Lofts At the Security Building

Do not live here! Worst experience of my life. Cockroaches, noisy homeless people constantly shouting throughout the night and a terrible leasing office. Even though its the heart of downtown the area is disgusting and does not feel like ‘home’. Whatever you do, do not go through KANIKA if you are trying to get approved for an apartment. She is a joke and does not do her job. DONT MOVE HERE. !

Been here for almost a month now and everything has been great so far!
When getting ready for moving in, I worked with Kallyn mostly. It was hard to get email responses from her about specifics about the apartment or even a time to tour the apartment before we moved in, but as soon as we showed up on moving day and met Kanika, she was tremendously helpful, especially since we had never lived in a city before.
Our apartment (3^rd floor interior view) has original white & gray marble flooring, granite countertops, and nice cabinets that were not stained or anything. It was all renovated in 2006, but they are all getting revamped right now and ours is one of the last ones, but is still nice.
You have a chance to upgrade to a bigger place at 6 months, which is great if you end up wanting more space but don’t want to wait a year to get a bigger unit.
We have noticed that it gets a bit warm throughout the day, but a nice big fan eases that since we don’t feel like turning the air on.
If you’re looking to live here, I’d recommend the Joe’s Auto Parks parking structure behind the building on 6^th & Main — you can access the back entrance to the Lofts & it’s $ 180 a month and you have to pay at the front desk of the structure.
Overall, it’s walking distance to literally everything in DTLA, the homeless population is not as scary as people make them seem (at all!!!), we haven’t noticed any street noise except for sirens every now & then, and there are a million and one great places to eat around you.

The building is beautiful and the gym is clean. However, after a VERY difficult time communicating with office staff, I decided to rent elsewhere.
After applying my application was flagged and I was encouraged to lie about my monthly income in order to meet the requirement of 3x the monthly rent; a fact which was not mentioned when I viewed the building.
Watch out for the online qualification that automatically charges you the $ 300 deposit whether or not you’re approved. It charges you based on application time and not approval time. You only have 72 hours before they keep it and I lost my $ 300 as a result.
Calling the office is a nightmare. I called multiple times to decline the apartment and no one answered or phoned back. Two days later they emailed me to tell me they needed my paperwork. I left two voicemails in one week and received no return calls. I finally had to go down to their office and waste two hours of my afternoon waiting for them to clarify and continue to refuse my refund.
I hope other applicants learn from my experience. Overall the customer service is a disaster.

I just moved out a few months ago after staying there for about a year and a half. And I already miss it. The building used to be a bank and still retains some of it’s original charm. There are many great things about this building that I want to mention, but I feel like I should start with the management.
I primarily interacted with Kanika who was always very professional and helpful. All of the security guards are pretty friendly and were present nearly 100% of the time. A huge advantage for an apartment in downtown with it’s unwholesome denizens. The security also accepts packages for you and stores them safely in a locked room. Also, service requests and repairs were always completed promptly within a day or two. Overall, it seems like the people working there really care about the residents.
Onto the apartments themselves: the windows are very old and do a poor job of keeping out smells, sounds, and the heat/​cold. In fact, I lived in two different units during my time there. My first unit (414) had a mediocre layout but the best thing was the brand new hardwood floor. It was above the alley next to the Rosslyn during the remodel and workers were often running generators in the alley outside my windows causing fumes to leak in, suffocating me and my dogs. People also would smoke weed and cigarettes in the alley and the smoke would also seep in. I ended up replacing the weather stripping around my windows myself, and then sealed off the bathroom vent (another issue I will address later). These repairs helped but ultimately I had to move to another unit. The move was pretty painless, although due to a miscommunication I ended up signing a whole new lease instead of just for the remainder of my original lease. My next unit (1003) was much nicer although it had it’s own quirks. The windows were the same old style, but being on the 10^th floor overlooking Spring St. was fantastic. The view was great and I was high enough to not ever smell any more cigarettes or diesel fumes. This time, however I was treated to the raucous crowds of drunks that exuded from the Down n’ Out every night around 2am. I would routinely lean out the window to watch the chaos unfold on the street below. Overall the noise wasn’t too bothersome, it is downtown afterall. The layout of 1003 was more open and it even had a small island-​like cabinet. The floors were also hardwood but had taken a beating from the previous resident. In both units, all of the fixtures and appliances were reliable. The microwave, oven, refrigerator and garbage disposal were fine. In the bathroom, the shower and sink worked fine as well, never any plumbing issues to speak of except that the toilet whined very audibly as it was refilling. The bathroom vents are the type that are always on. The fan is somewhere on the roof so you get the air moving without hearing a noisy fan, which is nice, but there is no way to turn it off. This constant negative pressure sucks in air from the windows and hallway which will affect your heating/​cooling bill unless you seal it up. I used a plastic bag. In both units, the high ceilings were quite nice and gave the impression of extra space, and class!
The common areas in the building are also nice and well-​maintained. The beautiful marble hallways are cleaned regularly although they do come off as somewhat bare and clinical. The exercise room is spacious and has all the regular equipment. I never took advantage of the billiards table or conference room, but they looked nice. The lobby may look a little tacky but it is also very clean and a good spot to hang out while waiting for friends or potential craigslist buyers. The community coffee machine is great! The elevators are really old school and neat looking but are pretty fast and reliable. I never needed to take the stairs. One complaint is that the buzzer at the front door only worked for older residents with land-​lines (I think). Either way, it didn’t work for me.
One last thing I should mention, there is no parking included. The structure behind the building through the alley is the most convenient place to hibernate your car, but it’s going to run you $ 175 per month (2014 prices). There are other structures available for cheaper nearby but you will have to hike a couple blocks.
I really enjoyed my time in this building and occasionally wish I were still on that side of town. You get all sorts of characters hanging around 5^th street as it is a straight shot between Skid Row and the Pershing Square Metro Station. King Eddy’s is a cool dive bar, Crane’s is only a few blocks away and little Tokyo is close enough to walk.
Overall I would recommend this building for anyone looking to live downtown.

