Avalon Ocean Avenue

We’re gonna have to leave after six months (work is pulling us across the country again), but we’re sad to be leaving and want to give a MASSIVE shout-​out to the Avalon staff.
First of all, EVERYONE who works here is nice. The staff is always friendly, they’ve answered the few requests we’ve had promptly and respectfully, and they’ve never given us any reason to regret choosing Avalon. This is true of everyone from Dave, the community manager, to Bill (?) and Jose on the Maintenance team, to the wonderful Hortensia who makes the public spaces SPARKLE. They make it very comfortable to live here.
Our apartment, too, has been great. We’ve heard the occasional footsteps from upstairs, but everyone keeps peacefully to themselves for the most part. When we moved in, everything was in great shape, and only continued to be for the six months we’ve lived here.
There aren’t Avalon properties where we’re headed next, but if ever we find ourselves coming back somewhere with Avalon apartments, they’ll be high on our list.

I had a lease there for 3 months this summer but cannot get my security deposit back after moving out for 3 months. No letter or any notification telling why they deduct my deposit until recently they told me I didn’t give them a 30 day move out notice and the lease has been extended to a month-​to-​month basis. There is no any lease extension term in the lease agreement. Now I’m looking for legal help to get my money back.

I have lived here over a year now, and have always loved the kindness of the office staff despite change in staff. I’ve sent in maintenance request about three times since I moved in, and they have always responded right away, thanks Bill and new manager Jose for making my life easier. I can count on a smile and wave every time I see the staff, and conversation with Hortensia.
Every place has problems like people letting there pets defile the garage floor, and smoking in the stairwells but for me it comes down to service and people.
A big thanks to the avalon team for making my boyfriend and I feel at home when we moved here last year from Indiana.
PS still miss Becky but Dave is a good guy too :)

Living in Avalon OA is pretty great. They grounds are nice and our apartment is nice. It’s pretty spendy but that’s SF for you. This review is about the great office staff, and specifically Seth. I couldn’t make it home before the office closed but I have 2 printers delivered in the mail yesterday. Seth graciously took them up to my apartment and stuck them inside for me so I could take them to work today. That’s customer service! I also love living in a place where I don’t have to deal with Fed Ex. Thanks to all the staff at Ocean Ave.

Recently moved into Avalon Ocean Avenue and so far the experience has been excellent. Community Consultant who worked with us was very knowledgeable, responsive and helpful leading up to our move and subsequent to the move. Of course the rent is high, but expected for San Francisco. We have a studio on the City College side so typically there is very limited noise unless there is activity on the City College campus adjacent to the property… Nice views and many conveniences with Whole Foods downstairs and several eateries nearby. Easy access from the highway… Very nice property with nice amenities, including a gym. Studio is spacious with full size washer and dryer… Unusual for a city apartment. Large bathroom, living area and balcony. Recommended especially for students attending local colleges or professionals working in the area.

