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January 2025 by Wendy S
3 1/2 stars. I purchased a condo here last September. All and all, I'm quite happy living here but somethings have surprised me, considering the cost of the units and the high cost of the monthly HOA fee. As another reviewer here mentioned, cost wise, you should really consider whether it is better to buy or rent here.
In general, this is a building built in 2001, and the units reflect that. Both the bathroom and kitchen have lower end cabinets and fixtures. Due to this, if your used to something a little more high end, you'll most likely have to go through the process of applying to the HOA for replacing these. It's not exactly turnkey.
Another thing that surprised me was the antiquated/outmoded heating system (there is only heating). It's something that was installed, in each individual unit, when the building was built. It's a one of a kind system that's not easily replaceable. There are no instructions/manuals available for it. It's very expensive to run (about 3-times the cost of my previous heating bill, prior to moving here). Kind of crazy for a 900 something sq ft condo.
Then there's the units 7-smoke detectors, 3-hardwired. What the what!? Trust me, it's not at all fun when one goes off as it takes forever to figure out which one it is. I was told by engineering that for the hardwire ones, the whole unit has to be replaced (at my expense).
Also, when the building was originally built, it would have been great if they had installed a water block off for each unit. Whenever any unit has a plumbing repair/upgrade, the water for all the units need to be shut off for 3 to 4 hours.
I really expected a more high end unit and experience.
There are a couple of engineering guys on site, but you quickly learn all that they don't do, as far as the units are concerned. These guys are primarily here to deal with the building itself.
The front desk staff is great. It's always a pleasure interacting with them and they are very customer service oriented.
The main attraction to living here, for me, is being on the lake, with all that has to offer, feeling safe living in this secure building, and how well the building is maintained.
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March 2024 by Paul Lee
A very handsome modern building on Lake Merrit
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July 2023 by Bay Walker
Visited friends and was given a tour. Great architecture, modern, many conveniences, lovely! Excellent door staff! Friends love it and say the building is very well run and maintained.
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June 2022 by David H.
I lived in the building for over four years. Let's start with the good... Many of the units have very nice lake views. Mine was one of them. There's almost always a great breeze which makes the climate super nice in the units. The building staff is also very nice and helpful and they maintain the building well. Building manager is ok. If you like to jog or ride your bike the lake is at your doorstep. Now for the not so good.. It's really hard to justify owning in the Essex building versus renting. House payment, plus HOA, plus property taxes.. can easily (even with a nice down payment) be 4K/month. The HOA is the real killer though... Because it's just going continue to rise. I think the biggest thing that's changed for the worse is the neighborhood. The crime around the lake is bad. There's just very little law-enforcement. There are people speeding around the lake in cars motorcycles especially on the weekends and at night blatantly not to mention people getting beaten, mugged etc. It's just out of control. Anyhow, I have some really good memories living at the Essex. I hope that things change for the better.
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September 2021 by K. T.
My favorite spot and view, especially at night
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September 2021 by phill mc
Nice apartments. Great view view
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June 2021 by Tme ..
The Essex is a lovely building, flawlessly managed and maintained by an extremely kind and capable staff. The residents are friendly and welcoming. It's hard to imagine a more pleasant building to live in.But sadly the Lake Merritt neighborhood has become a living hell. When COVID closed the bars, Lake Merritt became Oakland's outdoor night club. The city did nothing to discourage this, and now the problem is getting progressively worse even as the economy reopens. There are non-stop fireworks, amplified music rattling your window panes, dirt bike gangs revving their engines, car break-ins in broad daylight, and so on. All of this occurs pretty much every night of the week, year-round.The neighborhood's city council people--Nikki Bas and Carroll Fife--have publicly come out against enforcement of noise laws or really anything else that might make the neighborhood livable again, so don't expect any help from your elected leaders.This neighborhood used to be a diverse, dynamic, and beautiful place to live. Now I can only recommend it if you are able to sleep through M-80s going off outside your living room at 2 in the morning, and if you don't have any kids or pets, as they'll be instantly traumatized.
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September 2020 by Five star California
Manager so much
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September 2020 by Bryan Schnell
Lovely luxury upper class apartments.
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September 2019 by irlanda sanchez
Nice view from the apartments
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September 2019 by מיכל גולדמינץ
Apartment house for rent, Kenya. Lovely location on the edge of an inland lake
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September 2019 by Rich McCartney
I visited friends. They are happy to live here. Looks nice, not sure of the rates
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September 2019 by Willie James West Jr Yorrie
Love the view
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September 2019 by Cindy Brumfield
Nice building
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September 2018 by Gayle Tantau
Units way over priced.
