Santana Row 7, 8 & VIA Apartments

Our experience in Santana Heights was the best all across the board. From the beginning we were always treated well and maintenance always took care of little stuff never a mayor issue. A high end apartment always clean. Some neighbors are high maintenance and won’t aim to the garbage buckets or are used to be taking care of… but has nothing to do with the apartments management. Now that we move due to traffic and closeness to our jobs my fiancé and I look back and wish we didn’t move and should’ve keep dealing with traffic. We can compare this new place with Santana Heights and has no were near how to compete. Victoria Wims, Michelle Kneeland, Jasmine Barragan and Simone Rodd were always the best to deal with when we had any questions or concerns to make decisions to try to move to a new unit. Always helpful and cordial. We miss them and the area. OMG you had everything at your finger tips available. Sometimes we ask ourselves «we should move back» right? I don’t see why negative comments in this app. My theory is: if you are not happy with Santana Row and the apartments something is wrong with you, you should’ve never consider an apartment in Santana Row in the first place, try better a house were you don’t deal with lots of neighbors at once and retail costumes ²⁴⁄₇ either.
And all the pampered do it for me people that lives there should get their own maids instead of expecting other clean after them. I’m talking about their garbage rooms, dogs and common areas –like living stuff outside the garbage cans– knowing and seeing that they are full.
Maintenance can’t do it all every day! Get a life and be a pro not a complainer.
WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND SANTANA HEIGHTS!

My husband and I have decided to move to a more urban part of San Jose. Long story short, we would rather pay a lot more than to have to deal with the leasing personnel there, not so polite and unprofessional. We are two working professionals who are willing to pay a good amount for a good place, but will not spend a cent here!

Extremely rude and in efficient staff. I went for a tour and was asked by one of their staff members (Sally) to come back and reserve the apartment next day, so I quit my work next day and spent four hours at their leasing office switching from one person to another just to give them a cheque to block a one bed apartment. After struggling for four hours I managed to give the deposit and do the application. Just when I come back home I receive a call from them that the apartment was taken by someone else online. Really ??? And then they kept lying about how that happened and made n number of stories, no apologies, no work around. I had read reviews on Unilocal on how they have always been rude to their customers but this is the worst behaviour I have ever experienced in my life. Please guys think twice before you live here, the location is good but you don’t want to pay exorbitant amount of money to deal with bunch of unconcerned people. Extremely disappointed.

Kristen and Monique from the leasing office went above and beyond to help me out with a package that was delivered to my old address. I don’t even live there anymore! The ladies at that office are kind, compassionate and caring. Kristen and Monique are exceptional.
The leasing office employees truly care about the residents and will stop at nothing to make them happy! (Even when they move away!)
Thank you, ladies!

Clean and pretty houses. I like the outdoor grilling areas. This place is locked everywhere and couldn’t find the parking garage. \~.~/​I like that it is conveniently built on top/​near the Santana Row shopping.

We having been living here since the end of February. We rent the largest/​most expensive townhouse available. There are four of these units. While the potential for living here is great, the reality is not.
Without getting into all of the nitty gritty details – which I am happy to share with anyone that asks – I will reiterate what another reviewer said: the leasing management is very difficult to work with. Poor customer service skills. They at as though they are doing us as favor when in fact we are the ones paying a lot of money to live here.
Our unit has had some major issues that remain unresolved. While the maintenance staff is awesome, the management in charge of the staff is less than accommodating. They look for cheap fixes and clearly hope that if they ignore things long enough that the renter will stop complaining.
Parking – oh the parking issues! And the ridiculous things we’ve heard. We live in a unit that can hold nine people (per the lease) yet we have parking for two. We have to pay ($ 175/​month) for additional spaces and we had to BEG for them.
Like I said, the potential of this place is great, but the reality has been beyond disappointing. Construction will be on going for the next several years and it will be loud and inconvenient.
We would never live here again and won’t be renewing our lease. I wish them good luck in finding tenants for our large space. Of course they can mislead the new clients like they did us and maybe they will fill it.

