Artisan on 2nd Apartments

Living here was great for the first year, but after that… nightmare. The general manager, Brian Manley, was apathetic at best to all of our escalated issues, was difficult to deal with, and generally inaccessible in times of need — including zero empathy nor urgency toward addressing community-​wide issues.
Without going into details, my final 6 months as a resident here were laden with theft and sub-​par community security, which ultimately caused me to move in search of a more secure situation elsewhere. What I can say though is that I wouldn’t recommend any Equity Residential property unless you’re prepared to pay a hefty lease-​break fee when you feel that you’ve had enough and must move (even with documented cause). They purposely inflate the prices of their month-​to-​month contracts to the point that they’re inaccessible, resulting in pushing people to renew year long contracts (that they must pay high fees to eventually break). Even if you’re happy here, you’ll only get out of the lease cleanly if you leave *exactly* a year or two to the day of your renewal date. You are entering into a very money-​driven, business situation when choosing to rent with Equity and the contracts really aren’t in the residents’ best interests long term.

This is very rare for me to write ANOTHER bad review so it must be pretty bad if I’m actually doing this but here it goes.
My wife and and have a small office nearby where we ride our bikes to the office. We came out this morning to go to work and our bikes were vandalized (seats and grips taken and locks hacked). The two or three bikes that are typically next to ours are gone with one front wheel still attached to the rack. Obviously there is someone stalking this place because this just happened a few months earlier.
We’ve tried for the past six months to recommend suggest, explain, offer ideas and information the management here about the break ins to the garage at this complex. The front office help is nice but this is an issue with the property management on a larger scale. It’s obvious to us that this chain of apartment complexes is too large to manage the properties that they own. When a tenant complains consistently about the same situation with little or no rectification, then it’s time to let the public know about it, which is what I’m doing here.
At the moment, we are sitting outside the managers office waiting for them to come to work to handle our situation and its 10:15am. Waiting…

Kyle & the maintenance staff are great. Whenever we’ve made a routine maintenance request, they have responded very quickly and resolved the issue on the same day! The staff is very friendly and professional!

We’ve lived in many apartment buildings all over Los Angeles, and Artisan on 2^nd is one of the best we’ve stayed in.
Location, location, location! Living right in between the arts district and little Tokyo is pretty much the best. Walk drunk, full, and happy any night!
The staff is always super nice and friendly. They go above and beyond and always put on a happy vibe.
The unit (at least the one we have) is HUGE! The bathroom alone can be it’s own bedroom. No exaggeration.
The only drawback is that some of the residents just aren’t considerate of others. One of the trash rooms is often filled with garbage (and not in the chute) and some take up parking spaces that are not theirs. Not really sure how to address these problems.
Overall, this is a sweet place to call home.

The management team is nice and attentive with all people who need something for themselves or their units. I’ve been living here for 3 years now and I’ve seen how much the administration has made to improve the quality of the experience. It is not the Ritz Carlton Tower, but neither cost as much (even though I would not consider this complex any cheap) as that, nor is such a bad place to live at the Arts District as a family of ¾ people.
About the fire alarm issue: I feel better knowing it works properly than afraid of get caught in the middle of heat and smoke because they are not properly set.
I love most of my neighbors and the localization is on point.
Downsides:
This one is extremely personal and someone can find it as an advantage: the smoking ban even at the open areas. That could make me consider relocation to somewhere less strict in the future.
The ban of having any decorations outside your door, even a door mat. I find it extreme and do not get how it makes me feel at home when I get to the building.
The pool temperature: Even during Summer, the jacuzzi has everyone in it and the pool is mostly not used. My very casual polls says it is because the pool water is freezing cold. I don’t know if the management could consider some solar heating panels or other way for heath the water.
The private way between Artisan and the next apartment complex is hard to access by the building (you go by the stairs in the back of the building, but if the door closes and you don’t bring your main entrance door key, you have to go all the way around by the street. So you have to obstruct the stairs door while you are walking the dog or playing there with your kid.

