The Commons

This 5 Star review is ONLY for the Maintenance team at The Commons. They work very hard in keeping the community clean from resident’s who do not dispose their trash properly and do not pick up after their pets. Francisco has been the maintenance manager after many company transitions at this community and that speaks volume about his hard work and dedication to The Commons. He always acknowledges residents when they pass by and asks how everything is going in their apartment. I know certain things are out of his hands but I appreciate how hard he works in getting things done in a timely manner. 1 Star for the Property Manager who is not friendly at all. I have witnessed her talking down to the staff. She needs to learn how to provide better customer service to both the staff and the residents and not act like an open book by quoting company policies all the time. Just read the reviews, they speak for themselves. Overall, I enjoy my apartment, amenities (pool/​gym/​laundry), responsive maintenance staff and the close proximity to Downtown Campbell.

From first glance and online it appears its worth the high rent price tag… but I personally feel after moving out and reflecting, they overcharge and most would be better off renting a little further away for a quality and sound building. My one bedroom unit had the finishings of a 1990’s low end motel but was marketed as brand new!
Although the location is pretty great– walking distance to downtown Campbell, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Movie Theater, etc., the paper thin walls, crowded laundry rooms and crowded open parking as well as the cheap appliances were not worth the close to 2000 dollar price tag.
That being said, they have nice open lawns for dogs, two upgraded pools and a nice bbq available for tenants– if you are renting for the public amenities.
Before you rent here, consider what you are looking for in a home. If you are interested in your apartment being worth the price maybe consider other places, but if you are more about just sleeping in your apartment and enjoying the pool or surrounding entertainment you might really like it here.

The majority of people who live at The Commons own dogs. There are many who don’t pick up or clean after their dog goes number two. There are pretty lawns of grass everywhere but every time you look at it or open your window you see a dog passing stool. There should be designated areas for dogs to do that. I have stepped on dogs stools a couple of times on the side walks not even on grass. I will not recommend this place to any of my family or friends.

I moved to Campbell temporarily in December 2014. I had to get an apartment basically sight unseen. The folks at the Commons were very helpful and sent lots of pics and worked with my on line till we got everything squared away. They even helped me get furniture delivered before I moved in. The place it self was neat and clean. I loved my neighbors. I was across from the pool and the barbecue pits. It was a great location. Just a ten minute walk to the wonderful downtown area: restaurants, shops and a Sunday farmers’ market. I have a little dog and the whole complex is very pet friendly. It was a great place to hang my hat for 5 months.

I’ve lived in Commons since December 2013. I think it is a great place to rent your first apartment ever. Also it is a great complex for dog owners.
It would be great if people would clean after their pets, but it is not on Commons. They’re actually trying really hard to fix this problem.
What I don’t like about this complex is:
— rent is way too high, but I understand a lot of if is for the location (15 minutes walking to downtown);
— the landscaping is just awful. If you live in a back building, no one even cares about making it look good there. Paying almost $ 2000 for 1-​bedroom, I’d expect Commons management to hire some better company to work on their plants. I get that it’s hard to keep grass in good shape, when almost every apartment has a dog. But not trimming plants properly, so they take most of the walkway or destroying ivy — it’s just bad.
— the new whatever cleaning product you’re using for the gym or not using at all, MAN, it’s impossible to breath in that room! no kidding
Think that’s all I have. I will forever be grateful and will send love to the Commons, but it seems wrong to me, when only front buildings are taken care of and rent is getting $ 150 higher every year, when apartment stays absolutely the same.

I’ve lived at The Commons for several years. It is a great location walking distance to downtown Campbell. You have all the amenities on your door step. For the best part we have had a good experience living here, despite the rent going up a couple of 100 dollars every time it is due to renew your lease. What has disturbed me most is the unlawful access to our apartment without our permission. Major maintenance work was undertaken when they ripped out a wall without warning us. We came home from work and thought we had been burgled. In the process of entering our apartment without our permission and tearing down a wall in our second bedroom our personal property was damaged, over $ 7000 dollars. Essex properties (management company, owners of The Commons) refused any responsibility or liability for damaging our personal property. Is this a company that you want to be leasing an apartment from? We are over $ 7000 dollars out of pocket and have not even been given an apology.