Deducted one star due to the cost of rent… Regardless, it keeps going up & up… Yes, I know it’s the city therefore insanely expensive!
Pros: Surprisingly, spacious — even for a studio. Including ample closet space, and a sufficiently-​sized bathroom! Washer & dryer in each unit (which is tough to find in the city)! Clean parking garage = beats street parking, though there is a monthly charge. Walkable to the Balboa Park BART station — about 10 – 15 mins away depending on your pace. Super easy access to MUNI (literally steps away). FYI — the surrounding area is VASTLY residential though still close to some food options via restaurants & grocery — i.e., Whole Foods (right next door), market, Chinese, Thai, Viking’s Giant subs, Melanio’s, pizza & dessert places — including boba. For the ladies (and men, too) — lots of nail shops on the street. Group fitness /​yoga classes, and The Dailey Method (barre) studio nearby. Close to I-​280. Another pro = not having to deal with hustle & bustle /​protests /​crazy downtown traffic on a daily basis — yet still being somewhat close to the downtown area (though on the opposite side). Hence, the option to take advantage of public transportation /​Über /​Sidecar /​Lyft — (if wanting to avoid driving yourself). I encountered much peace — my unit faced the City College of San Francisco; I slept soundly and was not ever awaken from the sounds of traffic and/​or fog horns (see below re: other noise). Good-​sized on-​site gym — and clean, too (access is free for residents). For the most part, the elevators smelled of pleasant air freshener /​cleaning products (not too strong). Re: service requests = very prompt!
I received back ALL of my security deposit amount!
The «okay» part: Noise from the neighbors… A number of the folks held gatherings /​parties with loud music from time to time… This was slightly annoying when I had to study — though thank goodness for earplugs!
Cons: Once, there was an incident of garage vandalism — thank goodness my car wasn’t affected. Another time, there was no warm/​hot water for SEVERAL days… There was good & bad with this… The good — I took really short showers so hence saved on utility costs. The bad = no warm/​hot water! I know… #FirstWorldProblem. Anyway at the time, the office teamed with 24 Hour Fitness (down the street) to allow tenants to use the locker/​shower facilities at the gym… A big problem with this — well, just look at the bathroom photos posted for the gym via their Unilocal page… #notappealing
At times, their office hours were inconvenient (closed on Sundays & Mondays)… Especially when awaiting to collect a package before/​after work. Also, sudden closures of the office due to short notice meetings and such — with no email (s) to inform residents… In my opinion, informing via email would have been more efficient rather than posting a simple sign on the office doors /​inside the elevators. Note, I did not walk by the office everyday; plus, I utilized the stairs a lot more (cardio!).
Re: the staff… Rebecca H. and Angela L. = both stood out in a positive way… Very professional, and they always remembered my name! Unfortunately, they no longer work at this location… Re: the service staff = very friendly!
Other miscellaneous info… Would be nice if there was more cabinet space (i.e., for towels /​bath supplies) in the bathroom above the toilet. I was NOT a fan of the one-​compartment sink in the kitchen — I’m speaking for the studio.

I have lived here for a couple of months and so far I like it a lot. The apartment unit itself is very nice. It’s a bit expensive but I can’t say it’s significantly different from similar quality apartments in San Francisco. The garage (an extra cost option) is very clean and well lighted and the complex has free bicycle storage which is very convenient. There is also a conveniently located well-​equipped fitness center open 24 hours a day which is free for residents. Additionally, there is a Whole Foods grocery store right next door which is extremely convenient, especially since they sell a variety of prepared food.
The property is clean and the grounds are generally well maintained. Some of the plants in the courtyard appear to be dying and could use a bit of attention but generally the courtyard landscaping looks nice. I’m hoping the management team can be aware of that. On occasion some residents leave large boxes and trash in the wrong place instead of breaking down the boxes and putting them in the designated area. The management made a point of telling me the proper way and place to dispose of items when I moved in but it’s apparent that a number of people don’t adhere to that rule. The management team does a good job of cleaning it up when made aware of the situation.
The design of the complex has the courtyard on the 2^nd floor. My apartment is on the courtyard level facing the courtyard so there is less privacy as people walking through the courtyard can see into the apartment when the window blinds are open. The courtyard area is restricted to residents so there are not a lot of people walking by; however it is something you should be aware of if you’re on the courtyard level in a unit facing the courtyard. The good thing about the units facing the courtyard is they aren’t noisy. I’ve read reviews where residents facing Ocean Avenue complain of street noise but I hear no street noise in my location. On the topic of noise I’ll mention that the noise I hear from my neighbors is minimal and is about what you would expect to experience in any multi-​unit dwelling.
The property is pet friendly and quite a few residents have dogs. This is great if you’re a dog owner or pet lover and generally not a problem even if you’re not, but the elevators and hallway do sometimes have a slight pet odor. My recommendation to management is to clean the elevator floors and the hallway twice a day which would mitigate this issue as much as is reasonably possible. A couple of reviews have mentioned an issue with a lack of hot water but I have not experienced that.
The staff is great! The office staff stay on top of things, are very helpful, very pleasant, and very easy to work with. The maintenance supervisor was very bright, responsive, and professional… the best I’ve ever encountered. He recently moved to another state and I have no experience with the new maintenance personnel but generally all staff have been excellent.

