Cathedral Hill Plaza

Great hardwood floors in some units and decently maintained building. HOWEVER, the management is unbelievably atrocious – rude, unfriendly, arbitrary. They have a billion little rules that eventually cause death by a million paper cuts. Guests are not welcomed, laundry machines steal money and don’t clean, elevators are continually out of service, and the rent is as expensive as other places in the city. If you don’t mind dealing with the borg that is their Administration, come check these out. Otherwise do yourself a favor and AVOID.

There are pros and cons to living in this building. Obviously, no one moves in here by choice, more out of desperation, but there are a few good things that make living here OK.
PROS:
— spacious (bedrooms are very large)
— lots of light (maybe too much light on the south side)
— good amount of privacy
— lots of closets
— price not too bad (for SF)
— allows pets of all sizes
— concierge, security
— mail handling (extremely convenient)
— on-​site gym + tennis courts (more on that later)
— parking (more on that)
— location great for walking
— radiant water heating
— good hot water + pressure (but poor drainage)
You can read all about the CONS from the other reviews posted here.
The reason I decided to leave this review was to talk about how miserable it is to live in a building managed by a corporation (I suppose it isn’t all too different from a greedy landlord).
–The laundry room was recently renovated with new machines — these new machines don’t clean your laundry (actually worse) but cost more, so the only reason the renovation occurred was to make more profit.
— The elevators have been in and out of service, with the entire apartment having to use only one elevator for more than half a year and counting (including move in/​out). One of the elevator’s engines caught on fire. Both elevator’s city permits were overdue for more than a year and currently the only one working has an outdated temporary permit as well. Management does not hold themselves to the same strict rules and standards they do their tenants.
— Water lines have needed constant servicing so residents are given porta-​potties in the parking garage
— Parking is $ 275 per month (parking garage is quite empty)
— The on-​site gym & tennis courts are sort of nice, but they are an additional fee per month, $ 60 I believe. The gym is small but well-​equipped, and is generally empty. There are saunas in the bathrooms. The tennis courts are accessible by the entire building BUT without a gym membership you cannot use them. There is a swimming pool that has remained out of service for many years now, and this is because:
The company that owns and operates this building is attempting to demolish the tennis courts and parking garages in order to construct a giant 19 storey highrise. They have been met with a lot of opposition by all residents in the area. In order to strengthen their case with the city planners, they show how little the tennis courts and parking garages are used, and refuse to fix the swimming pool.
If the gym and tennis courts were free to the tenants to use (which they should be, given the ridiculous rents), they would be very busy. Tenants should at the very least, be given a discounted parking rate.
To prospective tenants, know this. The building is approximately ¹⁄₃ empty. But management leases out only a few units at a time to make it seem like there is less availability. So perhaps there is some bargaining power in that.
Lastly, the doormen who work here are really great. They are forced to follow the rules of management or risk losing their jobs. So if they seem harsh or strict at times, it is because they have no choice but to do this. Most of them are absolutely miserable working here and seem to be treated poorly (what else do you expect from a corporation?).
The only other thing I can think of to say is that while the rules here do seem insanely strict, you would be surprised at what some of the tenants try to get away with — all you can do is shake your head. So you have those tenants to thank for some of the rules. My dealings with the manager Linda have so far been pleasant and reasonable.
So, while it isn’t that great living here, it isn’t horribly unbearable either — if you find somewhere better, good for you.

I have lived here for a year now, and I just have to say that yes, some of the rules can be annoying at times, but overall, they are meant to keep us all SAFE. The doormen patrol the building at night. There’s a reason guests have to sign in; there’s a reason for not allowing random cars in the garage. I see now, after seeing some crazy crime in this city, that the rules here are just an extreme way to help keep this building safe. So, as much as I might find some of the rules annoying at times, I actually really like living here overall.

The only reason I give them one star is that zero was not an option. The lack of courtesy /​respect they show to their tenants boggles the mind. Their business model appears to be that lack of kindness will result in people leaving, allowing them to raise the rent. Yet despite the fact that I’m a new tenant paying a ridiculously high rent, the model remains the same. Unfortunately, this culture of surliness permeates throughout the building. Run away from this building. You will regret doing otherwise

After living here for over a year, I wish I had paid more attention to the negative reviews on Unilocal,and less to the relatively low cost per square foot. Noise, single pane windows, much deferred maintenance (one elevator for 6 months!), and rule-​based management that is aimed at driving out long term tenants and harassing even newbies. Ick!

