Avalon at Mission Bay North

I used to love living at Avalon Mission Bay. That was until our kitchen became the personal habitat of MICE.
We live on the 11^th floor and keep things relatively clean, so this is not likely an isolated incident. Mice are likely throughout the building.
Although we’ve put in multiple service requests and asked for updates, Avalon Bay barely communicates with us and is doing only a sticky trap+a 1x weekly followup. All the while, we see this mouse daily on our kitchen counter.
At this point, we are buying our own traps and taking things into our own hands, since the radio silence/​minimal effort of the building isn’t helping. We are uncomfortable living in our own apartment.
Don’t spend close to $ 5000 to live in an unsanitary place.

The Avalon was so accommodating, Marisol was one of the best front desk receptionists I have ever encountered. She made sure our visit exceeded our expectations and then some. I would recommend this place to any of my friends and family because five star service.

We lived in the Phase 3 building for a short 3 months before making a planned move to another neighborhood, but here are my thoughts:
Pros:
1) Friendly concierge staff! We felt so much at home with our Phase 3 staff, especially Faye and Brit. Having the 24 hour concierge is so clutch for receiving packages.
2) Location — Caltrain, Muni, Safeway, Philz, everything that’s already been said
3) the various amenities
4) Bagels on Saturday morning! :) This always made us happy.
Cons:
1) the sewage smell in the area is real.
2) no air conditioning during the heat waves was pretty awful. there was no amount of fanning that could help on those hottest days. We actually had to get a hotel one night — it was that unbearable.
3) the trash chute has all these fancy buttons for different options. After the third maintenance request for the buttons not working, we gave up and always took our recycling down to the garage to the big dumpster.

Been a happy and satisfied resident here in Phase 3 for the past 2 years and I must say I really have no complaints with the exception of the high costs, but what housing isn’t pricey these days in the San Francisco Bay Area. The location is top notch and I love that I’m so close to the heart of the city including the Embarcadero. The management and maintenance staff have made living here an absolute joy. Jai in management is an incredible man and always seeks to make sure every resident is content living here. Faye is such a sweetheart and is so attentive at the concierge desk. Deion in maintenance is one of a kind and has assisted me numerous times whenever I have needed him. Great customer service is important to me when I am paying for a high quality living experience. With restaurants a hop skip and a jump away such as Panera, Nama sushi, and Umami burger, it makes eating out easy on days you don’t feel like cooking. Overall I would have to say that this is an amazing place to live whether you’re a college student bunking with a few roommates, a single wanting to experience city life, or a couple that wishes to take in the wonders and beauty of SF.
Definitely approve.

I’ve been living at the Avalon for five and a half years now, and I’m on my 3^rd location in the community. The reviews so far have been pretty thorough, so let me cut to the chase:
PROS
* Location — can’t be beat, walking distance to everything & public transport/​highway around the corner
* Amenities — top notch, both inside apartment & community
* Staff — concierge & maintenance are by far the best thing of living here; we’re on a first name basis and they’re always so so so helpful (thanks Jai, Faye, Chris, Rommel & rest of the team)
CONS
* Rent increases — it’s a thing, and my least favorite part every year. So far, the cost/​benefit analysis has persuaded me to stay 5 years running, but does knock off a star for me.
* Noise — you’re in the middle of SOMA, and especially the city facing side can be noisy. Courtyard/​Berry facing will be just fine.

Can’t say enough about the amenities (love the gym!), the staff (Jai and Raymond — love you guys!), and the apartments! It’s a convenient location to so many things in SF — Cal Train right across the street, along with a Safeway and the ballpark.

I have been a resident at Avalon at Mission Bay North for 9 yrs. My girlfriend and puppies have called Avalon home since we moved from the east coast. In those many years we have had great experiences and many hard times due to weather and reasons out of our control, but what make the Avalon staff and complex different is the quality and genuine customer service the staff provides starting from the General Managers, leasing agents, concierge and maintance. We feel as they are an extended part of our family, we know them well and we can count on them in good and bad times.
Avalon at Mission Bay North is the real definition of SF community living. Of course, living in SF is not inexpensive, but you need to consider these aspects: location, amenities, quality of neighbors, pet friendly and customer service. We have had the opportunity to move to new buildings around SOMA, but the amenities offered and location are not comparable. I am not saying that everything has been perfect in the many years of residence, as in every family, we have good, bad and ugly times, but it is how these situations were handled that have created a strong bond, trust and high sense of loyalty. I am grateful and very proud of my extended family, Nina, Raymond, Flo, Rommel, Chis, and all the maintenance team-​Please never change. Thank you for all your help with the puppies!

