Skylark Apartments

I am giving this place one star because I don’t have any other option. I personally feel like rent is expensive since this apt doesn’t have washer/​dryer inside the apt, no fitness center, and very poor customer service. I work night shift so most of the time I sleep during the day which is very hard to get here because of all the noises and chaos going around during the day time. So if you are looking for peace of mind, you won’t be getting that here. Our dishwasher broke down and it took almost a month to fix it. I had few boxes outside on the patio and apt above us had 2 dogs, all the dog hair ruined my stuff and when I complained they didn’t even care, or even attended to the problem. I even asked the maintenance to clean the patio with a blower if they had one and entrance to the apt but nothing was done. They don’t even bother to clean outside to make it look decent. And the parking, if you have more then one car forget about finding parking after 7pm. I am very glad we moved out. I would not recommend this place to anyone, only good thing is that it is close to shopping center, Bart, restaurant and freeway.

I and my wife moved here from New Jersey last May. I thought I was paying high rent in NJ, but when I moved here and signed the lease, I thought what I was paying in NJ is nothing compared to the rent here for a single bed room. Coming back to this community, I should say that I have mixed feelings. Apart from having a bad/​sick feeling inside my stomach every month I pay the rent, I don’t think I can complain that I had a major incident or something in the past 11 months we have been living here. I knew what I was getting into when I signed the lease, like having no dryer/​washer inside the apartment and no fitness center, but for the kind of rent we pay here, I thought the least facility they could come up with is a small fitness center. I did talk about this during my lease, but the leasing office said they are «in talks» to setup the fitness center. However, it’s been 11 months since I signed the lease, and I see no sign of fitness center. I am kind of surprised that no other tenant has raised this as an issue. Community also had a major break in where many of the tenants mail boxes were broken. Fortunately, my mail box was not affected, but I definitely feel bad for the others who had to go through the mess. Laundry areas also need to be kept clean. I will go ahead and put pros and cons below, and hope it helps the folks who are looking to move in.
Pros:
Location
Walkable to BART
strip malls with Banks, Restaurants, Indian Grocery store, Safeway etc
Storage and walk in closets
Cons:
High Rent compared to near by communities and for the facilities they provide
Lack of Fitness Center
No Dryer/​washer inside apartment
Only 1 remote for Gate access

Moving to a place where you don’t know anyone is frightening. It’s easy to feel lost and unsupported. From the moment I spoke with Daniel on the phone, he put me at ease. I was moving in from out of state and had a very small window in which to get my living situation in order.
He was so kind, so sweet, personable and true to his word. If he said he would call me back, he did. He also took the time after I moved in to check on me. I felt like I wasn’t alone.
Very rarely am I sad to leave a complex, but this one I’ll miss. Mostly the staff :)
I’ll be back if I come back this way!

So I will start by saying that the remodeling and newer managment is STELLAR. Erika seriously had so much patience with me even after my constant calling and bugging over the little things before moving in. Dan is the man! He goes above and beyond and seriously I am very happy here. I shall add more after 2 months. :)

I have only lived here for a short amount of time but I must say I am extremely inpressed. Erika and Dan have been great in helping me with anything I’ve needed. The apartments are nice and the new remodels are great. I have nothing but positive things to say.

We for one have not experienced any of what the others are saying, We moved in on ¹²⁄₂₈ and my experience has been a positive one even on work orders if I needed anything which was only once they came the same day, yes the units need upgrade and that is in the works, I’m looking forward to seeing the improvements made, and the management has been courteous and friendly and helpful, Dan is awesome and always gets back to us by email or phone but always a response, the common pathways between units could use come attention by landscapers but that’s minor, the only complaint i have is pet owners not cleaning up after their pets. And as for the laundry rooms, If every tenant would pitch in and clean up after themselves the facilities would be clean, for the most part there is always lint in the filters or on the floor because that’s’ where people throw it, come on people this isn’t your mothers house clean up after yourselves and take pride in where you live!

I just recently moved to this apts. and I am very satisfied
I have received kindness and attention since I came in the first time
so even though some reviews here are bad I am happy to
let everyone know that Skylark apts. is improving and they are getting better
and the new management office staff is friendly and awesome. They have been
a great help for us. For sure from now on it’s only going
to get even better. I specially want to thank Daniel Fairbanks
the leasing consultant for all his hard work and because
he cares for the tenants living
g at Skylark. He works with great professionalism
and a great attitude. thats why I give Skylark apts. a five star. Thanks Daniel.

