Tenant Reviews for 685 LUCAS AVE

My neighbor just died. We have experienced rotten odor and saw the seal ion the door. The landlord does not allow us to move to a different unit without charging us current market rate verses our contracted rate.

This apartment has its good and bad, and unfortunately the bad outweighs the good Pro: 1. Cheap and Utilities are paid for 2. The common areas are kept pretty clean -- like the hallways or the front 3. There is a security guard after 9pm. Francis is one of the best security guard and makes you feel as if the building is secure (but the other security guards don't really seem like they would be able to do much in an emergency situation due to their old ages) Cons: 1. There is NO hot water in the showers. At its very best, during the summer, the water was above luke warm. You can barely shower without getting out freezing because the water will go from lukewarm to ice cold back to cold, in a matter of seconds. When I asked management if they could fix this, they just said that the building was old and the pipes were old. Nilo literally said to get hot water "turn on the water for the sink and the shower and just let it run.: FYI this DOES NOT WORK. Everybody i have talked to also has no hot water in their apartments either so its not just my apartment. Its pretty ridiculous to never have a warm shower -- I'm not asking for much. I would have been fine with a not-freezing shower. 2. Good luck getting anything fixed. The maintenance is a joke. It took months for them to come and fix anything, and when they did, they didn't even really fix the problem, only patched things up to make it SEEM to work. We had a flooding of the complex, and it took over a month for them to fix my apartment. It has been over 4 months and the second elevator still hasn't been fixed. 3. The walls are SUPER thin. You can literally hear your neighbors talking or moving or even walking at night. Also, even though it is LA and some traffic noise is to be expected -- the window does NOTHING for keeping out noise from the streets. 3. Don't believe when the apartment advertises that the parking is available or that you get a discount. It is an open parking lot across the street in a shady hotel that charges $80 a month with no security. If your car get stolen, well then too bad. 4. If you want to really cook, its really difficult. Because the space is so tiny, there is very poor ventilation inside the apartment so any time while cooking, you always run the risk of setting off the fire alarm. I have to have the windows open and a fan blowing to make sure the alarm doesn't go off. 5. Air Leaks into the apartment like crazy, because nothing is fully sealed (windows or doors). That means when it is cold outside, you can feel a cold draft coming into the apartment from the windows. If someone is cooking ANY where on your floor, that comes into your apartment. If someone is smoking in their rooms on your floor, you get to smell it. Honestly these are just some of the things I have had to put up with in less than 6 months. This place isn't TOO bad, but the fact that there is NO hot water for the shower (there is hot water from the sinks) is an absolute deal breaker, at least for me.

PROS: -------(security) is the best thing this apt bldg has to offer! He is personable and is always willing to help tenants in every way he can! Very friendly, but knows his boundaries to maintain a professional environment. Even if you're friends with him, he does not ask personal questions. My husband & I truly miss him! The manager (---------) is very professional. My husband got irritated one time because they had to abruptly turn the water off. He was taking a shower with soap suds all over- trying to get ready for work. He made the mistake of calling ------ and DEMANDING for the water to be turned on - and my husband did not try to sound polite. When I saw ------ that day, I could sense that he was pissed at my husband, but he instead maintained his composure and apologized for the inconvenience. The cleaning lady does a very good job. Imagine, 11 floors in an old bldg! - not once did I see the the hallways dirty! The people who work here are the reason you'd love this old apartment. They make living in Commodore a home away from home. Except for the maintenance guy. At that time the maintenance guy was -----. Ugggh. He's probably the most sarcastic impolite person I've ever met in my entire life! I heard that he's been replaced, though. Very secure bldg. It has 11 floors. Your keycard will only have access to the floor where your unit is at, the lobby and the laundry area (ground floor). This is hard to find even in Beverly Hills. CONS: What the poster before me pointed out is right. There are a lot of -------------- living in this bldg. BUT HEY! This is L.A.! They're everywhere! Yep, the -------- tenants live like cockroaches in this bldg 6-7heads in one room. And I thought only -------- do that. What's good, though is that --------- are clean people - you can never see dirty -------- apartments, unlike -------- who are friggin born to trash whatever place they move into! No parking. I wonder why they're not using the parking spaces inside the bldg? Looked huge to, me.. This bldg is dominated by --------- and they are FREAKIN NOSEY! what's your name? what's your apt number? where do you work at? what's your occupation? HOW MUCH DO YOU MAKE?!!! do you have a bf/gf? WHAT'S YOUR IMMIGRATION STATUS? UGGGH. --------- are said to be nice people, but I'm sorry they're too nosey! I'm --------, but I don't have the habit of asking personal questions. However, you don't actually live in the lobby, so that's not really a problem =) Overall our stay here at the Commodore was really very pleasant.