It has been a little more than a year since my wife and I have moved to San Francisco from NYC. I am not a avid Unilocaler but want to give credit where credit is due. First of all the community and staff is amazing. There have been countless of times when the concierge and maintenance staff have bent over backwards to help us with issues. Merry, Javier, Josue, Rommel, Amanda, Chris, Jai, Faye and Christina, We appreciate all that you do… Seriously we appreciate you and so does meatball.
Next the amenities cannot be beat, two 24 hour gyms (clutch for me) common areas, fire pits, bbq’s just steps away from the apartment.
Yes the rent can be tough at times but the leasing office will help you stay within your budget (Nina, Cora, Delainey and Cristine thanks ;)) But your are basically paying for the convenience (close to Caltrain, Muni, restaurants, Bars, supermarket etc).
In addition, there have been reviews about the homelessness and break-​ins around and in the community. We live in the city right? Everyone is susceptible to this. The silver lining is that Avalon has taken measure to mitigate our exposure to this.

I just signed by lease renewal with Avalon and it was really a no brainer because I love living here in Phase II. I’ve spent time reading the reviews for the building and honestly. what’s missing is PERSPECTIVE.
The rent is high… yeah, it’s San Francisco and the rent is too damn high. That is not the building’s fault. The rent increases suck but the area in Mission Bay is booming and this is what it’s like across the neighborhood. It is what it is. But I love the convenience of being in the heart of things. across the street from 2 muni lines, Safeway, and dozens of restaurants. Not to mention just a block away from AT&T! You get what you pay for and all the convenience is totally worth it. On top of the fact I get to watch the sunrise over the creek from my bed ;).
Another complaint– the break-​ins. Guess what?! It’s the city and the neighborhood is growing and changing. You know who I have to say is the biggest contributor to these types of events? LAZY RESIDENTS! Stand in the lobby for a few minutes and see countless residents outside knocking on the door to be let in. Carry your keys! Ironic because it’s probably the same people leaving all the bad Unilocal reviews. It’s simple… be vigilant and be smart. Don’t let random people into the building… and more importantly, lock your door. Did you know that most victims didn’t lock their doors?! Haha. I moved here from NYC and this is just simple street smarts– thus, I have had no concerns on safety here.
At the end of the day, your experience here is going to be what you make of it. The building has great amentities (2 gyms, fire pits, BBQs, fitness classes, building social events like Yappy Hour!, etc.) and it’s a great place to live. I love how dog friendly the building is– the concierge’s have treats for my pup… and even have cat treats for the random person who walks their cat!
The biggest thing for me, though, is that the people that work here are simply the best! Anytime I have ever had a concern, everyone has been quick to address. I have even received personal calls from the GM Nina– she once spent 45 minutes on the phone with me! The people that work here care about the building and care about making sure everyone that lives here has a quality experience. It’s the kind of place where you know everyone’s name — it’s very homey in that way. The concierges are great, the Leasing office is always available to help as needed, and maintenance… GOD BLESS THOSE GUYS! Super responsive, efficient, and just kind hearted people. I’m proud to call Avalon my home :)
Thank you Merry, Christina (we miss you!), Amanda, Luz, Ken, Ramon, Chris, Nina, Cristine, Delainey, Cora, Javier, Ernesto, Josue, Jai and anyone else that I may have forgotten. Your efforts have never gone unnoticed and I just want you all to know how much you are appreciated :)

