Park West

I normally don’t write reviews but decided to submit my first one (!) given our positive experience at Park West. We moved into Park West about 6 months ago and have absolutely loved living here. We initially picked Park West because it addressed our most important needs (washer/​dryer in the apartment, parking spot, walking distance to UCSF, within budget), but now I can say that Park West has really exceeded our expectations for the reasons listed below:
Upon move-​in, our studio apartment was newly and beautifully renovated on the inside with new appliances (washer/​dryer, stove, oven, microwave), a remodeled kitchen/​bath, central heating, and overall a modern look that I often get compliments on. The exterior (including hallways and balcony) has been under renovation for the past 2 months or so but is almost done and we can’t wait to use our new balcony. The construction can sometimes be noisy as expected but they are great about limiting work to business hours (M-​F 8 – 5) when we are typically out of the house. The complex itself has a newly renovated parklet/​dog walk area and a new pool/​bbq/​patio area. Another perk is that Park West is pet friendly, which has motivated us to adopt a cat.
The location of Park West is pretty ideal in that you are 1 block away from Andronicos grocery (perfect for last-​minute groceries/​meals or that evening ice cream run), 5 blocks from Golden Gate Park (a favorite of mine for running), a quick drive/​bus ride/​run to Ocean Beach, 2 – 3 blocks from the N line (convenient for getting downtown and to the embarcadero), and 3 – 5 blocks from Irving/​9^th which has a ton of amazing restaurants.
Finally, the best thing about Park West has really been the staff. Shaniqe and Joseph have always been extremely friendly, professional, and responsive to all of our questions and needs. They are great about communicating building notices/​updates in a timely manner and maintenance has also addressed our concerns in a timely manner. Shaniqe especially has been outstanding throughout all of my interactions with her. From the beginning when I applied to the apartment, she went out of her way to make sure every single question I had was answered or would find the answer for me if she did not have it right away. She was easy to reach by email and phone and made the stressful process of apartment hunting in SF a fairly quick and pleasant experience. After we moved in, she has continued to remain accessible and responsive to our needs even when busy. Impressively, she also seems to know the name of every tenant and pet at Park West, which makes this place feel like a homey community.

This building has a newly renovated pool & patio area, and a lot of the units are newly renovated. It’s right near the N line and 7X express bus so great for commuting downtown. Maintenance is usually very responsive and building management has been a pleasure to work with (although they just rotated staff).

I’ve been an Essex «family» resident for about a year, lived in West Hollywood, California to now San Francisco. After having my motorcycle stolen inside an enclosed parking lot at the West Hollywood complex, and then having experienced the worst customer service thereafter. At this point I decided to rapidly move forward with relocating to San Francisco.
Although I had a bad experience at my previous Essex apartment complex, I still wanted to be part of their residential family. Understandably finding a new apartment isn’t easy when you’re remote. Indeed it was a stressful and trying endeavor. Making several phone calls from one community (Oakland) to the next (downtown SF) I continued to receive bad customer service — with my luck.
When I came across Park West Apartments, my first impression was gratifying. Fantastic customer service, consistently on top and on point on everything before I even left a finger. Initially I expressed some challenges I encountered during my apartment search from other Essex communities. Not only did I receive an empathetic apology, but they helped seamlessly transition my lease from WeHo to SF. I was filled with gratitude.
I want to express my sincere appreciation to Shaniqe LaFrance and Joseph. I cannot thank you enough. You have given 100% on customer satisfaction. I am so glad I haven’t given up on Essex. I am so fortunate to live in the Park West community. I love my new home; my city San Francisco.

Excellent Stay at Park West with all amenities and very helpful staff. Whenever I had any issues the team at Park West came to the fore and helped us out. It is unfortunate that I have to leave I an emergency but definitely Once I reach my country I will recommend this apartment to all my colleagues. Keep it up Park West!!!

Can’t say enough about Park West. This was by far the best place I’ve ever lived in the city (and I’ve lived a lot of places). We’ve moved to Puerto Rico or we’d still be at Park West.
The building itself is perfectly situated for great access to GG Park, Inner Sunset restaurants, Andronicos grocery store, N-​line access, and 7 Bus line access. Wonderful neighborhood with great little stores and farmers market! We loved our actual apartment too, very clean, spacious, with a ton of light coming in. Our friends always commented on how nice of a place we had.
All the Park West staff (Shaniqe, Joseph, and Mike) were always super friendly and helpful and kept us up to date on everything going on in the complex. We dog sat for a month and they were happy to accommodate; we had a car for a month and they found us a parking space to rent temporarily! Any questions we had were answered via email, phone, or in person quickly and professionally. Even with the building getting a makeover, we never felt the construction was a nuisance and they always informed us of any major work being done.
Love love love Park West!

