I've lived here for 4 years now. I love the amazing location and our apartment. The property is very well maintained and the many amenities make it more like a resort than an apartment complex. I've subtracted one star because there is a problem with false fire alarms that seem to go off in the middle of the night. This has happened to us 6-7 times since we've been here. read more

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Lived here for a year. The fire alarm goes off constantly with no reason. At all hours. 7 am. 2 am. Doesn't matter. it's loud and rings for a random amount of time. read more

Actually enforce the HOA rules. Dogs and cats running loose in hallways (urinating in building stairwell) and interior courtyards, bicycles and clothing hung out to dry on patios and balconies. read more

Excellent Location, Magnificent views . Very Quiet . That s the Best Feature lots of Guest parking Disappointing landscaping . No curb appeal No sidewalks to enter streets off Powell st or from Emery go Around - Shuttle bus . Keep on taking trees and not been replaced ....33 per year ordered by our Governor Incompetent management . Lots of hidden secrets .. Patrol / security is a waste of Owners high HOAS Cannot be trusted, read more

Watergate Community Association - Community Centers Near Me - Emeryville, California

Have lived here for close to 9 years now. HOA - the worst. Bunch on indian and white guys making decisions. Older construction. HOA makes decisions without considering changing demographic of watergate apartments. Giving 2 stars just for the views and access to marina. read more

Quiet, safe, many facilities, has boardwalk, on the bay, 10 minutes to San Francisco, 5 minutes from Trader Joe's, Ross and Marshall's. Been living here for over 25 years. Wouldn't live anywhere else. Some units have water views of the bay, mountains and San Francisco. Property is well maintained. read more

Terrible customer service and racist staff. I had come as an amazon flex driver, i had 6 different packages to drop off at this location. Upon entering the mailroom , i mistaken a trsjdent for an employee but she directed me to the mailroom office . I didnt have time to get the name of the worker but he was a big , older Caucasian man, i would say on the verge of obesity, and i myself am a small, younger black woman. As an amazon flex driver you work with your own vehicle on your own time, its gig work. But apparently santa doesnt know about the existence of gig work jobs or how they work. When i approached him i let him know im here to drop off a few packages, and i had more in my car. Upon stating that, this mans entire demeanor changes. He literally went from 0 to 100 in seconds, almost like a personality switch. His response was "No you're not, how do I know you work for amazon without a vest." I would have understood the initial response due to their signs displaying poor managment and security due to packages being stolen, but how would i be stealing packages if im actively ATTEMPTING to hand it to the mailroom assistant. But his response was one of the most violating, unprofessional, and down right hostile interactions i've ever had!!! I had my app open to show his the scustomers delivery instructions which all 6 customers stated to send to the package room. He immigrated began talking over me when i explained i do gig work, im not required nor am i given a vest, its all optional only provided upon request, which even if i wanted one the amazon warehouse i get assigned to never has extra vest therefore none of this is within my control. I tried to tell him i understand the confusion but i also have my drivers license and my amazon flex badge on my app the matches BUT HE REFUSED TO CHECK ANYTHING FOR WHATEVER REASON. and literally another flex driver comes in with a vest and he begins yelling at me saying things like "this young man knows how to do his job" and i told him okay let me just leave these here and sign them off since youre refusing to cooperate with me. as im standing there checking off boxes this fat mother blubber fu**** thought it would be a good idea to began yelling at me saying and i quote "DONT YOU EVER come back here again" as if i dont belong there?? as if i wasnt doing my job?? and he began getting up out of his seat literally yelling over me, i cant even get a work out and start walking towards me in a threatening manner as if he was going to do something to me saying things like he was going to call the cops. i refuse to believe this is all over a vest because when i asked why are you refusing to take these packages he wanted to say because i had no form of identification, and i asked wheres his, it was a id photo cover by his beer belly that he had to lift up. so if we both had plastic ID's , why didnt he accept mines? Not to mention this altercation sent me into a full panic attack because of how aggressive and hostile this man was, i seriously thought i might have to put my hands on hime to defend myself because of how he was interacting with me and affected my whole delivery block which affected my standing and put my job at risk. i dont even live here but i feel for the residents, but will for surely never consider this place read more