I stayed here for a week when I first arrived to LA. I did not have a pleasant stay.
The building is fairly new but the construction quality is so poor that everything in it looks old (and smells and feels old). The carpets are dirty, the appliances cheap and the bathrooms feel old and used.
This cheap pretentious ugly apartment building don’t belong to a place called ‘Arts district’

I’m really surprised that this place has gotten bad reviews in the past! I think they’ve clearly cleaned up their act since the last reviews. I moved in 2 months ago, and I cannot say enough good things about this place. First of all, the office staff are ultra-​polite and responsive (particularly Aaron). The grounds and pool are well-​maintained and lovely. The gym could still use some free weights, but the TVs work fine and they added a water cooler. The apartment is huge w a whole separate storage room which is amazing. The neighborhood is awesome. It’s not really very accessible from the north and the east, so people don’t use it as a thoroughfare, so it’s extremely quiet. Basically, my life has improved many percents since I moved in!

I’ve lived here for several years, and all the negative reviews surprise me. The location itself is great – within walking distance of lots of shops, restaurants, etc. The apartments themselves are quiet and comfortable, and the grounds are clean. I lived her before Equity Residential took over, and, despite various changes, I would disagree with the other posters who have stated that there was a drastic decline in quality of management, upkeep and the like. In fact, I prefer the current office staff to the old. Case in point, Aaron in the front office is great to deal with in general and takes care of any issues quickly, which could not always be said for past staff.

Equity Residential owns this building. The company is a big publicly-​traded multifamily real estate investment trust (REIT). You’d think they’d be better operators of their buildings, but they seem to be more interested in cutting costs than providing good service and making a profit from satisfied tenants. The office is completley understaffed. The person who works there tries hard, but he doesn’t have enough help. That’s the company’s fault, not his.
It’s hard to reach someone in the office when you have a problem, and the company’s policy of getting back to you in 48 hours (if you don’t have an emergency) is ridiculous in my opinion. This is a high-​end building; service needs to be much better.
When I moved in, my hot water tank wasn’t working, and the first person who came to fix it just turned the temperature up, but didn’t move the main valve into the correct position — so I still didn’t have hot water. He was just generally incompetent.
The staff eventually helped me, but it took a little longer than it should.
There is lots of new multifamily housing in this area of LA; I’d look at some of that before moving here if I could.

Lived here for almost 2 years. You can’t beat the neighborhood – so many great little restaurants, bars, etc. within a couple blocks walking distance or a short bike ride away (including The Pie Hole, Hama Sushi, Wurstkuche, Shin Sen Gumi, Izakaya Haru Lala, demitasse, Oiwake, Yogurtland, Xlixe Pizzeria, Lazy Ox Canteen… and the list goes on). The Woori Market is just 2 blocks away and provides a great variety of snacks, fruits, vegetables, and basic grocery items. There is a DASH stop on the corner outside the building to take you in and around DTLA for $ 0.50 per ride, and the Gold Line is a block or so away, which can take you to Union Station (we have done this to catch the free shuttle to Dodger Stadium on game days)
As for the apartment community itself:
Cons:
1. Gym area could use a water cooler, some more exercise mats (there is only one), and free weights. Also, the TVs attached to the treadmills and elliptical machines do not always work.
2. People with dogs do not always pick up after them on the sidewalk outside the building or even in the hallways – but that’s not really a management issue.
3. We ended up breaking our lease due to work relocation, and the leasing agents did not reasonably advertise our unit even after it was already available for move in, as required under the lease agreement. They were difficult to get a hold of and not responsive once we gave our notice, even though we were more than willing to abide by the lease agreement and pay any fees associated with breaking the lease.
Pros:
1. Gated, assigned parking is included with the rent. In 2 years, we have had only one incident of someone parking in our spot.
2. Maintenance requests are responded to within 24 hours or less. We have not had too many issues, but I simply place the request online and one of the maintenance guys comes within 24 hours, sometimes even the same day.
3. Nice pool/​spa and bbq area which can get crowded on hot days. They recently put in a new gas grill to replace a previously broken one and it works amazingly!