I just moved to these apartments in February and absolutely love where I live. I’m not an avid reviewer but I feel the need to comment on the outstanding experience I’ve had thus far. Daniel Fairbanks in the housing office has been wonderful and has happily accommodated me from the get go. He simplified the entire move-​in process and helped me feel very comfortable with my decision to lease a unit. I may not have lived in the complex for very long but I’m very happy with the quietness and cleanliness of the complex, and with the positive interactions I’ve had with neighbors and other community residents. It’s a very comfortable and pleasant place to live, and conveniently located next to many shops and good places to eat. I’m super happy with my decision to move to this complex and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a nice affordable place to live

I agree with other reviewers that Andrea, the property manager is THE laziest person.
There was small change in our lease term after we moved in and she took nearly 50 days just to send our updated lease for sign. As other reviewer said, whenever you call Skylark, nobody picks the phone and if you leave a VM, nobody returns calls. I had issues during my stay and the office staff does not care much. They just do basic maintenance. I had to contact the equity regional manager. The regional manager seems to be a nice person and fixed our issues. The rent kind of looks less compared to Fremont but the utility bill for one month for one bed room is $ 125(Central Broiler, Trash, sewer and water), which is more for a one bedroom. Pay a few more bucks extra and move to some other apartments. We are glad we moved out!
Also they dont allow Section 8 anymore. 3 break ins in a month before we moved out. Our neighbors got robbed!

I am staying here since July 12. The apartments are having plenty of closet spaces. The laundry rooms are extremely dirty. They don’t clean the common pathways in apartment. You can see spider webs all around. The rent was increased from 1300 to 1600. Apartment break ins are happening very frequently.

THIS IS LITERALLY THE WORST PLACE ON THE PLANET. I could write a freaking novel about how much I hate this place, but I’ll give you the gist of what I’m trying to say here: DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. The property manager name, ANDREA DESTASI IS SO LAZY AND UNPROFESSIONAL! THIS ESTABLISHMENT COULD BE BETTER RUN BY MONKEYS, NOT EVEN TRAINED ONES, JUST REGULAR MONKEYS. Inefficiency, stupidity, and TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE service in this place.
You’ll pay WAY TOO MUCH MONEY for a dinky apartment, water/​garbage are not covered by the property (AND GUARANTEE IT WILL INCREASE EVERY MONTH), and when something needs to be fixed in your apartment, you’ll go 2 months without a working stove or three weeks without a working garbage disposal, and you’ll deal with the most incompetent LOSERS on the planet trying to get it fixed sooner.
You’ll be promised plenty of extra amenities only to find them greatly less than what you’ve been promised.
Don’t get me started on the laundry facilities. 99% of the time the laundry rooms are FILTHY DISGUSTING, and oh, don’t leave your laundry in there for more than 5 minutes after it’s done because HEY SOMEBODY WILL STEAL TWO LOADS OF YOUR LAUNDRY IN A MATTER OF A MONTH! Security will LAUGH in your face, and management doesn’t give a CRAP.
When moving out you can kiss your security deposit goodbye! You will never get your deposit back no matter how clean you leave it! They will add bullshit additional fees. Security deposit is 500 so you’ll end up paying double!!!
I’d rather live on the streets downtown than live in this dump.
If you actually read this entire thing, then for the love of Jesus my warning: DO. NOT. LIVE. HERE.

The location is great. The support staff is smart but seems to have very limited elbow room for making decisions. I moved in in February 2012, I am very happy with my 1 bedroom apartment.
My rent increased by 37% within 14 months: from $ 1204 to $ 1654. The neighbors who I met at first told me this flat had been vacant for two months when I arrived. The neighbors, a very nice couple left because they could not afford their new rent. For comparison, I used to pay $ 2000/​mo for a 3 bedroom house in Niles District, starting with a one year fixed term and then month to month.
This landlord is a publicly traded company, also known as a real estate investment trust (REIT), whose mission is to grow its revenues or its assets faster than inflation. It may be that by offering discounted flats to new tenants the trust ensures that its units are rented while it reports full rents to its shareholders.
I give one star not because of the staff which I really liked but because I have no plan to rent from a REIT ever again.

This apartment are very nice from outside, Room space are big and clean. BUT!!!
They need to change their interior, all the appliance are old. Kitchen has old stove which never works proper, AC — heater is old, Basin and Bath tubs has scratches.
On complain — No use…

My friend’s apartment looks AMAZING. It’s spacious enough for 2 to live comfortably in a one bedroom. The complex looks very new and clean. This I like much better than any apartment in the Berkeley area. There is also a small balcony, a pool, and a jacuzzi!