The leasing office manager Jenna and the concierge manager Aaron are very difficult to work with and they are rude!!! Poor customer service skills. Although the amenities and apartments are nice those two people absolutely will ruin your experience living in Misora. Many people have moved out because of them. I Definitely don’t recommend living at Misora until they are gone.

I’m living in San Jose temporarily and can’t wait to return home to Tampa. Here’s why. San Jose is crawling with bums. Reasonably priced good restaurants are hard to find. The bar scene is lame and the «club» scene ratchet. It is RIDICULOUSLY overpriced. I spent about two weeks looking for a one bedroom all over San Jose. Santana Row is definitely the best option. Pretty much the only area you can leave your apartment and see clean streets, some nice shops and no bums. We lucked out finding a one bedroom in Santana Heights (Alexander building) for $ 2400. In Tampa we rent a one bedroom condo ON THE WATER with 3 residential pools, tennis courts and a full sized gym for $ 1300 that is a 4 miles from the heart of South/​Downtown Tampa. We also paid a $ 2000 to rent a high-​rise apartment in downtown LA. So maybe I’m not the best person to judge this shit city. But in San Jose we pay $ 2400 for a cheaply built apartment with grey INDUSTRIAL carpeting. There is no linen closet. The bathroom is massive but empty… only one small sink and side cabinet and the rest of the space is pointless. The bedroom is so small you can’t fit both a bed frame and dresser so we had to choose. There is no balcony. If someone lives above you, expect to hear them stomping allllllllllll morning noon and night. The dank hallways smell like garbage. The pools don’t allow alcohol so don’t expect anything fun going on. But definitely expect dozens of screaming children. Residents are unbelievably awkward and unfriendly. There are no community events to get people mingling so don’t expect to make friends. Walking to the bars is the saving grace of this place, but there’s not much to see there except a bunch of people speaking Chinese, some awkward tech nerds and $ 15 weak cocktails served by miserable bartenders. If you must make San Jose your home then yes, Santana Row is in my opinion the least depressing option. But just know there are other places in this vast country that are living wayyyy better for wayyyy cheaper.

Misora is overall a good place, IF ONLY the concierge is NOT VERY RUDE.
Aaron Menchaca, one of the concierge, is very disrespectful!
He shout to people instead of talking nicely. I think he has an attitude problem.
He cannot talk to people nicely. I am ending my lease here soon.
You better check back on whether he is still working or not if you want to decide to live in Misora. All the other concierge are okay, but he ruined the standard with his uneducated behavior.

Don’t understand the negative comments — — so far the management has been very responsive (I lost my key on the 2^nd day here, punch list items immediately addressed, all of the property managers are professional and very positive – at Misora in a lovely 2 bedroom 3 story loft with 3^rd floor balcony. Love love love it… it’s better than I had imagined. High end touches throughout, including the best appliances, dimmers on almost all lighting, beautiful floors and great layout. Already met some great neighbors, people in the hallway are very friendly. Santana Row is really dog friendly too; my dog loves the new dog park in back of the parking lot and she enjoys sipping water at many of the stores. I’m so glad to have made this my home as I was commuting from Palo Alto daily sometimes several times per day. I know each person experiences their own challenges, but so far Greystone has exceeded my expectations.

I lived in the Deforest lofts which are privately owned spaces. The quality of the building is poor compared to other luxury apartments/​condos but the Deforest is the best option if you want to live at Santana Row.
CONS:
The elevators are always 20 degrees hotter then the rest of the building which is super uncomfortable and they are SO slow. All the residents would joke about how slow the elevators are. This is a newer building but does not run efficiently at all.
You live in a busy mall where everyone is drinking, so you step out of your building to walk your dog and everyone is tipsy and gawking at you. Super uncomfortable and does not feel like home.
Expensive.
Plumbing system is questionable.
Noisy when the bar lets out and you are trying to sleep.
This is a loft so even though there were 3 bedrooms, there is no privacy. You cannot shut a bedroom door to avoid noise in other parts of the house because it is an open concept. This drove me crazy.
PROS:
You feel very safe living in a secure building and 24 hour Santana Row security.
Neighbors are very nice and you never hear your neighbor. The walls are pretty thick.
The Deforest building has it’s own garage for tenants which makes for easy safe covered parking.
You have a Safeway and a mall right across the street and close to the freeway. There is also a super nice Club One gym right outside the building.
For San Jose, this is a safe and nice place to live, but I would not want to move back here. Did not feel like home at all.

