Berkeley Apartments – Fine Arts

No stars! We’ve been here for a month the service is HORRIBLE! Blinds missing, stained carpet and there are PESTS!!! Worst place to live look elsewhere oh and the rent is EXPENSIVE! Called to talk to a manager and they said she «didn’t have a phone» that’s ridiculous extremely unprofessional.

So, I’ve lived here for a few months, and if I had a choice I would probably want to move; however, THIS IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS IN BERKELEY.
Probably the cleanest, and most well kept apartment building close to campus. The reason it only gets 3 stars, is the outrageous rent price. I pay close to $ 2300 a month for a one bedroom apartment that is smaller than the bedroom I had in high school.
One nice thing is that the noise between apartments is minimal, of course you still get the friday and saturday night yelling in the courtyard from the drunken undergrad. students who live here.

Wow… now that I’ve lived here for a few months, I cannot wait to move out. This building looks really nice however what goes on inside is quite the contrary. Sure, it has a nice roof deck, cool design of the units, big windows, and great location, but it’s WAY over-​priced for what you have to deal with. There are people who live in the building who get it subsidized apparently, which is fine, I understand the need, however having people who make others uncomfortable, is not ok. Many tenants that I’ve spoken to can agree that there are some scary and sketchy people who reside here.
I feel bad for those who are nice people, and some with children, that have to see what goes on here. We’ve found drug related paraphernalia in the stairwell a few times, some tenant «friends» dig in the dumpsters that are locked up in our garage, then steal bottles and hoard them until they get enough in the stair well, creating an undesirable odor that lingers in the halls, street kids have slipped in through the doors and created homes on the really nice roof deck (even with their dogs). The hallways are rarely cleaned, people steal mail and packages, and some of us who work hard have to pay much more to deal with crap like this than some others in the building who cause these problems. I’ve heard the same stories with other tenants in the building and each of us is looking forward to moving out. Also, the walls tend to be a bit thin.
With everything going on and no one correcting these problems, this building will slowly get ruined from the inside out. This is beyond disappointing and a real shame. The building is diminishing in its beauty each day.

This is a really cool building with Old Movie Posters, Roof Top Decks and More… For sure on the top of my list!

For the price you pay, you’d rather live somewhere else.
The inside is nice-​ish, but I think I was in a just moved to the bay area/​first time living in Berkeley stupor so I figured it was a great deal. Cost effective? No. Even if you don’t mind spending that money, you’d rather pay a little more for another building or pay less for another space with a LOT more space.
I lived here two years ago in a 1 bedroom apartment and while the soundproofing is good, the location you get and the price you pay (see a recurring message?) there are better places (even better buildings from the same apartment management).
Let me try to remember everything about this place:
1. About a month in, a woman was held up by knife point and robbed in the elevators. It’s because it’s incredibly easy for folks to follow you in through. Accordingly, I didn’t take the elevators for awhile.
2. Recently last year, on the corner of where the apartment building is, a man was hit and dragged and robbed.
3. The soundproofing for the units are really good as long as you keep your windows open. If you even have your window open slightly, you can hear your neighbors completely. I heard my next door neighbor snoring.
4. You have to pay a lot to get a parking space. Is it convenient to have a space? Yes. But, it’s not an actual parking garage. It’s this weird cage system where you have to use your cage to unlock, get out of your car to slide the cage door open, and then get back into your car to park in. Not only that, but if there are other folks ahead of you it takes a loooong time to get your car out.
5. The management was decent when I lived here. But, you have to be sure to keep track of everything otherwise they’ll likely make more money off of you. And, sorry, but they’re not incredibly genuine.
6. Location: Haste/​Shattuck is relatively far … that’s why the Fine Arts building is «cheap» compared to the other apartments that are supposedly «upscale.» Get a class on North Side and you’ll experience death. Haste is also, as previously mentioned, not a good street.
Mmm, I’ll update as I remember. But overall, just live somewhere else.
******** Updates as I remember them randomly ************
7. If you live facing the courtyard, be ready to be able to hear (and likely be annoyed by) a lot of things. I know I mentioned the snoring, but that’s at night. I was just pretending to sing opera to annoy my friend Evie while she studies (ok, she’s crazy, one time she turned in her paper the day it was announced in class … about two months before the due date) and remembered that there were countless times throughout the entire year that I was woken up by or annoyed in the afternoon by some person singing/​practicing opera. It was kinda funny since people started yelling out of their windows «Shut up,» «OMG Shut UP,» «FUCKING SHUT UP,» and «YEA, SHUT UP» … I felt kinda bad but that person really needed to shut up or at least close his/her/z’s window. Not just opera but when there are kids or people playing the in the courtyard or when people are playing music/​arguing/​etc. you will hear it ALL.