Berkeley Central Apartments 2055 Center Street, Berkeley, CA 94704

"Management is really disrespectful and unreliable, I recommend against living here. I had been really excited to move into my unit, tall windows and beautiful dark hardwood floors. After I moved in I noticed there were a lot of dents and gaps in the flooring and when I reported it to management, after a lot of wait time they told instead of fixing the spots the entire flooring would need to be replaced. First, after we scheduled a date they told me on the day of that they'd need to reschedule to the next day. Next, they told me on the day of the work, that I needed to move out of my apartment while they did the work, even though nothing of the sort had been previously mentioned and no work was being done in the bedroom and bathroom. They refused to cover for last minute hotel expenses. When the worker crew arrived, they had been given a key and entered my apartment 40min earlier than the agreed time, and I was still in the shower. This was honestly really uncomfortable to hear a bunch of men unlocking my door and about to enter my apartment. Worst of all though, when I returned to my apartment the second day, I discovered they had instead of replacing the flooring changed both the material as well as the colors quite drastically. From dark pretty elegant hard wood floors they had replaced with a cheap plastic material and a light color, which felt flimsy and uncomfortable to walk on compared to the wood. When I contacted them about this, they were unwilling to offer any kind of replacement or solutions, even though they had neither approved this work with me nor informed me that it would be happening at all. I would have much preferred they had let me know a material and colors change was planned (which also makes the apartment worth less) and I would have asked them not to go for it. I feel like I've been really wronged, and now need to handle the stress of sorting this out on my own. I feel really sad and screwed over, since this new setup really doesn't work for me and the amount of disrespect and disregard for my preferences as a customer in how this situation has been handled shocks me. This is my home which I've felt really happy in, and they've gone and ruined it."

"I stayed in this building for over 2 years and if I could give this place a 0 star I would have. The apartment building's only positive is the location. The staff is unfriendly except two people but ultimately no one is helpful with the problems of the residents. It is a pricey building but the thing that caused us pain as residents were the hidden fees and utility charges. They make these charges available at any random time - never when the rent is due - and the building portal is "apparently unreliable". We were given ledgers with exorbitant utility amounts and had to make these payments even when they were not reflected on the portal. One of the lifts almost never works and the gym gets closed randomly. The front office takes leaves randomly so it is difficult to reach out to them. But the worst part is the financials. We are students and we were horrified by the utility charges posted. They have Conservice affiliations which makes it impossible to contest charges even when you have not used those services (Like just trash being around $120 per month). The last straw for my roommates and me was the final ledger. They charged us random utilities (yet again) and had huge amounts in cleaning and painting fees (painting being around $500) even when we had left the apartment in a spotless condition. We never got our security deposit back and were yet again charged with amounts we did not recognize. TLDR : I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND THIS PLACE. DO NOT STAY HERE unless you are ready for hidden fees (over $100 a month) and just taking the word of the front office on monthly payments and having an unreliable portal and management. WORST EXPERIENCE EVER."

"Very great place, quiet, safe, lots of great places around the area. Convenient location for visitors as it is in the heart of Berkeley. However, the price may be a bit expensive. We Also hope that the bathrooms were arab-friendly (including the shattaf) but overall it is recommendable."

"We’ve had such a wonderful experience at Berkeley central. The apt is beautiful but more importantly Chelsea has been such a great help as we got acclimated to the community. We look forward to many more years together with Chelsea and the rest of the Berkeley central community!"

"We lived at Berkeley Central for 1 year. We had a really good time, we can't say anything negative. PROS: * The location is very good, 1 minute to Bart and 5 mins to Trader Joe's and a lot of restaurants, Target, Starbucks, UC Berkeley etc. * We felt very safe, you need a special key to get into the apartment and to the garage. * The management and maintenance team are great! They resolved any issues we had the same day. *The apartments are really quiet, we have never heard our neighbors. * There is no heater (which we were worried about in the beginning) but the air-conditioner was good for both summer and winter. * The rooftop terrace is great to hang out:) CONS: * It is pricey! * In most of their 1 bedrooms there is no window and door. Ours had a half wall, which makes it hard to have guests. We had to install a curtain to make it more private. Also if someone is talking or watching TV in the living room, the noise directly comes to the bedroom. Overall, we were really happy living there, I would recommend it to anyone if the open layout is not a problem."