Park La Brea Apartments — Attraction in Los Angeles

Warning to all thinking about moving here: DON'T. They will steal your money.

Found out a couple months ago that the administration was trying to overcharge me for my parking spot. When I brought it up, they discovered they'd lost the records of my move in and were going with those of the guy who had lived in my apt before me - a guy I'd never even met. When I said how this was ludicrous, the admin started ignoring me. The guy who said he'd correct Park La Brea's system error so I'd stop being overcharged actually messed up their records AGAIN. That guy stopped responding to me soon afterwards as he had gotten promoted. Of course.

So I started trying to communicate with the parking manager to get the $310 Park La Brea had stolen from me back. She didn't email back, so I tried calling. When that didn't work, I went to the office. She had me wait 2 hours, then left without telling anyone. Even the receptionist was appalled by her behavior. When I finally was able to come back to see her (she still was ignoring my emails), she lied to my face and said it was the duty of the accounting department to pay the overcharged money back. So I went to that department. They were too busy to see me. So I called later. This new lady was nice enough to answer, but told me very condescendingly that I was being too dense to accept that park la brea had decided that park la brea was keeping my money. And that that was park la brea's final decision. I emailed the parking manager as to why she sent me to this new equally nice lady. She didn't respond.

So to recap, Park La Brea lost the records of my parking assignment which they gave me (an honest employee told us that they lost a lot of records in a server switch), and therefore deemed they could keep the $310 they stole.

But folks, that's not all!

Here are other reasons PLB is the worst:

Cockroaches. They're everywhere, every month the basement (where the [constantly breaking] laundry machines are) is shut down to try to clear them out. This doesn't work, because as far as I know, they're in every tower and most of the townhouses. My friend on the 12th floor of another tower had them so bad she had to move out. And if you think you're clean, so it won't be a problem, have fun with your possible messy neighbors! The turnover rate here is insane, so the chance you'll have someone who leaves even a little bit of food out is high

Mold. When you move in, you have to sign a waiver that you can't sue them if it turns out you have toxic mold in your apt... which it will probably turn out you do in your bathroom! (They have no windows or fans.)

Broken elevators. If you do move in, I hope you like stairs that smell of piss and smoke (homeless people like to sleep at the bottom) because the elevators break down ALL THE TIME. The towers only have 2, but they're ANCIENT. This means towers have been known to be without any elevators (there are 13 floors) for weeks at a time, leaving elderly and disabled people stranded. PLB refuses to renovate them. And whenever someone moves in or out, they'll lock down an elevator. Leaving one for hundreds of people quite regularly. It's also really alarming to be in one of the elevators as it breaks down, as they'll lurch.

Smoke. There are a LOT of smokers in this community, and while it's in the contract (and the LAW) that you can't smoke inside near open windows, PLB only respects the contract when it benefits THEM. Not you, you peasant. And when your neighbor smokes, it's like it's coming from inside your own house, so I hope you like the smell of cancer in the morning! I've been reporting my downstairs neighbor who chainsmokes out of his window and straight into mine for 3 years (they asked me to take pictures, I must have taken over 50 by now) and yet they have still done NOTHING. Even if you close your windows, it will seep in thru the walls or vents. So your unairconditioned rooms can be either boiling hot or smokey in the summer!

Also: noise carries, suicides yearly, security is a joke, packages get stolen, ubers refuse to come...

Richard F. has been the only helpful professional here and to be quite frank, it's clear that whoever trained him probably didn't do the best job, BUT I'm sure it's a trickle down sort of system. He has done his best to manage all issues that arise. Kastle App security doors - after a horrific incident that occurred in one of the towers that tragically resulted in the death of a maintenance worker, Sr. Mejia, defending a resident from harm, Park La Brea (PLB) slowly installed electronic security measures at all main Tower entrances. My tower was slated for May 2023, the doors and key fob scanners were installed but the doors did not operate until November 2023 after numerous calls and emails sent to the admin offices informing them that the doors were not working. None of them were aware of this. Security - since Prime took over, you'll notice that all security personnel now patrol the area on fancy bikes and Tesla like electric vehicles. With all this travel power, you'd think that patrol would be inspecting all doors on the ground floors, they are not. If you really need assistance with unauthorized vehicles though, be sure to contact "Morales." What's his first name you ask? Don't. He'll let you know that if you say Morales, everyone will know who you're talking about. If confused, he's the Morales with terrible customer service skills. Since Kastle has been installed, the main lobby doors have needed to be replaced twice before the year completed. My tower is right off a main street so you would think security would be exceptionally vigilant here, it is not. VALET TRASH - to combat the drastic rodent and roach problem in their towers, PLB implemented a valet trash system that operates Mon-Sat. These hard workers come to your door to remove trash/recycling. These fine workers rely on our ELEVATORS to complete their task. Is there a designated elevator you ask? There's not even been two working elevators in my tower for, and I am being literal here, ONE MONTH. So, if trash valet causes a mess in the one working elevator, you have to wait for the next day for it to be cleaned. I called and informed Security of this a couple times and they assure me someone is coming to clean it but no one ever does. NO WORKING ELEVATORS - This is a BIG issue in ALL of the TOWERS. Resulting in very angry residents. There are 13 floors in each tower and each floor holds 6 units. The elevators CONSTANTLY break, but PLB is not aware of this unless a resident calls in. I know, you'd think Patrol would actually...patrol. My tower in particular has been without two working elevators since April 10th. This Thursday marks one month without an elevator. Park La Brea and Prime have the means to replace these elevators, but will not do it. They do however encourage you to use the stairwells. Oh and if anyone is moving in/out they'll need that one working elevator for at least 4 hours in the day. PACKAGE LOCKERS by Parcel - Installed but don't work. I've had conversations with DHL, FedEx and our Postman all who informed me that the lockers are not set up and when they approached PLB, they were told to inform Parcel directly...I've also set up an account but it doesn't work and I am still waiting on a response from PLB. Expect to have your packages stolen, delayed, or left OUTSIDE your actual tower door. Smoking and Stairwells - STAIRWELLS HAVE NO CAMERAS and even though PLB has deemed their community as "Smoke Free" the more creative tenants are using the stairwells to maintain their habit.