I absolutely love living here. The staff is amazing. The move in process was great and the staff was so accomidating and helpful.

I am changing my rating from 5 to 2 stars. We lived here for 2 years and since moving in our rent is now being raised again without much concern as to our reputation as a tenant. The renewal rate is based on the market which is fine; just understand there is no negotiating with Avalon.
What were the good parts of living here? The original community manager was awesome. Since she left… well let’s just say no one has filled her shoes nearly as well. Additionally, the staffer who we absolutely adored is gone as well. The staffer’s replacements, again, not nearly as good. That along with the secure parking and a Whole Foods made this place a dream.
What are we left with? An apartment building with what seems to be more students than professionals and costs ~$ 3400+ for a one bedroom. Add to that, the community smells like marijuana more often than we like.
Then there are the doors. This might not be something you have thought about but, the doors are heavy at Avalon Ocean Avenue and have mechanisms to close them automatically; many of them slam without their tenants nor management understanding the amount of noise or shaking it produces. And yes Avalon, if you’re reading this, we did request that the door closers be adjusted to reduce the slamming but we have heard no difference.
Lastly, the tenant below us is probably the most persistent community noise violator. He has lived here for as long as we have and many of his «wall» neighbors have moved out early due to his noise. Add us to the list of neighbors fed up with his noise. Contact me directly, Avalon, and I’ll tell you which unit it is. There were rumors Avalon staff were not going to renew his lease however he still lives here. Bad business decision.
All tolled, the community quality and staff has declined and we are moving out. If you are looking for peace and quiet here, be prepared to negotiate the silence with your neighbors personally.

The airbnb situation has been resolved (management evicted them). There hasn’t been any issues with smoking recently (I believe these were directly related to the airbnb residents).
The trash is still an issue from time to time, but seems like the staff are doing everything they can to assist with keeping the trash areas clean.
I would still question whether I would recommend this place to a friend or not. It’s not really bad per-​se, but don’t expect to live here for more than 2 years. The rent increases are ridiculous because this building is not under rent control.
The best part about this place are the people working here, it’s always a pleasant experience visiting the front office, or having work performed by maintenance.

We have lived here for nearly a year and I have nothing but disappointment.
I was excited to live Avalon Ocean Avenue because it is newly built, has Whole Foods onsite, close to Highway 280, and convenient public transportations (Bart and Muni). Since we moved in, it became our worst nightmare.
We live facing toward Ocean Ave, and it’s REALLY LOUD! Specially in our BEDROOM! Before this we used to live beside CalTrain station and loud train did not bother us as much as this place. Muni goes to till 3 am, fire truck with siren everyday, cars and trucks are never ending, and skateboarding at night! We tried use earplugs and purchased expensive acoustic soundproof curtains to reduce noise, but nothing helped…
We couldn’t sleep for six months hence my husband and I are having sleep disorder and insomnia. Even my cat couldn’t sleep well and experiencing anxiety.
We asked management staff to check our bedroom window, if there is any loose ends or broken seal on window. One day, they stopped by to check our window and they said they can’t do anything about it. It just was constructed the way it was. The whole buildings was poorly constructed. We even paid for soundproof consultant to stop by and check and he quoted thousands of dollars to install extra window. It’s so bad. Every time when Muni and trucks were passing by our bedroom, the wall vibrates and makes noise even worse. So we ended up blocking our bedroom window with a mattress. I had to give up natural sunlight and fresh air, so I have to use air purifier to clean air.
Though, the management staff are great. They are always super friendly and very attentive and polite. The facilities are clean, the maintenance crew is good about keeping public areas nice.
Unfortunately, office is closed on Mondays so if you are expecting urgent parcel or documents over weekend forget it!
If I knew about the sound problem I would never move into this place. I never expected that living beside loud CalTrain station is better than living here. Overall, I would not recommend this place if you can’t sleep with noise.