Living @SantanaRowApts UGH! resident garage filthy since Xmas day & since 2days ago this boxes MAINTENANCE PLS! tomorrow I’ll upload my floor’s trash room it’s disgusting & smelly every single day of the week! I heard that the old management was way better… bring them back!!!

Misora will fool you at first. All the trappings of luxury living… but when you look under the carpet, you will FEEL the flaws. The construction quality between floor to floor is the worst i’ve ever experienced. If anyone is living above you — YOU WILL HEAR THEM DAY AND NIGHT. Stomping foot-​steps of clue-​less morons. I think this particular idiot is in Apt 1321… A real winner.
The sense of community here is at ZERO as well. You will basically feel like you are living in a hotel room — but without the room or maid service. The empty hall-​ways
emote a sense of dread and disconnect from a living world — marry that with the detached tone overall at Misora — and you will come to know what living in a cold, life-​less museum feels like.
IF you have AT&T as your phone service provider, forget about using your phone at Mirosa — yep… this one was a lot of fun. had to get a mobile booster from ATT for 300.00 to even get a signal in my OWN apt.
As for the internet — has anyone heard of broadband issues? Welcome to the middle of hell then… because Misora packs so many human rats into this complex, your COMCAST speed will be slower than an obsolete modem from 1996.
so…if you’d like to pay a crap load of money a month to feel like you’d ARRIVED in the world of luxury living at Misora — then you deserve what you get.
Empty, soul-​less living at Wanna-​Be-​Row.

The advertise as a luxury apartment community but Santana Heights is far from that. The unit is small and aging. I had a fire alarm dangling by their wires for over a year and despite repeated maintenance requests, was never fixed. Same for a broken cabinet. The management office lost my rent check once and threatened to evict me. I had to sit in their office for over two hours with my bank on the phone while they searched for my check. They eventually found it in their files. I expect a lot more for $ 2600 for a 1BR apartment. I just moved out and happy that I did.
The only upside to living here is the location. Santana Row is very convenient and fun place to be. No complaints there.

I’ve had an excellent experience with the leasing staff and enjoy living at Misora. The building is outstanding along with all the great amenities. I’m in the construction field and the leasing staff has bent over backwards to accommodate the slight delays that are out of their control. Living at Santana Row is a fun and an exciting experience. I really cant say enough about how the leasing staff and maintenance is there for our needs. Great job and I will continue to referral all my friends to Santana Row.

This goes to all the leasing staff that think they’re all that when in reality they’re just drones that are just plain stupid. I explained the situation to one of the girls I was having issues with and instead of listening she argued and made hand gestures as if I didn’t understand English. These drones need to be REPLACED!