I've reached out to all "Experience/Customer Service managers" Alice George (has never responded), Sylvie Brousseau and Mike Lobos. All three apologize profusely, but offer no solution. Sylvie did get "creative" and offered to move me to a different unit AT MARKET VALUE (LOL). When I reached out to an Asset Manager at Prime, Sara Hartley her only response was she's not involved in the matter. So who is, Sara?

TL;DR - if you enjoy headaches and consistent living...

Lived there for a tad over 3 years. I feel like people get really extreme views on what it's like to be here, for good or for bad.

Overall, it's not a bad place to call home. It's central to pretty much everything in LA, which is a great boon. It's got beautiful grounds, a wonderful cafe (and when I say wonderful, I mean I'm thinking about parking in PLB's leasing office parking and walking to the cafe to buy a sandwich even after moving out), the office staff is friendly, and the maintenance staff is attentive (if not a bit disjointed because of their size).

Having gated and (if you're willing to pay for it) reserved parking in this part of town is a godsend. It made hosting so much easier.

I also love the floor plans. I lived in the 1BR tower, but the garden apartments are good as well. The floor space and cabinetry is well thought out - I didn't have to give second thoughts to where things would go. The floor plans also give plenty of space.

Tower residences, I will warn you: the shape of the building picks up noise on the ground floor (as in I could perfectly hear conversations in the parking lot from the 7th floor). This can especially be a problem when the trash guys come to pick up the dumpsters. I got used to it fairly quick, but if you're sensitive to noise, the towers may not be for you.

Living space and grounds wise, it's a good place to call home. Even if you don't go to every theater or park movie showing, or take advantage of the community clubs and activities, it's still nice to drive to your apartment and feel like suddenly the "grind" of LA is behind you. It's also nice that you can get your guests parking passes (and, if you're expecting them to visit often, you can get 14 day passes.

I SAY AGAIN: YOU CAN GET LONG-TERM PASSES! I only emphasize this because I didn't know until I was moving out ,and it'd have been nice for a couple events I hosted in my place.

BUT, and this is a big but:

If you live in Park La Brea, I can guarantee you're paying too much for your place. It's a great location, the apartments are roomy, and the grounds are wonderful, but at the end of the day, it's still hard to justify the price. I personally moved to an apartment that's less than $1900/mo, and I get so much more for it.

If that wasn't enough, they nickle and dime you for EVERYTHING:

Want to use the gym? That's a monthly fee. Want to use the pool? That's attached to the gym fee. Want a dedicated parking space? That's at least $35/mo. Want one in a covered garage? It's even more. -IF YOU EVEN WANT SCREENS ON YOUR WINDOWS? You have to buy them.

Which leads me to the summary/TL;DR of this review:

Despite all of its flaws, Park La Brea is a great place. It's sheltered, it has great amenities (assuming you're willing to pay the extra fees for them), the floor plans are well laid out, and parking is a lot better than you'll find for most places in the city. I did enjoy my time here.

But you will pay way too much for it, and the fact that the apartments are overpriced makes their nickle-and-diming even more offensive. At their current to-rent rates, I couldn't recommend it to anyone. At market-standard rates, PLB would be a bargain.

Overall, it's a good place. Overpriced, certainly, but good. If you just have to be in the center of everything, this is your next home. If you're okay with commuting a little, look anywhere else - you'll find more bang for your buck anywhere except Beverly Hills.

Edit: I feel sad for the people who had huge problems with the administration (which, apparently I lucked out on or something ,since they were great) and roaches (which, admittedly, I did have a problem with one-and-a-half times - I.E. had to get people in once, put down repellent gel once- but it was fixed...