I’ve lived here for the past six months and may be breaking the lease soon. Unfortunately we do not live on the top floor and have to deal with our upstairs neighbors’ constant jumping, stomping, oh and furniture building. Yes furniture building. They moved in two months after us and it has been pure hell since. We avoid our apartment, because the noise is unbearable. We’ve talked to our management staff, called police, talked with the neighbors but nothing has seemed to help. Part of the problem is the cheap construction and part is the noisy neighbors. We moved here cause it was new, in our budget, and had the items we were looking for, but I’d soon pay twice the rent to live in a building with solid construction where I can’t hear my neighbors. If you’d like to sleep at night or enjoy your apt either get the top floor here or better yet avoid this place.
The management staff is awesome but I didn’t move here to hang with the management staff. There have been other issues like no hot water for about a week, elevator often out of order, and broken trash shoot (all of which I can deal with– just not the poor construction.)

I have previously written two long and detailed reviews about this property, and since I believed what I wrote at the time I wrote it, I will not take them down. However, my move-​out experience has caused me to drastically reassess this property and this company.
As other reviews have stated, these guys will do everything they can to keep your security deposit. They will lie in the first instance, then direct you to Avalon’s customer care people, who will say there is nothing they can do but go with what the leasing office said.
We *thoroughly* cleaned our apartment and were nonetheless charged exorbitant move out fees because apparently, in Avalon’s view, there is NOTHING that counts as «normal wear and tear,» including dust on top of the refrigerator (yes I’m serious, they cited this) and cleaning residue on the bottom interior of the oven. You know, from the cleaner we used to thoroughly clean the oven.
The money is bad enough, but dealing with these unethical, lying Avalon representatives is even worse. I would certainly never live at this property or do business with this company again.

If I could give 0 stars I would.
I mean OK, the units themselves are nice (complex was built in 2012) and you live above a Whole Foods but that is where it ends.
1) Expensive to start (so you know what you are signing up for), but our rent increased 15%-20% each year. Like others said, you are paying SF rent for a not so cool part of town.
2) When you get your deposit back. You basically won’t get it back.
Here. I’ll break it down for you.
First, they sent the check to the correct mailing address provided… but guess what, they sent it to the wrong roommate. So we never received it.
Then the itemized bill is as follows:
$ 300 for cleaning (no joke)
$ 300 for back utilities (no joke) They basically claim it’s 3 months in arrears which means we were paying for July– Oct bills in the fall for sewer and water in one go.
Last but not least, they billed us for an «extra» day past our lease, when we moved out 2 days before our lease ended. Thank goodness I have an email chain from the apartment manager saying that the unit was vacated 2 days before our lease ended. So that is yet to be determined.
3) Did you know that cars get vandalized in the parking garage? We had a few incidents. Some break-​ins. Someone went crazy with a can of spray paint and hit up the nicer cars. Good thing I drive a beater. There was also a time when someone’s moving truck broke the garage door and that didn’t get fixed for about 3 weeks. So basically non-​residents would come and go as they pleased for a week. Then some one must have complained because then they stationed a security guard detail who spent all their time focused on their smartphones as cars came and went. It got better when a chair was set up where there was a plug… so you know, their smartphones could hold a charge.
4) I don’t know how much time I’ve wasted with customer service trying to get my money back. So ridiculous!
Good luck to future residents… beware!

I love my apartment at Avalon Ocean Avenue. The building is newly built, very nice, and clean. The property manager, leasing associates and maintenance crew are all very friendly, welcoming and attentive.
I LOVE the fact that there is a brand new washer and dryer inside of the unit and that all the units are NOT the same, they have multiple layouts to choose from. Overall, this apartment complex is very quiet and everyone minds their own business.
I took away one star because it is on the pricey side…

Also, don’t expect to get any of your security deposit back.
Avalon’s business model is to encourage high turnover by raising the rent by absurd amounts after the end of each lease (see above). However, they refuse to incur any of the actual costs resulting from this practice. Instead, they just keep your entire security deposit to cover what should be their cost of doing business.