I am unbelievably blown away by how rude these people are. I had the horrible displeasure of being yelled at by not just one but two people at the front desk because I had pulled into their empty parking lot to drop off a clients dog. My client lives in your building and you will not let me park in the parking lot to bring their dog back!!! Really!!? They threatened to call the police on me if I didn’t move my car right away. Whoever owns this building should fire the woman that works at the front desk. She had no idea how to treat people and if that is the face of your building, I am surprised you even have people who want to live there. I feel really sorry for people that live there because according to the reviews, it’s pretty bad living there. Getting treated like criminals, having to abide by ridiculous rules and dealing with management that makes it hard to live there!!! If I can’t even drop off a dog that lives in the building, I wonder what else these poor tenants go through.

The past reviews sum up this place well. The management engages in illegal harassment of tenants. The «rules» that they try to enforce are all crafted to make your life as miserable as possible. If it were up to them every tenant would leave after 1 year so they could keep raising rents to market rate.
Some of the ridiculous experiences I’ve had to go through:
1) Disabled my front door key because my brother (who is on the list as a roommate) used it to get into the building. Why? They insist that he must have his own card key so they can monitor all ins and outs. This for the hopes that one day they will be able to prove this is not your primary residence and you won’t be under rent control, therefore.
2) Not letting scheduled carpet cleaners into the building to clean my couch. Linda insisted that whoever comes in has to have a $ 3M insurance policy. The guys had a $ 2M policy — that wasn’t enough. There was no rule written down anywhere and I did not agree to this when I signed the lease. Linda the 3 headed monster just came prancing in and scared off the cleaners after a 2 hour ordeal involving the police.
3) Telling me that I could not get a replacement roommate — without any explanation or reason — when I had always had one before. This would have doubled my rent, essentially an eviction attempt. They lost that battle at the rent board when their attorney gave the reason to the judge «Judge, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed,» when asked why they were doing this. Like hell — the mayor has now appointed the unethical and soul-​less David Wasserman to the rent board as one of the 3 landlord attorneys that set rent board policy.
4) I get notices every time I can’t finish my move within their little prescribed window of a 3 day notice to «cure or quit.»
5) Refusal of the office to talk to the bank when a rent check supposedly didn’t arrive from online banking on time. Online banking would have returned the late fee they tried to charge me for the check they claim they never got, but they were totally uncooperative. For no reason at all. I gave them permission to talk to my bank but they flat out refused.
6) Endless hassles when it comes to guests entering the building. There is no permanent list for your family. If you somehow forget to renew this ridiculous list every few months your friends or family or dog walker can be locked out. There is absolutely no common sense applied. Even if you’ve lived in the building for years and have had the same guests for years on your list they will not let the person in even if you call them and approve it. To make matters worse they only input people on their own schedule during «business hours.» So if you’re going out of town on a long weekend and can’t put your pet sitter on the list till late Friday afternoon, forget it! They will work very very hard to put up road blocks to you living a reasonable normal lifestyle as much as possible.
7) CONSTANT invasion of privacy. They claim they have guest parking but if your guests actually use it – watch out. They want every piece of information except maybe the name of your guest’s great grandparents. They track and monitor all your visitors shamelessly.
8) General unhelpfulness according to socially expected norms
The list is rather endless… but you catch the drift. They want you out because they want to raise rents. They have no ethics, morals, or character and will do everything, legal or not, to encourage you to move out ASAP. A tenant that pays their rent on time every month and doesn’t make any waves is their worse nightmare long-​term.
If you do live here, don’t feel oppressed or that you have to follow every one of their ridiculous control-​freak greed-​centered rules. Figure out what is legal and within your rights. For example, when I signed the lease I never agreed to reserve an elevator for every damn thing. I agreed to reserve it for when I needed to move in and out. Therefore them forcing me to reserve it for every single item they think doesn’t fit on a cart (some random criteria they came up with years after I moved in) is not within their legal rights. I will never again be oppressed into thinking I have to follow all their «rules.» This is not an office building and they do not have a right to know who is visiting me and when. They do not have a right to interfere with my right to do normal every day activities of living. I should not have to reserve an elevator to bring a TV box upstairs, as they force you to do. A lot of the things they threaten you with are not actionable for eviction, though they try to threaten and intimidate you into thinking so. I heard someone got a letter from the management for having a Christmas wreath on their door…
Living in this building works for people who don’t do a whole lot except work, come home, sleep, don’t get many visitors or deliveries. And certainly if you don’t like to redecorate or move furniture.

The management officers in this building are sooo horrible! I am so amazed how cruel they are. I never see them smile… If you name was on the lease, you may feel slightly better than a guest. If you were a guest, those people would treat you like a criminal. No kidding!
The policy here is also ridiculous. It made me feel they created those stupid policies because of the fact that they have nothing to do in the office and they want those policies to keep themselves busy.
Can’t wait the end of the lease! Those horrible management officers make me sick.

