This is a hard review to write. I lived here for six years: longer than any place I have lived in…read moremy adult life. There is great potential here. However, between the pandemic and the massive flooding caused by a resident: this building cannot financially recover. It is clear that they have cut back services to cover losses. They could list the problems but they appear to be pretty well documented. This is the problem when a business is owned by investors. Yet, I stayed for years. Why? The view. The closet space (my two bedroom had six closets, and a laundry closet). Burt. Chris. Maria (but they got rid of her). Walter (even though he left). Ana. Some of my neighbors. So much potential. They should re-invest.

I've been living here 7 months. I'm loving the place. It…read morehas great views (civic and urban views to the hills and across town), great amenities (gym, pool, hot tub, libraries, work rooms, gardens, and lounges with wifi are the ones I use but there are others), great staff, and is 2 minutes walk from a MUNI station that has underground tram/bus/train things going every 3 minutes downtown. I like the Hayes Valley shopping and plaza. Yes there are drugged out people hanging around the bus stops three or four times a week. Yes there are sirens one or two times each day. Yes there is traffic going by constantly. Yes it is windy and cold in Summer. Welcome to urban SF. ** Specific praise ** * The cleaner keeps the foyers, lounges and lifts spotless, and they are using a cleaning solution that has a gentle and pleasant perfume, rather than the strong nausea inducing one that is used by several other apartment complexes I visited. * The gym is very clean and the good range of equipment is good quality and well maintained. Paper and cleaning solution is also provided for cleaning up oneself. The hot tub and swimming pool are of the perfect temperature and size. * Without exception, the staff are kind and work to be helpful. * When we moved in, we identified items requiring maintenance & they were fixed immediately. I asked for a manual for something, and they updated it and gave me the manual. * There is good communication of possible disruptions. * I love our apartment with the floor to ceiling windows, the sound insulation in the windows and doors, the quiet heater/air conditioner. ** Specific annoyances ** * Our corridor smells like a city organic rubbish tip on some days - maybe once or twice a week for part of the day. Some wind directions result in smelly air being pushed up the rubbish chute, and it gets pushed open. Sometimes the smell is so bad I retch. I've learned on this occasions to check the chute. Requests to maintenance improved but didn't fix the situation. * The swimming pool always has detritus in it, such as hair clumps and leaves, though the water is clear. (The hot tub is fine.) * When we were signing the lease, we had to source two Bank cheques / cashier checks, rather than using electronic funds transfer. This is a problem if no bank is organised as one can't get a bank without a residence! A very 19th Century problem. * The rent went up overnight, between when I visited the place and when I signed up. * Maintenance has a specific policy of *not helping* to install things after one has already moved in! One can't even ask them to do it for extra pay. ** General ** As a home owner, I would describe the apartment as "economically" appointed, even though it is well maintained and had just been repainted (imperfectly) and recarpeted when we moved in. The kitchen appliances were noisy to me, though they worked well. The kitchen cupboards are unlined and the doors don't soft close (and get caught on the drawers or oven). There are showers over standard tubs in both bathrooms, and no vanity drawers. There is little if any underlay under the rough feeling carpet. The hard flooring looks cheap and has been installed on a creaky base board. The room light switches are not connected to lights. There is a ceiling gap of 2.5 inches in each room for "style" reasons, allowing one to see into the ceiling cavity. The windows are slightly dirty. There were many issues with the lifts failing last year, and with package overload/ bad systems resulting in delivery delays, but those are sorted now. Normally I wouldn't complain about anything in the last paragraph especially since I don't know what the standards are for rentals in the US, this is my first one, but the exorbitant rent makes one feel that they should do better.

The building has been poorly maintained since it was built. It was often unclean, trash was…read morefrequently full, and there was a bad smell in common areas. Overall, my experience was not good. The only positive aspect was the affordable rent. Management was not effective for most of my stay, although it has improved recently with the new manager, Delcia Felix who is really responsive and helpful. Still, the building issues require more staff and better cooperation from residents. Overall, I would not recommend living here, and I'm glad I moved out and would not return

