Sterling 5th Street — Local services in Davis

Sterling 5th Street is an amazing apartment complex to live in, the best in Davis! I couldn't recommend it enough! Let’s start with the pricing, which is modest and affordable, especially considering the incredible facilities. For the 2024 year, I managed to get my own private bedroom and bathroom in a 5x5 apartment for $1,099 per month. I’ll talk more on how Sterling compares to other housing options in Davis at the end of this review, but first, let me talk about the details of the apartment.

Apartment Features: The 5x5 unit (their most affordable option) is incredibly spacious, much larger than any other apartments I toured in Davis. Each bedroom comes fully furnished (at no additional charge) with its own private bathroom, bed, desk, chair, and plenty of storage. My unit even has a spacious walk-in closet! There are 2 large windows that allow you to let in plenty of sunlight.

The private bathroom is massive, modern and with all-new fixtures. The common areas are equally as modern. The living room is large and comes furnished with comfortable couches, a coffee table, and a big TV. The kitchen has a huge island with 5 bar chairs for entertaining, plenty of cabinet space for all five residents, and new appliances. The in-unit washer and dryer are also large and new.

While you can hear noise within the unit (e.g., someone cooking or talking in the living room), it’s better soundproofed than any other student apartment I’ve visited in Davis. The walls between apartments are thick, so I never hear my next door neighbors. Traffic and train noise are nonexistent, even though I live on the south side around 300ft from the tracks.

Amenities: Sterling’s amenities are the best! There’s a pool and a heated jacuzzi, study areas on every floor, and a large main study area with private rooms and free printing (30 pages/month). The game room features a pool table, and the community kitchen is perfect for hosting events. Wifi is fast everywhere.

The gym is my favorite amenity. It’s huge, well-equipped, with most equipment you can find at the ARC. With dumbbells up to 75 lbs, mirrors throughout, and great views of the pool, it’s convenient and saves me time and money from driving and parking at the ARC.

There are also BBQs scattered around the property, making it great to host gatherings. The secured parking garage is spacious, with plenty of spots even for general parking pass holders like myself. There is also a bike garage.

Staff and Management: The staff at Sterling are fantastic! Shoutout to Angelina and Jonathan, who have been incredibly helpful and friendly every time I need assistance. The leasing office is open daily, and maintenance requests are addressed quickly (usually within 1-3 days). The team is polite, accessible, and always willing to help.

Location: While Sterling is a bit far from campus compared to pther apartments in Davis, it’s manageable with a car. For bikers, the nearby bike highway to the West on the overpass works well!

Pricing Comparison: Sterling stands out as the best value for student housing in Davis, especially with how new and great their amenities are! Other apartments for the 2025-2026 year charge upwards charge of $1,400-$1,700 for private rooms without private bathrooms, or $1,059 for shared bedrooms in overcrowded units like Identity, which accommodates up to 12 people. By comparison, Sterling’s pricing and modern buildings are unbeatable.

I moved in mid-Fall quarter of 2024, and initially hesitated to renew my lease due to being new. But after a month, and after touring other apartments for the 2025-2026 year, I realized how much better Sterling was. Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to lock in the $1,099 rate for the 2025-2026 year but was offered a reasonable $1,229, which is still far better than any other private bed+bath in Davis for 2025-2026.

Learn from my mistake, sign up for Sterling asap (spots always run out!) and renew your lease early! This place truly offers the best student housing experience in Davis, with affordability, luxury, and...

I enjoyed my experience here, it just didn’t end up being the right long-term fit for me. I’ve listed the pros and cons below.