I have rarely met more unfriendly, unreasonable and incompetent management. My friends live here and are planning to move out as soon as they are humanly able. It’s so bad I even dislike coming over here for dinner. It’s a shame because the actual apartments are great, but you just don’t want to have to deal with these complete jerk management people all the time. Awful, awful place.

I don’t live here… but I frequent this building as a dogwalker/​pet care provider.
As others have said, the rules here are ridiculous and the staff either move at a glacial pace OR give you a nasty stink eye…
You’d think with the customer service I was receiving here I was some sort of high profile criminal vs someone being PAID to be there… shake my head, don’t live here, I could only imagine being here 24/7…I’m there every other day for a few minutes and cannot wait to get OUT.

To Cathedral Hill Plaza at 1333 Gough Management —
Positive:
–Great location in Lower Pac Heights, in the middle of everything, near MUNI public. transportation, near Japantown restaurants and Polk Street Bars.
–Amazing View if you’re looking out at the Geary Street Side.
–The security/​door/​maintenance guys are really friendly and kind.
Negative:
–The Management Team (Esther & Linda) are a little bit on edge. I understand that rules are rules but sometimes talking to them can probably give you a bit of anxiety. They’re not always the most pleasant people to work with but they’re doing their job.
–The building is old, lots of issues within the units.
–The management team will have rules on top of rules that make very little sense and they’re not the nicest people relaying you what the rules are.
Basically, it wasn’t a pleasant experience living here because the management are debbie downers and it’s too expensive for what you get. There’s better elsewhere.

in three words: THIS PLACE SUCKS.
in detail:
(1) the management and staff really do not care about your living quality, they just are «doing their jobs» and do not go beyond their job description AT ALL to accommodate you. There is no such thing as customer service at this building — don’t even HOPE that someone might do you ONE favor. Oh, and I didn’t mention that the property manager & assistant manager are BITCHES. yes, i said that on a public forum. BITCHES. a delivery and installation man said «i’m sorry they are such grumpy old ladies to you!».
(2) the toilet pressure cannot be fixed regardless of plumber «fixing» it — we are constantly flushing the toilet because it actually doesn’t flush everything! (gross)
(3) the guest and food delivery policy is absurd — (just like the reviewer below mentioned). If you want to accomplish anything outside of going in and out of your living quarters, have the patience for paperwork and time. Nothing gets done fast here.
the only reason why I live here and continue to do so is because my boyfriend lived here before I moved into SF and he has rent control, saving about $ 2000 a month.

I upgraded my rating to 5 stars. I lived here for over two years. I have had no issues with the building management, they always friendly with me.
If some one has bad credit and has no money in the bank, they feel it is someone’s fault for not renting to them. I would not want to rent to a person with no money in the bank, bad credit or unverifiable income.

I have lived here for about a year and have lots of good things to say for the view, cleanliness and general location in the city. However, the management is out of G. Orwell. There is an absurd rule about everything that you may or may not attempt to accomplish in this building, and any attempt at reasoning is met with an unhelpful shrug of the shoulders. I will list just a few examples:
1) The doorman on duty cannot actually let guests in. Guests are supposed to linger outside in plain view of the doorman, and contact you through a (415) number ONLY (nevermind that your cell may or may not be from SF) so that you can buzz them in. This includes food delivery, repairmen, etc. There’s a rule for this.
2) Your garage spot is your garage spot, except it isn’t. Your mom is coming to town and you decide to leave your car at work and have her park in your spot? Oops, you can’t. There’s a rule for that.
3) My husband lives in a different city while he’s going to grad school, but spends his vacations, etc here. The management wants a single person for the lease of a studio, however, so my name is the only one on the list. As a result he can’t be put on the list to receive packages under his own name, and any family correspondence has to come in my name. There’s a rule for that. NOTICEABLE MANAGEMENT EXCEPTION: You can add your husband as a ROOMMATE to be able to receive packages under his name. Perfectly logical that a roommate gets more privileges than a husband.
4) Your car was broken into and you want to have the glass people replace the glass? Not on this property. See point #2 — Your garage spot is your garage spot, except it isn’t. There’s a rule for that too.
5) Your mom is coming to town and takes the car to the grocery store? Apparently she’s not supposed to enter the garage. There is only a verbal rule for that.
6) Guest names have to be submitted in advance and are entered in a running list that you have to renew every 3 months. No, there’s no permanent list for your family and relatives. There’s a rule for that.
So, if you have the temperament and tenacity to deal with endless bureaucracy, this is your building.