I wouldn’t give this place as little as 2 stars. BUT! giving it 3 stars feels like overlooking the fact that there is a really unsettling instability that one has living here. my girlfriend & I moved in here 2 years ago. we absolutely love our living space! the building itself has lots of great amenities & is, of course, located in as prime of a location as we could ever hope for. again, we both love it. so what’s this «unsettling instability» you mentioned all bout, then? – you might be asking. THERE’S NO RENT CONTROL. without rent control, after your lease is up, they hike the rent up to whatever they please. they call the new rent rate «market rate.» I’ll cut all the details & just say that you can count on it being higher than you’d like it to be. also count on some extra expenses for things like the funky company they use to collect for utilities. they seem shady & over-​priced to me. there’s renter’s insurance, which is mandatory to live here (or there… we’re moving out now – our place is full of boxes). PARKING – very expensive. that’s no reflection on the building, it’s just the reality of downtown living. I’m just really bothered by the destruction of what would otherwise be a nice, tight-​knit community by the owner’s concern for nothing but the bottom line… mo’ money.
as some other reviewers wrote, though, the building is great. it’s got great amenities & is very well-​maintained. the staff/​management team are all warm & friendly. the security/​concierge team – especially those at night… Ann! Joel!! – have become like family to us over these past 2 years. all of that stuff – along with the location – make this a great place to live. just don’t be surprised when your heart is broken after a year passes & you can no longer swing the rent they’re demanding.

We moved in a little over a month ago. This building is the biggest bang for your buck in the downtown Los Angeles area. If you’re familiar with city living you’ll do just fine here. The building itself is very well kept. They offer 24hr security, a gorgeous grand lobby, daily cleaning staff, complimentary Starbucks coffee, 5 star gym, business center, and a media/​game room. Our actual apartment was immaculate at move-​in. Cabinetry and appliances are extremely cheap/​out-​dated on the lower floors, but again, best quality for the price. Our apartment is over 1,000 square feet and is reasonably priced for downtown living. Their online tenant portal used to pay rent and request maintenance is extremely user friendly. The leasing staff is okay. Kanika is very helpful and extremely responsive, Evonnie on the other hand doesn’t seem too engaged or express any sense of urgency. Only cons about this building is there is NO rooftop access, floors three and above need a little TLC, i.e. paint, floor gloss and updated artwork and nearby parking is very expensive.
Overall, I am very happy with our choice and don’t plan on moving anytime soon… unless their annual rent increase is unreasonable. I’ve heard it’s 10%, if so, that’s outrageous.

