Primero Grove

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Location
500 Primero Grove
(on the UC Davis campus)
Office Hours
Mon-Fri 8am-5pm
Contact
Phone: (530) 754-8455
Fax: (530) 754-8427
Website
[WWW]primerogrove.com

Primero Grove is a campus apartment complex managed by [WWW]EAH, Inc. and available for UC Davis students. Leases are (almost) 12-month agreements that run from approximately September 12 - August 31. Because the complex is located on campus, prospective tenants should be aware that they are subject to campus regulations including noise and alcohol restrictions as well as parking limitations; tenants are also prohibited by UC Davis Information Technology from establishing wireless networks within their apartments. There is high speed Ethernet Resnet and cable included in each room. There are four buildings in Primero Grove.

Apartments are available according to the following priority list:

  1. First priority is given to full-time continuing, professional or graduate students.

  2. Second priority is given to full-time incoming transfer students — approval documenting special circumstances must first be provided by Student Housing.

  3. Third priority is given to incoming freshmen — approval documenting special circumstances must first be provided by Student Housing.

Primero Grove establishes a waiting list around the first week of the year, but you must check their website regularly because they often simply post the information just days before the list is opened. In 2006, the list was announced the evening before it opened. Each roommate will need to complete an application which you can download from their site ahead of time and submit it along with a $25 application fee; email applications accompanied by electronic payment can be arranged. By late February, you know whether you're in or not. Lease signing is in late March/early April. Because rates must be approved by the UC Regents, Primero Grove will probably only be able to provide estimated rates until late spring.

About half of Primero Grove was rented out to the Student Housing office as Residence Halls from the complex' completion until summer 2005 — now it is just another student apartment complex on campus.

To learn more about rental housing options in Davis, please take a look at our Rental Housing Guide as well as our Apartments pages.

Comments:

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2008-05-06 15:59:17   What are the experiences that other people have had with Primero Grove, both with living there, and with the application process? Is it quiet? Would you recommend it? —IDoNotExist

2008-05-06 18:20:42   I lived at Primero Grove for 3 years. I have to say that the walls are paper thin. You can hear people stomping down the hallways. You can also hear people walking on the floor above you. It can get really annoying at night. The room sizes are somewhat small compared to other apartments in Davis. You do get high speed campus internet access and cable. The fan in the bathroom was way too loud and the fan turns on when the light is switched on. The balconies are small and the kitchens are cramped. There are no elevators, so if you live on the third floor you have to climb up huge stairs all the time. There is only one laundry room and it is on the ground floor. It is always crowded to capacity except early in the morning on weekdays. It is miserable trying to drag your laundry that far just to find all the washers and dryers taken. —Jedron

2008-05-06 20:04:56   How about the management? —IDoNotExist

2008-05-06 20:39:00   I left almost 6 years ago. I don't know if management has changed. However, when I was there the Manager was very friendly and the maintenance team was very quick to respond to repair requests. Often, they would come the same day to repair things. In fact, once the laundry room door jammed shut late at night. A worker came to fix it in less than an hour, even though it was 2 AM. During the wait, I sent a tiny freshman through the window to open the door. Another time, our garbage disposal jammed and someone came to fix it within 10 minutes (it was a weekday). They often have free barbecues every once in a while. —Jedron

2008-07-27 19:16:19   I would say the current staff suck. I went in for an application and they rudely stated "go online" which sure I could go online but I was hoping to converse with them ask a few questions that I knew couldn't be answered online. They finally handed me an application and stated that it was due by a certain date and that I would need to bring in a money order etc... which I did what they said by that date and returned with everything that was needed, they claimed at that time that I had missed the deadline. They completely lied about the date knowing I would miss it and I did ended up missing the application deadline. I was so pissed because they only take in apps once a year in january (or february?) and so now I have been stuck at the place I am at again for another year due to the lease renewal. They need to get better staff that won't just tell you something to get rid of you, thats very rude and acted unethically. —csmith

2008-07-27 19:50:53   Is this a common experience among those who apply there or live there? For those of you who live there currently, what is your experience like right now? —IDoNotExist

2008-07-27 21:44:51   Applying by yourself is the worst way to try to get in. There are thousands of applicants and your chances of getting an empty space is very small. 1 in thousands. The people who already live there usually like it so much that they stay there for years. The best way to get in is to befriend someone who already lives there. In fact, current residents often post signs asking for roommates or apartment-mates in the Commons building. You need to take advantage of that first. Primero Grove is probably the most popular place that people want to live in. The on campus location is what makes it so nice. However, you do have to remember that this place is not perfect. —Jedron

2008-07-28 00:00:03   So what is your experience living there like? —IDoNotExist

2008-07-28 00:48:09   When I lived there, I loved it. The closeness to classes was the best part. The campus is your backyard. The high speed Resnet and cable tv were great. If I had to come back to Davis, I would live there again. However, they do hire part time and temp employees to run the office. You would always see a different face there. I always would go there to pay rent and the people were nice to me. But you never know what kind of temp employee they might have hired now. However, when the manager was there, he was cool. I remember when the applications were due. People would camp out in front of the office overnight with their sleeping bags and lawn chairs. That is what it takes to get the limited spots. Those who turn in applications after the camp out don't stand a chance of getting in.

