Artistry Emeryville

TLDR: Despite the great location, apartment layouts, maintenance staff, and courtyards, the management’s lack of transparency and valuing profit over wellbeing of residents lead this apartment building to not be worth the higher rent.

Pros: I lived in Artistry for 2 years and really loved it. The location is so wonderful with its proximity to Public Market, Bay Street, Amtrak, and Aquatic Park. I also faced the courtyard and never really had a problem with train noise. I could hear it, but it… never woke me up. I genuinely loved the layout of the apartment. Additionally, I had a dog, and the courtyards on the third floor made walking my dog so convenient. Lastly, Artistry is an older building and I had lots of needs for maintenance, and the maintenance team was always quick and so kind.

Cons: Sadly, although I really loved this apartment, there were several major issues primarily caused by management, that made this apartment not worth the price. The rent is cheaper than many of the other complexes in that area and would feel like a deal if only there was a little more effort by the management to make Artistry a pleasant living experience for residents. I’m not sure how much of the issues were specifically due to the management or policies of the larger company, Equity Residential, but either way, all my issues with Artistry boiled down to lack of transparency and valuing profit over wellbeing of residents. I was on the same level of the courtyard, and not long after I moved in, my sink, washer, and bathtub backed up with food waste (definitely not from my apartment) to the point of overflowing when I was out of town over the weekend. The maintenance team and others on our floor let us know this had happened to several other apartments on our floor. We should have been told this was happening so we could monitor or prevent it. This lack of transparency continued with several issues with construction occurring around the apartment, security, and broken building and garage doors. This information was shared between residents on the apartment portal, but rarely shared by the management. If the management drastically changed its ways, this would be a wonderful place to live, but sadly they’ve ruined it. Read More