Tenant Reviews for 700 W 9TH ST

At Alina, we thoroughly appreciate the quality of residents and staff in our building. The leasing staff, security, and maintenance people greet you warmingly and are attentive to your needs. The residents at Alina are very respectful and well-off people, many of whom we are great friends with. We've even started businesses with a few of the residents. Alina is also a very dog-friendly building with the largest dog park in DTLA (to my knowledge). We've made most of our friends in DTLA from the Alina dog park. The parking is private, clean, and very convenient, especially if you have an EV with a dedicated spot. The parking structure is 100% residents only. Many of the other DTLA buildings give priority to non-residents, making it take forever to get in / out of your spot. Alina is the opposite, so if you care about your time, you're going to love this setup. The amenities are super great, but basic in the total offering. We don't care much for having every single amenity because there are options nearby that encourage you to engage with local businesses. The rooftop is my favorite, with a beautiful panoramic view of Los Angeles. It's hard to really give any downsides to Alina. If you're moving to DTLA, you're probably aware that certain street conditions may not be ideal, especially for raising a family. But if you're a working professional, a business owner, or a student, you're going to love living the quality and convenience of Alina. The leasing office team, Tim, JP, and Diana will take excellent care of your needs. I hope you have a wonderful time here.

This is place is terrible and far from luxury. The property manager Diana is so rude and doesn’t care about the safety of and comfortability of the residents. Cheap appliances. My closet doors fell off multiple times. My bedroom door even came off completely and the lock didn’t work. My hot water never got hot in the tub. When I requested it to be fixed they said that it’s the hottest it can go. The walls are so thin and cheap. I put a wire cover strip on for my tv and all of the paint ripped off. My electric blinds would always get stuck or fall off. Diana suspected I was subletting my unit so one day I had requested maintenance to come fix my blinds and he was secretly taking photos of my unit not knowing I was watching. Super invasion of privacy. I suggest you be present when maintenance comes. My cheap washer had leaked multiple times all over the floor. the dryer would always cut off after being turned on for no more than 10 minutes. I was given a new one and it didn’t solve the problem. I assume the appliances came from AliExpress or WISH.. I had an issue with being stalked by a security guard whom multiple people have complained about and nothing was ever done. He would literally watch my every move on the cameras around the building to the point where I was very scared and uncomfortable. Everytime I would get in the elevator it would stop at the lobby and he would always be there to initiate a conversation. He’d always pop up in the parking structure as soon as I’d get home. He has even showed up to my unit. Also beware if you have a unit that is in the hallway as soon as you exit the elevators(units ending in 13) the cameras can partially see in your unit. I have been to almost every apartment building in downtown and alina is the only building with a camera in that area, facing the units at that. I was giving the management a chance to rectify the situation I had with the security guard, and Diana was trying to lie for him when I was already being nice about the situation. He didn’t receive any consequences until I complained on why nothing was done. Again she does not care about the safety of her residents. Once my kid and I were walking thru the lobby and she was in the middle of a conversation and intervened to literally run in her office and grab a mask and literally ran and chased me in my kid thru the building and bowed down and gave me a mask. I than asked her so you guys are requiring all the residents to wear a mask, she said yes because there were cases of covid in the building so we are requiring it for residents, & while she did all that when she approached me and my kid all up in our face she didn’t have a mask on... so staff is immune to the virus correct? Every encounter I’ve had with her was very uncomfortable. As I exited the elevator once my unit was the one in the hallway and Diana was behind me and peaked her head out of the elevator and was trying so hard to see inside of my unit not knowing someone was in there when I opened the door and had seen her doing it. Literally making me so uncomfortable everytime I saw her. My rent for the unit I had is now listed at $4645( completely outrageous for a 560 sq foot unit that was cheaply put together) was formally $2740+$150 parking when I was leasing it. I had incentives I used to break down the rent so it went to around $2436+$150 parking would come up to $2586 at one point. All of a sudden months later I started getting billed for over $2900+ monthly... residents were sent an email saying there was an issue for billing water and electricity and they were back dating the charges... so no one notices for 4+ months that over 200+ units are not being charged for electricity? Upon moving out I received my statement that I owed $1065 after my $1000 security deposit was already being wrongly kept, basically saying I owed $2065 total... It said I owed for a broken blind that was $1200. I made John Paul aware that I wasn’t the one who broke the shade. I literally witnessed maintenance rip the shade after it had gotten stuck... he kept saying maintenance said they didn’t do it and that his maintenance men wouldn’t lie. Well what do I have to lie for? He than says he will discuss with management about the info I provided showing the blinds had been ripped by maintenance and would get back to me in a few days. 3 weeks go by I don’t hear a peep so I called him back and here we are going back and forth for over 15 minutes on how that was implemented by Diana and they had someone come out and inspect the blinds and they confirmed a knife ripped thru it. Now why would someone cut thru the blinds... with a knife.. what sense does that make? I was literally watching as maintenance accidentally ripped it trying to fix it. Than he comes to say the blinds are actually $3000 but as a courtesy they are only charging me $1200.... If it indeed was actually ripped by me and “my knife”.....why am I not being charged full price.. I than started asking for receipts showing the price of the $3,000 shades and was told by Jp he’d get back to me.. a few days later I receive an email saying as a one time courtesy they have removed the charges from the blinds... one time courtesy?? Yeah okay I have already moved from this wack building no courtesy was needed because I wasn’t paying for it anyway.... as a property manager myself, I know a lot of protocols Diana practices are not formal. After an 18 month lease with cost equating to around $50,000 in rent etc, it was not worth a penny. If you would like to live comfortably without being stalked, harassed, or discriminated upon, I suggest you take your hard earned money and look for another building in downtown.