I typically don’t write reviews but I moved in April 11^th 2015 and I moved out April 12^th 2015. It did cost me the remainder of the lease and the management company decided to charge me for a 1 month penalty for breaking the lease after 1 night but I must admit it was totally worth it.
I knew downtown is noisy but understand between the car alarms going off right behind the building the trash trucks between midnight and 6:00 AM, car horns, music, homeless people shouting and screaming, drunk people shouting, police sirens, ambulances and fire trucks maybe 3 – 4 times each on a Saturday night I found myself sleepless and that is not something I wouldn’t wish on anyone for 12 month.
Note: I gave 2 stars because the ladies at the leasing office were understanding and tried to accommodate although the management company did not allow it.
I hope I shed some light on what you’re signing on for 12 month.
Best of luck.

Great place to live. They have beautiful apartments and the management staff is amazing. Conveniently located downtown to local bars and lounges.

Everything about this place is terrible. I’ll update my review after I leave, which will be as soon as possible. I have only resided here since Sept 2014, and I’m already moving.

Let me first start off by saying I love this building and love the management/​staff.
I moved from Weho90048, fabulous area, to DTLA, I was a little shock because it was a drastic change for me. But now that I have been here 1 year, I can honestly say it was the best move ever. Not sure why I stayed in West Hollywood for 5.5 years.
The staff team members and managers are AWESOME and I feel like a VIP in this building. When I have an issue with maintenance, they address my issue quickly, meaning that hour or that day! I love it!!! The maintenance team are attentive and they have a lot of knowledge to what they are doing.
I must say on Feb 18^th, was a NOT –SO-​GOOD day for me… and somehow or another I was frazzled and accidentally left my FANCY purse and leather coat in the leasing office. I did not realize I left it there because I was toting my grocery bags up to my loft. Well 5 minutes later according to my call log and voice-​mail, Kanika said I left my purse downstairs. I was shocked that I would do such a thing. But thought to myself that I live in such a great and honest community. AND I really can’t ask for more than that. It made me feel so good to be connected with great people. Had I been in any other area or property, not sure what the outcome would be.
Overall I give ALL the staff, managers, and maintenance team members all 5 stars ratings.
Thank you for your AWESOMENESS!!!

We couldn’t be happier living in this building! Everyone is so helpful and kind that work here. My boyfriend, dog, and I moved in July, and have fallen more in love with this building every month.
Reasons I love it here:
–one of the biggest gyms we came across in any place we looked
–pool table room with a big screen tv that you can rent out
−24÷7 security that take down every visitors name
–emails to notify you when packages arrive
–online auto payment for rent every month (AMAZING)
–online neighborhood site for the building where you can post stuff on a bulletin board (and tons of other stuff I haven’t really explored yet)
–ability to request maintenance online
–SWEETEST STAFF! Everyone is so helpful and kind.
ALSO, not only did the staff buy us apple pies for Thanksgiving (a WHOLE apple pie for anyone that came down to pick it up!!), but they hosted a Christmas party last night! There was booze, prizes and a Santa for photo ops! It was so much fun to meet a lot of our neighbors and get in the holiday spirit! I seriously couldn’t be more pleased with this building!

Me and my cousin walked in looking to live there, we had an appointment– we were stood up
We came back later in the day when they told us to– waited another half hour before being helped
Got a great tour, filled out an app, were told we would be contacted– were never contacted
Tirelessly tried to get in touch to complete the paperwork for the loft WE WERE TOLD WAS GONNA BE OURS– never heard back from them.
We ended up living at the Jewelry Trades Building… but never got the 100 $ «security deposit» back– I’m assuming they scammed us and likely many others to collect as many «security deposits» as they could
What a joke this place is.