SO GLAD WE CAME TO PARK WEST! Our MUST have’s were a TALL order for apartment hunting in San Francisco: washer/​dryer, two parking spots, central heating, remodeled kitchen and bath, AND pet friendly. Amazingly, Park West met all of our needs. To top it off, the management is wonderful. The property manager, Joseph is prompt, professional, welcoming and friendly. Shaniqe is the leasing agent. She’s always ready to help with a smile. Mike is the maintenance guy, wonderfully pleasant and helpful (although we never needed anything fixed!). Clarence maintains our building with care. He always gives a warm hello and a smile.
We moved from Boston (expensive) to San Francisco (REALLY expensive). If you have never lived in San Francisco, be prepared for a reality check. Apartments are smaller here and a bit older (if you want to keep your rent closer to where ever you moved from). However, our unit here was beautifully renovated. The use of space is fantastic! Although our bedroom/​bathroom is smaller than we were used to, the living room and kitchen are fantastically spacious. We have LOTS of storage in the kitchen.
The outside of the building was a bit odd, and put us off at first. Once we got inside, we were thrilled with our beautiful unit. Now the entire building is receiving a beautiful external renovation! It looks fantastic. All elevators, trash chutes, laundry rooms, and hallways are being renovated. All windows are being replaced.
Some other reviews complained about the traffic noise and public transportation. What?! We are two blocks from the MUNI and it comes frequently! We are also right on Golden Gate Park. We take our dogs there frequently. The California Academy of Sciences and the De Young museums are a beautiful 10 minute walk away in Golden Gate Park. We are next to a fantastic upscale grocery store, Andronicos. Yup — it is a bit pricier than other stores, but is right next store and has fantastic stuff! Irving Street is right behind us — what a treasure! Lots of restaurants, dry cleaners, banks — everything we need is right nearby.
Unfortunately we have to move to Los Angeles because of our jobs. We loved our experience with Essex (The management company of Park West) so we signed a lease with another Essex property in Los Angeles.
Keep up the great work Joseph, Shaniqe, Mike and Clarence!

