New Century Commons

Best downtown compromise living.
Read the other reviews, and know that ‘MIKE’ is gone, and has been replaced by Zamira, who is GREAT! She has been available every time to open the loading gate, and has been VERY prompt to arrange repairs as needed.
The units are vey clean with high ceilings. They are designed in a manner that puts the bedroom furthest away from the street to minimize noise while you sleep. The view and people watching is second to none. Just a steps out the front door is the Santa Clara Station, the main hub of light rail and busses. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) will be building a subway station that will come up literally across the street in 2025 and connect with the Santa Clara Station, so if you are in it for the long run, you will be able to walk out the front door and take a high speed subway to downtown SF and beyond. Caltrain and amtrak are about 1 mile away. There are 54 restraints that allow online ordering within a half mile radius.
There are a few very big drawbacks, which may steer people away from this complex:
1) Income restrictions
2) No elevator
3) No parking
You will not get over 1 or 2, but 3 can be easily solved. there is a lot across the street, ABM, that offers monthly parking at a great rate. for the life of me, i do not understand why more residents do not utilize this lot. It is $ 20 more a month than the other garages that are significantly further away, and is fairly secure (high visibility, multiple security camera networks, and if you live street-​side, you can see your car from your living room).
if you are not bothered by the drawbacks (I am not), than this is a 5 star worthy apartment building.
This is a GREAT place to live

So a lot has changed in the 7 ½ years I lived here. The city and that block of South 2^nd street is just going through normal urban cycles and while undesirable for most, that’s not something this complex can control and so people actually like that city feel, so, I’ll break it down this way.
Pros: Nice management, responsive maintenance (they have done a LOT of repairs in the last year proactively and have no issue fixing things right away) they allow cats, they are walking distance to a lot of restaurants and offices, 750 sq ft. one bedrooms is actually large, high ceilings, lots of natural light, very nice historic look inside, affordable as affordable as anything really is downtown. People inside seem okay, pretty quite and keep to themselves. Upon moving out, I was told not to worry about cleaning, since the $ 150 cleaning deposit is automatic (especially since I had lived there so long). I’ve never moved from anywhere where they don’t nickel and dime you on the way out, and this of course may not be the exception, but it seemed fair and easy and honest and so I’m expecting to get the majority of my deposit back.
Neutrals: If you have work parking paid for nearby then the fact that there is no secure parking nearby is not an issue. For an extra $ 100 a month or so you can get parking about a block away, but as with everything downtown now, vandalism does occur. I’m not a fan of smoking of any kind, but if you don’t mind that kind of thing, the people hanging out and smoking by the entrance and on the street continually, shouldn’t concern you. 3 washers and 3 dryers (all big, functioning and cheap to use) for 26 units. Like most buildings laundry room hours are restricted and the room is closed at 10pm… this makes it a challenge to find time to do loads, but people were mostly considerate and admittedly I lived a busy schedule so it may have only been a challenge for me. NO elevator, so it’s quite the hall with groceries or purchases, but on the plus side over 100 stairs every day and walking everywhere saved on gym membership! I promise you that just about anywhere you live in a city you will have bugs. This place was great in that there were hardly any spiders and NO roaches or bedbugs, but you did have to be vigilant about pantry moths and carpet beetles (totally harmless, just. well…present). My suggestion, anywhere you go, buy cedar oil (Cedarcide) and spray it everywhere twice a year or anytime you see a bug of any kind. It’s just a necessary evil in living in any area. No mice or rats IN the complex, though I have heard that they are around the city, again, no specific to this complex, just that the drought in particular has brought them to dumpsters and such.
Cons: Outside noise is an issue if you live on the street side. Light rail, bars, Improv, buses, transients from St. James Park, Fountain Alley loitering, sirens and just traffic along with construction with thin historic windows honestly was the reason I had to get out. It was different when Toons, Voodoo Lounge and other places were open, as most of the noise was INSIDE, now… somehow it’s just always on the street. No screens on the windows and not all the windows even opened making «fresh» air or circulation a negative, especially if you didn’t want it to sound like the light rail was IN your apartment.
Overall, this isn’t a place you will get to know your neighbors probably, or maybe spend more than a few years, but it’s urban living that’s affordable and certainly has it’s pluses if they fit into your lifestyle.

I moved out of this building at the end of November after living there for six months.
Pros:
— fairly affordable (if you meet the income guidelines — which, surprisingly as a single person with a tech job, I did) — $ 1595/​month for a 1-​bedroom when I lived there, though I ended up having to move out because I couldn’t afford that
— close to downtown and public transit, although VTA light rail is useless
— allows cats and rabbits
— attractive building
— one-​bedroom apartments are very spacious
— area with lots of foot traffic late at night due to the bars and clubs around, which is my definition of safety (it may not be yours)
Cons:
— Don’t count on getting any repair requests executed after your first month or two. Mike, the manager, was eager to fix things right after I moved in, but after that, I asked him to glue the built-​in-​microwave handle that broke one day when I opened the microwave, and four months later when I moved out, he still hadn’t done it.
— Trash dumpsters are constantly overflowing — I guess the management doesn’t care enough to put a second dumpster in? That’s pretty depressing.
— No recycling in the building — I had to drive my recyclables to Ranch Town because I couldn’t deal with throwing away glass and metal
— No parking (the nearest garage costs $ 110/​month)
— No way to park in front of the building to unload heavy items like furniture, unless you park in back at the loading dock. The loading dock is always locked unless you ask Mike to open it, but he usually doesn’t answer the phone, so you have to park on 3^rd and carry heavy things through the alley and around to 2^nd.
— Noisy building (neighbors often are either playing loud music or yelling at each other, late at night on weeknights)
— No elevator (ADA? What’s that?)
— Mike never gave me a copy of the lease that I signed, despite my requests, and that’s unprofessional.
But the worst thing, really, is that I moved out 28 days ago and still haven’t received my security deposit back or an itemized statement of deductions. (California state law requires this to happen within 21 days.) This is the second landlord in a row where I’ve moved out of an apartment with no damage and I’ve had to threaten to sue just to get my deposit back, too. I’d rather live in a place where the management cares about maintaining their building and obeying the law.
EDIT: I received a security deposit refund with deductions about 31 days after moving out. After I wrote a second letter threatening to sue, I received a check for the remaining balance of the security deposit. So this means the management deducted money from my deposit without notifying me within the legally mandated time, knowing they were doing something illegal, and hoping I wouldn’t notice. Not cool.

