The Beacon

Prime spot in downtown SoMa, right next to the Caltrain, ballpark, highway and right over a Safeway. Lots of food options a block or two away from more upscale restaurants (Marlowe, even 3 Michelin star Saison) to medium-​priced restaurants like Amici’s, Umami Burger, Nama Sushi and Tender Greens, to your grab and go Taco Bell Cantina and McDonald’s.
It’s nice inside too! Modern and spacious (for SF) apartments and a big gym and pool

I was torn between 1 – 2 Stars and here is why:
Pro’s: (5 stars for the following)
–We had GREAT landlords. They were friendly, hands off, fast to respond to any needs or to alert us of things the HOA was up to as far as our unit was concerned.
— The Front Desk/​Residential Staff. These folks are professional, fast, responsive, and have great communication.
— Location. You can jump on the N, T, Caltrain with a 30 second walk. You can go to Safeway for a late night snack or a forgotten item. There are ZipCars in one of the garages if you don’t have a car.
–Quiet– I never heard any neighbors above us, below us, or near us. It was very quiet as far as other people in the building. (Note: VERY LOUD with constant Caltrain Buzzing (the trains are always on), Firetrucks, CONSTRUCTION, Honking from the overpass/​highway, screaming from the courtyard, wasted people getting in fights from Giants games…)
Cons: 1 Star for the following
1) The FIRE ALARM. We read the reviews and thought «eh those people are exaggerating.» Our 1^st week in the unit and the fire alarm went off at 2am. It’s safe to say this alarm goes off almost 1x a month. Maybe you could say every other. If you read a review that says that’s not true– This person doesn’t work from home like I do. The alarm can sounds for about 10 – 30 mins. On ~4 occasions the alarm went off either several times in 1 day or every day in a 2 – 3 day span. AWFUL.
2) THE HEAT. I was going to put this as the number 1 problem but realized this may not be an issue for all units. Just most. We had sun shining in our unit all day. The sun rose on one side and set on the other side of our corner unit. We had a FULL DAY of sun in our unit anytime it was sunny. There were 4 windows total that created minimal air circulation (we had to purchase a portable AC unit). I also had to tie sneakers to the windows to prop them open. Depending on what side of the building you are on you’ll get to experience your windows slamming shut all day. It could have been 65 °F out and it was still shorts and tank top weather in our unit. Expect sun facing units to be at LEAST 10−15degrees higher and then minus the possibility of airflow. You will be told you can do things to your unit to cool it down. Special UV shades or film on your windows, etc. I can tell you that the tenants/​community email each other frequently asking if anyone’s investments into these alternatives have worked. Most have responded with the shades, curtains, film etc reducing the heat by ~3degrees. That is nothing. We did have a balcony on our unit but we weren’t able to utilize it as pets are NOT permitted on balconies (we had a dog at the time). Honestly, on the days we locked our dog in the bathroom– the Balcony didn’t matter. It created a breeze/​airflow but if it was warm outside it did nothing to drop the temperature. Please note that I moved from 100+ degrees in South Carolina to THIS. It was unbearable!
TL:DR Check the Beacon HOA Lawsuit on the units overheating :)
3) Pets-​It shocks me the amount of urine in the elevators, poop in the common areas, and people that let their pets pee/​poop on the cement walls in the dog park area. You WILL get a WEEKLY email about how you’re expected to pick up pet waste. Sometimes it will include pictures of feces inside the building. (They recently did a major overhaul of the dog walking area)
4) Elevators + Spa/​pool: Something is always down. At least once a month there is an elevator down. Every few months either a spa or pool update where the system has to be shut down.
Also– Now you’ve got a TACO BELL attached to your building. I’m sure that will minimize the amount of human urine and feces around the building.

I have lived at the Beacon for 1 year now and absolutely love it. Not only are the staff incredibly friendly and know you by name, but the amenities are incredible (pool, dog park, 2 hot tubs, sauna, and 24 hour gym). I don’t understand why there are negative reviews on here because The Beacon is perfection and my experiences have been solid.

I lived at the beacon for 1 year. I would not recommend living here.
Pros:
1. Front desk guys are great
2. Location is pretty central
Cons:
1. The fire alarm goes off ALL OF THE TIME. When I read the reviews before moving in, I didn’t believe it. But it’s true. It goes off 3 – 4 times per month, for no reason. It’s loud and intrusive. In the past it has gone off for 30+ minutes with no explanation.
2. The elevators are constantly getting shut off for maintenance.
3. Moving in and out is a major hassle. You can only reserve the loading dock for a 3 hour time block, weeks in advance, and they charge you $ 250 for the pleasure.
4. The apartments overheat and have no airflow or A/​C. HOA is suing builders because of this. In the short term, expect it to be 15 – 20 degrees hotter in your apartment compared to outside.