I actually broke lease mid-​lease to leave here, and have no regrets. tl;dr: staff are friendly and helpful but lots of downsides: poor interior design, sub-​standard building upkeep, construction, heavy traffic, poor pedestrian safety, lousy public transportation.
Interior: Not smart nor functional. I lived in a 1 bedroom. It was nice to have a washer/​dryer, but they compromised on that by cutting out a closet from the bedroom and making the bathroom so tiny you could hardly put things on the counter. The countertop was more of a sink with a ledge. You could scarcely even open the bathroom door all the way without depriving yourself of a place to stand. The bathroom has nowhere to hang your towels or even enough counter space for a holder to put your toothbrush in. I was constantly knocking things off there, because it was the only surface space in the bathroom. The place feels even smaller than it is because of the poor interior choices.
Community Upkeep: They’ve retired their trash chutes due to code violations, and trash is simply binned in the stairwell area on the ground floors of the buildings. The lobby area has a perpetual, faint smell of trash. During the remodeling, they’ve really let the day-​to-​day upkeep of the building go and the construction has been managed in a way that’s very inconsiderate of the fact that this is someone’s home. The elevator in the building I lived in, for example, had stains where some debris had been smashed into the floor because the dirt had been left to sit there for months. It’s supposed to be cleaned regularly but it was obvious that floor hadn’t seen so much as a mop in several weeks when I moved out.
Construction: It’s a ‘pet-​friendly’ community — or was before the construction, anyway. The daytime construction noise makes the property basically unlivable if you have an animal. Essex failed to provide tenants any sort of services to accommodate our pets. I ended up paying for my own doggie day care, out of my own pocket, and never got a dime of it reimbursed. I probably could’ve gotten some relief from the Rent Board, but my work situation changed and I moved to a nicer place so I didn’t bother.
Notice of and communication about construction activity is minimal and if your building is being worked on, the noise is deafening. It’s clear that they’re just moving as fast as they can to get through the work. It seems Essex doesn’t really care if they lose tenants. Since the property is rent controlled, pushing tenants out during the construction is actually advantageous to them, because new tenants can be charged higher, post-​construction rents — a fact that was pointed out to me on many occasions. They made no concessions to those of us who spent months with our main source of sunlight (patio window) boarded up, and are actively raising market-​rate rent for new residents even during the construction.
Neighborhood, Traffic and Transportation: Traffic on Lincoln Way, which sits to the north of the complex, is heavy, because it’s the main east-​west tie between the Sunset and Western Addition/​Downtown. It’s basically an expressway, and people speed down it all the time. Expect to hear motorbikes, sirens and other noise all night long. Crossing Lincoln, particularly in the southbound direction, from the park toward the Sunset, is extremely dangerous. Pedestrians have been hit at that crossing during my time there by speeding cars. Access to freeways is three miles away (down 19^th Avenue to CA-​1/​I-​280, or down Lincoln through the Western Addition to US-​101) and both access points jam up during commute. Expect to spend up to 30 minutes in traffic on a fairly regular basis, just to get from the city limits to your door if you commute during peak time on either of those routes.
If you depend on public transit and work on anything resembling a schedule, forget it. The N Judah streetcar and 71 Haight-​Noriega bus are your main options. Both are slow, perpetually late, and crowded. There’s no access to BART on the west side so many folks drive (see above).
Amenities: Golden Gate Park is close by, in theory right across the street. However, the entrances to the park are four blocks away (9^th Avenue) and six blocks away (19^th Avenue), respectively. It’s not like you can just walk across the street into the park. They have a pool, which is just bizarre. There aren’t more than a handful of days every year that it actually gets warm enough in the Sunset to go for a swim.

If you are looking for a professional and easy viewing/​leasing experience in inner sunset, Shanique at Park West is the BEST THERE IS. Honestly, no viewing appointment in my entire life has ever been this enjoyable. Not only did Shanique answer all our questions, she was so knowledgeable and sweet, we ended up chit chatting through the entire appointment. If you’re looking for a great apartment with awesome fixtures and can tout being pet friendly, go to Park West. And you will most likely make a friend out of all of it!

I only visited here when looking for a place to rent. It’s in the Inner Sunset neighborhood which is not common for apartment complexes and it’s more of a homey neighborhood feel. However, we decided not to rent here.
Pros:
* Apartment layout is very sizable
* Despite it being an older complex, the remodeling looks very nice
* It’s in a «real» San Francisco neighborhood, not like the financial district, for example
Cons
* Expensive considering the location
* The grounds are not well attended, there is peeling paint, rickety old elevators, trash in the parking lot
* Inconvenient to anywhere the MUNI won’t go
* Limited hours to get packages or leasing staff assistance
* It’s very dark in the apartment
* I’m pretty sure Shaniqe had a kid who didn’t work at the office showing the properties to someone when I was there as she was very vague titling him
If you’re looking to rent in this area you might want to look for someone’s property as opposed to a complex. It’s not worth what they’re charging to be out there.

The team here is very responsive, professional and hospitable. I especially love Shaniqe who really makes sure everything gets taken care for you.
Quiet and friendly neighbors. Clean and new appliances!

I have experienced the most excellent staff while living here. Joseph the manager, Shaniqe in leasing, Mike in maintenance and Frances as porter have all provided personal and kind attention to every detail consistently. The facilities are older, but well kept and functional. The location is perfect.

Since the change in management, I have locked myself out twice due to absent mindedness– Shaniqe and Joseph were *so* helpful each time (thank you). Mike always goes above and beyond helping my maintenance needs. The direct staff is great.
The ultimate shining star here, though, is Frances, Groundskeeper and Porter. She brings a sense of community to our little nook. She seems *happy* to be cleaning and beautifying the grounds here; it shows. The elevator is spic and span; the pool area feels luxurious; the plants around our building are well-​kempt; and things feel clean and cozy here.
Frances surpasses what I hope for in a groundskeeper. I actually *look* for her when I am outside. I enjoy experiencing the pride she clearly takes in her work. I appreciate the care she provides to such an important space to me and to the residents.
I hope she stays here for the long haul. Just in case I don’t say this enough, Thank you for everything you do for us, Frances.

