Pinnacle at MacArthur Place Apartments — Local services in Santa Ana

We lived at Pinnacle from mid-2018 to mid-2020; lived out of state for a year; moved back in 2021. Unfortunately, between our first stint and our second stint of living here, there were changes that made it less desirable the second time around.

I did enjoy my time at Pinnacle overall; however, it is just a 3-star place at this point (vs more of a 4-star place back in 2018 when I'd first moved in). There's much room for improvement, and I hope they do.

The positives are that:

1. location for the sqft and price. This is something I miss. I'll admit, there are parts directly outside of the apartment complex where if you're looking in one direction, things are fine and feel fairly safe, and then when you look in another direction, it may be a bit more unsightly, where you can't help but feel a little uneasy by the unhoused individuals that might be sleeping on the sidewalk outside of the gates. Buuuut, it is a short drive to The District, SCP, Back Bay, Trader Joe's, and just soooo many places. It never felt like a hassle driving almost anywhere. I live in Orange now, and it feels like almost everything worthwhile driving to is at least a 15+ minute drive, vs 7-10 minutes. Those minutes add up!
2. somewhat modern apartments. Not the oldest, not the newest. Maintained pretty well.
3. Maintenance staff is very responsive and pretty quick. These guys are the true stars of the show.
4. parking is easy, and plentiful for guests
5. pet friendly

The negatives:

1. Management used to be on property. Management used to hold onto packages for you. After the pandemic, that changed. When we'd come back for our 2nd time living here, the concept of management seemed to dissolve. Larry was fantastic, but left the company pretty much the week after we'd moved back. Jillian was gone, and probably had been gone for quite some time by then, and she was fantastic in the office as well. I think a lot of apartment complexes managed by larger companies these days assume that residents wouldn't mind not having a warm body present to talk and meet with residents and potential residents, but the truth is we do. I hated having to call a number to a call center where they truly don't know what's going on on property. There was an active and fairly large leak from a pipe into the parking garage once; the person I spoke to on the phone at the end of the day could only pretend to know they knew the layout of this place. Essex, you can't replace the direct human experience. I remember one time I needed to speak to someone that would be more of a front office figure regarding our move out, and it was one of the maintenance members who'd returned my call. As much as I appreciate them for calling, it shouldn't be their role. They've been given more work than they need to. Enough with the ghost front office. Get real people back in to meet with the very real people who are paying a hefty rent. Also, because the front office was no longer accepting packages for residents, porch piracy grew to be an issue. I'd had a package stolen; I know the residents on my floor who lived close to the elevator had told my husband they'd had multiple stolen before. There needs to be a better solution for residents than to simply be diligent about this. Mail carriers come at varying times of the day, we all can't just sit around in our apartments to babysit and hope we're at home at the right time.
2. There used to be on-site security when I initially moved in. But even during my first bout of living here, they'd gotten rid of that pretty soon after. Car break-ins aren't uncommon here. I'd gotten my car broken into once and there was nothing I could really do about it, even though my car was parked under bright lights and directly in front of a camera in the garage. What's the point of the garage cameras if they can't be of service to me while my car is being broken into?

For the sake of current and future residents, I hope Essex improves its operations here. The areas for improvement don't feel like they're too...

Pros: generally people keep to themselves, are quiet, and don’t leave obscene messes in common areas. Sometimes there are issues but they get fixed. Apartments are nice enough, but definitely not “luxury”. Has most amenities you’d want (pool, jacuzzi, rec room, gym, in unit washer dryer, central AC, etc). When you put in a service request the repair staff takes care of issues within a day or two. They send out email notices in advance if there’s every major repairs or water/fire tests. It’s nice to have an app on your phone to unlock your door, change the code, or set your thermostat.

