St. Claire Apartments

"The unit is nice. But communication sucks a little. I reach out to management via email & the tenant portal, and get responses maybe half the time, if that. I usually have to remind them of any service requests I submit. And there's hardly ever anybody on site. The parking situation is a little inconvenient. It's walking distance of a lot of thing though, so that's good. The units have nice big windows with lots of sunlight. Appliances are good."

"Jenney was amazing with the application and moving process. The apartment is great and has everything we need. The customer service has been great!"

"I lived in a one bedroom loft at the Sainte Claire apartments for about a year and a half. The space itself was well-designed and felt high-quality and comfortable with lots of character. There were, of course, the usual challenges of theft and loud noise that come with living in the heart of a city, but my partner and I chalked it up to coming with the territory and were willing to accept those aspects for the huge windows, historical touches, and access to so much art and culture. However, after 4 car break-ins and 3 911 calls over the course of our time there, it was the untrustworthy and completely non-responsive management that caused us to ultimately leave. Shortly after signing our lease and moving in, we noticed a decline in communication from the property management team which evolved over the course of our stay to a complete lack of response on their part to things like maintenance requests, concerns about safety, and general inquiries about the property and building policies. I always sent these questions or requests through the correct channels and of course used respectful and appropriate language but was never given so much as an acknowledgment of my concerns (often after multiple emails/calls and several months of waiting). Ultimately, we were having to put our own money and time into fixing toilet seats, lights, and other things that should have been taken care of by the building management and it started to become disheartening and ultimately made us feel taken advantage of and uncomfortable in our our home. And, the lack of upkeep and response was not limited to our unit. There are two elevators in the building but only one was ever in use. The one functioning elevator was broken for more than a month with no communication regarding updates or timeline of having it fixed. In addition to this, early on in our time at the St. Claire we had a maintenance person incorrectly service our AC which led to it malfunctioning and resulted in over $1,200 of PGE overage charges over a two month period. We contacted the building team multiple times about this and it took three different people over the course of a few weeks to find the problem (our apartment was averaging 94 degrees the whole time this was going on) and to top it off we were never properly reimbursed for the extra charges even though it was a result of their faulty maintenance. Furthermore, there were a few times during this that maintenance personnel would walk straight into my apartment without knocking and startle me while I was home alone which felt very unprofessional and unsafe. Finally, we had to reach out multiple times to see about renewing our lease and were told over a period of 6 months that they had to "talk to the corporate office" about new rates and lease deals. In the meanwhile our rent skyrocketed because we ended up being forced to go month to month while we waited for a new contract. And, to top it all off, after months of no response, the day we gave our notice they came back saying they had heard back from the made up corporate office and could offer us only a slight increase in our rent if we would stay. My partner and I struggled a lot with the decision to leave since we enjoyed the space and surrounding area so much, but ultimately we are happier in a building and community that values us and treats us with respect rather than money gouges us and does the absolute bare minimum to not get sued. Now that we are in a new place I realize what a difference it makes in one's quality of life to feel safe and comfortable and supported - especially when you don't own the place you are living in. I am grateful for the experience of living in this beautiful, downtown historic building.... I'm just disappointed there are slum lords running it."

"We couldn't be more happy with living at St. Claire Apartments. The building itself is beautiful if you are one to appreciate historic buildings. As a San Jose native, the history in San Jose is special to us. So living here was a great choice for us. We definitely like the walking distance to restaurants, bars, and SOFA when hosting events, festivals, shows, etc. The Staff has been extremely helpful anytime we have an inquiry or need any maintenance completed. Jenney, the Property Manager is great when it comes to communication and with my personal experience, she genuinely likes helping or being there for her community. We are grateful for her assistance and understanding on numerous occasions. Her staff as well have been great to us, and readily available to assist when needed. Just so you know which floor plan we live in. It is the 863 sq. ft. unit. It is a stunning corner unit with large windows throughout the living room and kitchen. So if you like a well sunlit home. This is a great choice."

"Beware of false advertisements! No rooftop or gym. Key fob is always having issues… As a result, I’ve been locked out a few times from the building and had to wait for someone to come and let me in. I’ve requested maintenance 3 times for the same issue and it has still not been fixed. Had packages stolen from the lobby/mailroom. Frequently hear homeless screaming outside. Other than all those issues, the building has a lot of character and has beautiful high ceilings."