I was going to keep my gripes about this place to myself, but after a water pipe started leaking under my carpet and nobody at the leasing office answered for hours, I’ve had my last straw.
The artisan used to be a clean, well maintained, quiet place, but as soon as EQUITY RESIDENTIAL took over management, this has become one of the worst places to live in Little Tokyo.
First off, the rent went UP while the quality of the service went way, way down. The staff takes like 2 hour lunch breaks per day, and say they’ll take care of any issues or work orders but don’t have any idea what you’re talking about when you follow up with them about it, and there is NO SECURITY ON THE PREMISES to be seen.
I don’t usually have a problem with that, except for the fact that Artisan is 2 blocks removed from skid row. The either oblivious or lying property manager assures me that there are guards, but after MY BICYCLE GOT STOLEN RIGHT OFF MY PATIO, and I saw a homeless guy digging through the trash can in the parking garage, I’m pretty damn sure that there is no competent security here to speak of.
The courtyard gardens that used to be well-​maintained are now regularly littered with trash, beer bottles, and cigarette butts, and the penny-​pinching folks at equity residential have removed all consumable items out of the gym, such as water.
Not finished. Good luck if you ever see a discrepancy in your rental payment. The property managers are plain useless in every sense of the word, and they tell you to go to the
website, which is horribly designed and convoluted to use as a resident. Then it takes weeks to change or to make a correction on any form of payment. The fees you owe are handled via the website, and go up whenever Equity Residential feels like it, and if you complain about this to the staff, they refer you back to the same, complicated website. There was an instance where Equity charged me double for rent, and didn’t refund me until months after.
The quality of the materials in the apartments themselves are a joke. Within a month of moving in, the handles on the kitchen drawers came off. Half the doors in the apartment don’t close all the way. The sinks sputter to life. The walls are extremely thin, so if your neighbors are arguing, watching tv, having a party, or making babies, get ready for a rough night. That on top of the annoyances of there being crappy cellphone reception, elevators that take forever to get to your floor, and having to park in tandem spots, this place is enough to drive anyone crazy. All these problems would be acceptable if it were a $ 500 a month college colony in South Central, but these guys market this place as «Premier Apartment Homes,» and certainly charge rent like it is.
Do not move to the Artisan. I am willing to go as far as to call the place a borderline scam. If you can afford the rent here, there are literally hundreds of better properties at significantly lower costs.

I have lived here for 3+ years now and since they’ve changed management, it’s been awful. They don’t care about their tenants. They raised rents on my unit, and when I showed them the exact same floor plan for rent on craigslist for 200 dollars less, they still raised my rent. I’ve been loyal for 3 years and they’d rather get a new tenant in for less than keep a great tenant happy. Looks like I’m moving out and I will never recommend them to anyone. And I recommend anyone who lives here currently to get out!

