Azure At Lakeville Square

I visited this office on three separate occasions, during their office hours and every single time, they were closed. How convenient! How are you supposed to have people move in or live in your apartments when they can’t even see or talk to anyone!!! Whoever runs this office clearly doesn’t give a rats ass about customer service or whatever. They put up their leasing office signs and balloons «come check us out» or «now leasing»… no use if you can’t even get inside the office. Come on, this place already seems sketchy as it is. I guess I’ll have a better chance at looking at the apartments next door to them since they actually have someone there.

I got an out of the blue email three months after we moved out from one of the management stating we owed them a fairly large sum of money and if we didn’t pay within 5 days they would put a collection company on us and report it to the credit bureaus to effect our credit. I replied and asked for a detailed explanation of what the charges are for, also asking why we were hearing about this three months later, even though we had already received money back from our deposit. Since then we had an email back saying they made a mistake. I replied stating that next time they threaten people with collection providers and impacts to credit they need to get their facts straight first

My wife and I have loved living at Azure at Lakeville for the past 9 months. The amenities are great and every one of the office staff has always been friendly, professional, and courteous no matter what we’ve needed. The staff is quick to respond to any maintenance issues. The buildings are fairly older but well-​maintained, clean, and updated. The apartment buildings are well built and noise rarely travels through the walls. Our Apartment faces the Telecom lane which is heavily used by the poultry trucks. The sound proofing is good and when windows are closed you can hardly hear the trucks. There is the issue of Poultry smell but when windows are closed one can hardly notice it.
Our 1 bed apartment is fairly large and the kitchen has lot of cabinets and the bedroom has decent closet space.
Cons: Getting a garage is difficult as the number of garages are limited. The gym could be improved.

It seemed too good to be true and it was. I was homeless after I spent one year there because they raised the rent by over $ 700 when my lease was up. I wanted to stay, had no intention of moving, but simply couldn’t afford this drastic increase. I didn’t have first and last and moving expenses saved, so I was forced to go homeless for 4 months in order to save the funds needed for the unexpected move. In fact they gave less notice than required by law of the price increase, but I felt I had no recourse against these powerful moneymakers. As for the amenities, the «sparkling pool» was ALWAYS freezing. And just before Christmas, management searched all garages and told me I had too much storage and demanded «correction» within 30 days or face eviction. One day I returned home to find my door ajar with the master keys to all the apartments still engaged and the maintenance team nor management anywhere in sight. When I took their keys to the office, the manager was so embarrassed she didn’t even say thank you. I wasn’t even offered an explanation as to why they left my apartment unsecured. She just took the key as if it were nothing. I could have robbed all the apartments if I wanted to with the master keys or I could have been robbed since they left my door open and unattended! But no thank you or apology was offered. At move-​out, I cleaned my apartment FOR HOURS to an immaculate state so I wouldn’t have any cleaning fees yet they charged cleaning fees against my deposit anyway. The «Sure Deposit» option which requires no money up front means they can apply charges at the end (after you are gone!) without you knowing and therefor render you unable to defend or deny the charges, while sending you directly to collections and ruining your credit. My credit is still hurting from that because I was a little too busy being homeless and working to go to small claims court and fight that battle too! By the time I realized what had hit me, the statute of limitations was up! The assistant manager Kelly (the nice one) even commented on how clean I left the place «looked like no one had lived in it», yet the Manager (can’t remember her name) never went back and corrected the unlawful charge. The floors were dirty when I moved in which I noted, yet they charged me for carpet cleaning as well when I moved out. While the modern style, the W/​D & the AC were nice, it just wasn’t worth the price and eventual anguish. If you plan to only stay a year, thoroughly read the fine print, stay on top of your rights, have a wet suit for the pool, and don’t mind exorbitant cleaning fees on move-​out, you might like it. I wish I had been warned. It’s been 4 years and I’m still mad that I was so taken advantage of by that place.

Kelli is a really pleasant and helpful gal! The management was accessible during our stay and the resident amenities were a nice perk. For those reasons ill give 4 instead of 3, however:
The rent was raised (over 20%!) after a year lease so we moved. A shame, but the rate was already high as could be.

