One South Market, the blue Mid Century Modern-style 23-story apartment tower in the heart of San Jose, was the city’s first high-rise to go up after the Great Recession. Elected officials gave developer KT Properties of Cupertino a $750K tax break on the building, which architects called “a feel-good fusion of luxury and sustainability.” But the glitz is all a façade, according to several residents who moved in right after the place opened last year. Holly Wallace, the former marketing director for San Jose Jazz, called it “a high-priced ghetto high-rise.” Wallace paid $2,230 a month for her ninth-floor studio before breaking her lease to move to Los Angeles. “I’ve lived in a lot of places and this place is just a nightmare,” she said. In her resignation letter to the jazz company, she noted that her living situation had become too unbearable and that the final straw was waking up to a cockroach on her bedroom wall. “I took a pay cut and a new job, but I had to get out of there” she tells Fly. “The problems were endless.” Where to start? Well, for one thing the place was infested with cockroaches, which scuttled under her door and through the electrical outlets from unit to unit. Some flats were so packed with sublets that they resembled “bro-grammer” dorm rooms and broke out in bedbug infestations. The pool and hot tub were routinely closed for maintenance. Mark Haney, who lives in a two-bedroom $3,200-a-month unit on the 15th floor, says the elevator would break constantly. Social media and Yelp reviews echo those same gripes, which may stem from a rush to fill the place as quickly as possible. Essex Property Trust, the company that manages the property, declined to discuss the complaints with Fly. “We have a policy to not comment on tenant issues,” Essex spokeswoman Emily Wiesner said in a quick phone call. “That’s confidential.” Management seems to have improved, Haney says, but he’s about to relocate to another downtown apartment anyway. “Between the bugs, noise, beeping, broken amenities, bad ventilation, toxic air-freshener used in the lobby and hallways, this place is like a Third World country,” Wallace says.
The Fly
One South Market High-Rise Hit With ‘Endless’ Complaints
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San Jose elected officials gave One South Market a tax break of about $750,000. (Photo by JVittes, via Wikimedia Commons)
Hey,You guys got mad at me when I called down town a ghetto.
Maybe it was fly on the wall that drove this poor woman out !
The building is pretty ugly. They should have just repurposed the old city hall into housing because this building is about as close to that ugliness as you can get. The city must be into retro. The mayor should move back to old city hall if he loves this architecture so much. Turn the new city hall into student housing for SJ state with theaters built in or lecture rooms. San Jose planners really suck the big one.
The reviews are Yelp are pathetic. A common complaint is the plastic blue walls that provide no sound insulation, especially from loud music coming from the Myth nightclub.
Whew, sounds like a real sh**hole but then what can one expect from downtown San Hoser?!
$2,230 a month studio. You can get a one bedroom much closer to the freeway in SJ for $1600. What madness is this?
Elevators always broken, pools always under maintenance, management is ridiculous, bedbug infestation, fixtures appear nice but you can tell the construction was rushed – issues with faucets, no hot water and they charge an arm and a leg to break the lease…. Tenants are stuck!! Choose carefully!
15 years ago a high rise looking exactly the same in london UK was knocked down as it was out of date. SJ will always be behind in archetecture and a quality city as know one has a vision as well as being so cheap.