I have lived here since the complex opened in 2019. The fellow residents are nice, there's safe…read moreareas for the kids to play, and no noise issues. However, some residents are slobs, and expect too much of the overworked maintenance staff, and overload trash chutes. But my main concern is the overzeal parking permit/vehicle towing policy. Even if your car is parked legally in its' assigned spot, if a parking permit is not showing, your car will be towed to the tune of over $500 to get back (if retrieved immediately. This has happened to me twice, due to no fault of my own, [the permit WAS in the car] and I am a disabled veteran with PTSD issues and on a fixed income, so created severe issues for me. I'd move if that was an option. what is ironic, is that if your car is parked in someone ELSE's spot--nothing is done, as long as some random permit is showing: the number on the permit does not have to correspond to the parking spot number one is parked in. If this is your spot, you have no recourse: tenants have no authority to request a tow--it is just a random thing done by Morris & Son Towing, when they decide to enter the premises and make some money--which I highly suspect a portion of is kicked back to the facility management. Why else would they have such an aggressive program that causes problems when there is none, and ignores parking problems when they exist? It makes no sense otherwise. Other than that, the office staff (Delcia) is wonderful, and probably not privy to this kickback scheme. She tries really hard to keep the place clean, and deal with other problems the best she can. And the residents get along well, and I know of no issues of theft nor burglaries at this complex. Other than having your car suddenly & unexpectedly towed. I'd just park on the street instead, but it is too far for my disabled legs to walk.

Elevator unrepaired for half a year now. Front door was broken for two months likewise. Front desk…read moreis missing most of the runs so package deliveries frequently fail. No dedicated building security. Locker system for packages is always buggy. Changed the callbox system for no reason which broke my callbox number. Also rent is rising yet again. Would not recommend. Update: building security is non existent. I got chased around the block by a homeless guy and called building security and they didn't do anything. Unsafe place to live. Update: garage door to parking broke today, staff isn't doing anything about it Edit: Rosalinda is awesome though. She helps me check the lockers when there are issues with Luxer One, the buggy locker system. The other staffs are alright. Edit: I don't know about you but elevator broken for 4 months doesn't sound very ideal to me.

Room was extremely clean when we moved in. Beautiful lobby, staff are extremely nice (shoutout to…read moreDexter!) and helping. Package deliveries are super safe.

I have lived here at Palmia for almost a year now, and just renewed my lease. I met Cici Bower last…read moreyear during my initial visit to Palmia. She answered all my questions, gave me a great tour and make me feel welcome immediately. What a great experience it was! The entire staff including Phoebe and Paul are extremely professional, friendly, and caring individuals. The living conditions at Palmia are excellent, lots of amenities and peaceful!!! Everyone here goes the extra mile to ensure any problems or concerns are dealt quickly. The maintenance crew are great as well. All public areas are always clean and neat. This is a great place to live!

I appreciate having the opportunity to live at Palmia in Fremont's Warm Springs area. The staff…read moreincluding Phoebe, Paul, and Ben have been extremely helpful. It is a comfortable and beautiful place. I am elderly so having a safe and secure building to live in is important to me. Thanks to all at Palmia.

$51K/year for 600 sq ft, sewage on my bathroom floor five times, and a manager who wished me Happy…read moreNew Year by blaming me for it. They lure you in with a 10-week rent concession. Mine brought my net effective rent down to ~$2,974/mo. Here's what they don't tell you: twelve months later, I was paying ~$3,900/mo. That's a $1,000/month increase in one year. How? The concession disappears, a $280/mo month-to-month premium kicks in, and utilities -- water, sewer, gas, trash -- are all billed separately and fluctuate month to month. You'd think paying an extra $280/mo premium for the flexibility of not signing another lease would be enough. Nope. They raised my rent again on top of it. By year two, I was past $4,100/mo before PG&E and internet, which you also pay separately. Total out-of-pocket: over $4,300/mo. That is $51,000 a year for 600 square feet in a building from 1989 with no walk-in shower, outdated gym equipment, and no package lockers -- you have to physically go to the front desk during office hours to collect your Amazon deliveries like it's 2005. My toilet overflowed with sewage five separate times in under two years. Not a typo. Five times. My shower drain clogged repeatedly. The toilet had a constant drip that took multiple service calls to resolve. The on-site maintenance team was always friendly and responsive -- I genuinely have no complaints about them -- but the fact that I needed them this often for the same issues tells you everything about what 36 years of plumbing looks like. When I emailed management asking them to cover a deep cleaning after sewage flooded my bathroom floor, they refused, blamed me, and the Senior Community Manager offered to have someone "explain how plumbing works" to me. He then followed up with a cartoon infographic about what you're allowed to flush. On January 2nd, his email to me opened with: "Happy New Year. I am reaching out because, once again, you seem to have clogged the toilet." I am paying this man's employer $51,000 a year. The waterfront location is genuinely great. That is the only reason this isn't one star. Everything else -- the plumbing that fails constantly, the rent that doubles before you realize it, the management that treats paying tenants with open contempt -- is not worth your money. You have better options in this city.

We had a few maintenance needs and submitted a request which was responded to quickly and…read morecompletely. Three of SBMA maintenance staff Nelson, Kevin and Carlos working as a team did a great job from start to finish. The result was the maintenance and repairs needed were done competently and we are very pleased. They are all also very pleasant and easy to work with.