The apartment itself is OK. The fact you have to deal with Avalon is too awful so that I have to give the place a one star. I’ll start with some of my personal experience and then discuss pros and cons of the community in the second half.
As I was traveling internationally and just moved from the East Coast, there was some confusion about the bank transaction (no void check in my hand and only limited internet access). After a couple of unsuccessful payments they blocked my ability to make online payment. OK, this part is my bad, so I’m fine with that. Although I think it will be nicer to give me a warning beforehand so I can pay extra care to it. Anyway, the only two options left are:
1) Send a cashier’s check to their Artesia CA office or their HQ in Virginia.
2) Pay over phone using credit card
You might wonder why not just write a check to the onsite staff. Avalon deals with all the billing issue in a centralized place. There is an onsite office and the people are generally friendly. However, their main interest after all is to rent out the available units ASAP. For everything else, you have to make a phone call to the customer center (or an email account that responds very slowly). If you are lucky enough, you can speak to a real human after 10 minutes wait. Sometimes you can end up calling all day long and not be able to speak to anybody. Definitely not a fun thing to do while working or early in the morning. The billing center is in Eastern Time. If you have a day time job, you either do it early in the morning, or in your work hour.
Back to the payment options. Option 2 seems to work better. However they charge $ 38 for every, say $ 2.5K payment. Which means if your payment is a little over $ 2.5K you will need to pay $ 76 for the processing fee. In addition, although they charge you a fair amount of processing fee, Amex cards are not accepted. OK, fine, then I’ll proceed with option 1. I went to my bank early in the morning before going to work, to get a cashier’s check and mailed it with priority mail to Artesia CA, as it’s closer and suppose to arrive earlier. According to the online tracking, the check arrived two days later in the morning and I think I finally get this shit done at least for this month.
Next week when I came home, there is a «pay or quit» letter stick on my door. WTF, the check should have arrived. If it takes so long (at least three business days) to process, it’s Avalon’s problem, not my problem. Since there is a hard deadline coming, I made phone calls all day long (I do make up my work by working extra hours) and finally was able to speak to a real human. It turns out that the problem is that the Artesia office for some reason can’t process cashier’s check so they redirect it to Virginia. Since it’s not yet arrived, the best guess is it’s somewhere on the road (or somebody’s drawer). As the hard deadline is coming I have no choice but to pay by credit card. Just after I paid with credit card, in the second day morning 7am I got a phone call saying that they received the check and processed. WTF.
So with the processing fee this time and my previous deposit processing fee (this one also has some story, in short the first agent I talked to said that she is going to waive the fee but in fact she didn’t, after two following calls they still fail to give it back to me), I paid more than $ 100 in addition to my rent just in my first month. Good job on ripping people off, Avalon. Maybe most of the people won’t have the same issue. But if you do, it makes you wonder why are you paying such an expensive rent for getting this crappy, even insulting service.
As for the apartment itself, to be fair it’s OK but with some issues.
Pros:
* Newish building and unit
* Spacious
* On-​site whole foods
* On-​site zipcar
Cons:
* One water shut-​off and two hot water shut off during my first month. It can be as long as the whole evening and early morning, which pretty much means you can’t take shower that day. What’s worse, there is no early notice for the hot water shut-​off (30 mins before shut off doesn’t count).
* As there are many dogs in the community, the public area floor should be cleaned with water and cleansers at least once a week. In practice, for some areas they do so sporadically at best.
* At least for the trash bin that I use most often, it’s common to either 1) not able to open 2) not able to close 3) both.
* Boring neighborhood. The only thing reminds me of SF is the BART station that smells like urinal. I already knew this while visiting, so I won’t deduct points for this.
I would say the apartment itself would be a 3-​star place. It works mostly OK but not amazing. However, because the personal experience sucks so much, I have to give it an one-​star (zero star if I can). To be fair, the payment-​related problem is not specific to Ocean Ave and not everybody encounters, but it’s definitely a factor if you are considering leasing with Avalon.

