Cottages on 5th

I lived in this apartment complex for 2 years before new management took over in 2017. After the transition, the new management put financial and psychological pressure on the previous residents and forced many of them out of their apartments in order to make surface-level changes to the complex and hike the rent up by $500 a month. I do not begrudge them the right to remain competitive in the Davis rental market.

What I do condemn is the way in which they continuously showed blatant disregard… for the residents they were forcing to leave. They had a work crew in and out of my apartment for the entire month of July. The entire fiasco ended up costing me the equivalent of $250 in lost apartment access and electricity costs (the crew needed to have the apartment door open and plug in power tools). I couldn't use my shower for two days. They compensated me $50.

Though the new management replaced the cabinets, floors, appliances (in some units), built little fences, added a fitness room, and painted the outside of the apartments green, they made these changes at the expense of other more pressing concerns. I know from a member of the crew working in my apartment, that a few of the units have rodent problems.

I urge you, if you have another choice for housing in Davis, please do not move in to Cottages on Fifth. The new management has no incentive to care about the well being of their residents, and they will try to take as much of your money as they can. These apartments may look attractive, but they are not worth the price that the management is asking.

I now live in a complex I enjoy much more. The management is responsive, kind, and welcoming. The apartments are well built and well kept. I pay roughly the same amount. It is possible to find a better home in Davis. Please do not give Cottages on Fifth your money. Read More

Many people coming to Davis for the first time looking for housing don't understand what a crazy market it is. A studio that would go for $500/mo. in most other small towns might run as high as $900/mo. here—and that studio will be leased as early as February for September through August! But because of the constant influx of students and local ordinances making new developments difficult, demand far outpaces supply and it can be enough to make your head spin. In a madhouse like this, Fifth… Avenue Apartments is a solace. You pay hundreds less than your neighbors across the street for more amenities: sick of waiting for the two washing machines in your complex to be available? Hate doing dishes by hand? A stacked washer-dryer has the former covered, and the dishwasher in the granite-topped kitchen has your back for the latter. You can walk—or, if you want to fit in, bike—downtown in less than fifteen minutes or hop and skip to several groceries, but best of all? When you're baking in the hundred-degree-Fahrenheit summer, dive into your pool two doors down and cool off!

Well, OK, diving is prohibited in the pool. So climb carefully into your pool two doors down and cool off! Read More