Arrive Wakaba — Local services in Los Angeles

RUN AWAY FROM THIS PLACE! AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE! No, I'm not joking at all. I take leaving reviews very seriously as I want to help others make an informed decision. I look at reviews a lot myself and I always appreciate a good honest review no matter how bad it may be.

I'm really a nice guy people tell me, but a person can only take so much. I can tell you this now... If I'm leaving a negative review it's because things have gotten REALLY bad! I have let so many things go without saying a word, but at some point I felt the need to speak-up. I don't want these people walking on me any longer.

It's funny to me how I see positive reviews on Yelp for this place from people who haven't even moved in here yet. They had a good leasing experience. Well, that's great, but those people who left those reviews haven't fully experienced this place yet. Do not let the "new" in this property fool you. Things and people can be beautiful on the inside and totally broken inside. That's the case with Wakaba LA. This place is broken and a mess (especially considering what you're paying to live here).

We have lived here for about 8 months and the fire alarm is always going off. I noticed another review that mentioned the fire alarms too. So, it's not just me complaining about this as you can see. It's about noon time here at the apartments and the fire alarm has been going off all morning. After calling the office I learned from the staff that the alarm will be going off all day today and half of the day tomorrow. I feel bad for anybody who tries to sleep during the day and works nights. Also, poor animals if they are left alone scared listening to these extremely loud fire alarm noises! The fire alarm goes off randomly in the middle of the night and during the day. The office doesn't even bother to send an email to apologize or explain what happened. A couple of weeks ago in the middle of the night the alarm went off because a homeless man pulled the alarm on the second floor. Which leads me to the next issue,

How on earth are the homeless getting onto the second floor when this is supposed to be a secure building? Well, I'm happy to let you know that if you are homeless and you need a place to sleep... Wakaba LA is the place for you! Why? Because there is only one SECURE elevator. The main elevator requires a key fob to get up and down to floors, but the other two elevators do NOT require any fob at all. Anybody can just slip in the door behind another person and get to any floor using these elevators. Let's assume someone doesn't slip into the door behind someone, but maybe they just walk into the parking garage and go to the elevator there. GUESS WHAT? Not secured! From the parking garage there are two elevators that will allow anybody to get to any floor within the community! Incredible! They spend all this money to wow potential tenants with their amenities, but at the end of the day you can be sitting right next to a homeless guy sleeping next to the common area fireplaces.

I'm really sorry I have to leave this review because I do wish things went better here, but the truth is what it is. I read another review about this place not having trash cans. That is very true too. They could easily put trash cans on the property, but they don't. Not sure why, but for that reason people leave trash sitting around. There is one trash can in the mail room, but because there aren't any trash cans elsewhere tenants take it upon themselves to throw anything and everything into that one trash can. I've see it overflowing with those bags of dog poop on multiple occasions....

I have been living at Wakaba LA since April and I DO NOT recommend this apartment to anyone. There have been multiple security issues with this building that management has blown off and given cold responses to.

Over a month ago, I was chased out of the lobby by a homeless man at 7:30am. The elevator doors opened, he was standing there, and started to harass me. I was polite and continued on my way outside. He continued harassing my and when I looked back he was running after me. I luckily was not harmed, but could have been seriously hurt. When the situation was brought up to management they stated that "they could not guarantee my safety" and "We do not offer security on the property. The Courtesy Patrol who is here overnight is solely here to address items such as noise complaints and similar items." I expect to feel safe in my apartment and management can not provide me with any reassurance.

