Peralta Studios, although offering pretty living lofts studios, is a very unsafe and noisy place to live at.
On the good side: The spaces have a really high ceiling and are kind of pretty if you like the industrial feel. They are zoned work/live.
There is a great community living there, a nice group of cool people. There is also a garden, taken care of by the tenants, that is very pleasant in the evening, when the nearby construction company is closed down.
Unfortunately, the place is unsafe and unpleasant to live in. This, partly due to its location in West Oakland, partly because of uncaring management from its landlord, Francis Rush of Rush Properties.
Cyclically, cars in the parking lot get broken into, nearly everyday, even in broad day light.
The landlord is not doing anything to improve the situation.
A man, holding a knife, has been seen, during the late night, a week ago, --from the date of publication of this review--, wandering in the parking lot. He ran away when one of the tenants (a big guy) addressed him. Nothing was done about that, the police didn't even bother to show up when called.
Some renters have had to replace their car stereo up to 3 times before giving up, leaving empty holes instead of speakers and CD players.
As for now, the landlord is not addressing the situation.
Oakland police department is not doing much either.
Rush Properties --the owners-- primary care seems to be to extract the maximum money from Peralta Studios tenants while giving the bare minimum services. This includes ever increasing cam charges; renters have to pay for street side landscaping, graffiti removal, fire water etc...
The surrounding noise is pretty bad all around the building, except for some lucky units situated adjacent to the community garden.
The north side is right on West Grand street, after a Bay Bridge exit... Trucks are breaking at the traffic light... or are speeding up to catch the green light. Every time a loaded truck passes by, the building gets shaken up by vibrations.
In the South East side, the owner leased the large yard (about 50 feet from housing) to a concrete forms building company called Concrete Core inc. They spend their days "air gunning" nails on empty wooden forms, using a powerful air gun; they are also hammering, cutting wood, sometimes with a chain saw... all this, very noisy. Renters on that side of the building are saying that the construction company starts working around 6:45 AM and stops at 4:00 PM.
There are also big trucks arriving 3-4 times a day in the building parking lot, forklifts working ("beep beep beep" backing off), also from 6:45 am to 4:00 pm.
There are nails all over the parking, coming from the yard. Renters are getting flat tires regularly. Nothing is being done to improve that situation either.
I would not recommend Peralta Studios as a living place, except if you possess a very sturdy soul, a great sense of humor, ear plugs, are ready to have your car window broken monthly, and are willing to let go of the idea of owning a car sound system. read more