Aquatic Shattuck - Berkeley, California

Harry W.

No one works here. Avoid at all cost.

Moved in early November, got my key after giving a cashier check to the leasing office. Management changed within a week. My initial check has not been credited to my account after 3 month. Sent an email with 8 follow-up over the last 3 months, got 2 replies. My money is still missing.

I have not seen anyone in the office for the last 3 weeks. Before that, it’s someone dropping in that needs to call their manager to be able to answer most questions.

Sent a maintenance request a month ago, it took them 10 days to send someone. I wasn’t home at the time. The issue is still present after a month.

Shakeria C.

I wouldn’t recommend anyone moving here. I have had the worst experience for my first apartment. They rarely answer the phones or return phone calls, they are refusing to send one of my deposits back at their sister company Aquatic Ashby claiming I didn’t cancel my interest of wanting to live there in 72 hours. It’s their policy. Also, my other deposit I sent for this apartment has yet to be returned and it’s been over the allocated time of 21 days, also their policy. So they follow policy on some things but not all.

Georgia Z.

So I am turning around adding words to my one star review because sb I know saw my review and asked me why in text, and I thought I can just copypaste what I said here for more ppl to see.

"The place is built in low quality, but that's not the main issue. The main issue was that when I moved out, they took like half of my deposite for nail holes, 1 chipped wall corner the size of my thumb, and cleaning fee. When I tried to dispute it, it was a nightmare reaching anyone. The guy I was talking to left and nobody contacted me back. So then when I tried to cash the check of however little they returned, the check was expired. I went to their office in person multiple times and I had an alarm for calling them every week. They just kept kicking the ball around and never returned me my deposit. The company was really badly managed. They told me that they gave my money to unclaimed property and when I asked for property number, I could not locate anything with the number they gave."

Byungsoo K.

Beware - I wrote a good review on this apartment previously but that all changed after I moved out. The management will charge and deduct from your deposit $225 cleaning fee plus additional $300-400 for painting although I left the place in good condition. Plus they sent me deposit after almost 3 months versus 21 business days mandates by CA law. Funny thing is they say they will send a check by physical mail but they sent actual check electronically by email. Why couldn’t they just do that in 21 days? Furthermore, there is an issue with flooring that you will hear footsteps reverberating from upstairs. Seriously consider this when renting from here.

Shawn H.

Not very helpful staff.

Edit: After receiving a reply, I am here to elaborate on my initial review. After encountering a lot of frustration trying to catch any staff with authority at their physical office, I was referred to the email address in the reply. I have sent a lot of emails to that address over the course of many months and never received a reply or any indication that it made any difference.

Edit 2: I am here again to make a more specific one-star review. I've been trying to get over $3,000 in deposit back for on and off for nearly three years now. Think about whether you can afford to lose your entire deposit before signing with anyone at either Greystar or SG Real Estate.

Sophia

I had a tour at Aquatic Shattuck, and the manager, Deijah, was so nice. I arrived earlier than my appointment, but she kindly opened the door, showed me around, and explained the apartment. It was a great experience!

Reed P.

This place is just like your ex: beautiful but full of red flags.

Management was slow (7 days) to respond to inquiries via email and would never answer the phone—even when you arrive 10 minutes early for your tour (per guidance in their email) and nobody answers the phone. And they’re late to give a rushed tour. I’d be curious to understand how they respond to resident requests.

I lost my $500 because I was (1) told before applying that huskies are allowed and (2) was accepted when I stated my dog’s breed on my application. But was told after huskies/husky mixes aren’t allowed.

I was misled on about how much fees were a month in addition to rent due to poor communication between team members.

I personally would not live here with the current management. It is objectively a beautiful community and in a great location, but interactions with Aquatic management presented way too many red flags.

Yang W.

Edit: International students at Berkeley, you need to know your rights in the US. When I moved out after just one year of renting, they hit me with an outrageous $800-$1000 'move-out fee.' I don’t know the exact amount because there is no itemized breakdown, no explanation. I didn’t damage anything. I couldn’t believe one piece of tilted floor (mentioned below) could cost that much. I emailed management asking for clarification, and they straight-up ignored me. So I just ate the cost. I only found years later that what they did was TOTALLY ILLEGAL. They are required to provide disclosure or they need to return the money.

A luxury apartment, but also an apple of Sodom. It’s new, of course. But because it’s new, as the first tenants, I saw a cup of unfinished coffee sprinkled inside kitchen drawers and on the floor when I moved in. One piece of floor went up in my room, requested for maintenance, a guy called me, kept saying coming the next day, but end up canceling the request, and from then on they said “because of Covid they’re not accepting all non-emergency maintenance request”, and finally I had to be charged for that after moving out. Also, a couple of my friends’ electricity bills were hundreds of dollars for the first months because the apartment connected the wrong wires so that the heater couldn’t be turned off, and they refused to be responsible for that. For the last few months I lived, there’s usually nobody at the front desk. Anyway, if you want a new and luxury apartment, then live here. Don’t expect luxury experience though.