Update: I’ve been living at Misora for a few weeks now, and I’m extraordinarily happy with my choice.
I really enjoy the ambiance of Misora. Sometimes I just sit down in some area of Misora and enjoy the woodwork, the running water, and the plethora of plants. The courtyard is massive, with various seating for many dozens of people.
They did a fantastic job of considering architectural details. I’ve never once heard a neighbor through the walls. Street noise is faint. I love all the windows and doors. Even the door stops and door handles align perfectly with one another. I have TONS of cabinet and closet space. I really don’t know what to do with all of it. The tap water tastes bad, but that’s just because all the pipes are brand new. Picky water drinkers will have a filter anyway, so it’s irrelevant.
Concierge is amazing, and all of the people working there have been super nice. One of the ladies at concierge even replied to my e-​mail at midnight! Concierge closes at 7PM, so she was really going beyond the call of duty. They’ve had new sets of keys made for me, let me know about the opening of new amenities in the apartment, and most importantly they’ve delivered all of my packages to my room because I always get home from work after they close.
My boyfriend spends most nights here, so he needs to get a parking pass to park on Santana Row overnight. Each night he just picks up a pass from the ²⁴⁄₇ Santana Row security office. Hopefully they’ll offer long-​term parking passes or sell the extra parking spaces in the garage in the future. For now, it’s pretty easy to get a parking pass each night.
Update: I just moved in!
Michelle was simply AMAZING! I was extremely stressed out by my move-​in because I forgot that they require a cashier’s check for the move-​in deposit and I was supposed to move-​in on Sunday when all the banks are closed. I was able to move-​in the next day when the banks are open. Michelle took care of everything and made it the smoothest process imaginable. ⁵⁄₅ move-​in. Flawless.
Original:
I just signed up for a one bedroom at Misora. I have not yet moved into my apartment, so I’ll update my review once I have experienced living there. However, I had a great experience working with the leasing office to secure my apartment.
Jamie, Ashley, and Michelle were all super helpful to me. Ashley showed me the Leváre, Michelle showed me Misora, and Jamie was going to show me Santana Heights before I made up my mind on Misora. I visited three times and they even accommodated me the first time when I showed up and couldn’t locate my appointment. It could have easily been a mistake on my part, but either way they took care of me. I called the leasing office a total of 5 times and every single time I managed to speak to a real human being who really did something for me.
Of course they’re busy, but that’s because Santana Row is one of the hottest places in the whole Bay. Instead of waiting on them and putting more work on their laps, just be proactive. Put yourself in their office and do what you need to do. They deal with thousands of potential residents, and most people aren’t going to follow through on their interests.

Poor management –hardly answer phones, never call you back, take a week to reply to your email if they reply. If they’re «sooo busy» because this place is happening then they should hire more people. I’ve gone to the office waiting for someone to attend me, not a single ‘hello’, ‘We’ll be right with you’, not even a look up. Jamie, I would say is the most attentive, helpful one there.
The location is nice and the view can be great but it’s pretty ghetto once you move in. People leave their garbage everywhere, in flower pots, the elevators, by the garbage shoot (people can’t even open the shoot to throw away their bags of garbage but instead leave it on the floor next to it to pile up). I’ve heard from a lot of ex neighbors they do anything to keep your deposit. Do I regret moving in? You betcha.

3.5 stars rounded up. I stayed in the DeForest Lofts building, adjacent to Misora and Levare apartments. DeForest Lofts are privately owned and therefore don’t incur the same issues as many of the Unilocal complaints here with Misora or Levare, both of which are run by management companies. Any issues are immediately addressed by the owner.
The Good:
–Super Safe
–Great location, walking distance to Valley Fair and shops, 280, 880, 17 freeway
–3 miles from SJC
–high ceilings
–open concept kitchen
–large large windows to let light in
–flexible room accommodations allowing for 2 bd /​1.5 bath and in unit washer/​dryer
–comes with residents card for discounts
–allocated parking space
–pretty quiet location despite it being in the center of shopping
–Very clean
–Shopping carts to move your stuff from garage to room
The Meh:
–Traffic. Getting into the garage is a nightmare at peak shopping hours
–flexible room accommodations and open concept means less privacy
–lofts are 2 story lofts — with a really long staircase. be careful not to fall
–not a very intuitive design and use of space
–expensive HOA ~ $ 500/​month which I have no idea what is included (there is no pool/​spa, gym to speak of)
–Guest parking can be hit or miss

A 2 star average seems harsh for Santana Row living. I lived here for several months after I relocated to the Silicon Valley for work and for the most part I really like it.
I had a 1BR apartment in the area known as Santana Heights which is a raised square block near Olin above places like Cole Haan, Amber India, Left Bank, Sino, Subway, Orvis, etc… The driveway to the private parking garage is near the Orvis shop.
The pool area is great with a large whirlpool jacuzzi. The gym is ok, not large but well equipped. There are plenty of outdoor areas with grills, patio seating and benches to hang out when you are tired of being in your apartment and fed up with the crowds down below.
I loved Santa Row for the variety of shops, bars and restaurants along with the amenities like the pool and other common areas.
I became quickly annoyed with the crowds down below. It go to the point where I wouldn’t leave my apartment unless I had a reservation somewhere since I know the wait for a drink/​meal would be a few hours if I just walked in.
I would rate my experience as 3.5 stars, 2 stars seems overly harsh.