I’ve lived here for a few years now. Great eateries in the neighborhood, GGPark is in walking distance and Andronicos market is next door. St Anne church is just up one block. Having small kids in this area is safe too.
Since the new owners (essex properties) and managers (shanique and Joseph) took over, there has been some strange things happen in and around the apartments. In the beginning, Everyone in the complex got a letter taped to our doors indicating what will happen to our deposit monies. This letter was not in an envelope. So anyone could have read your personal info without you knowing it. They managed business like this for months. Then construction and loud noises happen. I had to walk my kid (only one at the time) out on a stroller so he can nap because its just too loud in our apartment. The notice for the construction didn’t go out until a week after they started.
Then they supposedly fixed a problem with the intercom system. But I was given the wrong code so I had to keep going downstairs to open the doors for my guests when I used to be able to buzz them in.
Recently, they replaced the bathroom vents. It’s supposed to be more efficient than the old one. But now this new vent has no Off switch and its not quiet at all. It’s got a creepy green sensor that blinks with your every move. Oh and I’m supposed to pay for this thing to be on all day?
Now they’ve implemented a key fob for tenants. They wrote a letter to everyone that the key fobs are available for pickup immediately. I went to pick it up at the office on the same day and they told me to come back in an hour because Joseph was leaving for the day and shanique was going on a break. Oh! And Joseph told me to come back after the holidays if I couldn’t pick it up in an hour. Does it really take that long to give the key fobs?
When Martine Dalmas and Kate used to run the complex, my concerns were addressed right away. They were professionals but were also friendly and warm like we were part of their family too. I got lucky with friendly neighbors. We have a get together almost once a month in each others apartments.
If you’re looking to live here, you should talk to other tenants before making a decision. Maybe you will like the pricey apartment but if you have to deal with managers like them it may not be worth it.

These apartments are under new management and I love living here!!! Shanqie and Joseph are always smiling and eager to help with my requests. My apt has been remodeled with all the finest finishes hard wood floors, stainless steel appliances etc. I also have an in house eco friendly washer/​dryer! Is it weird that I love the deep sink in the kitchen?! I really enjoy having an assigned parking space and a small dog run. Adronicos is next door making it super convenient to quickly grab some organic goods. Also quick access to public transportation, UCSF Parnassus, restaurants, and Golden Gate park. No gym but they do have a pool. I never hear any noise and maintenance is ALWAYS quick to respond!!! Im a single girl and feel very safe living here.

This place is under new management and what a positive change! Shaniqe and Joseph in the management office are very receptive to tenant concerns. I live in a newly remodeled unit, and what an upgrade! Stainless steel appliances, washer and dryer in unit, new floors, new bathroom. Quick access to Golden Gate park, superb restaurants and shops within walking distance! Very happy to have stayed here!

I lived here during my last year at USF, and I really appreciate the friendliness of Martine and Katie, the landlord and managers. The grounds were well kept and the ammenities were great — especially as far as SF apartments go. The laundry rooms convenient and rarely overcrowded, the pool downstairs is something you never find elsewhere, the dog walk was regularly cleaned, the elevators are SO convenient and the maintenance team is quick to respond to any apartment issues. I also really appreciated their pet policy as they are less strict about breeds, but more strict about individual personalities of the animals. It’s also right next to the 71 bus and a few blocks from the N-​Judah, 28 and 29 buses. The location is right next to the main drag of Inner Sunset too, so a five minute walk can take you right to good bars and food :)
A few downsides are that, when apartments are being updated, sometimes you can get last-​minute notice that maintenance or renovation teams will be working above you or possibly through your apartment. Also, if there are notices for water shut-​off, they’re placed downstairs in the mail area/​lobby for our building, they’re not always accurate or present — but I don’t know how much of that is Park West’s fault. Also, the prices are pretty high, but again, it’s SF, so they’re definitely not as high as most other apartment complexes.
Overall, I enjoyed living here and I recommend others to look into Park West.

The landlady here i is great, she has been nothing but helpful with regard to the moving in process. She and her husband have helped out with everything from mail arriving before I did to helping me find furniture deals from residents that have moved out. The apartment is a 1 bedroom that has a view of Golden Gate park and is amazingly close to public transportation and groceries. I’d recommend this complex to anyone looking for a place to live.