We moved in right before the pandemic and at first we really liked the community. We had access to the gym, the pool, the staff was friendly. Our main complaint before was the amount of noise from neighbors, and both Watergate security and police not doing much to help the situation. It was multiple times a week that there seemed to be domestic violence happening both above us and next to us. We called security on several occasions only to be told that the security couldn't get involved in domestic issues and that they would have the police come. I also let the HOA know about this issue and there wasn't much that could be done... can't you send them a letter letting them know they are disturbing the peace? In the end they really did nothing and so we dealt with it for 2 years. When the pandemic hit, the community only seemed to go downhill. They closed our mail room and the mail carriers would dump packages in random buildings. On multiple occasions I had my stuff stolen or stumbled upon someone's opened mail tossed aside. All of the amenities were closed and still not reopened for months after the county allowed them to be. If I owned, I couldn't imagine paying all of the HOA fees for stuff that I do not have access to during the pandemic and (also is always broken)! I believe that they let go of security when the pandemic hit because it seemed that there were more crime reports on the Nextdoor app--reports of cars getting broken into, catalytic converters getting stolen, people getting mugged in the parking garage, homeless people sleeping in building lobbies or doing their laundry, laundry getting stolen, packages stolen, etc. On one occasion my car was broken into in the garage and the security blamed me for having stuff in my car that could be taken. I know nothing could be done about my stuff, but the response I received and the fact that they didn't seem like they were doing much to fix the problem was very upsetting. Elevators are ALWAYS broken. At one point my building's elevator was broken for a couple of months. It was finally fixed and broke again shortly after. Historically this place is not pet friendly so be prepared for some of the long-term residents to make snide comments at you if you have a pet. Also make sure to read the rules of where pets can use the restroom. The location is nice, I will give them that. And the folks at the Clipper Club were always very nice. But ultimately they need to do a lot of work with the new manager who has come in. Hiring more security and developing action plans might be a nice first step? read more

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i've lived here for over 12 years so i can have the opinion on saying this is the worst place on earth to live. I wouldn't even let my worst enemy live here. Security is a god damn joke, they pay these people just for show so they can hike up HOA fees. These neighbors are a**holes who steal packages and clothes from your god damn laundry. I can't tell you more many clothes i've gotten stolen OR SWAPPED. Everything you see about this place is a SHOW, just to hike up prices because it's near the ocean. You know how many cars get broken into every WEEK??? The HOA IS A JOKE. They do not care about the safety of people who live here. everything they pretend to do is to raise all prices instead of raising a quality of life. All the maintenance workers here are also useless and basically just for show, you want anything done maintenance wise??? file a report and wait a few months if you're lucky because they have more " important things " to do like harassing people. Moral is stay far far away from here, if not you'll regret it. read more

I Feel the current Manager is doing great Job. I notice the Wonderful 5000 Sq. Ft. Clubhouse is starting to look much better now and should be used more. The office staff seem very efficient and professional now day's. I also love the new paint color This is the best yet in my opinion. read more

If you'd like to be woken up at 7 am every single day due to loud noises they make during garbage collection, this is the perfect place for you to live! read more

Caution. This place can be very, very loud! Little to no real management by HOA/Watergate offices. The prices/HOA fees for this community are getting astronomical for the conditions you get to live in. I know you can find a better environment to live in especially for the price. Don't let realtors fool you. Well this place has been falling apart fast within the last year! Unsure if it's because of the entitled rich people moving in or the lack of real management here at Watergate...or it might just be both. Watergate office. They've updated payment so now you can finally use a card to pay for new id's and what not. The hours are still pathetic as ever 9am-5pm. If you got a 9am-5pm job you already now the outcome. Don't bother asking them about rules/complaints they won't be able to point you in the right direction nor will anything come from complaints about anything. If anything all they'll say is call property patrol..thats it. Property patrol. Frankly they are useless because of management. They may/may not log reports and even if they do it seems like the upper management doesn't keep that type of information for more than a year. Cars are targeted all the time here due to the lack of cameras/security and the garages aren't gated. So theft of vehicles occurs quite often especially catalytic converters believe it or not. That and if you have a camping vehicle do NOT leave anything attached to top racks or anything..it will get stolen. If you have any issue with a neighbor and the volume level of anything they'll say to call property patrol. Don't bother. Security needs to verify the sound so if it takes 10+ minutes for security to show up and the loud sounds are no longer happening nothing at all will come of it. If the issue isn't verified management will shrug their shoulders about it. Clipper club. The only positive thing about this place. They have a pool when it's up and running correctly. The gym is nice, though stuff is always breaking because the lack of upkeep. The community. Watergate has been changing fast and for the worse. Elevators always going out of order OR if you look at the inspection dates they are way over due...meaning elevators aren't being properly maintained. Lights constantly going out in the halls. The walls and floors have little to no insulation so you get to hear every sound your neighbor makes. Good luck if they have unruly kids or if they workout and do jumping jacks in their apartment. If you have any issue with water leaking and Watergate sends their maintenance supervisor do not be shocked if you don't see them making their own report for watergate. It just won't happen so be careful because you as the renter/owner will bite that bullet. 0 accountability on Watergates end even if it involves more than 1 apartment. We have been lucky to have an amazing landlord/owner but for us the new neighbors and the lack of management within watergate/HOA these days isn't necessarily worth the price you pay anymore. read more