My girlfriend and I are currently on our second year with Avalon, and there’s no where else we’d rather be!
As one of us is a daily commuter on Caltrain, and the other working a few blocks away in SOMA, the location can’t be beat. Being so close to many restaurants, bars, AT&T park, Philz, and right off I-​280, Avalon is in a prime location. We’ve considered other places, but the convenience makes this place an easy pick.
As for the community itself, the amenities are awesome! Basketball court, rock climbing wall, multiple gyms, and a couple of lounges and bbq areas are all available to use. One of the best aspects about Avalon is that their staff is extremely helpful and friendly! Merry, Christine, Jai, Faye, Dennis, and Brittney have all made our living experience the best we’ve ever had.
There are lots of complaints about rent being so high, but honestly, everywhere in SF is expensive. We’ve looked around to compare, but Cristine and the leasing office were amazing while they worked with us to ensure we found a unit that was within our budget. Even the other complaints about security were all cases where residents didn’t lock their apartments.
Overall, Avalon is a great place to be, and there’s no other place that has better value for everything this community has to offer!

Having lived at Avalon for a couple of years, figured it was time to give my $ 0.02.
Like many others mentioned in their reviews, the amenities and location of Avalon can’t be beat. As a frequent Caltrain-​er and fan of the local bars (hi Woodbury!), you’re definitely paying for the convenience when living here. On top of that, the concierge team is top notch. Merry, Jai, Faye and Christina are awesome.
Agreed that rent is the toughest part about living at Avalon but my husband and I were proactive and fortunate enough to work with helpful leasing agents who helped us stay within our budget. Since SF recently surpassed NYC as the most expensive US city to live in, I’m not surprised to see the fluctuations in rent.

Worst experience ever.
Called and made an appointment to see an apartment, it was confirmed. Came in for my appointment and was told that I wasn’t «on the calendar». Instead of offering information or to take my name, I was instructed to wait in the lobby. A leasing agent came out, told me again that I wasn’t on their calendar, whatever that means, and that he had another appointment in half an hour so he could take me on a «real quick» tour, but would not be able to help me once his other appointment came in. I told him that is weird since I had a confirmed appointment. I said I wasn’t interested in a «real quick» tour of a place that I am interested in renting at. He went to talk to the manager and came back out again to let me know I could come back later if I wanted.
So while I was confined to only waiting in the lobby, he was obviously not the only one there as the manager couldn’t get off her high horse to even talk to an interested renter, and they clearly were not interested in my budget of $ 5000 of rent.
I would never recommend a place that doesn’t value it’s customers enough to try what they can to make a sale, especially in a service driven business.
Don’t waste your time, it’s not nice enough to be worth it.

Update: another week, another break-​in! Yay! This building doesn’t give a fc-​k about you. Can’t wait to move out of this place, it smells like a skunk half the time and the building managers break-​in to your apartment. I love living here, so will you!

I have been living in Phase 3 of Avalon at Mission Bay North for more than a year. Location is very convenient, quality of appliances in Phase 3 is good, and the gym in the building is good. But these do not mean frustration free living. Here is what everyone should know:
— Lost delivery, and no one cares about it
— Comcast and U-​verse are only Internet options. Large number of tenants demand Webpass, but management won’t approve
— Multiple break-​ins to Phase 3 in a short period of time
— No window screens, and mosquitos get annoying
# Lost Package
Packages are delivered to the front desk, and residents are notified via email of the delivery. One of my packages was delivered according to Amazon and USPS 3 weeks ago, but we never received a notification from Avalon. I went to USPS and contacted our mail person and all claimed that the package must have been delivered to the front desk. Since then, I went to the front desks of Phase 3 and Phase 1 more than 10 times asking them to check possible locations or ask their coworkers to see if the package was mislabeled or misplaced. No one took action on that. One of the concierge though asked me to email screenshots from Amazon/​USPS to Avalon at Mission Bay email address, and I did. When I went back three days later to see if that resulted them acting on it, I found that the person had not even read my email until I arrived there. Only when I was there, he/​she seemed to forward it to other team members, but I don’t believe anyone will actually do anything about it. I really do not care about the lost package anymore. All I wanted was a definitive answer as soon as possible, so I could reorder what I needed. But it was impossible to get one.
# Comcast and U-​verse are only internet options
All of my friends who live a couple of blocks away from me enjoy Webpass, which offers 100 Mbps for $ 55/​month. Here at Avalon, the two options are Comcast and U-​verse. I get 25 Mbps for $ 62 dollars. I contacted Webpass, and learned that the building management did not approve Webpass. The building is wired with network cables, possibly capable of offering Webpass. To find out the reason for this, I emailed management. Guess what? No one responded. And, it’s not just me who wants Wepbass internet. Webpass representative noted that more than 40 units from Avalon Phase 3 have signed up to bring Webpass to the building. Well, why should management care about this if they are not living in this building?
# Multiple break-​ins lately
This, you have heard from other Unilocalers already.
# No Window Screens
Last but not least, being close to water there are mosquitos around here. Unlike other newer residential buildings around here, Avalon apartments do not have window screens. So you end up with many mosquitos in your apartment when you open the windows in these summer days.