This place is an absolute joke!
They have literally TRESPASSED on multiple people in this complex! They have committed an illegal act of coming into more than 1 apartment without consent.
I received a letter stating they needed to come view my apartment to see if they will need paint and to replace the carpet since I am moving out soon. The time that was given was not acceptable. We called 15 minutes after having the letter show up on our door (enough time for them to get to the office). They were not there. Oh look, 15 minutes until closing for a holiday weekend, guess we won’t hear back until Tuesday, the day they scheduled. Way to avoid anyone asking about this before you dart home and ignore the community.
I called Tuesday morning, no one answered (they almost never show up on time). I left another message saying I do not want them in my place, and that I would like to reschedule. I have to call AGAIN to get Ingrid. Guess what, they had already gone into MY place of residence! She completely denied this fact, but she had just told my girlfriend that they already went in to check when I talked to her. I talked to Ingrid RIGHT after she told my girlfriend this!
Needless to say I contacted corporate which does NOTHING to resolve this situation. «Oh we are sorry about this, and will work to make sure this doesn’t happen again.» Guess what, it has previously happened to other neighbors!
They commit illegal acts, purposely, have no care in the world for tenants, do nothing to fix issues, and just blow off any complaints to collect a steady paycheck. Telling corporate is a joke, and nothing will be done I am guessing. I would love to hear otherwise.
PS, they will not respond to posts such as this to even show they notice or care!

I have lived here for a couple of years and I can not wait to move! Management is downright horrible! Management has changed and the complex is just not what it use to be. The laundry facilities are always dirty and the washing/​drying machines are always broken. The area is not the greatest either. The amenities of this place are not that great either. They have no guy and only have a pool. The rent increases as the living here decreases. I can not wait until my lease ends so that I can move. Also utilities that you have to pay here include water, sewage, and trash. I have lived in several apartment complexes and these utilites have always been included in the rent. I would suggest you skip this place as I am not satisfied at all.

Expect to loose all your deposit and possibly pay more. After only a seven months lease with no damages or wear, we lost all of our 750 dollars of deposit and still had to pay 6 dollars and some change on top of that! (to put this into perspective, the apartments we were living in before we had leased for over three years and only paid 300 dollars for normal wear over three years). On review of the statement of charges, they charged us five times for paint, three times for water sewage, on top of the first month and last months bill for water/​sewage. We confronted management, and lo and behold (and to the testament of the last reviewers who complain of management) they played it off as if everything was normal– just standard procedure. On top of that, my wife made an agreement with a lady that writes the contract and she said we could turn in the keys in first thing on Monday morning without penalty, as we were officially moving out on Sunday. They billed us for Monday as well. when we confronted them about this item on the charges bill, the response from the manager was the following: «Well, you didn’t make that agreement with me!» On top of cynical con-​artist like thievery, they will not keep their word. When we asked the manager to provide us with paperwork, specifically regarding the inspection report and details of charges, she could not produce it. «I cannot find it right now», was the response. Do not move here, or expect a nightmare upon moving out!

Well, I used to live here since probably two years if I have that right, from beginning 2004.
Me along with some roomates were looking at places and this seems to be convenient as the main Decoto Rd leads the way to DeVry in Fremont, CA. When we first got a tour, we asked questions, it’s like she was answering us strictly as if we were her sons. This was some afro american lady, probably the landlord. However, one of us asked her that if this apartment had comcast cable high speed internet capability, and she said yes.
When we moved in, we found out it didn’t. So we were upset for that. Had to stick with crappy ass DSL. Yet soon high speed cable was available. Then the landlady kinda left and was replaced with some Filipino lady, which sometimes is kind. However, she’ll get upset if you leave to another apartment and don’t renew your lease.
In terms of rent price, we’re talking the bay area so rent is high. However this apartment seemed to be nice and clean with the usual laundryroom. This place didn’t have a gym, but you would have to walk a couple of blocks to this other apartment complex in the same company name called parkside. If you were a resident of skylark, you can use their gym. They did, though, have a pool and spa.
What sucks is that there has been a few break ins to an apartment room, and some car break-​ins and vandalizing as well.
As a matter of fact, one time when we were home we heard a loud knock at our door and you heard some running footsteps. I opened the door, no one was there, then I noticed a fat noogie (spit) on our door. I tried looking out but the little beybey kids ran and vanished. I then heard the knock again and came out the door running and saw them. They denied doing anything but there was no one else and I came out quick like a bat outta hell.
So you people out there of thinking of moving here, beware of that.
But this place is convenient to the safeway, and an asian grocery and restaurant area. And a 7 eleven. You’d wouldn’t drive that much of a far distance.
Yet I had to move as roomates went their own ways, and it was a good enough spot living in while it lasted. However, if I was to move out again to the bay area and it had to be union city, I don’t think I’ll go here.

I lived here for 3 years and saw it go DOWNHILL!!! They absolutely have the WORST property management. I would never ever consider living here again even if it’s the last place available on earth. If you’re reading this review… look elsewhere coz this is just really that bad.

Probably the worst apartment management in the whole world!