Clearwater Apartments

Clearwater Apartments are nestled in what appears to be a quiet residential area, just behind Davis Swim and Fitness Club

Location

4141 Cowell Blvd.

(South Davis, behind Howard Johnson Inn and Abe's Cafe & Grill)

Contact

(530) 758-2411.

Office Hours

Monday - Friday, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Website

werent.com/clearwater.htm

Features

Double-pane windows

Central heating/air

Assigned, covered parking

On-site laundry room

Clearwater Apartments—formerly Tennis Club Apartments, until a 2010 rename—is an apartment complex located in South Davis at 4141 Cowell Blvd. The complex is known for being home to mostly to middle class families, young professionals, and only a few UC Davis students and staff.

The complex includes a 75 foot swimming pool and two laundry facilities. New front-load Maytag "no coin" washers and dryers were recently put in. It also has easy access to Unitrans' P and Q lines and is pretty close to the A line. Move-In Bonus of High Speed Internet for new tenants signing a 12 month lease. According to the complex website, "This offer is for new tenants with a twelve month rental agreement and may be discontinued at any time at our sole option."

The complex has also just put in (Summer 2010) new double-pane windows and sliding doors. These make heating and cooling of apartments much more efficient and thus much cheaper. All of the apartments have pretty large patios. Especially the downstairs apartments which have huge patios.

Pets are not allowed.

Per the complexes' website, pricing as of April 2011 is:

* One bed, one bath: $955/month *	* Two bed, one bath: $1,095/month *		Two bed, two bath: $1,155/month

plus a $500 security deposit.

The complex gained the town's spotlight on November 18, 2004 when one of its residents, Dennis Thrower, was shot to death in an exchange of gunfire with one or two individuals at around 5:50 am. The incident was Davis' first homicide since 1998, leaving many residents of the complex and South Davis baffled as to how the murder could have happened in a relatively uneventful and quiet part of town, where crime rarely rises above bicycle thefts and several car burglaries.

To learn about other housing options within Davis, please visit our Apartments page or check out our Housing Guide.

What did you think of Clearwater Apartments?

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2007-08-30 15:33:05 I've lived here for 6 years. It started out great with a wonderful manager who went out of his way to make sure you were comfortable and who didnt care about "hours" but would treat you like a friend. The next manager was nice as well. But the current management is HORRIBLE. also, the owner only thinks about money and not at all about the people living there. I am moving out after 6 years of NO late payments and the manager won't walk through the apartment with me ONE HOUR later because she doesnt get paid overtime. Even though she lives about 2 seconds away 4 doors down and it is too inconvenient.

no body gives a crap about your needs. They just want to make more money. you are not allowed to bbq anymore either, because the owner doesnt want to pay the insurance increase to allow it. the office hours are during normal work hours so you can never talk to the manager and you get charged extra for needing assistance outside of the regular work schedule.

this place has turned in a stressful place to live where all the residents are being taken advantage of. I am not the only one moving out because of it. I would have recommended this place a few years ago...but now it is a real hellhole. —dbee

2007-09-05 18:05:38 I lived here between Feb 2006 and Aug 2007. They had three different managers during this time and they got rid of the on-site handyman. Luckily nothing in my place needed fixing. When I moved out, I was charged $50 for "light" cleaning, $50 for painting and $81 for carpet steam cleaning. Apparently the "light" cleaning is for dusting the blinds because the manager told me I did a great cleaning job during our walk through. They'll always charge you painting unless you've lived there for more than 3 years.

But the most annoying thing is that they won't refund my laundry card deposit. They have card operated washer and dryers on site. You have to pay $5 deposit when you first buy a card from the machine. I've always been told that after I moved out and returned the card to the manager, I'll get my card deposit back. I was told this even during the walk through. But when I got the deposit refund check and found it was $10 short(I returned two cards), I called and they told me they don't refund laundry card deposits! When did that change of policy happen? And why did they still take my cards if they weren't going to refund me? Are they just trying to scam every possible dolloar out of their tenants? $10 isn't a big deal but this is really annoying. I'm still haggling with them and I'll post updates if there're any new developments.