Update: Just received an e-​mail regarding another break-​in. And now they want to add extra security! Wait, not yet. They are still «finalizing an implementation plan»!! How long will it take until it takes place? Extra weeks? Months? You want to add security personnel when you guys can’t even fill up the concierge positions? Hilarious.
It takes a few extra break-​ins for Avalon to FINALLY consider extra security.
Also, there has been two incidents where there was puke in hallway and elevator. Like someone said in a review, it’s like a frat house! Do you deserve to live in a frat house when you’re paying an arm and a leg for rent?
Our lease is coming to an end in a few months and I am super stoked to see what the increase is. Luckily there are a bunch of new buildings in Mission Bay so we have plenty of options.

I’m going to echo exactly what most Unilocalers have said: generally a great place to live with a very convenient location, cool amenities, responsive staff, friendly concierges, pleasant atmosphere, nice apartments… but a 30% increase in rent YOY, really? I don’t care how good the amenities are, they’re not worth an extra $ 1k/​mo over other comparable places.
I really do appreciate the nice gyms, the shared spaces, the community bicycles, all of the staff I have worked with and met here over the past year. What’s unfortunate is that none of that really matters come renewal time, and your rent increase is determined by a computer algorithm (or, so I understand). If you plan on staying in the city and/​or you’re not a billionaire, you’re much better off renting a condo or something privately owned.

This is the worst apt. I’ve ever lived. I moved out Avalon at Mission Bay last October. However, I have not received my deposit yet (it’s almost been a year!). I have called, left message to and emailed them, but no any responses at all.
Avalon at Mission Bay has also extreme poor administration and leader team. When I lived there, my balcony received lots of cigarette butts, which burnt my stuff stored there. However, no improvement at all after I reported it to the manager (CJ)

No matter how much I hate the rent increases here, I have to admit that the amenities are great. I lived in Phase 2 and enjoyed the indoor basketball court, rock wall (a bit boring as it’s just one wall), and rec room (foosball, pool, ping pong, etc). The hot tub and BBQ grill on the 4^th floor was also a great weekend activity with friends.
Maintenance was typically very responsive. They were able to come over when we were at work, so the problem was usually fixed by the time we got home the next day. However, one of the lights in our kitchen broke repetitively (even through 3 maintenance calls), so I ended up just giving up on it. There were also a few times that maintenance claimed they came in to help our shower drainage, but we continued having problems until the THIRD time maintenance came over.
Occasionally, living at Avalon was very inconvenient (mainly problems with the water not working or being WAY too hot). Each time this happened, they left a notice at our apartment letting us know that there would be problems with plumbing.
Besides that, living here was easy — the location is ideal (next to Safeway, Caltrain, and Muni), the building is well-​maintained, and you can get spoiled by the front desk (they open the door for you and hold your packages and help you with anything!). The concierge staff was incredibly friendly and helpful — probably the highlight of my experience at Avalon. Mary even remembered my apartment number whenever I went down to get my packages!
My verdict: If you’re really gungho about the location or the amenities, live here for a year… But don’t expect to stay for a second year unless you’re made of money. Also, don’t expect to keep much of your security deposit.

