Etta Apartments

This is the first in a series of reviews aimed at tracking the living conditions at this «luxury» building.
As background, I’ve lived in Etta since 10÷10÷13. That’s just a few months after the building opened. My lease expires 10÷10÷16, and I’m beginning the public debate around staying or going. I’ve encouraged all Etta denizens to consider the pros and cons.
Pros:
Great views
New units
Dog friendly
Fabulous maintenance. Shout out to Charles
Cons:
Elevators??? Who really needs them?
Peace and quiet??? Nah…
Package delivery. Come on! At $ 5k/​mo you can’t expect to get the shit you buy, too. Damn, it’s boomtown.
Don’t even get me started on the water pressure…
Oh. And the management? Ever been to a morgue? One where all the cadavers have really, really good hair…

I can’t believe there aren’t more terrible reviews about this place.
Pros: new apartments, good location.
Cons: terrible management. They only do the bare minimum and they certainly don’t do it with a smile.
Unmanned most of the time and you certainly won’t get hold of management within operational hours 9 – 6. They never respond to queries or emails and you constantly have to go down and find them to talk to them (if they happen to be in the office at all).
The place has gone downhill ever since the new management by Gresystar have taken over the building.
Everyone we know in the building is mighty annoyed with the management’s lack of care and customer service and how bad things have gotten since they have taken over and most have just decided not to renew their lease and leave.
Trying to get hold of Greystar to complain? Ha! Good luck talking to machines and getting nowhere.
For the thousands of dollars they charge you each month, you are much better off finding elsewhere.
Avoid at all costs.

I lived in Etta for a year under the original management team, and whilst the apartments themselves were nice, the overall experience was mediocre.
My apartment was spacious and well-​appointed with excellent appliances and good facilities, although when I moved in lots of the sockets were not working and it took about a week to get that resolved.
If you’re on the Van Ness side of the building, it gets very, very noisy and renders your balcony or terrace pretty much unusable. Fortunately, they have a nice terrace at the lobby level, and so there are nice usable outdoor spaces.
However, my two biggest gripes in an otherwise excellent apartment building were the poor service provided by the building management team and the cliquey residents.
When I was living there, the front desk was unmanned 90% of the time, rendering it pretty redundant, and I had several visitors or delivery people who were left standing outside the building, or in the lobby waiting for help.
This is exacerbated by the fact that there is no elevator access for non-​residents, meaning that you have to go down to the lobby to collect every visitor, which was often inconvenient. That said, being in Tendernob, they really do have to consider security because if you head block or two south from the complex into Tenderloin, it gets sketchy fast!
The turnover of residents seems pretty rapid, and during my time there people seemed to keep themselves to themselves, with the exception of one or two super friendly residents and people who I knew from work.
I worried that San Francisco wasn’t a very friendly place, but when I moved to my new apartment in Channel Mission Bay, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that nearly all of the residents I met there were super-​friendly and there is a lot more socializing going on even though it is a bigger block — I think that the residents at Etta seem to be pretty short-​term, which undermines the feeling of community there.
Overall, I would say:
* Apartments — ⁴⁄₅ — very well equipped and luxurious
* Facilities — ⁴⁄₅ — excellent facilities, especially for dog owners
* Location — ³⁄₅ — great for commuter coaches, but not much around and it’s pretty sketchy if you head south.
* Service — ²⁄₅ — very basic, no going the extra mile and certainly no service with a smile, which is disappointing considering the costs.
* Community ³⁄₅ — pretty cliquey and not great for meeting people or getting to know the city
I would only recommend this place if you have to live in that location for some reason, otherwise there are many better options around!

I have lived in Etta for a year. The property and units are beautiful. Super quiet. I never hear neighbors, and the outside noise isn’t noticeable, except when emergency vehicles come by. There is a ballroom with large and sometimes noisy events right across the street, which can be heard if it gets loud, but has only been a real irritant one or two times.
Fantastic appliances. Storage space varies a lot unit-​to-​unit. My unit has tons of kitchen storage and a big walk-​in closet, but the coat closet is small, and the bathrooms have tiny counters and very little storage. I know some units have smaller bedroom closets with huge bathrooms, and kitchen space varies a lot, so look at a few units and be aware of storage. They also have storage lockers and rooms at ¹⁄₃ the price of nearby public storage units. Great deal. Parking is what you’d expect in the neighborhood: expensive.
Building amenities are great. Beautiful outdoor patio with community garden. It’s wonderful. The roof decks are nothing special, but have great views. The workout room is nice but small, but not often crowded.
Many units have great views. I have a 2 bedroom on the ninth floor. It has gorgeous views in two directions. I’ve seen 1 bedroom units with great views of the city and the bay. Every unit I’ve seen has lots of natural light, and really cool exposed concrete ceilings.
The building has Webpass 200mb internet, which is usually good but sometimes spotty during peak evening hours. Laundry Locker is on site, but the in-​unit washer/​dryer are so nice that I rarely used it. CVS right downstairs and tons of wonderful restaurants very nearby.
I love living in the neighborhood. There’s no need to own a car. There are tons of neighborhoods you can be in within 20 minutes by walking or muni. Anything from Embarcadero to Castro, the wharves through SoMa.
It’s in the Tendernob, so you can be in the Tenderloin if you walk a couple blocks. I’ve never felt uncomfortable nor nervous I walk from SoMa through the Tenderloin even late at night and it’s never been a concern. The only real impact is that sometimes some people use the alley behind the building as a place to loiter. Not often, but once or twice I’ve seen the after effects of people defeating back there, so just watch your step.
The building has new management, and although they’ve only been here a couple months, they seem good so far. Maintenance is good, although sometimes an elevator (or both!) or accessible lift breaks down, and these repairs seem to take longer than they should. This is due to an outside contractor, but can be troublesome.