Kipling Studio Apartments

Update. I ended up canceling my lease 4 months early on a 12 month lease. My unit had a fairly large closet. Maybe 5 feet wide and 3 or 4 feet deep. For the kitchenette there was a little sink and two electric burners. There was literally no room to prep food or dry dishes. The kitchenette was tiny! If you cook like I do you’ll find it more than frustrating not having enough space. The unit was ridiculously small. My girlfriend and friends never came over because it was so uncomfortably small. Parking was hell! (my girlfriend got 5 parking tickets. Meter maids run the place like the cockroaches ran my unit). The neighbors were loud. You hear everything from the upstairs neighbor! Every foot step, every conversation, I could even tell which TV show they were watching. It drove me crazy! If you plan on checking out the spaces go for the more expensive ones, they are a bit larger and make sure it has two windows! Mine came with only one small window (no window in the bathroom); when I took a shower my entire unit became humid and sticky from the steam of the shower. There are also units that have concrete walls and floors, so I assume you wouldn’t hear much from the other tenants. I had a major, major problem with cockroaches. When I saw them running across my TV, even the door knob for the front door that’s when I decided it was time to leave. The gym was decent. It’s small so only one maybe two people can use it at a time. You can only use the gym with permission from the manager and only when she is in the office. Meaning gym use 9am-​5pm weekdays only! No weekend gym; WTF? Do not be fooled by the pictures that are posted showing the units. The entrance for the apartment is right on busy ass 3^rd street, a major street what always has cars flying down it. Next door is a popular Korean pub. The parking attendants are douche bags over there. They valet park the cars right in front of the apartment complex hogging up all the parking! They leave their stupid valet box right in the middle of the side walk so you are always forced to step off the curb to walk around it. Not to mention drunk people from the pub all gathered right outside smoking, being loud, rude as hell and loitering right in front of the apartment complex. Kipling management never did anything about this problem! I recommend paying a little extra to get something nicer, larger and in a better area. For ten years I have been living all over Los Angeles and this apartment was the biggest disappointment.

I submitted an application thinking this apartment is good for what you’d pay. Rosemary called me while I was working and left a voice mail regarding my application. She basically said if I do not respond by end of the week my application will be canceled. Understandable. I tried to contact her by calling Kipling’s office next day, but she wasn’t there. The day after, she wasn’t there either. Finally I called the office on Friday, she still wasn’t there. I asked a lady who answered my call if Rosemary was the only one who takes care the new applications. The lady (she did not identified herself) responded saying «What do you need» with a real attitude. At that point, I was like Wow. OK. I’m backing off whoever you are. This isn’t the kind of management I want to deal with even if I pass credit check and live there. I feel sorry for tenants at Kipling. I really do.

I’ve been living in Kipling Apartments since May of 2014, and it’s a nice, refurbished space, and the ladies who work in the office are always very helpful, and friendly.
I did have a case of bedbugs, which Rosemary, from the leasing office, was very diligent in moving the extermination process along, and the bedbugs were completely extracted from my apartment after a week.
Because Kipling is a large building in a very metropolitan neighborhood in Los Angleles, problems like bedbugs are common, and I know many people living in similar building structures in similar neighborhoods who’ve had the same issue. I have two different friends who’ve had to move out of Park La Brea because of bedbugs, so I don’t hold Kipling to any higher standard than other apartment complexes of similar quality and structure.
You can sign up to have an exterminator spray your apartment on a bi-​weekly basis, which is a huge perk in living in any LA apartment building, which many other apartment buildings would not otherwise offer, like Kipling does, and I recommend that if you move in, you should take advantage of this perk in order to protect yourself, as well as other tenants, from getting roach or bedbug infestations.
The women who work in the leasing office, Katharine and Rosemary, are lovely, professional, and helpful. They listen and understand to whatever small complaint I’ve had, like a noisy neighbor, or my issue with limited gym access, and have always followed through with a solution.
They have a strict noise policy, and if you have an issue with a noisy neighbor, they are on top of it, and quickly have the noise issue taken care of. As in, if you hear death metal blasting from the apartment below you once, and you let them know that there was death metal blasting from the apartment below you — you won’t hear death metal blasting from the apartment below yours twice.
Also, I’ve seen some negative reviews about Rosemary, and it does not sound like the Rosemary I’ve met. Rosemary has been nothing but kind and helpful to me since I moved in. She’s very amiable and I’ve enjoyed talking to her on many different occasions. I don’t know what issues other tenants have had with her, but I seriously doubt the issues which have occurred were caused because Rosemary is some kind of female misogynist. Give me a break! I’m a woman, and Rosemary has been nothing but warm and friendly towards me.
My complaint, and the reason I give Kipling ⁴⁄₅ stars is:
One of the main reasons I was attracted to this building was they have a gym on the first floor. It was just an old treadmill that had definitely seen better days, and a weight machine, but it saved me a trip all the way to the gym or from having to run outside at night.
They finally got rid of the treadmill, and got an elliptical machine and stationary bike. But now they put in new rules so that tenants have very limited access to using the gym. You have to check out the cords to the machines in order to use them, and leave your ID with the office manager.
This wouldn’t be that bad, but what’s worse is the hours the gym is available to use are terrible. The gym is closed on the weekends. And only open from 9 – 6 on weekdays. Plus, sometimes the office managers work off site so you can’t even use it during the weekday.
I considered the gym, not just a perk for living at Kipling, but an amenity that I take part in paying for like everyone else. So when I found out about the new rules for using the gym, I was frustrated.
Basically if you work during the day, like most people, you’ll never be able to use the gym. And if you work out in the early morning or at night, or on the weekends, like I do. Forget it.
I wish the upper management would start thinking about their tenants, the people that actually live here, who are not getting what they signed up for because management doesn’t want to put in the money that all gyms require for maintenance.

Nice location, quiet building, but a big F on customer service. Was really interested in this place a year ago, and was told such-​and-​such until would be available at a particular price, and «we’ll let you know when it opens up.» Never heard back from them. Strike One!
A year later same exact thing, Strike Two! And Strike Three is they’re horrible at returning calls, emails, etc.
So if you’re looking here, Miss Property Manager won’t check in with you if something pops up or if the unit is available. The first person who hands in an application will get the unit. Now, that’s a typical apartment rental tactic, but then don’t make promises. Solid customer service follows through with what they say.
Sorry, you lost a customer.

beautiful lobby!

Forget about what you heard about The Kipling from before! A new management company took it over and they are renovating the building. I have been here almost two months and I am having a fabulous time! I think it’s a good deal! I love the view from my apartment! All my friends and family think I live in a life sized dollhouse! Anthony Bourdain did a special about Koreatown Los Angeles and it definitely is an up and coming neighborhood! Gangnam style is all I gots to say! Peace out