DONT MOVE HERE unless your on welfare… That’s the only way they will give you a break.
The management raises the rent by over $ 100 a month every year I was there. They don’t care if your a good tenant and pay on time.
They chopped all the trees down in the complex it’s hideous.
The laundry room is «under construction» for months. They don’t care about anything but the $$$$. You’ve been warned.

I have lived at The Commons since April 2012 in two different apartments (same complex).
The Good:
— Close to downtown and The Pruneyard
— Parking is easy, I have never had an issue
— Close to 880
— When there’s an issue with the apartment, they fix it within a day
— Safe environment
— Nicely groomed landscaping
— Two pools and BBQs
The Bad:
— Small apartments for high prices
— Appliances are old — ALTHOUGH, I heard they are re-​doing the units (this may increase prices)
— The office can be a bit oblivious to your needs and a little ditzy
— The walls are thin. I live on the first floor and the neighbors above have two kids. They scream, jump around and the parents yell, A LOT. I can hear everything. Luckily I complained several times to the office and they seemed to take care of the issue in time.
— Washer has broken and bathroom was flooded due to neighbor above leaving their shower on — luckily they fixed the sheet rock within the week
— GYM is TINY !! Not worth cancelling your gym membership.

Lived here for a year.
The good:
1. excellent location — near the Pruneyard, downtown, freeways, Los Gatos Creek Trail
2. pet friendly AND there’s a «bark park» in the back which we’d frequent
3. the apartment layouts are convenient and the apartment facilities are superb
4. nice pools
5. when we needed stuff fixed they’d get it done within 48 hours.
The bad:
1. they keep chopping down trees and bushes, so when it used to be green, it’s now all bark-​filled with random tiny bushes; killed the ambiance
2. management is rude and inconsistent; one lady told me to combine the rent and utility check, and the other told me I made it inconvenient for her by doing so
3. ate up our deposit even though I knew the apartment was near-​spotless when we left (but a lot of landlords do this)
4. raised the rent, which is why we moved (again, a lot of places around here are doing this)
5. gardeners were here 2−3X a week, hacking things down and noise polluting with their blowers; since there’s no trees or plants anymore, we didn’t want our rent going to this «service» for absolutely no reason.

Overall, I had a good experience here. Here are the plusses and minuses…
The good
+Well maintained apartment complex. Spotless really.
+Clean and safe. Campbell is generally safe, this area too.
+Pretty decent management. Mark was direct and honest. No issues.
So-​so
~Walls were not thin but not well soundproofed either. The noise level really depends on your neighbors. Why the hell is everything in this country made of wood. Americans have no concrete? Did China use it all?
~The gym room is tiny but functional. Same with the pools.
~No washer/​dryer in unit but the wash rooms are clean and easy to access.
The bad
–Older appliances could use updating.
–They always repaint the apartment regardless of how spotless you leave it. There must be 100 coats of paint on the wall. And they WILL charge you for another round of painting upon moveout.
–Campbell is pretty white. If you like whiteys this is the place to be. My family is happier with more Asian flavor in another area.
A few other notes. the fact that rent is increasing is not the fault of Essex or The Commons. Its increasing crazily all over the Bay area because people are moving here in droves (like my family)! There are jobs aplenty here and the rents reflect that… blame your left-​wing state and local government for delaying construction of new housing units due to massive ‘environmental impact studies’.
No matter where you stay, they will ding you for cleaning charges despite leaving the place spotless. So why bother? just clean up and expect to eat about half of your deposit… that’s life in the Bay area. I thought that when I moved to the ‘left coast’ that consumers would be protected by all kinds of left-​wing, consumer-​friendly, anti-​business legislation. But nooo… as a renter in California, it looks like you’re pretty much screwed 99% of the time when it comes to the deposit.

