I have been living here for a 10 months -- sadly, I have to leave at the end of the lease for work relocation.

I would recommend this place:

RENT:
Rent the year I moved in was $1.6k/month. This year, it went slightly up to $1.65k. Next year, it's going up to $1.8k/month. $150/month rise is understandable, given that the building did huge improvements to the main and floor lobbys, put in a rec room, rooftop chess, an a bunch of wicker/nylon lounge chairs in addition to a study/community space that is absolutely huge.

PARKING:
The building gives you 1 indoor space and helps you find outdoor space for $150. If you can con your roommate into giving you the indoor space for $60/month extra, it's worth it. The spaces are tight and the ceiling is low on the interior parking, but it's a 1928 historic building (Canada-California Bank building), so that's understandable. If you have outdoor parking, good luck on it because you have to walk to the building the the neighborhood is marginal. There is streetside parking, but it's unsafe and inconvenient. One saturday, I got THREE TICKETS on my windshield: for not tending the meter originally (I thought weekends were free but not for that strip), for parking over 1 hour (Ibid), and for not tending the meter after an hour. The outside/outsourced parking lots sometimes close because film crews will rent them out, so they force you to farther areas for parking.

NEIGHBORHOOD:
Crackwhores, drugdealers, homeless people, etc. You're really close to skid row and the next building down is Section 8 -- "The Projects". I don't really go out at night because I just fear it. They film outside more than once a month, so they block traffic and once a cop gave me a ticket for making the only possible turn that I could. What sucked was that the cop NEVER REPORTED the ticket, but the city still required me to make an appearance every 3 months for a year to secure on the record that I made an appearance in the event that the cop turned in the ticket.

With that being said -- the building is VERY SECURE. Their security is TOP NOTCH and there has never been any crime once you're inside the ivory towers.

Yes, you are in Downtown so there is occasional noises: helocopter, police sirens, and since we face the courtyard, you can easily hear people if they are arguing. However, the residents are very nice and hardly do argue.

SPACE:
The space is huge and I really like our space. There are dryers/washers in every other floor and that is never really an issue to find an unoccupied washer/dryer in the building. It's $1.00/load for each though. Maintainence was slow once, but after that they made quick responses to fix our stuff. Some units have better treament but I can't complain.

CONS:
Elevators are old and always broken.

BUILDING MANAGEMENT:
Management is the best -- Bernard is the best landlord I've ever had. He is friendly, and works with you for every request. The security people are the sharpest and nicest people you can have. They own 2 other buildings across the street and next door, and they have 4 security guards -- 1 in each building and 1 that rotates. They look after you when you go in and out of the place, and remember you by face. They do have high turn-around for security guards but each one have been excellent.

NEIGHBORS:
I love the people here. The demising walls (demising walls seperate your space from the next-door neighbor) are THICK, so even though the guy across the hall plays guitar, I don't hear him from my apartment. I like the neighbors -- although the girls could be a bit prettier, but whatever.

CONCLUSION:
If you want affordable urban living, this is the place to go. I have had 2 friends live in this complex (seperately) and they love it. There is a great mexican food place downstairs and I think the owner of that mexican place lives in this building. Get the carne asada torta.

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