That's a community I highly recommend for people working in SF financial district or in East bay. Before moving in, I was a little concerned about the commute to SF. However, using casual carpool in the morning only takes me 15mins and 1 dollar to get to work. That is a big surprise for me. Also it's very safe here. The police station is only steps away. Very quiet and beautiful walking path by the water. There is a good restaurant nearby called East Ocean. I recommend going there for dim sum. Anyway, it's a great place to live and commute. I like it here. read more

Very old building, every service deteriorating. Buildings were build in the 70s, and, oh my, do they ever look the part. Buildings are entirely wooden, you can hear your neighbors breath (literally, not a joke). HOA is more demanding than new buildings in Mountain View. It's insane. For such an old building, with stains in carpets, 0 maintenance, and things constantly broken, it's an absolute joke, let alone the high fees. Almost everything about this place is a joke, but the old people who seem to enjoy just watching people from their balconies. People will go out of their way to bother you here. Stay far, far, far away. read more

This place is not for millennials and younger. I made a lifestyle sacrifice by moving here. Dangerously bad cell reception. Confusing for friends and lyfts. You'll need a land line. Combatively defensive LGBTQ-insensitive in the mail room. I'm confined to amazon locker. Office closes early in the weekday and not open at all on weekends. Good luck with that night shift job. All entrances on parking garage read "stop" facing the car inside. I've had taxis refuse to go in there, because the words were not in the right direction. It can be hard to regularly explain to drivers. This shared little secret in the wayfinding signage symbolizes this whole place for me. Seriously, i've felt like marty mcfly acclimating to 1950s culture. It's just too much trouble after a while. If you still live in the atomic age, and you miss your old rest home in Florida, try WCA. Oh and there's a view of boats and water. read more

Worthless. My HOA was near $400 and it kept rising. My car was broken into and the "head security guy" told me "...that even with multiple car break-ins - it isn't that bad b/c no one has died yet..." When my car was broken into, I contacted watergate security. they took 10 minutes to get to me. WOW. the majority of residents are elderly people. Imagine if an elderly person was being attacked. My HOA fees go toward the security of watergate. In essence, I pay their salary and they should treat me like a customer. Anyway, they've since upgraded the security with camera enclosures all over. The interior still looks like a run down hotel. The HOA meetings are a joke. I attended a few meetings, and would rather fly a kite. They use to have a really good front desk guy. I wonder why he left. The HOA office also failed to refund me a deposit when i sold my condo - I had to chase them for it. Pretty sad. With all of the new condominium complex that have popped up all around emeryville - watergate is on the losing end with such a lousy HOA read more

Amazing location for the property and amenities are killer with 4 swimming pools, 4 tennis courts, 2 raquetball courts, full gym, billards room and pick up of postal packages. Problems arise in the overly high HOA at $400 and up. If they redid the HOA to meet other condo complexes, then it would be A+. Shawn read more

Someone in this office came up an brilliant idea that upgraded all laundry machine in the community from accepting coin+credit card payment to coin+mobile app payment only , neglecting the fact that 90% of the area in the community doesn't have phone signal (and you have to be within Bluetooth range of the machine). read more

HOA in this community is one of the highest in the Bay Area now, however the service simply cannot keep up. The efficiency is pretty low here even though they hired so many employees. Don't be surprise when it takes you 20 minutes waiting in line at the clipper club just to get a holiday package. There's always something under repair, and these construction takes months and years complete. I guess there's really so much to fix in the community. Recently the association pushed hard for efficiency and upgrades, so they upgraded the payment method in the laundry room to app compatible. Guess what? There's no signal in most of the laundry rooms, so none of the machines can be activated, and all of a sudden no one can do laundry anymore. Luckily we had some coin at home to save the night, but now I'm thinking we are back to the 70s... or 60s??? read more

Lots of pools and places to walk. Nice location. Good workout room. Not a great place if you have kids. Too many rules enforced that are Anti kids of all ages. Nice place to live if you are old and love tons of rules that don't allow for much fun. Nice tennis courts too. Halls are somewhat run down. Place could use some renovations too. read more