Cons: it’s next to impossible to get someone on the phone from the leasing office if you ever have a question. During business hours even, they just don’t pick up the phone. On rare occasions you might catch them if you call multiple times in a row they absolutely gouge you at the end of your lease if you sign up for a new year. They tried to charge a 12% increase in my rent rate at first and I could only get them down to 8%. They were charging less for the same unit for new tenants because they know they can screw over current tenants for the convenience of not having to move. if you live on the pool side you can’t really keep your windows open if anyone is out there because all the sound echos and is very loud they have removed almost all the communal trash cans. Only ones sitting next to the elevator on the LG floor are there and it piles up and spills over all on the ground before they have it removed. the homeless population is very active on the Main & MacArthur corners and there are often break ins to the public parking lots on floor 1. The garage doors are often broken and cars have been broken into. They do have a security guard at the entrance for the LG floor (resident lot), but they are not always there. Residents can be very sensitive to sound and call security on even the smallest gatherings in your unit rather than being neighborly and talking directly to you. The complex tests the water and fire alarms VERY regularly. It seems as if once a month the water is shut off all day, and another day they will be blasting the fire alarms throughout the whole complex and in your units. If you work from home, these days will be a nightmare. They are slow to fix common area things. Things come up here and there like parking gates not opening properly, or the automatic lock on the gym door making a loud repetitive clicking sound that they just let be a problem for weeks. Then they fix it but the problem comes back. wifi has become mandatory to be paid through the complex, currently at $75 per month. I was paying for spectrum before at $30 per month and it was faster and never dropped connection. Now I’ve had a few days where they have issues and I don’t have internet for most of a work day. I lived in an Essex community before and they charged a $250+ cleaning fee and $200+ painting fee for every tenant that moved out regardless of the condition of the apartment. I expect this to be the same so if you move in just expect your security deposit to be fully taken and don’t worry about cleaning or fixing paint. It’s not worth your...

Updated 10/05

1 star in order to get the attention of those responsible for the implementation of Aerwave internet in the complex. I’d encourage you to read the reviews of Aerwave before even signing the lease. The internet fee is $70 a month and it’s COMPULSORY - there is no way to opt out.

Below I have outlined the number of times the internet service has gone out this year and for how long. I will continue to update this review each time the internet service is out. $70 a month is ridiculous for unreliable internet, especially if you are a remote worker.

February 15, 2025 Start time: approx. 4am End time: approx. 4pm

April 22, 2025 Start time: 6:22am End time: 10:14am

June 29, 2025 Start time: approx. 8:00am End time: approx. 1:30pm

July 14, 2025 Start time: 4:34am End time: approx. 7:00pm (restoration text not sent until 5:53am the following day)

July 24, 2025 Start time: 1:57pm End time: approx. 9:45pm

September 3, 2025 Start time: 10:58am End time: 11:55am (This was due to planned maintenance/fire alarm testing, which appears to be a monthly thing as others have mentioned)

October 1, 2025 Start time: 10:22am End time: approx. 1:00pm (Except Aerwave didn’t seem to know this as I received emails indicating service was still out with no ETA as late as 8:15pm. Embarrassing.)

October 4, 2025 Start time: 11:02pm End time: approx. 12:00pm (the following day)

Management has also been sent these details, so they are aware.

Beyond that, shout-out to Claudio and the maintenance team for all their work, 5 stars for you buddy, you deserve it. 5 stars to the custodians I have seen on site, I see how hard you are working. 5 stars to the gate attendants, y’all are always friendly and kind.

Update: Cassandra in accounting was able to secure a one-month refund due to the recent internet disruptions. She handled the matter with professionalism and empathy, and her assistance is appreciated. However, I will not be changing my star rating at this time. The internet service remains both compulsory and expensive, and its reliability continues to be an issue. My refund was issued only after I raised these concerns directly. I encourage other tenants experiencing similar problems to do the same and seek appropriate compensation.

Additionally, I am perturbed by Catherine Le’s response below indicating that she is having trouble finding me in their system due to “multiple profiles?” I can assure you, I am one person and I would hope that the tenant filing/organizational system is much better than what Ms. Le is...