Horrible building management, but nice apartments. Keep in mind that rent-​controlled buildings can only raise rents to market value once tenants move out. The management therefore has a natural incentive to encourage residents to move out, through whatever means they can (and hope to get away with). Don’t take it personally though — it’s all motivated by the big GREEN GREED inside them. Maherah and Linda are paid to have ‘no heart.’ It’s their job to keep profits as high as possible for the out of town owners. The worst tenants for them are ones who have been here many years — imagine the rents they could get if only they left. So now they start building their eviction cases early — from the day you move in, using the most minor of «offenses» and bombardig you with letter after letter after letter. Imagine the number of hours Maherah spends every day of her life doing this, instead of actually trying to make the lives of people who live here better. Many parts of the lease are illegal or unenforceable, so do read it over before signing. If you already live in this building, contact me to join the tenant’s association. At some point enough has to be enough. Landlord harassment is a crime, and against the civil code in our city.

As a resident here, I have a lot of good things to say about the building but unfortunately the property manager Maherah makes living here so difficult that I have to put down only one star. Trying to get simple, routine things done around here is nearly impossible if it involves going through the management office and I have yet to meet a single person here that hasn’t ever run into problems with her. Maherah runs things around here with such an absurd extremity of bureaucracy that she makes the DMV look good!
If things were just managed a little more intelligently around here, I would love to revise my post since this would otherwise be a nice place to live in terms of great location, good apartment units, and friendly doorstaff. What a pity they just hired the wrong person to manage the place!

The tour was good and thorough. Have not decided if we want to live here or not. I will post a more thorough review if we do. I like the location on a hill where there are less shopping cart pushing winos. Only three blocks from Lafayette park so puppy was happy with location. Inside was very clean and residents seemed happy. Traffic on the Gough side is a little loud but not bad Post street side is quieter. Balconies are nice.

I have lived in the building over a year and love it. The apartment itself is large, in good shape and has tons of light. The building is also kept very clean and well maintained and the staff are all friendly. I love having a 24 hour doorperson and indoor parking in the middle of San Francisco. There is also great diversity among the residents — every age, ethnic background and marital status you usually experience in SF. I’ve had no issues so far and everyone is very reasonable.
The only drawback is the lack of a freight elevator which makes moving things and access a bit tricky — I can’t imagine why any builder would construct a 120+ unit apartment building without a freight elevator! Because of this, management does have to be strict about timing, etc which requires more planning and coordination, but at least it’s done so that other tenants are constantly inconvenienced when one of the elevators is out of order for a move.
Everything else is great. I love living in a big apartment with great views and know I am secure and that things will be addressed if I have any issues.

If you have a dog I wouldn’t waste my time and money applying here. Linda and Mahera will just take your money and run, right before telling you to hit the door.
A direct quote from Mahera when asked about our application:
«Oh, I ran into a problem so I stopped.»
No phone call, nothing. She just stops. …and probably hopes that you never call again.
Obviously they are having problems trying to rent these units as now Linda and Mahera are hidden away from you until the very end. You speak to an outside rental agent up until lease signing. You know, a nice person that you will never see ever again. (*cough* …bait, switch…)
If I could give them 0 stars I would. (I give the 1 star to the outside rental agent.) I’m sort of glad to discover (via Unilocal) that other tenants are indeed having problems with Linda and Mahera as well. For a second, I thought it may have been just bad chemistry between them and myself, but it sounds like they are just little bundles of spite and storm clouds with everyone. So happy to be saying that I’ll be taking my pile of money elsewhere.

Despite my intuition and better judgement, my boyfriend and I applied for an apartment here. They have great apartments for reasonable prices. The management received our application on Saturday morning, and today, Monday, we got a rejection notice in the mail. It did not specify why we were rejected.
I called the agent and he confirmed what I suspected– it was because my income is not verifiable. I had noted this in my application, and had asked them to do reference checks to see that I have a perfect history of rental. Also, I do not have pay stubs because I am a business owner and I own a store and healing space on Polk Street called Satin Crystals.
It doesn’t bother me that we got rejected, but it bothers me that they didn’t even do any processing work, reference checks, or credit checks and immediately rejected us and took away our $ 70 in application fees. That is why they are not worth any stars. If we were an immediate «no» they should not have taken our money. Had they done these processes, they would have found I have perfect and excellent credit, untainted record of residential and commercial leasing. I had no problem getting a store on polk street or my past apartments. I would have appreciated being told I could not rent without a 9 – 5 type job (boring) before handing them the cash.
In the end I am glad we will not be living there. If you are considering applying, do check out their atrocious reviews of the manager on
Also, they charge 1 months rent security deposit just for my tiny cat. That’s $ 2000 deposit for a harmless little kitty!