Ii do not understand some of the comments I see on this sight! I moved there in Decemer 1978 and think watergate is wonderful! I love my unit. It is on the San Francisco Bay I can walk down the boardwalk to Trater Vicks. We have a clubhouse with a steam room and sauna, four pools, a. Free bus to bart and I can go on and on. J cant see how it could be any better! read more

I have lived at Watergate for more than 20 years. It is not perfect but after all the hate I feel a need to provide my perspective. The garbage is collected weekly, not daily and yes it is noisy. The pools are maintained well. However sometimes delays happen while waiting for parts. The building is old but the HOA team gives it lots of TLC. During my time here all plumbing was redone, all outside areas were painted and the inside hallways were totally redone. A very good fire alarm system was also installed in all units. The tennis courts were also resurfaced. The package pickup service was recently replaced with pickup available at the clipper club using a new system. I hope this will be more efficient. Certain dogs are now permitted here and rules are in place to minimize the noise and mess. The laundry rooms now have wifi and the digital and coin based systems work well now. Although certain guests would like to ban children, I am sorry but that is not allowed. My biggest complaint is the HOA rules are oppressive. For example, the curtains in the units must be a neutral color and no bicycles or even beach towels are allowed on the balconies. And because of the pandemic appointments must be made to go swimming or play tennis and the gym and clipper club are still closed. This applies to all residents with or without the vaccine. So not perfect, but not the hellhole some residents say it is. read more

Nicely tucked away - almost camouflaged between the bay and the big dividing line Rte 80 running N & S (but technically East & West) is the snug biggest little community in town. Close to the city - about 10 minutes sometimes to downtown - and up to and hour in the midst of a heavy commute - we are located with Police & Fire art the front gate. If you look at crime stats closely we are in good shape here. Some remarks come from curmudgeons on a bad day. It is so quiet here. I like an occasional baby crying or a few children running through the halls on a holiday weekend. People know each other and neighbors communicate. The place was built in the early 1970s. The management was off-course for a while- but the return of the guy Jeff was greeted like the return of a savior by long-term residents - and has proven so. We get plenty of info that we need - well ahead of the occasional interruptions. The HOA fees are going up tho - 6% which is hard. Facilities were greatly disrupted by the covid thing - and hours were cut back here and there. Overall - MOST IMPROVED for 2022. Best part - the pools and the PROXIMITY to EVERYTHING. Worst part - prices are rising. In a nutshell: Septagenarianopolis with a few adorable children here and there. read more

Great place to live. Is relatively quiet if a bit long in the tooth. I see tons of negative reviews from millennials and young people here and all I can say is good, we don't want you here. Believe it or not, every corner of the Bay Area doesn't need to be inundated with shitty EDM music, entitled, spoiled little human turds (literally heard a woman whine that the tiny corner store here didn't carry HER brand of seaweed chips) and take your grown men riding hover boards back to SF where that BS is welcome. And keep your pets too, we want this place to be peaceful and free from he constant, incessant barking and meowing of the undisciplined pets of spoiled Millennials. Every place isn't designed for babies either. You want to have a kid, go to the suburbs, thats what they're there for. There are zero schools here for them when they grow up, it's dangerous living surrounded by jagged rocks and water and there's no other child friendly services here. What're you thinking trying to raise a baby in a condo complex that's been intentionally isolated from the city? This place is for older, mature people that enjoy being far from the nonsense of San Francisco, the danger of parts of Oakland and the politics of Berkeley. It's a nice, quiet place and we'd be fine with the younger crowd making fun of us as long as it's from the other side of the bridge. read more

Great association who is very responsive. The staff is friendly and are patient with all community issues. The time I visited they were incredibly helpful. They can get kind of busy with regards to maintenance calls, but when the do handle the issue you can count on their completion. read more

With the HOAs as high as they are the Manager in charge of the office is extremely rude! Not respected or liked by the community memebers. There is absolutey no sense of customer service. There should be a change in Management personnel in the HOA office, but people are too afraid to speak up or do anything about it. read more