Not worth the price
Azure apartments have high end finishes, nice soaker tubs and granite kitchen counter tops. The bedroom sizes are generous but the living space is small. The kitchen does not have enough cabinet space, there is no pantry. There is no linen closet. The pool, exercise room and club house are nice, but the access is by VOB. When you are inside the pool or club house area, you need a vob to go to the restroom. The pool itself closes at 10pm, so a late night soak in the hot tub is not available.
The complex is nice, is kept looking nice but the location is right in the middle of an industrial area. The units with garages are advertised as square footage including the garage itself, yet the useage of that garage space is restricted, you MUST park a car in the garage and not use it for storage.
The balconies also have strict rules, only outdoor furniture, no camping gear, no ice chests, and plants may not be dead — no empty pots allowed. Bamboo fencing/​blinds for privacy are not allowed.
Upon review of the lease, the prospective tenant is first notified of the Petaluma Poultry plant which operates ²⁴⁄₇ — at times leaking smelly substances from trucks onto the road. The diesel trucks travel down Telecomm and turn onto Technology, so if your unit faces these streets, you will not be able to open your windows and still hear your television — making use of expensive air conditioning a necessity.
The management (especially Kelli) at Azure is very friendly, but the units are as expensive as a high end stand alone home in quiet neighborhoods. The industrial neighborhood of Azure also offers a Trucking company and a Roofing company, each offering their own smells and noises, especially in the early mornings.
Azure is pet friendly, but collects pent rent — $ 25 per pet. The pets must be taken off premises to do their business, so pet owners compete with the smokers for this limited «off premises» space.
The management does provide enough notice that they will be coming into your unit for inspection, but they give a large window of time when they may show up. In my few short months at Azure, there was a mandatory garage inspection, a smoke alarm inspection and an overall inspection. I wonder why these cannot be scheduled together, with minimal disturbance, or upon your lease expiration — rather than disturbing tenants many times.
There is a high turnover of tenants in this complex — for me, the rent is inflated for the neighborhood.

I’ve lived here for over five years and have nothing but the highest regard for the management. They are professional, friendly and on top of things. The apartments are beautiful and quiet (good soundproofing), and the amenities are great. The grounds are clean and well-​kept. Maintenance requests are usually fulfilled within 24 hours. The rental rates reflect that these are luxury apartments — you get what you pay for. I was impressed that they even replace lightbulbs in ceiling fixtures and toilet seats at no charge! Cons: I would like to see more community events. The surrounding traffic does get a little noisy, and Petaluma Poultry is right next door. Their large and noisy trucks drive by the complex at all hours, day and night. I would recommend Azure to anyone looking for a high-​end apartment in Petaluma.

Gorgeous units, great management– met with Kelli today about leasing. Property met and surpassed our expectations, especially in light of it originally being constructed as condos. Unfortunately they were a bit out of our price range, as we are relocating to the area due to work.
Kelli was amazing though– listened to what we were looking for, asked a few simple questions, and recommended two nearby properties that were more on par with what we are currently able to spend. I have never experienced this level of service, particularly in the cutthroat world of leasing where properties have to keep prices and amenities relatively competitive and are often all after the same clients.
Two thumbs way up for this gal!

The pros: very well insulated, little noise heard from neighbors, most tenants are respectful of noise, grounds are clean and well kept.
Cons: shady business practices. First, the apartment I looked at was not the unit available (still occupied). I was told the units were exactly the same. They were not, layout was different, carpet color was different. I was also told the unit I would get had only one shared wall, and it was the laundry area that was shred. Not true, the master bedroom was the shared wall. I also asked about the water and garbage charges, I was told $ 12 per month for each (no individual meters, it’s the same for all residents). This was also not true at the monthly bill was $ 84. Slight difference. The apartment I received had incredibly worn carpet that smelled. They had used some deodorizing solution that made it even worse. The other drawback was the garage. It is tiny, meaning narrow. I have a crossover SUV, not a large car, and could not open the doors fully, not even halfway. Considering I have two children in carseats, it was an issue.
The worst part came when I gave notice. When I rented the apartment, I asked for month to month lease as I was looking for a house to purchase. The rental manager said to do the 10 month lease (cheaper per month) because there was no penalty to break the lease. If the unit was rented before my move out date, I would owe nothing additional, if not the most owed would be the equivalent of one month’s rent.
I issued my 30 days notice via email and did not receive any response for over a week. I then received, in the mail, a letter saying my notice had been received and that I owed rent for the last 30 days (duh, already paid), plus the monthly rent for every month until the end of my lease (about 7 months worth), plus my entire security deposit. ??? Slightly different than what I was told, and also not what the lease I signed said. I knew my rights, and knew I didn’t owe that, but how many people have they done this to that didn’t know? Also in the letter was a nice little sentence saying we may need to show your unit to prospective tenants, and we’ll try to let you know in advance but if not we have the right to enter. Uh, not in California, folks, not without 24 hour notice.
I got the financial situation resolved and didn’t owe anything since the unit was rented within days of my giving notice (for 500 a month more than I was paying), however the whole situation left an incredibly bad taste in my mouth.

