Windsor Ridge Apartments in Sunnyvale

What Windsor Ridge actually costs right now

All five prices describe the same address within a window of a few weeks. None is wrong; each reflects a different slice of whatever units that platform’s feed happened to carry that day. The roughly $1,500 gap between the low and high end is a sign of feed timing, not proof the building’s market rate moved.

Why do listing sites show different prices for the same apartment building?
Each platform pulls from its own live feed of available units, not a shared rent survey. A site showing mostly smaller units that week posts a lower “starting at” figure than one showing larger availability, even for the identical property.

Built in 1989: what that means for your rent and your lease

Sunnyvale has no local rent-control ordinance of its own, according to a review of the city’s housing division. The only rent-increase cap that applies here comes from California’s statewide Tenant Protection Act, AB 1482, which limits annual increases to 5% plus the regional Consumer Price Index, up to a 10% ceiling in any 12-month period, for units whose certificate of occupancy is at least 15 years old. Windsor Ridge was built in 1989, so it clears that threshold by decades, and its owner, Essex Property Trust, is a REIT rather than an individual landlord, which rules out the small-landlord carve-outs some AB 1482 exemptions rely on.

Sunnyvale’s own Tenant Protections Program adds a layer state law doesn’t: your landlord has to offer a yearlong lease before offering anything shorter, and you can ask for a different length if a year doesn’t work. Confirm the current allowable increase for your specific unit with the city’s housing office before signing, since capital-improvement pass-throughs can shift the math.

Is Windsor Ridge covered by rent control?
Not by a local Sunnyvale ordinance, since the city has none. It is covered by the statewide AB 1482 cap, because the building is well over 15 years old and isn’t otherwise exempt, and by Sunnyvale’s separate lease-term and relocation-payment protections.

Security deposit under the statewide cap

Since July 1, 2024, California law has capped security deposits at one month’s rent for most landlords, with a narrow exception letting owners of two properties or fewer, four units or fewer total, charge up to two months. Essex’s 216-unit portfolio at this address puts it nowhere near that exception, so a one-month cap applies here.

How much can Essex charge as a security deposit at Windsor Ridge?
One month’s rent. The small-landlord exception that allows a two-month deposit doesn’t apply to a 216-unit property owned by a REIT.

Getting around without assuming a car

Fair Oaks VTA light rail station sits 2.7 miles from the property, per Apartments.com’s location data, with Sunnyvale’s Caltrain station a further stop beyond that. Highways 101 and 237 are both close enough for a quick on-ramp, and the property advertises curbside tech-shuttle pickup to employers including Apple, Google, and Facebook. Three shopping centers sit within 0.6 mile, about an 11-minute walk.

Is Windsor Ridge walkable, or do I need a car?
Daily errands are walkable within about 10 minutes, but the nearest rail station is a 2.7-mile drive or ride, not a walk, so most residents commute by car, shuttle, or a short rideshare to the station.

Floor plans and what “8 layouts” really means

The property lists 8 distinct floor plans across 1- and 2-bedroom units, ranging from 700 to 1,015 square feet, including several loft-style layouts with vaulted ceilings.

One concrete example: ApartmentGuide’s live feed lists Plan 1C Loft, an 800-square-foot one-bedroom with vaulted ceilings, at $3,467 to $3,539. A single named unit like that anchors expectations better than any “starting at” headline figure, since it points to an actual layout rather than the cheapest availability that happened to be listed that week.

Pets, parking, and fees the listings bury

Windsor Ridge allows up to two pets per unit with a $500 deposit, plus a $75 monthly fee per dog and $50 per cat, according to the property’s Rent.com listing. Guardian-breed dogs are excluded: Alaskan Malamutes, Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, Pit Bulls, German Shepherds, Akitas, Bullmastiffs, Mastiffs, Wolf Dogs, and any breed the landlord judges related to those. Parking-space counts per unit and whether spaces are assigned aren’t published in any current listing feed; ask directly during a tour.

Before you tour

Two things are worth confirming beyond the listing price: which specific unit is actually available, since the “starting at” figure rarely matches it, and the parking arrangement, which none of the feeds publish. For the current allowable rent increase on that unit, use the AB 1482 math above rather than any single site’s number.

One tenant review from September 2022 flagged a pest issue and annual increases that felt above market. Three years is long enough that conditions may have changed either way, so treat it as one data point worth raising with the leasing office directly, not as a verified current condition.

• Ask which specific unit is available rather than relying on the advertised “starting at” price.
• Ask about parking type and assignment before touring, since no listing feed currently publishes it.
• Confirm the deposit amount is capped at one month’s rent before signing.