If termites, shoddy maintenance and the cheapest ?renovation? in history are for you, by all means rent at Keystone Place (or Culver Center). By any name, this place is a joke.

In the past year, rent at this place has nearly doubled ? at the end of my lease, I was confronted with a 20% increase despite coming in at higher rates to begin with. This place went from being a bad deal to being laughable.

You need to hand it to Stratus Management. They bought a cheaply built, run-down building on a pothole-laden street in Palms, and have transformed it? into a cheaply built, slightly less run-down building on a pothole-laden street in Palms with a fresh coat of paint on it. They even tried to verbally transport it across the border into Culver City. Despite these efforts, the location and1980s fixtures (though refrigerators are not included, good luck with that) remain the same.

Stratus apparently specializes in buying run-down properties that are too recently built to have rent control, and summarily raises rents through the roof while making only the most fitful attempts at improvement. Literally paint, fixing the badly leaking Jacuzzi pipes, and putting shoddy wall dividers into former studio apartments (with a hefty hike in rent price) are what pass for ?renovation? on Planet Stratus. Not a surprise then that the only thing now in the clouds besides the rent is the vacancy rate. They have not yet been successful in selling this building, small wonder, it is my hope that those reading this will be as smart as any prospective investors in this building and keep looking.

Since moving here I have had several termite swarms, a roof leak directly above my bed, and have been stuck with an additional charge of $50 a month for a parking space that actually fits my car. The ceilings and walls are so thin that basically anything can be heard ? so hopefully the monastic life is attractive to you. In line with the surrounding neighborhood (which is predominantly working class and latino) the produce truck comes around the back alley several times daily, including around 9:00-10:00 PM, blowing its very loud ?La Cucaracha? horn. Call the police and watch nothing happen.

In conclusion, the going rates at these apartments would be outrageous even if it really was located in Culver City. Hell, this building wouldn?t be worth $1345 for a junior one bedroom with a beach view, or in Beverly Hills, much less here.

Look elsewhere.

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