Rent/Lease Condo in downtown area. (San Diego, Marina: apartment complexes, lofts, condos)

[AnnabelleSaunders]

Hello everyone,
This is my first post. Well I joined City-Data to get information on the San Diego area. I have visted there before and absolutely loved it! My husband, my cousin, and I are planning on moving to San Diego in about a year to a year and a half. We want to rent an apartment/condo in the downtown area (where you can walk to everything...gaslamp, little italy, marina, or somewhere around the park). We really arent looking for a house/duplex/or other small complex. We are looking for the big city feel/a larger complex. Now I know that sounds silly, but we are from a small town in Oklahoma (dont make fun of us! lol) and we have always wanted to live in a place like that, and we arent planning on living there forever.

So does anyone know of a good place?

Our perfect place would be/have
1. in the downtown (ish) area --no really scary neighborhoods though

2. 2 bed (hopefully 2 bath!) apartment (we dont really care how many sq ft at all)

3. a place that allows dogs--this is a must!--my dogs are very small..combined weight around 20 lbs (if any of you know a place that has a dog run, some grassy areas where we could walk them on a leash, or is really close to a dog park that is a definate plus!)

4. have a washer and dryer in unit (stackable is fine)

5. have parking...we will need 2 spaces

6. be close to public transportation (i will not have my own car)

7. have 6/mo lease terms (we will be paying the entire 6 months up front)

oh & our budget isnt very high...only up to about $2200/mo at the most (including parking and pet rent)..now I know its kind of a long shot but I have found a couple of places...like Il Palazzo and Koll Center that fit most of our criteria...

Does anyone know of another place??
Any advice on the move will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

[moved]

Look on Craigslist, and you may find something that meets your specifications. Most high rise condos and apartment complexes have one assigned parking place per unit. Washer and dryers aren't a guarantee, and there are dog parks for dogs. If you live downtown, you'll be on the trolley line.

[sdurbanite]

The 3 of you should definitely be able to find a nice 2 bed/2bath downtown for $2200 a month. Chances for getting 2 spaces are better if you are looking at the newer places.

Might wanna check out the Archstone Harborview apartments in the Marina District. My friend (female) rented a studio there for about $1300 and enjoyed living there. You'll be happy to know that there are a zillion dogs living downtown. It's definitely the accessory of choice!

Don't limit yourself to downtown, though. Check out neighboring Bankers Hill and Hillcrest, since they are both along the bus routes.

[AnnabelleSaunders]

Thanks for the advice..I have been looking on craigslist a lot, but I havent found anything new..I'll keep looking though.

Every apartment rating site I have seen warns to stay away from anything and everything archstone....has anyone else had a good or bad experience with archstone harborview??

[moved]

I've heard that the management is not good.

[f_m]

Well, my response got lost, but Broadway Lofts (found in various Craigslist posting) is downtown, and I visited some people with 2 dogs that lived there. It is upstairs from House of Blues. They were on 5th floor, which was still close enough to hear street noise and drunk people, so close to the ground may be noisy. This place is mainly 1 bdr though I think, so the info is for reference.

San Diego California Apartments - Home - Broadway Lofts


Santa Fe station is the main station for bus, trolley, and train at downtown, and Horton Plaza is the main mall in the area. You may wish to be close to these places. Parking is not so simple though since you may have to pay to get it, as it's probably not always part of the condo. I heard it approached 100 there now, it's pretty nice in the 70's here.

Il Palazzo looks like it's in the landing path of the airport.

[moved]

Broadway Lofts are very tiny, from what I've seen. Plus the noise wouldn't be good. Someone else posted about Broadway Lofts. Apparently they contacted them, and they never responded to the inquiry.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by AnnabelleSaunders

Every apartment rating site I have seen warns to stay away from anything and everything archstone....has anyone else had a good or bad experience with archstone harborview??

I'm always suspect of those apartment site reviews. It seems only disgruntled people post there, sorta like here sometimes

My other friend lived at the Archstone Mission Valley property and had no complaints. They are clean and had ample parking. Good luck