I’m updating my review because I had to move due to them raising my rent by a staggering $ 350! This when I was 9 months pregnant no less and was previously told that the rent increase would be no more than $ 50. Quite a big difference. That price for an apartment is just plain absurd.
I will say that they made the move easy on me, considering everything. They took care of the clean up after I left, and didn’t charge me for the extra 5 days or so after our lease was up.
Can’t get better management then Robin and Kelly. It’s not their fault that the owners wanted so much for rent.

I’ve lived here 6 weeks and have really enjoyed it so far. Management and maintenance staff are exceptional. Very pet friendly & convenient location.

The staff here is wonderful! I have had the best experience with Robin and Kelly! Make sure you give them a good email for you when you move in. They keep all the residence extremely informed of what is going on through mass email… and don’t worry they never send spam type messages. Recent re-​paving, pool rule reminders, notice of suspicious people in the parking lot (don’t worry no issues have actually arisen in the almost year I have been here, that email also gave notice they were also having the security patrol amped up). Everything has always been repaired in less than 24 hours. The staff working at the Azure departments is 5 star.
The apartments are new, well insulated, modern and well kept… but I am also a clean freak so I clean ours top to bottom once a week. In regards to what I saw in some other posts complaining about noise, they need to close their doors and windows. These places are so well insulated you can’t hear a thing when you close your place up and we have also saved a ton of money on A/​C in the summer and heating in the winter because of this. Once in a blue moon I might hear 15 seconds of stomping from the apartment above us but I think it’s a kid running with shoes on. I never hear the neighbors when the apartment is closed up.
People also complained about grass being off limits to dogs. I am a pet owner. I have had both dogs and cats and am a firm believer in being a good pet owner. I personally am happy the grass is off limits so dogs because their urine will kill the grass and I don’t want to step in dog poop from owners who don’t clean up. Thanks to the dogs not being allowed on the grass here I have never had these issues :) Thank you neighbors and dog owners. Also there is a wonderful dog park not even a block away!
I do think the price is a bit high for the location. If you work close by and spend a lot of time in the Petaluma and Sonoma area these would probably less of an issue for you. The traffic in the Novato narrows during commute hours is horrific MON-​FRI starting at 6:30AM then I don’t know when it dies down but I know coming home even if I leave SF at 4 it’s a nightmare and on Friday nights it lasts all the way past 8:30PM. The narrows also get random traffic jams on weekends but I don’t see a specific pattern there.
People also complained about the smell from the chicken plant. I don’t know if it’s the chicken plant or the entire city of Petaluma because of the high productivity of dairy that is produced here. Some evenings I’ll be across town at whole foods grocery shopping and be overcome by what I think is the same stench. This doesn’t happen often though. I didn’t smell it in the fall and winter months and I think the breeze from the Petaluma river helps too.
There is no guest parking about the apartments only come with one space. We have a two bedroom and only pay an extra $ 20 for the second space which I think is reasonable. When we have guests I just give them my spot and opt for street parking which can get scarce but I have always found a spot.
The 2^nd bedroom in our 2 bed 2 bath is very small. We use it as an office. I think you could maybe fit a single bed in there and a nightstand. It would be a good nursery though!
Over all I would recommend these apartments it has been a wonderful place to live.

I have checked into this place for apartments twice, each time I really want to like it, but I get a weird vibe, and when they tell you the price of the apartments depend on how many people are interested in moving sounds like a scam to me (I’m no business major, but shouldn’t the price be stable across the board… why should some people pay 1800 a month and others pay 2200 for the same apartment simply based on how many apply for an apartment? Weird right (and don’t give me a supply demand speech, it’s a friggin’ place to live)? So, I love Petaluma, but these apartments, although looking really nice seem a bit shady. I lived at Theatre Square for a year and a half, and oddly enough, LOVED it there. The price never «fluctuated» either, it was the same the entire time I lived there, you only payed more if you wanted more rooms or more space, but each apartment cost the same… I’d pick theatre square over these guys any day…

I moved into a 2 bed 2 bath apartment with my girlfriend from The City in December and, while we have not been here long, we love it! The units have amazing quality since they were originally built to be high end condos.
One of our biggest peeves at our place in the city was all the noise from our neighbors even though we lived in a «quiet» part of the city. Out here I have not heard one of my neighbors due to the quality and insulation of the building.
Our unit faces the pool and is away from the poultry plant so I can’t comment on the noise and smell that seems to bother some of the other posters.
I would definitely recommend this place to anyone.

I’ve lived here for two years and really like it. I have a spacious 2 bed 2 bath and love my stainless steel appliances, walk in closet and huge soaking tub. The units are well built and insulated so sound from other neighbors in minimal. Kelli and robin in the leasing office are awesome and really go out of their way for the residents. Matt in maitance is also great, he’s the friendliest guy in the complex and quickly responds to any maitance needs.
Minus a star for the occasional smell from the neighboring chicken plant and outside noise from the trucks. I also think unit prices are a little steep considering it’s east side Petaluma but nice units and staff make up for it.

