Station 16 Apartments

I would strongly advise against renting here. My lease just ended, and I couldn’t wait to leave.

Summary: This place is marketed as a “luxury” apartment, but it’s anything but. The grounds are constantly littered with dog poop, trash rooms are overflowing with garbage, the walls are ridiculously thin, parking is a nightmare, and the property management team is completely indifferent. Save your money and find somewhere else to live.

Here are the major downsides:

1) **Noise** – The walls are so... thin that you can hear every little thing your neighbors do, from closing doors to walking around to even their conversations. Management will tell you the walls are concrete and soundproof, but that's clearly not the case. Complaints fall on deaf ears. It’s possible you could get lucky with quiet, considerate neighbors without pets or children, but if not, you’ll be listening to them around the clock. Also, there's constant construction in the complex, which means more noise if you work from home. And it doesn’t look like the construction is going anywhere anytime soon.

2) **Parking** – For $125, you get the “luxury” of using a car stacker that’s broken half the time. When it’s working, it takes forever to get your car out, especially if you’re waiting for others to use it too. Alternatively, you can pay $105 a month for a BART parking spot, but that means climbing four flights of stairs to reach your car. If you go the daily route, don't forget to pay before 6:30 a.m., or else you’ll be slapped with a $55 ticket. You would think Station 16 would have some kind of agreement with BART but nope. And don’t even think about parking in the ground spots in the garage, or you’ll be threatened with towing.

3) **Mailroom** – While they have lockers, they're not consistently used, and packages are often left out in the open. I had multiple packages stolen, and when I asked management to review the security footage, they ghosted me. The cameras either don’t work or are just for show.

4) **Security Deposit** – Don't count on getting your deposit back. Despite keeping my apartment in great shape, I was charged for minor wear and tear, with no real justification. It's clear management is not interested in returning your deposit.

5) **Trash Room** – The designated trash and recycling rooms are always filthy. People leave trash on the floor, and management sends out emails but takes no real action to improve the situation.

This place is not worth it. Look elsewhere. Lee mas

TLDR; this place is a nightmare, do not move in if you drive a car.

I have been living here for 15 months and will not be signing a new lease. Let's start by addressing the elephant in the room, the car stacker. It's a cool piece of engineering and I wanted to like it, and I like the idea of my car being parked above ground level for safety. The reality is that it is a failed concept; it does not work, and I have almost no confidence that it ever will. Depending on the month, you might be... unable to park or retrieve your car up to 75% of the time, and will have to wait until maintenance arrives to fix the problem. Management has provided no long term plan or solution, likely because there isn't one.

Additionally, now the maintenance team does not live on site so they require 30-45 min to arrive and fix the issue. More recently, the issues require the manufacturer to come on site to fix it. Just today when the stacker broke around 12pm, the leasing office said the manufacturer cannot fix it until tomorrow, an entire extra day we are unable to get our cars. They've even had months where the company who designed and built the stackers are on site 24/7, after which it works for a few weeks but inevitably breaks again. And even when it is working, it is still an inconvenience to have to wait at minimum 5-7 minutes to retrieve your car, and longer if someone is parking or retrieving their car ahead of yours. It's also not the easiest to squeeze your car into the lift and then get out, it's a very tight space. Parking at Millbrae BART lot is not a long term solution because max parking is there is 24 hours per BART regulations, so if you need to go on a trip or won't use your car for more than a day that is technically not allowed.

The sad reality is that this is a failed experiment. I can only imagine the issues will grow as more residents start moving in and using it. I estimate there are about 50-60% stacker car parking spots utilized at this time.

Additionally, now you will not get reimbursed for Ubers unless it's a medical or work related trip. Imagine not being able to pick up your kids from school, get to the airport, or go on a road trip because your car is not available until tomorrow. All of the competent workers at the leasing office have left because they know this apartment is a lost cause.

Avoid this apartment at all costs if you drive a car. Location is great of course for BART/CalTrain. Lee mas

I lived in the studio apartment from May 2023 - Sept 2024. Overall, I was not happy with my stay. The apartment is new, but it comes with challenges.

Pros:

Location is great, Very well connected to 101, Bart station.
Appliances are new.
Apartment is clean overall and look and feel is great.
Management and Maintenance is prompt and always available to help. Shoutout to Allison and the maintenance team who have been very supportive and acknowledging all the issues that I faced during my stay... .

Cons:

1. Stacker parking is nightmare. I have had numerous instances where the stacker would not work and I ended up taking Uber/Lyft. The management assists in providing reimbursement for Uber, which is good but what if you are about to go on a longer trip/emergency/something important that you need to take from your car. I have had experiences where I would have to leave for an urgent work but ended up seeing that the stacker is not working. There are limited number of retail parking so in case the stacker does not work, you will have hard time finding the parking spot. Even on the days when it works, be prepared to wait for 5-10 mins during rush hours. If you find people ahead of you, add 5-10 mins to your trip time.
There were a couple of instances where I was questioned on why I parked in the retail spot when the stacker was fixed after a couple of hours. When I visited the leasing office, I was told rudely why I did not call the maintenance team and checked the status and why my car is still in the retail parking overnight. I am expected to keep checking the stacker status by calling the maintenance team instead of the resident services providing a notification when the issue is resolved.

2. Forget about windows getting cleaned. I stayed for 15+ months and it was not cleaned even once. Maybe wait for the rain splashes to clean it.

3. The HVAC design is weird. My first year was really painful where the HVAC would stop working during the hot summer days. Eventually, I got to know that there is a HVAC switch in every apartment and that switch can control the HVAC of few other units as well. So if some neighbor turns off the switch in their apartment, you would end up losing the AC till someone turns it back on.


4. Value for money - I don't think the stay provided value for money. The apartment is pricey and the services are not upto the mark. Paid 430$ for move out charges (included cleaning and repaint work)
Lee mas

The stacker parking system quite literally breaks down every single week sometimes a few times a week. When you don’t have the luxury of WFH, this is incredibly stressful when trying to get to work on time since you would have to Uber/Lyft at the last second. I am going onto week 5 of waiting for a reimbursement for my Lyft ride and still nothing.

We looked at many places and Station 16 hit all our requirements. The staff is knowledgeable and responds quickly to questions and any issue that may arrive. The apartments are well appointed and the amenities are excellent. The stacker parking works well. This is a very dog friendly community too. Cheyenne, the maintenance supervisor was so patient while explaining the stacker parking. Huge shout out to her!