First off when I moved in I met the cool manager ------. She attracted cool --------------------------- and the building attained a level of civility. Then she moved on and the ------- owner started using B1 visa Pinos who moved their whole family into the little studio. Then the third-world atmosphere took over. First the ---------------------------------- moved in. Most of these people are pleasant, but have obvious criminal background and disposition. As a business owner I had zero in common with them. Second an old lady and her son live on the first floor by the manager's office. They didn't give any trouble apart from the occasional frying-pan fire, but her other career-criminal son spends night and day scheming on ways to break into your apartment, vandalizing your auto, and sleeping on the public sidewalk drunk out of his mind. Then the laundromat is bizarre. It's packed with -------- washing dirty diapers. Moreover the manager cut off the hot water to up his profits, and lies to your face telling you that the water is STILL hot. Even while your clothes have to be thrown away because they never come clean. As for parking, there is none other than half a strip on Lucas shared by the houses and 5 apartment complexes. Oh yeah you can pay the Garland Building with their mall cops or the Western Hotel for parking. At least there the wino is less likely to break in there. As for grounds, well the ---- manager was trying to KILL/STEAL the one $5000 palm tree planted there. Oh yeah there are -------- doing all the maintenance there. Sometimes they'll let street people stay in your recreation room. Probably they pocket some cash on the deal. The heating/cooling unit is combo and I had to stop using it because it needs to be removed yearly and hosed down. Otherwise it will blow all the crap from the streets right into your lungs. Several sick days due to that until I pinned it down. The occupants tend to be fairly rootless but not a threatening bunch. Working bees. Students mostly scared off these days, but used to have many from FIDM. Zero amenities like a pool, disease-free rec room, conference center, guy, balcony. The Food4Less is four blocks away and the Smart&Final shut down. It's ------ area so you have to check in your belongings at the store. Machete guy was out there last year hacking people to bits. Yeah right when the film came out. People there too dumb to grasp that irony, though. Just another month at MacArthur Park.

Terrific value for the money.

I am not originally from LA, but then again who is now a days? For those looking for a good place to start and don't mind being in the chaos of litteraly the heart of LA this is the place for you. The great thing about the Commodore is the fact that it is close to everything in downtown and central LA. A great place for those attending USC (its a short five-10 minute drive to campus) with no traffic due to the close proximity. The units are all studios, but farely spacious for studios to be fair. They include mini kitchenettes (with a stove and sink) and private bathrooms. Although fairly small, I have to admit the unit is very cozy, homey, and clean. Those three things are hard to come by in LA. If you don't mind the sound of constant sirens (it is in downtown afterall) this is definitly a safe place that you'll appreciate (for downtown LA). The building is very secure and you cannot access entrance without keys. I am very satisfied with this home away from home unit as a starting ground in LA. The only bad thing I have to say about the apartment complex is the fact that there is no parking garage, and because it is in downtown street parking is hard to come by. There is a parking lot half a block to a block away that is extra $$, and it fills up quickly. Other than that, the apartment complex offers reasonably priced units for rent with a laundrymat downstairs. On a side note, the management is amazing. Nilo is the apartment manager, and is respectful while providing excellent customer service. Also, there is a maintenance person that fixes any issues within units. Overall, as I mentioned before this studio apartment complex is a cozy home away from home for a starting ground that is.