lived here for six months and was fairly unhappy about it. it’s affordable compared to nearby places but there are cheaper apartments if you’re willing to put in the work. the location is good, but also quite noisy at night on the weekends and not as walkable or interesting as almost anyother city center in he bay.
But my main complaint is that the manager, mike, is forgetful, and doesn’t seem to care about the tenant’s experience. I rented unit 210 and found out in the first week it shares a wall with the laundry room — Mike said he would start locking it after 10pm, but despite several reminders he never did. Worse, when I locked it myself with the latch on the handle, he unlocked it for other tenants as late as 11pm! Mike never gave me a copy of my lease after I signed it and handed it over, despite my reminding him in person and in writing several times. My fears that this was in order to extract some extra money from me without giving me recourse to the contract was confirmed when, on moving out, Saratoga Capital — the holding company that owns the building — charged me a $ 160 «notice fee.» I let Mike off on the $ 70 mandatory carpet cleaning fee that wasn’t mentioned in the contract, but when he couldn’t explain that notice fee I called Saratoga Capital, but never heard back.
this place is architecturally acceptable, but the management stressed me out and I wouldn’t consider it a pleasant atmosphere.

Location: 3.5-Stars
Price: 4-​Stars
Cleanliness: 3.5-Stars
Amenities: 2-​Stars
Service: 2-​Stars
Overall Evaluation: 3-​Stars (4-​Stars for the price range)
New Century Commons: 3^rd Floor Suite (2 Bed — 1 Bath)
LOCATION: * * * ‘
Next Door to the San Jose Improv on 2^nd Street between W. Santa Clara St and San Fernando St.
You are one block away from the grocery store, dry cleaner, barber, restaurants, and bars. There are tons of stories and activities close by. Light-​rail is at your doorstep. The ridiculous crowd on Thursday-​Saturday nights provides Jersey-​Shore like entertainment if you are into that scene. The unit is close to the financial district and San Jose State University. The north side of W. Santa Clara Street is shady and sometimes unsafe looking at night; however, I would run the 1.3 mile Light-​rail loop and felt safe every night.
PRICE: * * * *
Great deal for the area. 70% less than nearby Globe and 360. This may be due to no parking and shared laundry.
CLEANLINESS: * * * ‘
Our unit was exceptionally clean with new carpet, stove and fresh paint. Most everything was clean; however, there were smells eking into the hallway near some of the units. Management responded when we complained of smelly tenants. The smells were gone about 10 days after complaint was made. Garbage area was very bad.
AMENITIES: * *
–No Parking; although there is an uncovered parking lot across the street ($ 100+ a month). This lot is mostly used for bar parking. Expect the rowdy Jersey-​Shore wana’bees to hang out near your car.
–Shared laundry (3 washers — 3 dryers): It’s what you expect from shared laundry.
–No Elevator. On the bright side, you will have buns of steel!
–No common space other than hallways.
–Garbage was a pain in the a**. You have to take the garbage for a walk through the building to the dumpster in the back… then you have to chuck it from fire-​escape on the second floor into a dumpster.
SERVICE: * *
See Unilocal review for Saratoga Capital.
Sluggish response to issues. Multiple requests via phone calls, emails, and notes under the manager’s door were required to get things done. Our dishwasher left massive mineral deposits on our glasses and dishes despite using jet-​dry and running hot water beforehand. Management was unresponsive to complaints… Our dishes are unusable now. Moving out, they took too much off the deposit: our unit was immaculate.
IMPORTANT: After moving out, they treated me like GARBAGE. PG&E billed me for the next month of utilities used by the management. Saratoga Capital (the Property Manager) assured me they would take care of the bill on multiple occasions. I called Saratoga Capital every month regarding the bill and they gave me the same misleading answer, «Don’t worry about it, we will take care of it. You won’t have to call us again!» They never did and when I called to tell them PG&E sent me to a collection agency, they changed their tune and told me they have no record my 5+ calls and told me to stop calling. PAMELA was EXTREMELY RUDE and showed little class in her handling of the situation. Pamela, the dates don’t lie! You guys know this bill is yours… Pamela, no one deserves the negligent and disrespectful treatment you and your staff gave me after 5 months of repeated telephone calls. I would take you to small claims court, but my time is worth more than $ 150 and prolonged aggravation. See Unilocal review for Saratoga Capital.
OVERALL EVALUATION: * * *
I was complacent/​happy living here. I moved because I can afford better living. I would move back in if my income fell enough. The unit layout was elegant and classy; however, I think I had the best unit (316). The property manager doesn’t care about you so don’t expect much. The on-​site manager was polite.