I’ve been here since nov and maybe its cuz im coming from nyc, but i love this place. you’d probably pay over $ 3g’s for a 1bdrm like this in nyc. im not high maintenance like the 2 other reviews. apartment was clean when i moved in, thick walls, appliances are good, and theres heat and ac. what else do you need? if you need an ‘attentive staff’ move into a door man building and be prepared to pay holiday and yearly tips that range over $ 400 p/​year.
I havent heard much noise and i dont even really see many people walking around (i work from home too). staff is friendly, at least the ones i’ve met. security guy is cool as hell and the head maintenance guy gets things done. my leasing agent was kind of err i guess, but does that even matter? i’m just glad there was no 10% brokers fee and having the broker constantly stalk you to look at apts (nyc). i havent even seen my leasing agent since i signed and there hasnt been a need to. security and maintenance have cell phones so you can just call them directly.
theres a pool and a small gym (no free weights). no roof deck and no real common area for friends to hang out. its still cold out so i havent seen how the pool gets in the summer. might be bad since my apt faces the pool, but whatever maybe there will be some hot chix… we’re 2 blocks away from jtown, wurstkuche, and other good cafes and bars.
nothing really puts me off about living here expect, a neighbor that has a barking dog from 8a — 6p. shit on the street from people walking their dogs that dont pick it up (seriously there’s free doggy bags and trash cans on the street too mf’ers) and other disrespectful residents that leave trash in the elevator or cant throw things away properly in the trash shoot. theres also this trash can in the mail room that constantly gets full and even though its full people will still throw their trash in there making it fall all over the floor wtf?! — people are so retarded. so basically its not the building i hate, its the people that live here.
im pretty sure renewing the rent will go up 50 — 100 bucks so that will suck. oh yeah, no utilities are included. so you have to pay for gas, water, trash and electric thats kinda bs, not used to paying water or trash.
theres a few guest parking spaces too which is rare in dtla. a lot of apts and lofts i looked into did not have any guest parking. so even to have 1 space anywhere is good. bad thing is some residents have tandem spaces and think its all good to park in the guest spots all freaking day, week, whatever.
anyways, maybe im jaded from paying $ 2500 p month in a old 1bdrm 5^th floor walkup in nyc (yes, u read that right, 5 floor walk up! OMG now imagine carrying groceries up 5 floors ~ fml!). but Artisan is legit. ideally people will move out and new ppl wont move in so it will lower my rent. is that how that works?
FYI please do not support the BBB they are not a legit government organization like most people think. They claim to be a non-​profit organization to receive government grants. They charge businesses hundreds to thousands of dollars to have bad claims removed. hmm kinda like how Unilocal is becoming: x
ABC did a ²⁰⁄₂₀ investigation on them. youtube it and pass it on.

I have lived here for two years, and ever since the management changed to Equity Residential, it has been nothing but hell. The office staff is extremely rude. The complex makes changes to policies with little to no notification. It’s worth complaining to the better business bureau. Do NOT live here. Also they are raising the rent. Pay more for poor service and rude staff? No way. There are plenty of other apartment complexes in the area. The neighbors are clearing out, and you can bet that when my lease is up, I’ll be out too.

My boyfriend and I went in to Artisan today to look for the apartment and encountered the rudest and most useless leasing agent I have ever encountered. Within the first 30 seconds of the interaction (I’m not exaggerating…30 seconds!!!) I already knew that we would not be renting there. If the staff was this rude while trying to SELL a lease, imagine how bad they’d be after they have a lease signed.
Ultimately we were not shown any apartments. We initially asked about a 1 bedroom and she said that there were none open at the moment but WE could call HER (rather than vice-​versa) to see if one had opened up. Which is interesting because she also said when they open they re-​rent in about a day. She wasn’t interested in calling us. Sigh.
We also asked if they had any pictures of the unit and she said «No» but that we were welcome to go home and look at images on the website (although she has a computer screen right there next to her).
We also asked if any of the 2 bedroom units were open. We never got a direct answer. We asked if it were possible to see the property and perhaps a unit so we could get an idea if we were interested and again a completely non-​committal answer which was hard to take as anything but a «no.»
During the 15 minute conversation all we could hear was the screaming and squealing of multiple children in the pool. It was not a nice happy sound either.
She did mention that she was part of a brand new management company… the same that manages Mosaic. After reading several reviews of Mosaic nearly all posters agreed that Mosaic was fantastic until it was taken over by the new company who messed up the building and the management was so unresponsive, rude and incompetent that most posters said they were not renewing their leases even though they had lived there for years and prior to this new company taking over had loved the building. If the nightmare girl we spoke with today at Artisan is representative of what the renters at Mosaic were taking about I can see why they are leaving in droves!

I’ve lived here for more than a year and it’s great. There’s a lot of places to eat and it’s walking distance! Initially, they were being built as condos but with the horrible housing market taking a spin, it was converted to apartments.
If you like the feeling of new apartments, check it out.