First off: I don’t understand the negative reviews AT ALL. They do not shut off the water weekly: that is a lie. And you want to live in the downtown of the 2^nd biggest city of our country but you’re complaining about street noise; what kind of urbanist are you? Move back to the ‘burbs, bub.
I’ve lived here for a year! This is a fantastic historic building at the VERY center of our revitalized downtown (5^th street = halfways between 1^st & Olympic; Spring Street center of Old Bank District =). You will walk over every outdated, pedestrian and 20^th-​centuryish cliches of how «nobody walks in LA,» restaurants, supermarkets, banks, bars, clubs, the Metro Red Line subway, barbershop, open air drug market (Los Angeles Street), open air farmer’s markets, Pershing Square & Cal Plaza concerts, historic Broadway theaters, museums (MOCA & the upcoming Broad) and freaks-​who-​belong-​in-​museums, parks (Grand and the upcoming & the upcoming Spring Street Park) and art galleries: all at your doorstep, ²⁴⁄₇; your post-​office, beneath you. Yes this is a mixed-​use: the literal post office is in this building!
What else is in it? Hm, let’s see — compared to any of the SB (Shy Barry) «what amenities, we’ll put our ca$h into lawsuits» bldgs in the neighborhood (one which I’ve endured, SB Grand) — there is no comparison. ²⁴⁄₇ concierge, where they hold your packages, ²⁴⁄₇ bldg security, ²⁴⁄₇ full access gym, ²⁴⁄₇ entertainment lounge with pool table/​large screen tv and room to «entertain» (available for booking private pahties), business lounge area with ²⁴⁄₇ wifi, and two more amenities in the lobby: coffee maker and «computer/​fax» business print out machine. It’s more like living in a nice hotel, dude! All that’s missing is a pool/​rooftop access, underground parking and an attractive Thai masseuse/​room service to justify the hotel-​like feeling
The units vary in size and shape, but you get your money’s $$ worth the higher up you go, as the ones closer to the street do feature more noise. My unit is on the 5^th street side, so I didn’t have to deal with any issues that come from living on the Spring side (Down & Out Bar). Onto management: Jeff is flirty-​friendly, but I also (along with a user below) had issues with Matt, who thankfully is gone. He never had good customer-​service skills and always had an attitude anytime a resident would come to him with a problem. Guess what: he is GONE! George the Maintenance Man is always there to fix things with a smile. The best is this cheerfully perky young lady named Kendi, who not only wants to solve your problems, but leaves you feeling like she cares about YOU — a refreshing rarity in apt mgmt. She also goes out of her way to invite newcomers to community events and art-​walk-​themed drinking events that take place here every month. Many bldgs in the area comparably do *not* feature a sense of community like this one.
If you want to live in a historical loft at the center of everything in downtown, in the Old Bank District, this is it. Believe me: forget about the overpriced Barry Shy nonsense, or the ugly, modernist LA-​Live-​traffic-​adjacent nonsense in South Park. Am I forgetting something? Oh yes: THIS historic downtown building DOES NOT HAVE BEDBUGS! Kind of important, si señor?

I’ve lived in downtown for 8 years and lived in two other lofts (4^th/​Main and 7^th/​Spring) and by far, this place has the friendliest Management Team and community feel. Location, security, and community vibe are the three primary reasons we renewed our lease during that last two years.
Matt, Jeff, and George are very responsive and all have an open door policy.
The monthly community events create a very welcoming environment where you look forward to seeing your neighbors and just hanging out. There’s wi-​fi in the second floor lobby, pool table, and giant TV for movie watching in a private recreation room. You can also reserve the space for small parties. Pretty convenient overall!
You can’t beat the location: 2 blocks from the metro and close to an array of restaurants and bars.
City noise is inevitable with any loft in downtown. If you can embrace the charm of having access to everything within walking distance, the noise just starts fading into the background. Being across from The Last Bookstore and being so close to the Grand Central Market is a huge perk!
There are a lot of lofts out there but we enjoyed living here so much because it was warm, friendly, and personable and that was important for us. If you want a sense of community and want to live in a loft where you can be candid with the management and security staff, this is the place to be!

I don’t live here. I just went during a day of apartment hunting in DTLA. I must say that this place gave me the creeps. It didn’t seem as if anyone lived there, or I should say, should live there. It seemed like a cheap office building.
The amenities seem great, but they are made for middle-​age men. They are dark and made me feel gross.
Parking — okay. Better than some places in the area, but still have to walk outside to get to your car.
Lobby was like a 3-​star. Bonus — can brew Starbucks coffee. Oh, and the small business center, as if it were a hotel. But that’s it.
I would only recommend this place if you need something cheaper, in price and looks, to the other lofts on Spring… and you can handle the lonely dark feeling you feel when you are there. Otherwise, keep looking.