5 stars for the front desk /​concierge. Everyone is super nice and I haven’t gotten to know them all yet, but I’ve had the most wonderful experiences with Ryan and Jonathan. They are both incredibly kind, thoughtful, and humble — it’s a pleasure interacting with them daily.
The dog park recently has been in need of maintenance, as there is a lot of leftover poop smudges on the grass that either I or the pups will run through. Kind of gross considering a lot of kids play in the grass as well.

So the fire alarm in this building goes off like 2 – 3 times a month.
Supposedly lucky strike (a bowling alley attached to the building) is to blame, but this is ridiculous. How come this can’t be figured out?
I’ve never lived anywhere where this kind of thing happens. Especially annoying since so many of these alarms happen in the middle of the night.

Compared to 170 off third, this place is terrible. Such an awkward vibe. People are so rude. And someone stole my kids car seat! Who does that?

Lived at beacon for over an year. Best place to live in soma. Would not have moved to South Bay if not for the commute to work.
For all the city lovers this is one heck of a modern place for high rise luxury living

Zero stars. 1 for Phillip. This is the worst building ever!!! Run away before they take your money for «HOA.» Aside from Phillip (who is amazing) at the front desk, this is a huge mismanagement of HOA fees — I feel like I live in a college dorm room! Lights are broken, fire alarm goes off all the time (including tonight– Valentines Day where we had dinner at home), elevators broken. Run run run!!!

This building is mostly occupied by techies and lawyers, or at least it feels that way. Renting a unit is an overall enjoyable experience, but I would not buy one. Here are all the things I wish I knew before I moved in:
Pros:
+ Location (of course).
+ Unlike the Avalon, a lot of people who live here are owners, which seems to add a layer of maturity.
+ Safeway downstairs.
+ We rent from a great owner.
+ The front door guys are super nice.
+ There is a special outdoor dog walking area on the 4^th floor of one of the buildings, which means very few dogs do their dog business right outside the front door.
Cons:
— The exterior windows are filthy. This really drives me crazy because we chose our unit for the view, and whenever anybody comes to visit they ask, «is all of that dirt on the inside or outside of your windows?» I’ve complained about this to management and have been told that the windows will be cleaned again sometime in 2014. This alone is strong reason to avoid the Beacon, as most of the units have wall-​to-​wall windows so the caked-​on dirt will play a relatively prevalent role in your life.
— The gym is pretty pathetic. As of this writing, 1 of the gym’s 7 treadmills is fully functional. Another treadmill works but the audio jack is broken, so no sound. The other five all have signs saying ‘treadmill prone to sudden stops, new parts ordered, use at your own risk.’ I don’t consider that functional. And who in their right mind would get on the 1 – 2 treadmills that haven’t yet spontaneously stopped?
— The apartments are bit dark. Numerous light switches in ours don’t do anything. I hope you’re into lamps.
— The HOA is a bit of a hassle to deal with. The building seems to have communal parties and events relatively frequently, which is great (and in all fairness, at least some of the events are sponsored), but I would really prefer they fix the treadmills in the gym or wash the windows than have a party. A similar example: there’s a sign in one of the elevators asking us to donate to the front desk and security team’s christmas bonuses. What? Owners pay about $ 761/​month in HOA fees, and HOA can’t afford to pay their own employees a bonus so we need to?
— The computers in the lobby all use Windows 8 and you have to rent keyboards from the front desk because «people kept coming in who didn’t live here just to use the computers.» If people are able to stroll into our building, then I’m not sure hiding the computer keyboards really addresses the core issue.

The Beacon has bad management, front desk would skip over you to take care of other people, security is very unfriendly and strict. Would not buy here, short term a few months would be ok due to location. Thin walls, you can hear your neighbor.
Rincon hill and the infinity has much better security, management, they’re very friendly and you can’t hear your neighbors.

Location Location Location Location! After having stayed in Baycrest, this is a huge improvement. everything is within walking distance, ballpark, safeway, caltrain. the building has a heated pool, 2 spa and a good sized gym. Currently in litigation for building defects (the window doesnt block out heat); however, HOA is making a good effort to get things sorted, a trial date has been set and they have already begun projects to solve the issue.

I am so jealous my friend lives in this amazing apartment right on the Embarcadero, directly across the street from AT&T Park with an amazing view! She has allowed me to stay at her place a few times while out of town and I really enjoyed being within walking distance to everything. The doorman was super friendly and helpful, the walls were very thick and I could not hear a peep from any neighbors, and for a one-​bedroom apartment, it was super spacious. Love the Beacon!

Rented here for 6 months after moving to SF. The location is great — Safeway, Caltrain, Muni, etc. nearby. However, the building is terrible. The tenants/​residents seem to be mainly «young adults» who just graduated from the frat party but haven’t left that life behind. When there was spilled beer and broken beer bottles on New Year’s Eve a couple years ago, it took the building 2 days to clean it up. Also, the construction is not great, and the amenities are cheap. The particular unit we rented was a tiny 1 BR with a BR so small even a dresser didn’t fit. However, it was configured so oddly that the bathroom was huge (and did fit a dresser).
I would NOT buy here — renting short term, maybe, due to location.