What simply attracted me to this apt was the cheap cost and all utilities paid. I only lived here for a month and my lease was canceled due to inhabitable living conditions in room ---- on the 10th floor. Allow me to start from the beginning. I was told every tenant would receive their own parking spaces by ---- during my initial visit. Then the manager informed me that their "assigned" parking is provided at $100.00 across the street or for $80.00 further across the street at a motel. As it turns out, I later learned that the "assigned" parking is basically one of two small lots with very limited availability. About 20 parking spaces each and the one in the motel is always occupied by visitors already staying at the motel! What's worse? There simply is no assigned parking. You only get to park if there are spaces available. If everything is taken up, you're looking at street parking where your vehicle is exposed to the elements and crime. When I confronted ---- about this situation, he says that they assigned parking nearby as he stated BUT there is no "RESERVED" parking. Isn't assigned parking and reserved parking the same thing? That left a very sour taste in my mouth having known I specifically emphasized on this issue from the very beginning. Besides parking, the overall neighborhood is getting worse. Two people shot on separate altercations and prostitution is rather frequent. I also see people getting arrested on the streets on a weekly basis. The worst part of my experience occurred during the evenings or whenever you decide to shut your eyes for rest. To summarize, I have accumulated over a 120 bite marks from bed bugs over a single month in room ----. On the first evening, I saw a small roundish brown bug rather sluggish in movement casually crawling near the bathroom tile around 10pm. Eventually, 18 more throughtout the night came stumbling out one after the other. I killed all of them by squeezing them as hard as possible. They're really flat and therefor extremely difficult to kill even when applying pressure. When I initially explained them to ----, he instantly replied they weren't bedbuds. He does not operate a building with bedbugs. After I showed him the evidence by the pile of dead bugs carefully wrapped in tissue paper, he sent maintenance to do a quick spray that resulted in nothing. A second spray was performed the following week and the third was from an outside exterminating source. All proved useless and I remained a human buffet. To make matters even more uncomfortable, the exterminator who arrived was a complete jerk. My room was not fully prepped for his standards and he basically went on a mini tirade. Let me provide a few examples. "Tssk! Oh brother. Let at this guy. OMG. This is going to take foooreverrrr." I asked ---- who was also there if this guy wants to come back at a better time because I almost had it with this ------. The idiot seemed to get the idea and actually calmed down a bit. It was a bigger pain having to reset all my equipment and computer after the carpet dried. Once again, all for nothing because the bugs keep coming back. You'll normally discover them in a trance near the tile by the fridge with their bellies up completely filled with blood. I guess they must've stuffed themselves to a point where mobility is jeopardized. You'll be greeted by small explosions of blood bombs after you squish them on the spot. The most horrific experience is the unrivaled burning itch that nearly seems to last forever. You won't be able to control yourself scratching which leads to something far worse. Infections or permanent scarring that requires laser removal which is what I have. ---- was nice enough to refund my entire deposit but it still doesn't cover all the laser treatments which are in the thousands. He blamed it on the new carpet that was installed and said the bugs must have comed from the warehouse. He even suggested that I did not provide them with enough time to properly conduct a initial inspection of the carpet because I was in a rush to move in. That was rather upsetting because I was never in a rush. I moved in when he handed me the keys and said it was ready. And even if I was in a rush, it still doesn't excuse them to skip out on their duties of a proper spray before installation. Not that any spray at any moment would matter because it was later sprayed 3 times total and still no positive results. The cleaning lady suggested that perhaps the bottom part of the old carpet was not completely removed. That would probably explain why the bugs keep coming because the nest is still there. Another difficult task prior to moving was constantly searching on ways to prevent these bugs from following you as you relocate. I hear they can even hide somewhere inside a microwave or other appliances. I threw out all my bedding and washed my clothing twice. They have to be in the dryer for a at least 30 minutes for the heat to kill them. Afterwards, I put everything I washed in big black garbage bags and left them in the back of my car trunk for 3 days. If anything did survive from the dryer, they won't anymore. I can't say anything negative about the staff though. ---- and everyone were all very polite, friendly, understanding and extrememly attentive. But excellent customer service alone won't save you from this crime and bug infested area. I'm residing in West Hollywood now and my life has completely flipped. Got 2 great jobs instantly and most importantly, BUG FREE! Good Luck!

While the Commodore Regency has few amenities, (no pool, no on-site parking) it is an amazing place to live. It is the best affordable housing I have found thus far. Some of the greatest things about this apartment is the variety of floor plans, interesting architecture of the floor plans, security in the building, and well insulated from neighbors noise. But what makes the apartment the best is the staff. The Manager is an amazing guy and keeps everything in great working order (not to mention he has a great sense of style). All the other staff, from repairmen to the security guards are really cool and super friendly people. The only negatives would be not having on-site parking,and the small sizes of the apartment. My unit is 215 sq. ft and is midsized-small for the building. Also, some minor inconveniences/annoyances are that some of the light switches and plumbing are crooked in my apartment and it takes forever for the shower water to heat up. Note that parking is available in structures of many nearby buildings for about $100/mo and there is usually plenty of street parking.

Overall It's very very nice apartment!!! It's cozy and good-price for students, singles. It's very clean and safe. You will use the card to enter the apartment and use the elevator. The laundry room will open until 1am. It's big and nice. Each floor has trash rooms, it's not dirty at all. They have people clean the apartment every morning too.

This is our very first home in L.A. and it's ok. Management is nice and friendly. It's not the most beautiful place I've seen but it's neither the worst. Good for a start 'cause it's affordable and you don't have to worry about utilities. There's not so much noise so you'll be comfy enough.