ive read some really bad reviews about The Commons.
Ive stayed at The Commons for a 1 year lease and i have no complaints at all. I got the place SPOTLESS and The Commons Expected to have my place as clean as i had it. Make sense right? well i missed a few spot and i got to pay for it.
Will i ever live at the Commons? of course if they dont raise the rent of 15%. 1300 $ first year lease then 1450 $ second year lease for a 450SFT Studio? not worth it
Anyway, you know what to expect now. You get a place clean, give it back clean or expect to spend a few hundreds to have people to clean it for you.

I have rented from 2 of Essex properties and I had the same problems with each one. Rude management once you are in the complex and large rent increase on your lease renewal, I do suggest for tenants that experience any problems with office personel to contact corporate and or write it in a review. Essex gives no consideration for good tenants just as some of the other reviews wall street money hungry company. 1 star for regular maintenance staff.

I am a travel nurse and was placed in The Commons during my 3-​month stay. From the other reviewers I was apprehensive prior to my move in September 2012. When I first arrived and went to the front office, Scarlett was so nice and professional. She showed me around the property, my assigned parking and then my apartment. My apartment was clean and a nice size for a one bedroom. Nice walk-​in closet! My only gripe was the my freezer started to «over-​freeze» a month after I moved in. The freezer would freeze and the air wasn’t circulating to the fridge. The maintenance staff was very quick to respond to the issue and somewhat fixed the problem. I really think they should replace the entire fridge and put in a new one. Also, my apartment doesn’t have central air, just a wall-​unit that takes time to really cool/​heat the entire apartment. Other than that I have truly enjoyed my stay here. The Laundry Room is close to my apartment and I am glad I didn’t have to walk far to wash clothes. Nice place located near Downtown Campbell and the Pruneyard (restaurants, coffee shops, movie theater, shops). I would definitely come back to this complex, as long as I had a different fridge.

Here’s probably one of the most objective, honest, and non-​biased reviews you’re gonna get on The Commons in Campbell:
I moved in on June 5^th, 2011, shortly after getting home from a deployment and trying to find a place to live that wasn’t ridiculously expensive. Well, The Commons isn’t «cheap» by any means, but it isn’t ridiculous, either. At least it wasn’t… I rented a first floor studio for $ 1200/​month, not including utilities. It was freshly painted, they cleaned the carpets (they were still wet when I was moving furniture in the weekend before my lease started), new appliances, and almost finished landscaping. The water temps were good and all the appliances worked well.
My leasing agent was super friendly and honest. I’ve read other reviews where they say the management staff is rude and avoids talking to them, but I didn’t get that at all. Maybe the uniform had something to do with it? Anyways, I got into my lease very easily and was allowed to move my furniture in a week before it started, which was a life saver since I was in the process of selling my pick up truck and purchasing an suv.
The maintenance staff deserves more credit than anyone, however. They busted their humps getting that place squared away when something went wrong, and even though I personally never had to call them at 3 am like my buddy did, they came right away and helped him out, no questions asked. They live there at the apartments so having them on-​call is a godsend.
The pools are nice and clean, as well as the laundry facilities. The landscaping, new and modern, looked great to me, and there is plenty of grass for your dog to run on. I had my lab puppy there, which ultimately forced me to break my lease and move out, but that’s on me, not The Commons. They were super cool about pets and the lease agent even suggested some places to take my dog for grooming and vet services.
The location of The Commons is pretty awesome as well. It’s about halfway between Campbell Ave and Bascom on Union. They just finished building a new park across the street, and only a few minutes walk down Campbell Ave is the Los Gatos Creek Trail and downtown Campbell. Not to mention the Pruneyard is right there, too. I loved the walking distance between the bars and my place.
Now on to the less desirable aspects. The rent, being slightly higher than normal, although it is Campbell, does not include utilities. Ok, that’s fine and dandy. I got a contract with PG&E and my utility bill for electric and gas was about $ 40 a month. Here’s the catch… the water is on a «shared utility» rate. Basically meaning you share the water bill with the rest of the tenants in your building. Wtf?! My water bill one month was about $ 65. Outrageous. That and the fact that you have to buy credits to use the laundry room. I usually filled up the card ($ 50 max I believe), and that would last me about a month and a half.
The only other gripe for me would be that you are prohibitted from having a charcoal grill on your patio. Now, I can totally understand the safety aspect of this, as a lot of people are totally idiotic when it comes to cooking on a grill. But, I wasn’t about to go buy a $ 300 electric or propane grill. Nah, I’m good thanks.
So, I hope this helps anyone looking to move in here. I would probably move back if I had to, and they didn’t raise the rent, but my buddy recently moved out because they had raised his studio rent to about $ 1300. Crazy.

