While living in my relatively cheap studio apartment downtown, I had nothing but problems. Upon moving in, I discovered the carpet was super filthy; it seemed like it hadn't been cleaned in like 20 years (it probably hadn't). To make matters worse, I couldn't sleep at night due to the Korean family that lived right above my head. When there is only one room, it is hard to escape the sound of a child running around at all hours of the night (literally, until at least 3am multiple times). Luckily we had an awesome manager at the time, and after multiple complaints from me and other tenants, they were finally evicted (after about 6 months). Speaking of evictions, my across the hall neighbor was evicted as well, after several police visits... I suspected he was a drug dealer, which wouldn't surprise me at all (this area, although surrounded by expensive luxury condos and apartments, is rather ghetto -- there is a homeless shelter across the street, and a half-way house next door).

During this time there was also frequent noise from other sources: drunks outside, people talking at all hours, etc. I also had to put up with smoke constantly drifting into my windows because people would stand outside to smoke since it wasn't allowed inside. On top of all this (yes there is more) my room was right next to the back door to the building, which was broken, and slammed shut very loud (and was used by almost everyone at any hour).

After the upstairs neighbors were gone, I finally thought I would have some peace and quiet. However, about 2 weeks later, they closed off the street across from my window and put up signs: "Ongoing construction from March 26 - September 9th, 2009" -- fantastic! So now I had to put up with all sorts of construction noise beginning at 6:45 - 7:00 AM until around 3:00 PM in the afternoon. Jackhammers, pavement breakers, heavy machinery... you name it. Not cool. On top of that, I got a new across the hall neighbor who decided nobody would mind him blasting his R&B music until 2 AM.

Well around this time, I discovered that our manager had been replaced without even an announcement (I found out because when I called to ask about noise, someone else answered the phone). Anyways, after a few more months of constant noise, I finally put in my 30 day notice and moved out about 5 weeks ago. Does the trouble stop there' No it doesn't. I still have not received my $600 deposit, which, according to the lease, is supposed to be given back "no later than 21 days after owner recovers the premises" -- so it is two weeks late, as of now, and the on-site manager is not returning my calls.

Aside from all my problems... parking is on-street only, although they recently added like 4 spots in the basement that people can park in for $25 (I would recommend small cars only). A downside to this (perhaps only because I was on the first floor), is that you can hear people start up their cars and blast their music right underneath your floor; lovely. The place used to be a hotel in the 1920's, so it is very old so most of the cupboards don't close and the water pressure kinda sucks. There are seriously at least 30 levels of paint on all the walls (it's like 1/2 inch thick) and all of the rooms look very sterile, unless you are willing to paint like I did. No air conditioning (of course) and no heating (except the oven). The kitchen appliances are new and work really well and the ceiling is tall and vaulted. There is on-site laundry, but it broke down a couple times when I was there (which was very inconvenient). The apartment is also super close to Balboa park, the trolley (5 blocks away) and downtown.

All in all, the pros do not outweigh the cons, I would not recommend this place!

(NOTE: picture is AFTER I painted the walls, they used to be white).

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/25/2009
Wow, did you ever get your security deposit?
From: kflorence	Date: 08/25/2009
After five weeks of waiting, and multiple phone calls and a letter sent to the landlord and owners, I was finally given a response... they deducted $370 for painting and cleaning, both of which were unfair. The $300 deducted for painting was for "violating the lease" -- although it does say that you are not allowed to paint without the owners consent, the landlord clearly told me that we only needed his permission, and not the owners. He even remarked that "it looks good" after I finished. The $70 cleaning fee was also ridiculous, since the apartment was left cleaner than when I had moved in. This obviously upset me, and in response I sent a letter directly to the owner explaining why I felt it was unjust, specifically outlining that after 21 days the owner must forfeit all of the deposit anyways (according to California law). This letter was responded to a week later with a check with the remainder of the deposit on it... so in the end I ended up getting my entire deposit back, albeit 4 weeks late.

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