Living at Primero was not perfect. The walls are paper thin, the laundry room is often all occupied, and you can hear people stomping down the halls. However, it usually is quiet, clean, and well maintained.

I also lived off campus at another apartment and taking the bus to class took valuable time. However, off campus apartments have more room than Primero. The rooms, kitchens, living rooms, and bathrooms at Primero are kind of small. —Jedron

2008-08-05 13:10:16   I have lived here for more than a year. They just repainted in hideous colors; now it looks like baby food. ugh Besides that, I put in a repair request when I first moved in (sept) and they still haven't fixed it. Keep giving me lousy excuses. The staff are rude and management wants to enter your apartment every other day to do stupid stuff. And everything they do drags out forever. They just redid the commons (eh) and it took months (that we couldn't use it). And the painting took forever too. Don't live here unless you really want to be close to classes. —Nana

2008-08-05 16:11:54   For what sorts of things do they want to enter your apartment —IDoNotExist

2008-12-02 13:20:35   How are the kitchens? Modern, well leveled stove, standard size refrigerators? Is there a reasonable amount of counter and cabinet / pantry space? Thanks in advanced! —RyanMikulovsky

2008-12-02 13:39:58   Ryan: what is a well leveled oven? —IDoNotExist

2008-12-02 19:56:44   I used to live in Primero Grove. Unless they have remodeled since 2002, the kitchens are small. The size of the kitchen varies depending on the size of the apartment. I have visited all of the different sized kitchens. The Studio kitchen is kind of narrow and the other units have compact kitchens. The counters are very small, but enough to hold basic items such as a microwave. The 3 bedroom kitchens are also small and cramped. The handicapped accessible units have slightly more space in their kitchens, but there are very few of them. The electric stoves back in 2002 had drip pans that always got dirty and were almost impossible to clean. They charge you for dirty drip pans. You also have to pay a gas bill for the hot water heater. The refrigerators vary in size. The smallest units have tiny refrigerators and most of the 3 and 4 bedroom units have normal sized refrigerators. However, I lived in a 3 bedroom unit and they gave us a smaller refrigerator and it was too small for all 4 people. The cabinet space in the 3 bedroom unit was barely enough for 4 people. The cabinets were always packed, but there are also upper cabinets with more storage that you can reach if you are very tall. —MaxLucas

2008-12-03 16:29:27   Thank you, Max! That was very helpful. —RyanMikulovsky

2009-01-08 23:40:38   Can one transfer a lease? —EliYani

2009-01-13 08:04:44   Anyone wnat to sublease their apartment? Looking for a 1BR. —gc729

2009-03-01 18:36:03   Hey! Is anyone currently living in a studio graduating at the end of this year??? I really want to live at Primero for my fifth and final year, so hopefully someone can make this happen! —JasonMasino

2009-03-16 01:25:56   the primero grove manager (the older white woman), chelli bassler is typically less than courteous, but its because she's been going through hard times.. she just filed for her own chapter 13 bankruptcy. —igaboj

2009-03-21 00:32:29   The best thing about living here is the proximity to campus and the cleanliness/maintenance. Mary is a pleasure to work with. She is the only one in the leasing office that I would advise anyone to go to, as she actually has feelings and the sensibility to be courteous to her residents. Personally, I feel that Chelli

2009-03-30 10:00:46   I don't know, Mary can be pretty insensitive sometimes. Just a heads up, watch for what they take from your security deposit. They took money for stuff they didn't have the right to. —Nana

2009-03-31 00:19:08   If they took anything from your deposit you didn't leave it like you got it. My apartment was in great condition when I moved in and when I left, I cleaned it and left it like they gave it to me. They don't charge you for things like other Davis apartment managers do. —peoplesvoice

2009-04-02 17:03:00   In response to igaboj, if you have a problem with the manager quit hiding behind a website and publishing her personnal information. Just think about it, you may piss someone off they could do the same to you (KARMA — WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND, AND YOURS IS STILL TO COME. My advice to you is to remove the personnal information and confront her on the issue you have, be the bigger person. —peoplesvoice

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