Pros: *Amenities: Bus stop to campus outside the apartment, a pool, a gym, study rooms a resident key to open doors to the building, a garage and pet friendly *Furniture: Pre-furnished with a sofa, love seat, chairs for the counter, oven & microwave, Washer & Dryer and dishwasher. The rooms each have their own closet, bathroom, desk & chair, and bed-frame and mattress. *Leasing staff: The leasing/community manager, Olivia, is very welcoming, helpful, and understanding. My suggestion is to ask to speak to her and to get a follow-up email. *Events: Sterling hosts events where you can win awards and items (e.g.: $100 gift card or Apple TV). They also host food events during stressful times :)

Cons: *Cost: This apartment complex is the most expensive/person in Davis: 1b1b bath is $2,200+, 2b2b is $1450 and a 4b4b is $1330/mo. No roommates allowed. Kitchen & Storage: The fridge and storage space remains the same across all units, from studio to 5b5b. The fridge and storage is too small to accommodate 4 people. I had to purchase my own storage unit. *Maintenance Issues: Christian is the only person you should talk to for a major maintenance issue. The other staff can be unhelpful and condescending. Our A/C system has broken 5 times within 2 months. They wouldn’t look at our unit until it reached above 80° inside. The last time took 1+ months to fix. We requested that they give us each a fan in addition to the small portable unit that they installed in the living room. The staff member was extremely rude, yelling at us how he will not do anything for us as it was not above 90° in our unit and that he didn’t know how to fix the A/C unit so we’d just have to “deal with it”. *Leasing Staff: Be wary of staff shortages, the office constantly closes early and without reason whether it be due to staff shortages or other undisclosed reasons. Do not expect to be treated as if your issues matter, unless you are talking to the leasing (Qin) or community (Olivia) manager. Honestly, if you’re having a real issue, I’d recommend asking to set up an appointment with a manager (Olivia preferably or Qin), because that’s the only way you’ll actually get help and get treated like you matter. When experiencing the A/C issue above, our concerns were repeatedly dismissed. After 5th occurrence of our A/C breaking in the span of two months and 4 days of living in an apartment with our unit at 82° I was personally experiencing hot flashes, migraines and dizziness due to prolonged heat exposure. Keep in mind, the temperature outside during the day was at 100+ degrees. Then, when experiencing issues after hours, the staff was of little-to-no help. The first time they sent their leasing manager that told us to open windows and turn on the fan (which we’d already done). And the second time, we were given the same advice. After our request for a fan in each of our rooms was rejected, we requesting the leasing staff to talk to a manager about it, we were told they had both left for the day (as they often do leave early) and that there was nothing they would do for us event though our apartment was above “emergency” level. *Security: My roommate & I had an incident with security where we were using the gym, around 11 pm, and the security office is located next to the gym. The man working that night came out to talk to us and told us about how he had been watching us and had seen us since we had left our apartment. This was very uncomfortable and we never ended up using the gym again. *Move out: Get ready to be charged for damages. The paint is of poor quality so it gets dirty easily and cannot be cleaned (it comes off if you try to, even with water). I made my room look brand new, and my roommates were told it shouldn’t get any charges by the maintenance manager (Christian), but then I got charged $253...

I couldn’t wait to leave this complex, though it makes me sad to say it. The staff is very kind and willing to help and I always appreciated them, but upper management is unfortunately all about money and not the renters’ experiences in their apartments. The amenities are good; the pool, outdoor areas, and gym are definitely pros, as is the in-unit washer and dryer, the private bathroom, and large closet. However for me, unfortunately, these pros did not outweigh the cons. These apartments are some of the most expensive in Davis, being labeled as “luxury student living,” yet the rooms lack proper sound insulation and were obviously built quickly and without much care. I feel that for nearly $1500/month I shouldn’t be able to hear my roommate having conversations through the walls at a normal voice level. Plus, I had the luxury of having the bedroom that opens directly into the living room with the tv mounted to the shared wall of my room; anytime people were in the living room or kitchen I could hear everything. Not to mention the fact that when I moved in my room was obviously still dirty from the previous resident; my shower drain was completely clogged, there was hair all over the carpet, walls were dirty. I find it interesting that they are so strict on move-out cleaning procedures (and charging you if you don’t follow them), yet still allow these things to slide. The garage gate was constantly broken, meaning that visitors gladly took up parking in the spaces that I was paying $50/month to use. I think a large issue I had is that many of the students who live here don’t understand neighborly etiquette. Additionally, communication is awful…though they are really good at bombarding you with email offers to try to get you to re-sign with them! All in all, Sterling 5Th Street is fantastic at branding and marketing, but the reality is that their apartments are relatively mediocre given their high price point. There are plenty of cheaper apartments in Davis that are equally as nice—and plenty that are...