It’s Great!
I moved here sight unseen from Kansas City, MO. Yes, I’m that crazy person who starts a business, packs up their life and moves 2000 miles west to pursue a dream.
Everything from the leasing office to the maintenance staff has been great — and did I mention, the apartments are crazy nice! Moreover, the grounds are well kept and are sans bottles/​trash/​etc… That’s a huge plus. Our neighbors are professionals that aren’t trying to throw raging parties every night of the week, and so far, I’ve felt more safe here than I ever did back at my KC Plaza Condo… I love that.
Also, in regards to the noise — yes, it’s a bit noisy, I’m not going to lie. But, you get used to the trucks and really, if that’s the only downfall, well — It’s not that bad guys. Oh, and the windows (because these were built to be condos) are double pained — so, just shut your windows and the noise disappears. I should note — The sound proofing in these apts is far superior to most other complexes. Huge plus.
My friend did think the price was a bit over the top, but he’s from KC where a unit like this might rent for a few hundred less and include things like water and trash. For the area, I think the price is almost right — It would be a bit more appealing if the above amenities were included, but whatever… I guess I’m just not in Kansas anymore ;)

Nice place to live. But they will overcharge you for anything possible to cover their bottomline when you move out. Office will do little to solve problems or complaints. This used to be a great place to live. I would avoid for now due to them intentionally overcharging everyone who moved out.

On the contrary to the review posted by Tina L., my experience with Azure (primarily their staff, at that) has been nothing short of EXCELLENT! Grounds are phenomenal and everyone from the maintenance personal, to the leasing agents, and their subcontracted service providers are fabulous!
My primary contact at the apartments is a leasing agent by the name of Kelli, I really cant say enough great things about her! Top-​notch customer service, and accommodating to the ninth degree (far surpassing any expectation of mine). I can not imaging anyone having a bad experience with these people! (Seriously though, I’ve had a better experience with the staff here than the staff at W hotel on many occasion)
The apartments really do speak for themselves and If some noise bothers you– don’t live next to a highway. If you want convenience, you probably wont get rural (cant exactly have your cake and it it too, sorry folks!)
All around, a 5 star place. One of the best I’ve lived at in years. A friendly and accommodating staff + fantastic grounds = …you do the math
Thanks Azure for providing such a great place to call home!

Not top notch, and yes noisier than some, but you did consider where you were before you signed the lease. I love my apartment 1 bdrm facing the pool, and dont mid the noise which i dont hear with the windows closed. I dont live near the Chicken plant, (free range indeed!) So that may quite valid. In the 3 years I been hear, maintenance has been excellent. Service has been good, Def buyer beware, they def will sell you something less than you want if you dont ask what you want.
PERSONALLY, i RECOMMEND THE SPOT. Maybe not for everybody, been sweet for me.

Azure at Lakeville Square
These apartment condos are the newest product in Petaluma built in 2006 – 2007. They were initially built to be sold as «higher end» townhouse/​condos. Apparently, the developer sold 2 – 3 and started to realize, after sales slowed to a crawl, that the bottom was falling out of the over inflated real estate market in the North Bay and had to refund the buyers cash. He then decided to rent them out as high end condo rentals.
The property is very nice. The architecture is very unique to Petaluma and the grounds are fairly well maintained. The interiors of the units are well appointed with granite counter tops, newer designed faucets, gas ranges and built in microwaves, dishwashers and intelligently designed shelving. The units come with a selection of tile and or wood flooring. Most, if not all, come with carpeting in the bedrooms. They have recessed lighting, that adds a lot to the modern design. Overall, they are very nice inside and out. The fitness centre and rec room are great and are well maintained. The pool area always appears to be clean and well organized.
But… the location sucks! This property would be perfect IF it was not on the corner of 116 and Casa Grande. The poultry/​egg plant is directly behind this property and semi’s roll out of there ALL hours of the day and night. They exit from their property onto Telecom Lane then they take a right onto Technology Lane and then a right onto Casa Grande. Have you ever attempted to sleep with noise of a semi going past you less than 30 feet away? Probably not. The units that face these streets get the brunt of the noise. This isn’t even to mention the noise from Lakeville Hwy/​116 with all the idiots on their motorcycles and in their noisy cars AND the other semi’s that use 116 as a cut over from 101 to 37. It’s just a VERY noisy location 24 hours a day.
It amazes me that the property management company demands so much rent for these units. There seems to be a lot of turn over and I think it’s primarily because folks realize that after they moved into these units (and if they rented units on either of the aforementioned streets) it’s a nightmare and they get the heck out of there after their lease is up. The units are nice inside but for the money and lack of sleep, their value goes down hill real quick.
Good property, horrible location.