I’ve lived at the Commons for 3 years. I just recently resigned my lease because I enjoy living here. I love that…
1. When going into the office me and my little dog are always greeted kindly. They have treats for both of us ;). There was a bit of a transitional period when the new company took over… maybe that is the reason for the compliments on previous posts… but the current staff is great in my opinion.
2. My maintenance requests are ALWAYS completed in a timely manner, and the maintenance team is extraordinarily friendly.
3. The location is great! Walking distance to the Pruneyard, downtown, and the Los Gatos Creek Trail. It’s especially nice to be able to walk to the farmer’s market on Sunday mornings. Also, I appreciate that 17, 85, and 280 are just minutes away and you can get to the SJC airport is under ten minutes.
4. My one bedroom apartment (unrenovated) is very spacious with a walk-​in closet and a good sized pantry… I do wish there was a linen closet though.
5. There is a doggie play area in the back. It’s nice to have a place to have the «neighborhood dogs» play together. Note: one thing I hate is that people don’t always pick up their dog poop. This can be an issue at times, although there are poop bags in two different locations.
6. There are two pools that are kept clean and don’t get too packed.
7. I like the card operated laundry, I use to live next door at Woodleaf, and I hated having to always get quarters to do laundry. One drawback is that the laundry rooms here get quite busy on the weekends.
Drawbacks…
1. Rent in Campbell, not just at the Commons, is expensive.
2. I’d love better quality carpet.
3. I just so happen to have neighbors who like to store trash outside their front door.
PS Yes, the Commons underwent construction when purchased by Essex. The landscaping had to be uprooted to updated and repaint the buildings. But, I appreciated that the construction workings were VERY respectful and the construction was done on schedule. And, I love my new shower faucet… the old plumbing sucked! There used to be two temperatures in my the shower… scorching hot and freezing cold. So, I was okay with enduring the inconvenience of construction to prevent second-​degree burns in the shower.

Had my magnetic signs vandalized at the Commons.
Everyday is a step backwards here!

I’ve lived a the Commons for 6 years now… when I first looked into this place, the first thing that attracted me were the trees, the lushful greens and how appealing the grounds were.
They had just remodeled many units, including the one I signed for. It was an ideal place to live. The landlord at the time, Rachael, was very pleasant, always took calls or returned them if she missed you. Her team was courteous, professional and knew EVERY tenant by name. They would organized «appreciation breakfasts» for the tenants, Toy drives around the holidays and even had a BBQ to help the tenants mingle.
6 years later, it SUCKS! The complex has been bought by 3+ companies (I lost count), they cut most of the trees, got rid of most of the beautiful landscaping, etc… Oh, and they purposely avoid picking up the phone… «they are busy» (yes, i’ve actually been told this!)
Now, and since January 2011, there has been construction after construction. Their so-​called «improvements and upgrades» are a joke. They are re-​doing the siddings and facades of the buildings. Well, this was after they had replaced the faucets/​fixtures, for the 3^rd time, and repainted again and again… Well, what really needs to be replaced are the damn windows! but no… only the laundry rooms and office have new windows… Tenants can just deal with their old drafty 1970s single pane crap, oh and pay for the higher utility bills too.
The new landscape you ask? Well, cutting the rest of the trees, getting rid of more bushes and while this is going on… closing the pools.
I mean really… is this what we pay this high rate for???
Many tenants have called the office, including me. we complain, but it goes unnoticed, because they just don’t care. They just want the complex to look good on the outside, so more people will sign leases and get disappointed after the first month…
Renters beware, that’s all I can say. I can’t wait to move out!
On a positve note: the maintenance crew is wonderful. it’s the same people (or most of them) who have been here since i’ve moved in. They are great. Polite, CLEAN, quick and professional. They will respond to any work request within 24 hours. If you have pets, they will remember and take that into consideration.
Same for the cleaning crew who helps around the complex.