The hubster and I are into our second year at the Security Building.
The lobby was redecorated in the summer of last year, out with the grandma vibe, in with urban chic. The second floor houses the common area with free wi-​fi, the gym, and a rec room with pool table open for group reservation. No hot tubs on the rooftop, sorry. (The management said there had been a proposal, but in this economy, who knows).
The residents are a good mix of fashion students, hipsters, professionals, and some low-​income folks. No blasting loud music in the middle of the night, no crazy college dorm antic (not on my floor anyway); everyone I’ve run into here is friendly and courteous.
Matthew the manager runs a tight ship (I hope he doesn’t leave again!!), he and his crew do a good job maintaining the space.
As it is with any repair and maintenance, there’s a bit of a lag time should you need things fixed in the apartment. But things usually get taken care of within the week.
Now to the downside:
NOISE. You’ll hear: police squads, fire trucks (about 10 times a day), buses (at least 5 lines run through here), drunken ho’s spilling out of the Crocker Club, our friendly neighbors from the Rosslyn lofts high on whatever he got at Pershing Square, very insecure macho men and their farty motorcycles…
PARKING. The parking structure behind the building is run by nincompoops. It’s a 5-​level building with a ONE-​MAN cleaning crew. The spots are tiny, they get filled up with visitors, and costs up to $ 160/spot/month.They are inconsiderate to the loft residents. Loathe them with a passion.
Nonetheless, the loft’s location can’t be beat: 3 minute walk to Cole’s, The Varnish, Las Perlas, Spring St Bar (… you get the idea), and the rent is reasonably priced. Matthew (manager), George (on-​site comedian/​I’ll-fix-anything-you-break-dude) and the crew are quite lovely. Really.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — –
As to g.p.‘s grievances down there, I’d be incensed if anybody were to treat my concerns with such nonchalance and disregard.
Yet, perhaps my attention has been better occupied elsewhere… I’ve never seen the graffiti at «the top» of the building. Even if the graffiti were to be removed, the building’s company probably has some sort of internal process to review the expense. As for surface street maintenance, it’d take coordination with the Business Improvement District as well as involving the neighboring businesses (LATC, parking structure). Methinks you’ve given too much credit to Jeffrey and the power of his magical fairy dust.
O, and South Park probably has more of the pretty buildings you’re looking for.

Well my cousin wanted to check out some loft in downtown to move into and we happen to find this one. The rent is average for a loft especially located in the smack center of the busy Downtown Los Angeles. At the entrance there is a security officer at the front desk that can answer any questions you may have about the lofts and building. There are elevators that take you to any floor of the structure. The room we checked out was really nice! It can be personalized! It is perfect for someone who wants to move out and have their own personal space for themselves. It is great for having friends over to just hang out as well. The con with this structure is that the typical waitless is can be very long. Up to a year or even longer. So definitely check it out and see what you guys think.

I lived here for one year, and I couldn’t wait for my lease to come to an end. I was disgusted to realize that the manager (Jeff) had rented me a former bathroom that had been converted to residential. You could see the outline of the removed toilets where cement was later poured.
Most days I could just laugh it off, but what bugged me was Jeff claimed to be unaware that I lived in a room previously used for mass defecation. «It’s an old building. Who knows?» But the old construction blueprints were framed and hung in the common areas… so it doesn’t take a genius to look at the plans and determine the filthy truth!
A couple more rants before I hit the bottle in the comfort of my new loft… even after I let him know about it, Jeff never cared to remove the graffiti at the very top of the south side of the building. What an eyesore. Secondly, the surrounding sidewalks are sticky and patterned with streaming urine from dogs and drunks. Clean it up!

I am not sure where Grace would rather live but it sounds like an urban habitat is not the place for her. I love the Lofts, any building has its issues however it is the people plus management that make a building good or bad. The «show» as stated is not what it seems because Downtown is different then say the west side, silver lake or even Little Tokyo. This building is nice, friendly and makes me feel at home. The staff remembers are residents and take dealing with service requests in a timely manner.
There was a time when the Manager, who is no loger with Lofts, never showed up and left a huge mess for Matthew to clean up. This is not Matthews fault and he is doing everything he can to fix it.
The fact of the matter is the Lofts is a great place to live. The dog area is used by many of the surrounding buildings as it is the only plot of grass in the area. People pee and poop all over the streets and I find it funny that this lady complains about animals using the bathroom where they should. Downtown is noisey, if you want quiet move to sherman oaks. The building is constantly improving but the process cant be completed over night.
I agree maintenance is understaffed however the building is maintained very well with what they work with. Matthew and the team at Lofts can’t bully their parent company to free up more cash to employ a porter.
The security staff is warm and greets me promtly with a smile and a joke. I love them and they make my day/​night!!!
Finally, Parking, try to park anywhere in the city for under $ 100 and you will be walking several blocks, this parking is behind the building directly accessed, you pay for convienenece. Also look at the fact that Security Lofts absorbs $ 25 of the parking cost for its residents. I’d say its a good deal. I don’t have a car but used to and know the struggle of gouged parking rates.
My hat is off to Matthew, Jeff, George, and teh Security Staff… Keep it up and I will renew!!!