Bad building structure. Since Management is useless at dealing with bass and noise issues, they should have at least invested in high quality insulation. Luxury appliances mean zero if you live with someone playing basketball against your wall. Very stupid divider between balconies also guarantees that if your neighbors are loud, you will hear them in your living room. Why not to invest in better sound proofing and more private dividers? I know some level of necessary noise can be expected when you live in an apartment, but I've lived in at least 6 or 7 apartments in the past 10 years and I've never heard of anything this bad. The walls are thick enough that if people are sensible, they can still enjoy loud music/TV without disturbing others, but there are people who want to have a club like music experience, and make multiple units miserable. I complained to the office multiple times and they made multiple phone calls, sent security up, and spoke to them in person. However there are re-occurring disturbances and there's not much Management has been able to do apart from starting to shift blame, which is outrageous for the prices they charge.

There is this security guard who would follow you around the building when he sees you on camera. It is extremely creepy and he would approach you and talk to you in a very condescending way - basically making you feel like you are at a prison when you are paying luxury apartment prices. He one time pulled out a camera and tried to take a photo of me. I had complained to management several times and I have heard from other residents of the same issue. Unfortunately, the management is ineffective in teaching its employees manners and boundaries.

My move in to Alina was probably one of the most exciting and seamless process I've ever had thanks to Miguel. However, Deja hasnt been the nicest person to approach when requesting any work orders or asked any questions. She's short, rude, and chuckles at your requests. Two of my friends toured with her and she rushed through the tour and they never received follow up pricing or floor plans. If you want to tour and receive excellent customer service ask for Miguel or LaQuitta and they will not disappoint.

Smokers rejoice! This is the apartment unit that you have been searching for this whole time. Tired of getting complaints from your landlord? Look no further because Alina won't take necessary steps to stop you from smoking unless they have evidence... evidence such as pictures of you smoking by your window, let's say. Not a smoker? Welcome to what might be your future. So here I am. The nonsmoker. Remember the evidence that you need? Well, as I'm typing, I'm also sitting and debating if I should stand outside the apartment just to be able to capture a photo of this tenant. Because until I can "prove" myself, I am just the crazy tenant complaining about the constant magical smoke. Okay, here's the deal. I moved in the beginning of June, complained verbally mid-June, emailed late June, emailed again to follow up early July with one of the topics of tenants smoking. What did I get? No response. To be fair, the leasing agent responded eventually about all the other things I inquired about. But never addressed my smoking complaint. Twice. From July into early October, I have called the Front Desk/ Concierge multiple times. I've told the leasing agents in person. I actually brought up the front desk guy with me to my hallway to prove the smoke. He admitted to the smoke smell but wasn't able to pinpoint where it was coming from. After a series of complaints, I finally have their attention. My biggest frustration is the lack of acknowledgment that they, indeed, did not do all the steps that they needed to do since June. They are taking steps in October but telling me that it's reallllly hard to accuse a tenant bc of all these legal ramifications. A tenant on the same floor complained about the smoke as well. The leasing agent told me that their smoke smell came from a different unit, not the same one as mine. This is where it gets confusing. 1) They are telling me that they don't know which apartment the smoke is coming from so I need proof. 2) They were able to pinpoint where the smoke was coming from for my neighbor… on the same floor… Do you see my confusion? Options that they have provided me as a tenant? I can transfer to another unit but pay the difference (obviously, higher in rent now for a place w/ similar sqft) or I can move out without having to pay the early termination fee. As if anyone would happily want to move out of their apartment because, yay, I no longer have to worry about the fee. Just repack allllll my belongings, spend $$$$ and time on moving… baffles me on why I have to be the one going through all this inconvenience when I'm the tenant adhering to the 45-page lease contract. I know no apartment is perfect. Life isn't perfect. Tenants can cause problems. I'm not trying to cause a scene with some one-time complaint. It's an ongoing issue that is clearly important enough that it needs a page by itself in the lease agreement titled "Smoke-free Addendum". I'm still waiting on exact actions that Alina has done since June to follow their steps in the contract. Will update this review once I hear back. Tenants will complain about issues but this is why we choose to pay the rent that we pay at "luxury apartments". For the convenience, comfort, safety, and community. When tenants complain, at least let them know that the problem has been heard, set expectations around the proper timeline and the steps that will be taken to remedy the siltation. Also, If you're facing Watermarke Tower, make sure you're aware of the beaming light that will shoot out from their parking lot at night. The shades aren't opaque enough (you won't need a nightlight though if that's your thing). It will be noisy too. I mean given the location, I guess that's something that you can expect. Internally, you will hear all hallway conversations and noise coming through walls. I don't hear anything from top/bottom neighbors, although I'm not sure if this is due to vacancy. Not to totally bash the property. It has potential. It's a very clean apartment and that's what I love most. Big props to the janitorial staff for making the apartment look always brand new. Location is convenient and there can be a total upside to living here. A part of me is still hopeful that things can turn around. Let's see. To be continued.

Well maintained building, beautiful rooftop, amazing views, friendly staffs, and maintenance team. All the people working here are professional and friendly. Best place to live in DTLA! Don't pay attention to negative reviews, the team does their best to make sure the building is maintained and patrolled. There are tenants that are unaware and disrespectful, but unfortunately you can't control everyone and their behaviors.This building is extremely diverse and pet friendly. Best building I lived so far.

A brand new building in the heart of DTLA, leasing, front desk concierge, maintenance and the entire staff is incredible, I love to call Alina Home, amazing views and roof top is stunning, beautiful pool and plenty options of great amenities where you can have time to relax or have fun, I highly recommend this building.

Easy application process and the leasing agents are good at what they do. The maintenance team is always on top of the building. Moved in just in time for summer when the new pool furniture arrived. Excited for my new stay here at Alina!