I'm renting a studio at this place. The monthly rent increased by $300 in the last year because the city doesn't have rent control. So I think if you are looking to rent, the rent price will depend on how chill/greedy your landlord is. The prices are pretty much mark-to-market in the "new Emeryville" area where all the new and modern apartments are, but seriously this complex doesn't deserve the mark-to-market because it is a bit farther into the marina, away from public transportation, and OLD. The rent should be much lower than those new apartments rather than marked up in a greedy manner. The gym and post office are conveniently located within walking distance and have reasonable hours. Also it's walking distance to just about anything you can imagine -- Trader Joe's, Bay Street mall, AMC, IKEA, etc. I walk to Trader Joe's almost every day and pick up only 1-2 things at a time because I can always come back the next day. The neighbors are mostly retirees, families, and working professionals and are nice most of the time. However, one of my neighbors was a dick and stole my chocolate gift that my boyfriend hung on my door. Apart from that, the neighbors are generally nice and no huge issues yet. read more

The grounds are pretty and it's in a good location; but it's one of the noisiest places on earth! If you work P.M.s or nite shift, you CAN NOT live here. You will never get any sleep. Garbage trucks, delivery trucks, leaf blowers, construction and maintenance. It never ends! I once lived next to a railroad track that was quieter than this place. My other major peeve is "Selective enforcement" of the community rules and regs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_enforcement Some residents are given warnings about a broom or a bicycle on the patio(both major no- no's) and other residents get carte blanche to abuse the rules for years! Are these folks "friends" of management, or what? Selective enforcement is illegal and I smell a lawsuit! read more

Dear neighbor and community member, Attention! Watergate Community Your Urgent Response will reduce the costs to you now! Recession started September 2008! Your WC condo has lost a significant value, selling at its' 1998 price. In 1998, your WC assessment fee was: $237/ per month (2 bedrooms) and less In 2009, your WC assessment fee is: 45%-46% more than 1998 Take action OR Pay More in July! VOTE! Go To: WCAVOTE@HOTMAIL.COM Email Your Vote: Yes, I Vote Against Assessment Increase of 7/2009. Reduce WCA Assessment Fee to 1998 rate. Include Your Full Name, Address, Unit Number. We need 100 votes to reduce your monthly obligations by 45%. If you now pay $512 per month, your vote will reduce it to $237 a month; a saving of $3,300 per year. You can sell your house better because the association fee is reasonable. You demand higher level of care by the WCA office to increase the value of your home and live in a more desirable environment. The mold and ants, the rats and their holes, the dead rats will need to be addressed Thank you for casting your vote and expressing concerns about the financial wellbeing of our homeowners who are either facing tough times or needing to protect their financial investment in this community. We need your help to spread the word. Please hand out the attached flyer in case the flyer is removed or they do not have an email to cast their vote. We want all of our neighbors to get a chance to exercise their rights to vote: Yes, reduce my monthly assessment fee to what it was in 1998. Help us reach out to everyone. Help everyone to have a voice. We are now sending a letter to the board requesting an urgent meeting to change vote or face a recall. Please distribute this letter to neighbors and friends to help us with distributing and keeping our community aware of the steps we take to preserve their rights and best interests. Thanks read more

own at watergate and essentially find that hoa sees themselves as a fiefdom that does not require them to remember that they are paid by the owners and therefore work for them..worse than that, they are not troubled by their violations of free speech.. i have personal experience with their refusal to permit criticism by not permitting critical letters to them to be printed in the community newspaper..i have documentation from them saying so. they also ordered the removal of a flyer posted on a community bulletin board... i happened to be there reading it when a maintenance person came by and said he was ordered to remove it...the flyer was critical of them. i plan to contact the aclu to see if they have any interest in testing the limits of the hoa's power to violate free speech.... read more

Terrible Association and customer service. I wish the Board would replace some personnel with those that can provide better customer service. They charged me $10 late fee because, by accident, I short paid $1.50! I've been an owner for over 15 years and never late!!!! The accounting manager there did not try to help waive the $10 fee at all. So, I'm paying about a late fee of 650% more than the amount they were short paid. Seriously???? read more

The tenants are rude to guest, they think they own the building. I had a guest over who brought her little 10 pound dog and she was confronted by an elderly man saying he will call security if she doesn't leave. Really? Is your life that bad that you need to bully a woman? The pet policy is out dated, they do not allow dogs on the premises. read more

These people are horrible. Not one ounce of customer service. I live here and cannot get anyone to take my money for my "dues". My wallet was stolen on July 1st, 2013 from work, and still today is November 21st, 2013 and i have no locker key, no official door key, no hall pass as they make you buy and yet they send threatening notes to my landlord and me claiming they don't know who lives here. I went to talk to them this morning and all it did was give me a headache to talk to them. Again, they have restrictions to accept my money. I would want to buy here i enjoy my view and quiet so much. But knowing they are run by this group of people I would NEVER buy here. read more

I really enjoy living here. I have access to many pools and 2 spas. Clean and well kept.