Unilocalers, take my advice and read other reviewers’ tips: Do your research. DON’T live here unless you are ready to pay 30% rental increases each year!
Read the other Unilocal reviews. There are many residents and former residents who concur.
Pros (Why there are 2 stars):
–Friendly and professional concierge staff: Jai, Christina, Faye were all terrific. A+ customer service and concierge staff. I will miss the concierge staff very much!
–Highly responsive maintenance team. If something breaks down, they fix that within 24 hours.
–Free gym classes Monday through Thursdays
–Gyms in Phase I and III, and a basketball court in Phase II
–Nice courtyards and common spaces like the 19^th floor lounge in Phase I
–Good parking garages and generous parking spaces for guest visitors
–Great neighborhood with a high walking score. Next to the Ball Park, restaurants, bars, Cal Train, and muni stops for commuters.
–San Francisco Skyline and Twin Peaks views from Caltrain facing units. Loved the skyline views.
Cons:
–Exorbitant rental increases!!! Expect rental hikes of 30% or more for a 1 year lease. My husband and I paid $ 3400 a month for a 1 bedroom 800 sq. foot unit, not including parking ($ 300 a month) or storage ($ 100 a month) for a total of $ 3800 a month for rent. We received our annual renewal contract for $ 4400 a month for the 1 bedroom unit, NOT including parking and storage. IThe rent base price + parking and storage would have required that we paid $ 4800 a month for a 1 bedroom unit! To put things into perspective, $ 4400 a month base rent, is 2 — 4 mortgage payments a month in other cities!
–The leasing office tried to justify the rental increase by saying that those prices «reflected market price,» but I called and toured comparable Mission Bay 1 bedroom units at Strata, Channel Mission Bay, Venue, and found the prices were BELOW what was quoted in the Avalon renewal contract as «market rate.»
–Notice how many «Sales Managers» like CJ BASS Avalon employs? The Avalon leasing office cares more about acquiring new corporate accounts and renters than keeping their current renters happy, and will do very little to help current tenants find a new unit to live at.
–My husband and I wanted to stay at the Avalon so we tried to work with the leasing office to find a new unit to move into to keep costs down. Crystal showed us a few units and promised to get back to us about more upcoming and available units, but she never got back to us. She was probably too busy showing units to new tenant prospects instead of fulfilling her promise of keeping residents up-​to-​date about available units.
–Nathaniel, the leasing agent. Although friendly and a charming sales person, he was so disorganized and cause a number of leasing administrative disasters for us when we first moved in that we had to resolve with Avalon’s corporate office.
–Elevators blocked frequently because of a high turnover of residents due to rental increases. Although the leasing office denies it, the concierge staff told me a number of times that there’s a high number of residents who move out every week because of the rental increases.
–For those units facing Berry Street, the Mission Bay sewerage smells permeate the air on warm days.
I sincerely wish the Avalon Mission Bay staff well, however stand firm that it’s completely unethical to increase rent by 30% a year with renewable prices reflecting far ABOVE market rate and to not help your existing customers.
My husband and I ended our lease at the Avalon Mission Bay and signed a new lease with a neighboring Mission Bay complex that had 1-​bedroom units that were accurately priced within «market range.»

I lived in Avalon Mission Bay North for 1 year. Their marketing and sales strategies were amazing. The service itself was just the opposite.
Pros — the location was close to good restaurants, grocery stores and Caltrain. There were tons of cool amenities like a basketball court, rock climbing and ping pong, to name a few. The service was perfect for simple requests such as changing an specific light bulb. The package handling worked great, and sometimes it was convenient to have a ²⁴⁄₇ concierge. The big smile was always there, though they used it often to apologize to their residents, see below why.
Cons — the service was only able to handle simple requests, anything else required a lot of efforts in communicating with them, which were often ignored or would take a long time to get a response. The location had down sides too, an eventual bad smell from the channel behind Berry St. The streets outside looked cleaner and better maintained than the community inside. Pet waste used to stay by the hallways for 1 – 2 weeks in average before clean up. Depending on the building, you may only have the worst internet services available: AT&T and Xillient/​Satel. Hot water was eventually unavailable. Security was compromised, anyone could go in and out. There were frequent issues such as cars and bicycles stolen, and most recently we had a domestic assault.
Move-​out Update: their proposal for renewal would have a rent increase of over 28%.
Given the cost «benefit» ratio, I would definitely not recommend this place to a friend.