We lived here for 3 years and it set the bar for luxury apartment living. We decided to move to San Jose to try a new city and change to a suburban lifestyle, but we do miss the Avery!
Loved:
- The concierge!! Always available, helpful, professional, and friendly. It's truly the people who made the building so hospitable. Melia, Jason, Peter, Kashif, Christine, and more - always greeted us (and our dog!) with a smile and helped us with whatever we needed.
- The mail system (staffed by the concierge). In 3 years, we never lost a package. Outgoing mail was also made super easy since we could simply hand over a package to the concierge and it'd go out with the next delivery whether it was UPS, Fedex, or USPS.
- The valet parking. We realized that this was ideal because it made our car completely safe from break-ins (other garages in the area still have break-ins even though they're private), and we never had to worry about finding a spot or someone parking in our spot. On the flip side, we had to request the valet and give extra time especially if they were busy, but we could request via text message on the way down, and we learned to time it right. Also, we loved that EV charging was free until recently in mid 2023, where they started charging ChargePoint rates, which we felt was fair given how much rates have risen recently. Yes, the valet had some issues last year (as mentioned in the other reviews), but it was minor for us, like forgetting to charge our EV or taking a bit longer than usual to get our car. It happened over only a few months, and they've been solid since.
- Maintenance team. We didn't need maintenance often, but when we did, it was quick. One time our front door lock was having issues, and they came barely 1 hour after I put in the request, and it was fixed in 2 minutes. They are professional and friendly, and also very helpful during check-in and move-out. We would also see them around the building every day cleaning the grounds and keeping things tidy.
- Food deliveries straight to our apartment door, sooooo easy and convenient.
- Amenities: high end everything in the gym, lap pool, beautiful 32nd floor area, and nice co-working space on the 7th.
- Dog bath station: super useful and saved us a lot of money in grooming costs! Cold/warm water, powerful dryer, clean towels, water bowl, and shampoo/conditioner are all supplied.
- The interior doors are solid wood, unlike many other places that use hollow wood. This kept things quiet even if both my wife and I were working from home.
- Location: we went to the Ferry Building farmer's market almost every weekend we were here, and loved it. Grilled cheese from the Farmer's Wife!
- Management: friendly, flexible, and generous. They did take time to respond sometimes, but the team went through a few transitions during our time and it was understandable. If we needed anything more urgently, the concierge helped us track down someone.
- The motion-sensing warm bathroom light was a nice touch, and lights use the Caseta system that you can buy a hub for. We otherwise used Philips Hue lamps in the rooms.
- The near-instant hot water was amazing.
- The views.... the daily, breathtaking views.
Quirks:
- The Bosch hardware could be better: the washer/dryer are small, and the dryer wouldn't fully dry clothes, I usually had to do extra dry on perm press, then add 20 minutes time dry. The fridge/dishwasher are half size, so we had to be mindful of how much groceries we could get, or how many dishes we could keep out.
- Sometimes we'd smell cooking from other apartments via the microwave vent, so we kept it on low all the time and that solved it.
- It got warm in the apartment because of direct sunlight, so central AC was needed 1-2 hours/day.
- The Rincon Hill area is noticeably nicer than most parts of downtown SF, but sometimes it would feel a little sketchy. Maybe once a week we'd see a homeless person roam through and once every couple of months we'd see an iffy situation where someone would be yelling or acting erratically. It's just part of living downtown, and we had to keep our head on a swivel when walking our dog. However, I do appreciate that I would see the East Cut teams with their carts every day cleaning up litter and getting help for homeless people as needed. Letting the dog out at night around 9-10PM was ultimately fine, I never really felt unsafe in the area behind the Avery. There are cameras around the area and often security roaming around.
- Trash chute - yes, it did smell a little bit, but it was mostly contained to the trash chute room and trash hallway area. Wearing a mask helped the smell.
- Note that this building, like many others in SF because of regulations, is mixed with below-market-rate units. Nevertheless, the tenants that we interacted with, regardless of background, were friendly!
Avery 450 costs more than others in the area, but you get what you pay for, and it was worth it for us. Highly recommend! read more