I do not understand the negative reviews. I have had experience with Essex in the past (this year at The Commons and in 2008 at The Montclaire in Sunnyvale), and I have been treated rather well.
The Management: Essex isn’t bad. When I was living at The Montclair I made the mistake of not having the deposit in a cashiers check. While the leasing manager was frustrated at me, he still helped me get the apartment. Here at The Commons the leasing manager Mark has been very accommodating to my roommates and I. He re-​wrote the lease three times to make sure we got what we needed. Jacquelyn even helped me to make sure that my roommates would have everything they needed to get the keys on move-​in day (I wasn’t able to be present). As far as repairs needing to be done, they have been on top of things to help us get what we needed. The phone line in the apartment was bad and the management was very understanding and willing to work with me to get this fixed as soon as possible.
The Property: It is a nice apartment complex located very close to downtown Campbell and the Pruneyard. They are going through some renovations, so there are workers on the property that make a lot of noise. I’m not bothered by it, only because I should be getting up by the time that they start work. Other than that, it is a nice property and is starting to look nicer and more modern. The apartments are a little on the small side, but they are still very nice and clean.
The Location and Neighbors: The people that live here seem very friendly. The apartment complex also seems to be in a very nice neighborhood. Some useful shops seem to be very close by. The apartment complex is very close to a VTA light rail station (Downtown Campbell), which makes commuting easier.
I would recommend checking this property out, taking a tour and getting to know the management. Have an open mind to this place and you might find yourself surprised. I know I am enjoying myself here.

Big Corporation Attitude! They DO NOT care about you. They treat you like a bank account and it is extremely uncalled for.
Lyon used to own it and they were MUCH better. It is now owned by Essex Property Trust and they will do anything in their power to screw you over. They try to act extremely prestigious and to be honest they are phonies. I am moving back to Los Gatos where people have real class and rent is actually cheaper (believe it or not I found a unit the same size with more character for $ 300 cheaper!).
Save your money and keep looking in areas with less crime. Did I mention there were two jumping’s and four car break ins in the 15 months I was there?

I’m torn on the star rating. If it were based on the management team and response time to issues, I would give 5 stars… location, 5 stars… cleanliness…again, 5 stars. The apartments are small, and some of the amenities aren’t as great as I’d like, so that’s what knocks off a star, but really, I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a clean place that takes pets, and has nice people. Sure, it’s an older property, but they’ve done some upgrades, and it’s a great value in today’s market.
My neighbors are very quiet, and the grounds are well cared for. I’ve had a few things needing maintenance in my apartment, but I place a call to the manager’s office, and I have an appointment for repairs before I hang up. The maintenance staff has been wonderful. The work is done quickly, and seems to be done well.
My apartment is on the small side, but works fine for me and one other person. Two full bathrooms is a definate plus, as is the in-​unit washer and dryer. We get great light through large windows, and amazingly, the temperature stays cool even on the hottest days, without using the a/c…though that works really well too.
It is a bummer that others feel they’ve had a bad experience here… I hope they’ve found places they are happy with. I am glad to say it’s been a totally different experience for me. Come check it out… Jon has been my contact in the management office, but everyone I’ve encountered there has been really nice.