More security issues: The fire alarm was pulled at 3am on a residential floor by a homeless person. The doors, mailroom and exterior, don't fully shut. Leaving the building accessible to the public. Homeless people use the intercom system to call random people and then cover up the camera hoping to get in. I sent a video to management of this situation, not sure if it ever got shared to corporate. The design of the building was poorly done. There are too many entrances and not enough security. I have had multiple people try to follow me into the elevators and entrances who do not live here. They have gotten aggressive when I tell them I will not give them access. Anyone can hop on the main elevators and wait until someone calls the elevator on the residential levels without having a key fob. Residents moving in/out leave the alley way gate and stairwell doors open and unattended leaving the building accessible to anyone. It was brought up to management. Four hours later it was still accessible to the public. Homeless people get access to the roof and are found sleeping up there. I am consistently hearing someone stomping on the roof above me. When brought up to management they kept saying it was the courtesy patrol. This has been happening for 3+ months now. Deanna recently let it slip during a meeting with her that homeless people were found up there. And the security guard now walks with a 9-iron when patrolling the building. He has obviously run into some encounters. The fire alarm was set off at 3am, again. This has become a regular thing. The fire department came and stated on their way out that they found a man on the roof. The fire department left him up there and 30 minutes later I was awoken to two uniformed police officers on the roof shining lights into window. Management said it was a new procedure they were doing with LAPD and the courtesy patrol. Seems a little off to me. LAPD has better things to do than doing a round with the courtesy patrol.

Yes, the building is new, modern, and beautiful. But, the security is a HUGE concern. Sares-Regis did hire a new security company, but they only patrol the exterior of the building. Management DID NOT even contact residents with the new security company and after hours emergency contact number.

Management and property ownership needs to step up. It is very unprofessional and unacceptable the way I have been treated by Sares-Regis. I am hoping this review makes it to the property owners as I believe my concerns have not been communicated...

Wakaba is a plight on this neighborhood. I've been a resident of this community before they were built. SRG Residential came in with their corporate dollars and cant afford a security guard? They pay for a security "service" that has one location based out of Northern California (Onview Security in Fremont)-not very safe if there's an emergency. Ive seen vagrants sleeping in boxes right in front of their front entrance and their "security" calling the phone system to try to disturb them-the phone rang all night and they still didnt leave! If they had the common courtesy to respect the neighborhood rather than saving a few bucks on having NO SECURITY GUARD ON SITE, they could deal with the issue at hand-not depending on community disrupting tactics to solve a problem half a state away!

Wakaba has an intolerable motion detected warning that wafts in the air at ALL hours of the night/morning. Anytime anyone enters the public garage the alert is triggered. It has forced my family to have to shut our windows even during the day, and we still hear it when our windows are closed! Imagine having to listen to an annoying voice every few minutes just so Wakaba can create a false sense of security. They have made my peaceful sanctuary into a military zone. I have gone to the management and complained but the staff gave me an extremely snooty attitude and made me feel like - oh well thats YOUR problem not mine. They were rude.

If you value safety and security it would be wise not to live here.

This is an addendum post pandemic

It’s been two years since my initial review As far as contacting me-I used multiple names on Yelp since Lily J was deleting my post every time I tried to write about the situation. The only reason SARES REGIS is trying to “discredit” my review is because Google reviews are permanent.

Wakaba has added a new screaming loud security alert stating “WARNING! WARNING! THE AUTHORITIES HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED, LEAVE THE PREMISES IMMEDIATELY-WARNING”. This is a terrible solution to not having security on site. I still see /hear people walking around triggering this horrible alert at all hours of the night. As far as discussing how to eliminate this excruciating annoyance, It would only land on deaf ears that don’t care about the residents in the apartments surrounding Wakaba. If Wakaba actually cared about the noise level, would corporate care? Of course not! They wouldn’t have installed a loud annoying alert to begin with.

I don’t live in your building but I live across the street as a neighbor. If there was a loud, annoying alert blaring at all hours of the night in the suburbs-could that neighbor argue that since I don’t live in their house - it justifies why I don’t have a say in the matter? Annoyingly pompous corporate group think- dontcha think Lily J? There is no need for a discussion since SARES REGIS privileged representatives don’t live at Wakaba neither- they live in the suburbs and are able to have peaceful sleep without being woken up by an annoying alarm!

Respect the neighbors and our community - stop being CHEAP and PETTY - pay for proper LIVE security and SHUT IT OFF!

The SPITEFUL SARES REGIS corporation now has added a second alarm in the same location and has turned up the volume! Be forewarned of dealing w malicious & rude employees that have absolutely no grasp of what it means to be a...