Picardo Arms Apartment

I lived in a studio here from 2014 – 15.
PRO
+ studio was roomy
+ stove is electric and heater and hot water are included with rent (no PG&E charge for gas)
+ 24-​hour on-​site laundry room
+ relatively cheap gated parking ($ 65 a month)
+ compost trash cans in addition to normal recycling and general garbage trash cans
+ antique/​vintage-​look to the apartment (1920 toilet, elevator, etc.)
+ tallest building in the block, so from 4^th floor onwards, you get a nice view of the Berkeley hills
+ relatively clean hallways and lobby
+ tenants in building are quiet
CON
— pricy ($ 1650 for a studio)
— refrigerator and stove in the studio are very small (cannot fit a normal cookie tray in the oven of the stove)
— not many electrical outlets (no electrical outlet in the bathroom)
— Jamie (residential manager) was friendly and responsive in the beginning, but recently hasn’t responded to multiple emails and calls
— application fee (max they can charge under the law) + lots of papers to sign through Eclipse management
— very strict about late fees (We had an incident in which my roommate’s bank hastily cancelled a check because her signature looked slightly different. Even though her bank’s regional manager called Jamie and explained that the bounced check wasn’t because we did not have sufficient fund and that the check is valid, we were forced to pay that month’s rent + late fee charges in a cashier’s check)
— sometimes, there are so much trash that the trash cans are overfilled and the trash are everywhere
— they shut down the water frequently (at least once a month), they do give notices ahead of time
— tenants in the Raj building next door throws loud parties and sing out their balconies often at 3 AM during the weekend
— the back units face the parking lot of the catering place next door, so you will hear loud unloading/​loading of goods on to/​out of truck (s) at 4 AM almost daily
I will update this review if I encounter any difficulties in retrieving my security deposit back.