Oakwood 399 Fremont

I hope management takes these habitability problems seriously so future tenants don’t have to go through the same thing. For over a year, I’ve lived at 399 Fremont and dealt with repeated water leaks over several months, including more than one in the same areas. Repairs haven’t fixed the underlying problems for good, and the leaks have damaged property, disrupted daily life, and caused a lot of stress. The plumbers told me the building cheapened out on plumbing, which they said explains the many issues. Management hasn’t given me a clear repair plan or a firm timeline, and the rent concessions they approved weren’t applied. With everything still unresolved, it’s been hard to live safely and comfortably in the unit.

My studio was uninhabitable for five days after a leak was found at 3am. Two leaks began on Dec 10'25 and weren’t remediated until Feb 4'26. During that time I lived with fans running to dry the water logging and holes in my walls. There were also accounting problems. Management told me in writing that I could stay in a hotel for the day I couldn’t live in my space and they’d reimburse me, and promised to cover the power bill increase from $75 to $190. I ended up with a bill as high as $1,000 and two late fees. They’d advised me not to pay January rent until I had the credit, but still charged late fees. Even after I shared bills and receipts, my final credit was only $687. The elevators are another serious problem. I was trapped in one once, with claustrophobic people inside; we let them come to the front to breathe through a small gap between the doors. When the elevators are down, or only one of the three serving the tower side of the 42-floor building works, I walk up nine flights. The new smart thermostats also keep breaking. I needed repairs three times in one month. There are plenty more issues. The water gets shut off for repairs, the elevators feel unsafe and don’t work reliably, and the thermostats keep failing. The building has constant leaks, and this place feels unsafe and unlivable. Don’t sign a lease here.

It may be faster to walk down 30 flights than wait for an elevator here. I highly don’t recommend the building. A couple of weeks ago there was a water leak, and management’s handling since then has been extremely disappointing. Today, for the second time, someone entered my apartment by typing in my access code while I was home on a work call. I got no advance notice and wasn’t told my code would be shared. It feels unsafe and like a serious privacy breach. Last week I said clearly that I’d book an Airbnb from Monday through Wednesday so repairs could happen without disrupting me, even though I wasn’t getting a rent reduction for that period. I also said any work outside those dates should wait until after I move out, since I’ve already ended my lease. The apartment was left dirty, with debris and fallen paint everywhere. I have no idea what happened while the workers were inside, and I don’t feel comfortable living here given the lack of communication, professionalism, and basic tenant safety.

The building looks nice on paper, but living here has been very frustrating because the elevator failures keep going and there’s no after-hours support. Before moving to 399 Fremont, I read the elevator complaints and assumed they were exaggerated or had been fixed. They turned out to be accurate. This is a building of 40+ floors and hundreds of residents, yet several times since I moved in only one of the three elevators has worked. Waits just to get off your floor can run over 45 minutes. Sometimes the system doesn’t schedule certain floors at all. These severe, chronic outages make it hard for residents to get to and from their apartments.