FOUND Study Southside Berkeley - Berkeley, California

Shu

got matched with amazing roommates and have my own private bedroom. living room and my bedroom came fully furnished, which made moving in really easy. nice outdoor spaces with amazing views and a gym. the resident events they have are a nice touch 🙂 looove the wood flooring throughout the apartment. night shuttle stop is in front of the building, which i love bc i spend a lot of late nights at campus. nice office staff too.

Caroline Z.

Awful. Ever since Found Study management took over, the quality of my experience in this residence has severely deteriorated. They are just awful. Inconsistent and obscure utility charges—including constant notices about changes to payment processing methods with no official documentation, poor and unprofessional communication equivalent to emailing a mailing list from your personal email with a company domain tacked on, a sloppy rent payment portal that resembles a 2009 website, and general incompetence and carelessness. Amenities and service maintained by Brad are now nonexistent. The changes following the management handover were immediate: the halls smelled like trash for the first few days, weekly flyers notifying residents of building socials activities were taken down and replaced by a single white sheet with an email address (not even a phone number contact), staff who are not in the main office during what are supposedly their working hours, the vending machine in the lounge has been broken for months, and energy drinks are no longer stocked in the fridge. It feels as if any maintenance unrelated to soliciting money from residents has been completely abandoned. Liked it more when it was Varsity, not “Found Study”.

Roberto C.

I stayed there for about a year, with my lease having ended at the beginning of Aug 2024 (though I was moved out at least a month before then). My stay there started with being placed in the wrong room, after being told I would be in my own bed in a room with two separate beds. This actually worked out in my favor, briefly, because the room I got was a single bed in a two-bedroom unit— more on this later. I eventually found out that they didn't have any rooms with two separate beds anywhere in the complex; all they have are bunks, which I specifically asked to not to be placed in. Meaning I was misled over the phone before driving up from SoCal. Even so, I thought my single-bed bedroom was a complimentary upgrade for the misunderstanding. Naive, right?

In actuality, they had mistakenly placed me in a better unit, and once they realized their error, they had their leasing agents hound me for months to sign for a more expensive lease. One woman was pleasant enough to deal with, but I was constantly being fed the implication that signing something more expensive, or letting the complex install a bunk in my room to compensate were my only options. My uncle is a lawyer, so I quickly found out that this wasn't the case. Eventually, we reached a compromise that had me moving into another unit at the same rate I was already paying, while keeping a room to myself.

If all that wasn't enough (real fun to deal with while attending a school known for its rigorous program, by the way), the noise while living in both units was unbearable. Weeknight parties thrown by other residents on the rooftop decks, despite quiet hours supposedly being after 10:30pm. These parties were relentless, and often lasted until 1 or 2 am. Management was useless at breaking them up, and the cops were no better.

There was also a stupid 10$ fee every time I paid rent over their system— and nearly everything is done through their online portal— which might as well just be extra, unadvertised, rent. Maintenance rarely showed up when we had a problem, but they always marked our problems as "resolved," despite that rarely being the case. Their shared laundry room had me paying almost 4$ every time I washed and dried. There was also no parking, and the building is excluded from qualifying for a street permit for anyone living there. I was told there'd be street parking, but not told that I wouldn't be able to qualify for a permit to park for longer than in two-hour increments. So I had to pay off at least 6 or 7 tickets while living there.

Finally, their rooms tended to heat up considerably during the warmer months. Admittedly, that's less a them problem, and more having to do with the general lack of AC around the Bay. But I guess all that hot sea air has made me salty.

Oh, and let's not forget the package thieves who were never caught. But hey, at least the roof looks pretty with all the plants, right?

Eric L.

Horrible experience, room condition came nothing like advertised. Common room was messy, TV, AC were broken and bathroom was moldy. Kitchen Lights were falling off and the staff are so passive aggressive it’s annoying

Kavya R.

Apartments are new and comfortable, well-designed, location is convenient. Amazing views from rooftop. Very pleased with assistance from Franz in leasing office who is responsive, fast and efficient and Sarina who is quick to respond virtually.

Matthew N.

Garden Village has been an excellent partner in doing business. We enjoy partnering with them in accomplishing various financial goals in the industry and we are excited to see where they go from here!

Adena N. A.

I would not recommend living here. It's incredibly overpriced and inaccurately advertised. The roof is indeed beautiful and the location is ideal for a student, but otherwise this building is a total scam. Security is beyond insufficient, there is no parking, and my unit had so many maintenance issues. The move-out process was also a complete mess, and I've had my rent charged twice within the same month more than once. The staff was very friendly, but overall this place is not worth the hassle considering how much they charge rent (plus utilities!).

Nate M.

TLDR: for the facilities, overpriced, and over $100 in hidden fees

Price: despite record-breaking new construction and falling rents around town in 2023-2024, the rents here are still increasing by >$100 for 2024-2025, disappointingly. For a building with zero parking and open air and roof-less hallways that are wet when raining, one would expect a lower rent

Utilities: water bill is averaged based on the usage of the entire complex. This unfairly punishes us, as we try hard not to waste water such as by not using the dishwasher

Maintenance: very fast for most, which we liked, but for some (such as plumbing) we were ghosted for weeks till we repaired the problems ourselves

Safety and Security: neighbor's bike stolen from CCTV-monitored bike rack within the face-ID gated area, but no other problems so far

Staff: friendly and responsive. shoutout to Tiasha

wifi: no opt-out from $40/month wifi. Often fine, but half-day outages once every other month

(! beware !)
Hidden fees: there is a hidden $10 transaction fee every month despite the signed lease promising no transaction fees. I've asked the staff in person and they told me there was nothing they could do

be aware!