Went to a friend’s place the other night for a get-​together. For a 2-​bedroom, it was spacious, modern, and clean. Basically the kind of «wow I’d like to live here» feeling came over me quite quickly.
Proximity to the ballpark, caltrain, muni, starbucks, safeway, banks/​atms, and a ton of other things makes it a prime spot.

I bought a unit here a few years ago, lived in it for 2 years before turning it into a rental property. It’s a great place to live and I absolutely loved living there.
First of all, you pay for the CONVENIENCE of living in a centralized area. There’s safeway, borders, starbucks and restaurants downstairs and walking distance. Not to mention Caltrain across the street with Muni lines to goes to every part of the city at your doorstep.
HOA remodeled all the public areas in 2009 which include new carpets, décor, light fixtures, paint, etc. I love the new look. Many of my friends come by to use the rooftop pool whenever we get a warm day. The gym has far more equipments than many other luxury condo gyms that I have seen. And I love the concierge… even more when I dropped off my dry cleaning to him every week.
Each individual unit obviously look very different. Some are upgrade with new appliances but many still kept the older décor. It all depends on the owner.
I personally chose this place because I love the location. Sure there were other condos available like the infinite or rincon that may look nicer because it may have better upgraded appliances. But in the end of the day, I didn’t plan on living there forever and I rather have the convenience of everything I need in walking distance versus a newer frige.

Two things you should be aware of: 1) the fire alarm goes off all the time. My husband and I both had full time jobs keeping us out of the place during normal business hours, and still had to deal with the fire alarm going off several times a month. When this happens, it is loud enough that you really need to leave, and goes on for 5 – 10 minutes. 2) Our car was vandalized twice in the gated parking garage during the year we lived here. Security refused to review the tapes.
Also, on the negative side:
The loading dock smells very strongly of sewage. The smell seeps into units close to the freight elevator, and you will enjoy this experience when you move in, move out, and any time you have to throw away something that doesn’t fit into the trash shute.
I witnessed someone being trapped in an elevator that wouldn’t open. They were pretty quick about getting her out, but she was yelling for help for a few minutes before I got there and the call button I guess was inoperative. The elevators were being worked on a handful of times during the year I lived there.
The building has some major construction defects – make sure you look closely at the individual unit.
On the positive side:
Very close to the ballpark and caltrain. Muni is too much of a pain to be of any value; it’s usually quicker to walk than take muni.
The concierge desk is an obvious perk.
The gym is decent.
The place is kept very clean, and their cleaning staff are nice.

I’ve lived in The Beacon for more than two years, and nothing beats the convenience, for which I am giving 4 stars. Gym, pool, 24h security (laundry service, package service, etc), clubhouse, park, garage — all in the building. Reasonably well built, so that you don’t freeze your butt off in the winter. Safeway, Starbucks, hairdresser, massage place, ATM in the building. Lots of good restaurants and cafes nearby. Caltrain and 280 for commuting down south.
People are nice, not only in the reception.
It will be tough to move elsewhere, even if I know that I can find a bigger condo, potentially with balcony/​patio somewhere else

Stayed here for a couple of days on a weekend getaway to San Francisco. I was so taken back by this building, the condo itself, and the views! We were on the 16^th floor and it was absolutely amazing. The condo was gorgeous as well, though I am sure that credit goes to the interior decorator. It was a cozy one bedroom condo with a washer and dryer and balcony overlooking the courtyard. If I could afford to and wished to live in San Francisco, this would be the place to be. The location is super convenient as well; it’s right above a Safeway! I still think they should put elevators in the hallways that go down to the Safeway (without having to go outside). How sweet would that be?

Here is the break-​down…
4 stars for location and it’s pretty new & nice
–2 stars for the crappy tenants that keep complaining up a STORM! Dude do you not have a life at all? If they drive badly and you lightly honk at them or stare at them, they will file a complaint to the building! WTF! We are not in grade school anymore and get a freaking life!
+1 star for the convenience of having Safeway right below, WaMu across the street and more
If I had to give this place a rating based on the crazy people **the few who ruin it for everyone else** I’d give it lots of minuses! As for the apts itself it’s not bad and yes it does suck that there is NO AC but of course they keep the lounge/​entrance AC’d very well.
Oh and another thing that is stupid and annoying is the door alarm. MY GOODNESS! It does absolutely nothing and it is so freaking loud and annoying!
Just thinking about this place upsets me a little! For the price you pay you would think this place would be better. I guess you just have to put up with it. I am so tempted to go on their forums or complaint area and give them a piece of my mind! =P