Aquatic Higby — Local services in Berkeley

For the apartment complex: Aquatic Ashby(owned by aquatic higby and is shown as closed on maps).

Terrible apartment complex and management. When I first moved in, Brenda who helped me was wonderful and addressing my concerns, following up with me, etc. I assume she left because of how poor it was and I don’t blame her. It took them days to get my lease approved mainly because they couldn’t get their IT system to work, and they couldn’t manually override it. Nor did any of them communicate with each other what the issue was and I had to repeatedly explain over and over to new people. Upon signing my lease, I was supposed to get a promo of gift cards to spend at Berkeley Bowl (a nearby grocery store), it took them 6 months of calling, emailing, and even my parents stepping in just for me to get it. And while i understand there’s better things to spend my energies on, as a new graduate, the assistance of having groceries covered for a bit is enormously helpful. Upon my lease I also signed up for a waitlist on the car parking and I have yet to receive word or any form of communication as to how that’s going. They also recently changed management to the same building across the street “Aquatic Higby” and it’s been certainly more responsive than prior management but still a lack of urgency or simply care for the wellbeing of residents. Every time, we ask for anything, we get the same “let me talk to my manager, I’ll circle back” without a single response leaving residents to hound down management. Furthermore, the elevator broke down and has been broken for about a month and a half. Yet every other week we hear “we are looking to prioritize this,” yet there’s no progress. For a month is insane. Not to mention the only amenities we currently have access to are rooftop decks and can’t even access the gym on the other building even though for months we should’ve by now along with other amenities. You’re better off living somewhere with actual amenities for the price you pay.

It’s honestly so frustrating and sad that residents are consistently facing issues with management. I’ve lived in student housing run by students who were better at their jobs. While I understand this is also a big problem with corporate companies, thus one being Greystar, it’s a trickle down system. Those in the office try, but it doesn’t seem like anything gets done. As for the apartments themselves, they are ok, the fans in the bathrooms and rooms never seem to shut off which is not a great indication as they aren’t sensored. This is usually an indication that there is a bigger issue or that they are dirty in ways we can’t access. Honestly unless the management improves and the rent is slightly cheaper to offset the lack of amenities, find a...

This review is for Aquatic Higby 2 (formerly called Aquatic Ashby). I made the mistake of living there for two years and would encourage everyone to stay away. Despite being a new building, there were several maintenance issues exacerbated by a terrible management team. Here are a few examples of issues that occurred while I lived there.

There is an air freshener in the lobby that beeps whenever it is empty. Since the apartment staff is rarely around, in practice this means there is always a loud beeping in the lobby.

I had a pipe leak water into my unit. I informed management at the start of the day and they said they would call a plumber. After I returned from work in the evening no plumber had been called. They said they would call in an hour, but didn't. They only called a plumber after I confronted them while they were giving a tour to a prospective tenant.

The door handle to my unit was loose so I submitted a maintenance request. The request was ignored and two weeks later, the door handle fell off. While fixing this, the maintenance staff damaged the paint on the door. During the moveout inspection, it was made clear they intended to charge me for their maintenance team's incompetence.

When switching to the butterfly lock system, I was not added to it and was locked out of the building for a day. Note that the electronic lock system never worked properly, and doors fail to unlock about half the time.

I was given less than 30 days notice of the intent to increase my rent which is a violation of Berkeley City Code.

I requested a pre moveout inspection which California law states they are required to do, however the apartment management team chose to ignore my request.

The apartment is listed as a business not a residential building with USPS so you will not be able to forward your mail after moving out.

And finally, it's been three weeks since I moved out and have not gotten my security deposit back so I will see...

Update: they overcharged 900 for our last month of rent and blamed us because we were signed up for autopay. They have yet to refund us the money they wrongly charged and have not refunded us our deposit. Their phone is also disconnected. It’s been over 30 days.

I’ve lived in this apartment for a year and I’m so ready to move out! The new owners and front desk are impossible to contact. I’ve emailed my 30 days and called for 3 days and still have no response and no idea how to get my deposit. The office is closed, but the people who work in the office are still there...watching tv in the lobby. Our appliances have been broken for MONTHS. No response or follow up. Our lease is up at the end of the month and they haven’t given us ANY sort of notice of it ending or raising the rent (which violates CA state law). The people who own the building now live in Oregon. Since second lock down, things have been closed instead of cleaned. The bathroom was available downstairs (many mail workers would take advantage of it in their route) and now it’s “locked” because of corona and the elevators and stairways are not regularly sanitized because “they’re not touring”. So on top of not opening the door for your package (which they have sent emails saying they WILL NOT HELP THEM if they don’t know how to deliver it and will not bring in packages if left outside) the elevators and carports consistently break. Their fire alarms are so sensitive you can’t even open the oven. Also, have fun with Barbie house sized appliances. The fridge, the oven, and the microwave are half the size of normal appliances. The apartment doesn’t stay warm when you turn on the heater. Instead it leaks out of the windows that don’t close all the way because it’s a hand crank window. We pay 3500 a month. It’s insane how much money we spend to be treated this way. We quickly found a much more spacious apartment for cheaper. I’d recommend you keep looking. This apartment is...