So bottomline is I don't recommend this place. The rent has increased way too much in the past year and it's really overpriced given the quality you get. —ChWong

2007-09-18 22:27:39 This is an update to my laundry card deposit argument with them. At first they just gave me an email address of their parent company. This is only an email address for suggestions and of course I got no response from them. So I filed a complaint with Better Business Bureau and here's their reply:

"We regret any confusion. Our written Rental Agreement is what we, and our residents, rely on. It is the complete agreement and clearly states there are no other verbal agreements.
We do not do refunds for laundry cards. The machine dispensing them asked the resident when he purchased them: "Would you like to buy a card?". The price is clearly shown as $5 on-screen. The customer then must choose "YES" or "NO". Mr. XXX apparently chose "YES" to buy two cards.
Nonetheless we would be happy to give Mr. XXX $10 if he will stop by during office hours. This does not however change our policy."

But they failed to explain why all three managers told me I would get my card deposit back at various times during my stay, even on the day of walk-through. And how come I only heard about their no-refund policy when I called them and ask them why my refund check was $10 short? Nonetheless, I'm glad I finally got my money back. I'll leave you to form your own opinion on all these. —ChWong

For what it's worth, some friends of ours moved into a complex that uses laundry cards, and when they received their card it already had $3.50 on and they were thrilled. So you're probably making someone's day. —ElleWeber

2008-06-23 21:16:03 I have lived at this complex for almost a year now and have had a very pleasant experience here so far (knock on wood). The manager, Liya, is lovely and probably is the best apartment manager I've ever had. My main complaint is that we can't have pets (not even a bird or a reptile) and many of the other tenants have cats up the wazoo because they were "grandfathered in" — I guess the no pets policy is new (though it is obvious that numerous people have smuggled kittens into their apartments anyways). It would be nice if we had the option of paying a deposit in order to keep a pet here. —soledad101

2009-06-18 22:03:35 I have lived here for more than four years and enjoyed the great swimming pool, quiet and safe environment, efficient management. Whenever I have a problem the management will come immediately because the manager really cares about her tenants. The lawn, flower beds and night bulbs are all well maintained and no loud noise have ever been heard because the rules are well respected and obeyed thanks to the wonderful management. —Jeffery

2010-08-09 15:53:09 I'm confused... Are these called Tennis Club Apartments or Clearwater Apartments? Could a tenant or manager please update the wiki page, as well as the prices and policies if they have changed? Thank you! —LauraLibby

2010-08-15 15:55:46 To answer the previous question. Yes this is now Clearwater Apartments. —DHuey

2011-09-11 19:05:36 I have never written a review before but felt compelled to warn people about this complex. I have lived at Clearwater (formerly the Tennis Club Apartments) for two years. Having a semi pleasant experience the first year, I decided to stay for a second year. DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID. Don't get me wrong—the residents here are typically quiet, and the pool area is nice. However, the pool is never heated so you can really only use it during the warmer months. Additionally, the pool is frequently dirty.

The reason why I would NOT recommend renting from Clearwater is the management. The manager, Liya, is frequently out of her office and it becomes a sort of game to try to catch her. She rarely answers the phone or responds to emails and when she does, she is unclear. Furthermore, she is extremely unhelpful and not pleasant to deal with. Being a graduate student, I was lucky enough to have time during the day to track her down, but I can imagine how impossible this would be if I had a full time job. Additionally, Liya is not apologetic when something goes wrong with the apartment and takes her sweet time in the repair. Finally, YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR FULL DEPOSIT MONEY BACK. My apartment was completely clean, no stains on the carpet, nothing broken, yet she requires that her cleaning people come. Additionally, she will require you to pay for a new paint job, even if nothing is wrong with the wall. Thus, even though there was no damage (it was just normal wear and tear), I only received 280 out of my original 500.

In sum, this is a great place to live until anything goes wrong with your apartment. Once something needs repair, the sub-par quality of management negates any positive qualities this complex has to offer. —LawStuff