the lack of pick up on Friday and Saturday, but everyone deserves a weekend.Dealing with the leasing office: my experiences with Chelsea, John, and the different iterations of the BC leasing office members has been mostly positive. Perhaps, others have had less positive experiences that are not overly exaggerated complaints made out of frustration. That said Chelsea and John are just two humans having to deal with the herculean task of managing the day to day of an apartment complex containing over 50 units. It’s a tough job especially when your factor in the fact that they have to deal also with greystar, prospective tenants, and the owner of the building. When I felt that my needs were not being meant, I tried calling, emailing, and visiting the leasing office to speak with Chelsea/John. Reaching out and voicing your concerns will go a long way. Based on my experience, I can tell that Chelsea cares about her job, the tenants, and the living experience at BC.Piled packages in the lobby: people order a lot of packages here and they usually dont collect their packages for days. As such, packages pile up. This building does not have a concierge and even if it did, it is not their duty to being up packages to tenants. BC tenants should be more mindful of this and pick up after themselves.
Very good units, the service however is not exceptional compared to the price payed. It can take the agency weeks to answer to emails. Other than that, very spacious units in a very safe building
Very great place, quiet, safe, lots of great places around the area. Convenient location for visitors as it is in the heart of Berkeley. However, the price may be a bit expensive. We Also hope that the bathrooms were arab-friendly (including the shattaf) but overall it is recommendable.
Restaurantji Recommends
We (unfortunately) moved in here last Spring. It seemed good at first (i.e. safe and new, close to DT BART), but repairs are not timely and staff is virtually non-communicative. They send emails behind a "Greystar Firewall" so you don't even have anyone to communicate with or know who or how to get issues fixed. Lots of staff turnover: Maintenance, custodial, front desk. We are currently waiting for a new oven and have been waiting for 1.5 MONTHS at this point. (Still don't know what the delay is, besides incompetence.) And we pay almost $3k in rent alone each month for a studio. (They call it a 1-bedroom but there are no doors/walls that go up to the ceiling.)I am never one to leave bad reviews (literally ever!) but this experience has been terrible enough it was finally warranted.
We (unfortunately) moved in here last Spring. It seemed good at first (i.e. safe and new, close to DT BART), but repairs are not timely and staff is virtually non-communicative. They send emails behind a "Greystar Firewall" so you don't even have anyone to communicate with or know who or how to get issues fixed. Lots of staff turnover: Maintenance, custodial, front desk. We are currently waiting for a new oven and have been waiting for 1.5 MONTHS at this point. (Still don't know what the delay is, besides incompetence.) And we pay almost $3k in rent alone each month for a studio. (They call it a 1-bedroom but there are no doors/walls that go up to the ceiling.)I am never one to leave bad reviews (literally ever!) but this experience has been terrible enough it was finally warranted.
Can't reach anyone at the office, get passive aggressive emails from management, and it's impossible to find packages sometimes.
You should avoid moving here if AT ALL possible. AVOID living here under all costs. In my experience, the apartment complexes in Berkeley managed by Greystar are truly atrocious. This is the second complex in Berkeley I have lived in that was managed by Greystar, and it is so poorly run it is honestly quite sad, given how nice the space could be. Some examples of inattentive and incompetent management: - elevators out of service - packages continuously going missing - interesting/stinky spills in the elevators - many days waiting for serious apartment concerns (such as faulty plumbing, electrical sockets not functioning, missing lightbulbs, etc.) The management (with Allanah) was atrocious, and it has gotten even worse under the current manager (with Chelsea). The management is inattentive to the concerns of residents. To give one example, the current manager recently emailed me clarifying that not having a functioning shower is not considered an "emergency." When I responded explaining how severe I thought it was, she (Chelsea, the current manager) responded: "I am sorry you feel that way." This is just one example to show that they are truly unable to correspond professionally with residents (often sending rude or insensitive replies to resident concerns). The maintenance staff is very kind but severely overworked. The building management continuously sends emails to residents (under the moniker "Berkeley Central Manager") that could easily be construed as threatening. You only have to read the other resident concerns to see how bad (and continuously so) it is here. Avoid living here. You will save yourself much headache by doing so. Edit: Do not take the response from the building management seriously below. They do not care about resident happiness. At all. If they did, they'd address concerns much more promptly and professionally than they do.
We (unfortunately) moved in here last Spring. It seemed good at first (i.e. safe and new, close to DT BART), but repairs are not timely and staff is virtually non-communicative. They send emails behind a "Greystar Firewall" so you don't even have anyone to communicate with or know who or how to get issues fixed. Lots of staff turnover: Maintenance, custodial, front desk. We are currently waiting for a new oven and have been waiting for 1.5 MONTHS at this point. (Still don't know what the delay is, besides incompetence.) And we pay almost $3k in rent alone each month for a studio. (They call it a 1-bedroom but there are no doors/walls that go up to the ceiling.) Having been an SF/Berkeley renter for 7 years at this point, I am never one to leave bad reviews (literally ever!) but this experience has been terrible enough it was finally warranted. :(