TLDR - I would've given this place 0/5 stars but gave it 1/5 because Danielle, the Property Manager, does her best to help but none of this stuff is her fault so it's hard/impossible for her to fix. Details below (* lived in the Penthouse for 1 year).
Modera Pros:
- Aesthetically pleasing building/amenities/units; modern looking and very chic
- Located close to the freeway so makes traveling to the East Bay very accessible
- Located close to the Embarcadero/Ferry building so nice location overall while still feeling safe
- Pet friendly
- 8th floor dog run for pets to go potty is convenient
Modera Cons:
- The first night we moved in, we noticed an insane low frequency hum/rattling that was coming from the roof (it sounded like you were right outside of a nightclub and could hear AND FEEL the bass from inside). We were gaslit and told to "take a video" of the noise (?????) and only after rallying the other two penthouse units and complaining to management every other day for one month, they finally agreed to explore the issue. Turns out the AC unit wasn't installed, insulated or padded properly, so they spent another month installing padding to try to diffuse the noise. The noise went from 10/10 to 5/10 so that was better but was still so intense that it continued to rattle picture frames we had hanging as well as the vents on our ceilings and walls. No amount of sound machine/noise canceling headphones/melatonin could mask this sound/rattling. It was incredibly frustrating given we were paying $8,000/month.
- One day we took the stairs down instead of the elevator and found were two homeless people that had camped out in our stairwell. The building security is non existent.
- Speaking of security, the front door was broken for 4+ months, and at times would just stay open so random people could come in.
- No front desk person or security like other buildings in the area, so if you lock yourself out (luckily only happened once in the year that we lived there), you have to call their "emergency hotline" and IF they answer, they say they'll let someone know and they should arrive in 2-3 hours. Luckily, Danielle was a god send when it happened to us and she let us back in personally even though she was out of town.
- There were several instances of the window washing equipment (stored on the roof directly above our bedroom) blowing around in the wind, so we'd hear what sounded like metal chains clanging around in the wind and against our window in the middle of the night. Poor effort to secure it, apparently.
- One of our favorite instances was water seeping up through the baseboards TWICE after it rained. It was so wet that it completely soaked our West Elm rug and ruined it. The second time, management came in with a dehumidifier to try to reduce the moisture, and asked us to leave it on overnight (even though it sounded like a lawn mower), but when we came downstairs in the morning, the garbage can they used to catch the water had a HOLE IN IT and the water seeped back out onto the floor. It was honestly comical at that point. And apparently the water intrusion issue happened on several other floors throughout the building... this building is such a POS it's hysterical
- The gym was also flooded and closed for several months during the "water intrusion" episode, and never reopened (started in December and we moved out in May so hopefully it's open now)
- Garage - $425/month for one car and each spot is custom to fit your own car, so you can't park any other car in the spot.
- NO guest parking
- The air circulation/filtration system is non existent, so it REEKS of cigarette/weed smoke in the apartment several times a day when people are smoking. It's disgusting.
- Water goes out randomly so you just won't have water for several hours at a time.
Location Cons:
- Sideshows happen every few weeks right in front of the apartment complex and freeway, so sometimes you'll wake up at 2am with 50+ cars doing donuts outside - EXTREMELY disruptive and loud and the cops legally can't do anything except watch. read more