Exchange Studios 527 23rd Avenue, Oakland, CA 94606

"Renters beware. I rented a loft for a year between 2021 and 2022. Here's a list of things that happened: 1. I paid rent for one month using a cashier's check, they lost it. So I had to spend a significant amount of time trying to get my bank to cancel it and get a new payment sent. 2. The walls are so thin neighbors can hear everything. I had noise complaints when I was having people over for dinner at 8 even though the quiet hours don't start until 10 3. When I moved in the unit had an outdated kitchen, specifically the cabinets were disgusting because they hadn't been refinished for a long time. I asked the property manager if I could paint them and the property manager said "sure, we're going to completely remodel when you leave" so I refinished the top cabinets. When I had my walkthrough she indicated the cabinets were going to impact my deposit deductions. The issue was the bottom cabinets didn't look like the top ones. I sent the paint info over and they indicated the maintenance person would do the bottoms so they looked like the tops. I got my deposit back and it turns out they kept $1800 of it because apparently they needed to "paint the whole unit." I left the unit in good condition, only a few picture hanging holes that needed touch-up paint. I also cleaned it to the point where it was in the same condition as when I moved in and they still charged me $350 for deep cleaning."

"No information regarding this spot, didn't attend even doe it's in my visit list. Looks nice from the picture"

"The community constantly has an issue with security - people breaking in and stealing mail and packages. There are constant maintenance issues in the courtyard - the fountain hasn't worked in over 6 months. The fence around the parking lot has been damaged twice by car accidents and currently one exit has been so damaged that it hasn't been fixed in over a month. The going rate for a downstairs studio is $2400 and upstairs with loft is $2850 - which is fair for the space you get and the location. A new corporate management has come in and now charging for you to get a parking space ($50 more/month), Pet rent ($50/month/pet), and have just added fees for trash, sewer, and water (mine was $241) and supposed to be adding addition fees for common area electricity (yet to be determined $). Originally, I was told these would be about $100/month total. What used to be a great little community of 39 apartments has turned into a corporate run building with management who are clearly out to nickel and dime residents for every little thing imposing more and more rules with less and less services. I highly recommend not living here for the money you will spend you are better off are a new building with more services. We will be moving when our lease is up. UPDATE: We have since moved out to an new beautiful building on February 1, 2020. I had to remind Madison Park that they must return my security deposit minus a detailed list of charges within 21 days per CA law on day 22. I had put maybe 20 holes in the walls with nails or anchors for photos and shelves which they charged me 8 hours of labor and 2 GALLONS of paint to fix ($270), a $250 cleaning fee, and ~$675 in back utilities (see above). Absolutely ridiculous!!! Now, nearly 7 weeks later, I'm still trying to pick up any mail that was delivered including W2s and vote by mail ballots (We had to vote provisionally because of them). I've requested for 2 weeks a day/time at their convenience to pick it up. They are now claiming that the main office has sent it and I should have received it two days ago. I have not and no tracking number has been sent. At this point, I've informed them I going to the Post Master General to file an official complaint for mail tampering."

"Helpful"

"Beautiful Gardens and pretty Loft apartments. Surprisingly quiet too, especially for the area!"