Dear Avalon,
Are you drunk?
I pay $ 3500 to live on the outskirts of San Francisco and I can’t even get hot water? Perhaps I should be reimbursed for having to explain to people why I smell like a dirty gym sock. But thank you for the email saying you don’t have an ETA on the boiler being fixed. After all, communication is key.
Luckily, yesterday there was a ‘fire drill’ at 8am to remind me that I couldn’t shower.
Also, it was my mistake signing a lease before seeing my actual apartment. The ‘model’ apartment was a silent little sanctuary. My apartment sounds like the Cold War, only this time Russia decided to invade, and their tanks have fucking hydraulics.
I’m new to San Francisco and not familiar with the areas. I thought ‘hey, this place can’t be too bad, it has a whole foods’. Within the first couple months whole foods was on lock down because of a shooting down the street. Not only do I have to pay $ 20 for kale but I have to worry about being shot in the face while doing it.
Maybe I should change my attitude. The gentleman taking a shit on the side walk was probably just welcoming me to the city.
Thanks for the perspective Avalon.
On a less resentful note, the staff here is actually really good. They can’t help the shitty window insulation, boilers breaking, or the guy with IBS. Rebecca and Angela are very responsive and proactive. They are why I gave this two stars instead of one. The building is clean, no bugs or rats (which is saying something for SF), 24 hour gym, and a Mcdonalds across the street. I realize the last two contradict each other but if you haven’t had their milkshakes you aren’t allowed to judge me.

Overpriced, dirty, loud neighborhood with awful food. It is near MUNI and BART, but that is all. Whole Foods is as overpriced as the rent, so it’s not really a great selling point. If you must live here because you just moved here, which is why everyone ends up here, sign a short lease, don’t make a smudge on the apartment, and find a new place ASAP.
One thing, the staff was nothing but amazing. The sad part is all their awesomeness didn’t help when the Avalon company that employs them has such horrible business practices.

The one benefit of living at Avalon Ocean Ave is the Whole Foods, although our first nine months in the building, we were cursing the banging, drilling, and constant noise coming from the construction. Now we have to endure the construction of the section 8 housing project going up next door, in addition to the noise from the neighbors. The lack of sound insulation in this cheaply constructed building is appalling and there is no respite.
The dust from the construction covers anything and everything left out on the balcony.
Not that we can use the balcony as it faces north, so we only see sunshine before 10:00am, but cannot have breakfast out there on weekends due to the 40+ motorbikes training in the parking lot next to the building from 7:00am-5:00pm every weekend.
The office staff are polite but offer no support in the 5 days the office is open. They are so busy trying to re-​rent the apartments which keep emptying. There is a moving van outside the building 3 – 5 days per week. And the staff rotation in the office is not much better with at least 6 faces having left in the last 18 months.
We would have moved out after our first year but due to work commitments, we were unable to find alternative accommodation. I would have signed up for month to month but that would hike the rent up by 50%, 6 month contract hiked rent by 30%, and even committing to 12 months was a 17% increase! Nowhere else in San Francisco is raising rents this much — but that is the price you pay for corporate run apartments.
Even the supposed benefits of the complex are a poison pill — secure garage without a security gate for 3 months, BBQ igniters which don’t work, outdoor gas fire place out of commission for 3 months, garbage rooms full of trash, elevators containing dog urine (also staircases), package notification screens in the lobby broken (on/​off) for 18 months.
I have lived in 20 apartments in 4 countries yet I have never paid so much for so little and felt so cheated. There is no-​one to complain too and nothing to do but leave.
Avoid at all costs!