Good and bad things, like anywhere. Beautiful pool and nice location. Fairly new building with good…read moreappliances. Good maintenance team. It's structured like a hotel. Every time someone closes their door it's very loud, causing all the dogs in the long hallway way to bark. Depending on where you live, things are very spread out. The garage is pretty far from my apartment and my space was on a different floor. Lots of noise from the upstairs neighbor and also the next-door neighbors. Just basic walking around sounds very loud from upstairs. I moved my bed into the living room because I could hear my neighbor's bedframe knocking against the wall. Very thin walls. Hard and stressful to have a reactive dog in this crowded environment. Also, there does not appear to be scheduled cleaning going on in the common areas, specifically the carpet. I saw someone vacuuming the hallway carpet three times in the 15 months I was there. They ask you to put in a work order if you see something that needs to be cleaned. Food spills, dog poop, etc. will be there for months. There needs to be more cleaning because their current system is not sufficient. Very friendly personnel at the front desk, though. I had only very positive experiences with them. Rent increase was 6% which I felt was pretty standard for this area. The reason I left is because of the noise level and gross carpet.

When we moved in to these apartments, we were willing to pay extra for the location and the…read moreseemingly high-end quality of the penthouse unit. We lived here for 14 months and here's my honest opinion of our experience there. The pros are: very nice office staff, the maintenance crew is very prompt, the apartment is spacious. The cons are: for the amount of money we paid in rent, the overall complex has a low-budget vibe. The common grounds have dirty carpeting that is rarely vacuumed, let alone professionally cleaned. The gym has run down, old equipment and is frequently broken. The gym is never dusted or thoroughly cleaned. The elevator has an expired permit. The bathroom fan runs automatically, very often, and there's nothing you can do about it. It's very loud and when it finally shuts off, it makes a loud clunk, that is enough to wake us up. (let alone the extra charges for electricity while it's running) The refrigerator in our unit is very small and dented. The layout is very odd, even if it's large, and misses the opportunity to capitalize on the view we fell in love with. The drywall patchwork (fixing holes by the previous tenant) is poorly done. The washing machine broke several times with the same error code (at least 4) and although the maintenance crew came promptly, they didn't permanently fix it. The trash room is constantly over flowing and the package area is almost always a mess. It's as if there are too many tenants sharing the same trash room and there aren't enough package lockers to accomodate such a large complex. All these things would be almost tolerable if we weren't charged an exorbitant amount in rent. There are excessive early morning noises; bull horns from the people rowing in the wee hours, trash trucks, an air boat (think Florida swamp boat) and gun shots from the people (we assume) are hunting. That's not the fault of the complex, but something to factor in considering the rent they charge. (no prior reviews seemed to mention these things) Overall it turned out to be way overpriced for the unit and complex.

Bella Castello is a great place to live. It's good location to access to the freeway and very close…read moreto the supper market, especially close to good Vietnamese restaurant. Tenants and management are great. I am happy to live here.

Bella is a great place to live. Good location with quick access to the freeway which is very…read moreimportant to me and a 7/11 right across the street. Each unit is very clean and spacious with your own washer/dryer hookups and central a/c. Management is great and the other tenants are very friendly.

I have updated my review after a call from Desmond, the current manager today 9/15. He could see a…read morecall had come in 8/31 but their voicemail folder didn't open so he couldn't hear a message. He is addressing the noise issue. The train is frequent and timing is inconsistent and very loud unless you keep your windows closed at all times. Garbage fees are almost double what I was quoted and is much more than I've ever paid when renting in Oakland and usually double what friends in large homes in Oakland pay per month. Update: Desmond explained that there is an additional company AquaVia pays to sort the garbage and trash elsewhere to avoid penalty fees for things being dumped incorrectly and to reduce people going through the bins on the street. That is what causes the unusually high garbage fees. The windows were cleaned recently, which is an improvement, and hopefully the stained hallway carpets get cleaned soon. Update: Desmond, the current manager, is working on having the stains cleaned up. Bryant, the maintenance manager, is cool. Update: I appreciate that Desmond was responsive and if needed going forward I can contact him directly via email rather than leaving voicemails as that system doesn't appear to be working correctly. The new manager appears to be trying to make positive changes in the building.

A amazing place.The maintenance team and housekeeping is awesome.The leasing people are not.My move…read morein,was a welcoming.Here is your keys.And everytime I go in the office,they act as if they are bothered by my presence.So i just stopped asking.They even watched a struggling 66 year old women trying to get her package on a cart,without a,can I help u.They just care.The maintenance is awesome.The facilities are beautiful and the residents are sweet and friendly.