-
October 2023 by Nida K.
Lived here going on 5 years. We absolutely loved our community and management when Angela was lead manager. Since she's moved on it's difficult to get a hold of anyone from management (we have no designated manager for our location) and it shows. We also lost many of our community staff and that also severely shows (missing Walter, Juan, and Luis). Garage gates, security doors, and communal spaces are broken with no emailed ETAs for repairs. We've had recent break ins and theft from our "secured" and "gated" resident parking areas. We only recently have "more security" on-site but no one actually stays to guard these faulty areas overnight. We used to feel safe in our home and now it feels we aren't even able to utilize the amenities we pay for. This place needs a tune up ASAP. Looking to move as soon as our lease is up which is such a bummer because we have loved living here.
-
September 2023 by P B.
I should have followed my first instincts to not proceed with renting from this company, when I started having difficulty contacting management to complete my move-in paperwork and make my initial deposit and move-in payments. As if that was not a red flag enough, one of the managers, Rhondi Strong, had such a lousy bedside manner. She was never nice and I tried to overlook it but, it was impossible. Yet, I still tried to tolerate her and just proceed.For a while, I thought that it was just her interactions with me but, then one day I was at the front counter downstairs when another person came for assistance and ended up dealing with her and she was just as nasty to him as ever. It bothered me how she was interacting with and treating him. Then, I knew that it was just her. But, the fact is that she is not pleasant at all and should not be in a management position.Anyway, I started living there December 2021 and very quickly realized that I had made a grave mistake. As soon as I moved in and started using the plumbing, I noticed a sewage type smell in the main bathroom. I told management, Angela Garcia, thinking that it would be taken seriously and resolved but, that was not the case. I was treated like I was crazy and making it all up. So, I ultimately had to make the difficult, inconvenient, costly decision to move out just a couple of months after move-in because, I refused to pay the high luxury prices they were charging with that questionable smell, not knowing what type of health effects it would have on me. It was not worth the risk. I just wish that I had listened to my better judgment from the beginning.They need to have better management and provide better customer service for the prices they are charging for supposed luxury. There was nothing luxurious about my experience at all.I would not recommend this location nor the company that owns it, Avalon Bay Communities, to anyone.
-
July 2023 by Nina W.
This is so ridiculous, the fire alarm went off again at 3 am in the morning. The management team continues to do nothing about this. I've been here less than a month and the fire alarm has gone off twice. Find another building to live in unless you like being woken up by a fire alarm once a month at 3 am. The other residents here have said that this happens every couple weeks. The only emails I've ever gotten are non resolution emails if they ever send any communication about the fire alarms.
-
July 2023 by Jas J.
Crazy rent increases at this place, over $500+ increase to renew EVERY year, one elevator was broken the majority of the time I lived here, underground garage door was broken for a long time with super dangerous exit/entry through one opening for months, the garbage room was often overflowing and smelled so bad. Managers changed several times while I was living here and I'd never move back. The best feature was by far the gym and common lounge areas, but overall not worth it with all the other problems. For a $500 monthly increase, I'd rather get an equinox membership and live elsewhere.
-
July 2023 by J. K.
Where to begin.- Management is unresponsive unless you send them multiple emails.- Elevator broken almost every other week- Homeless screaming outside - Alarm goes off on the street almost every week- Fire alarms go off for no reason- Private street always full of dog feces - Once had a homeless man sit outside my door on a Sunday afternoon.- Close button on elevators dont work- Extremely slow elevatorsOther than that.- spacious living - access to japanese food
-
June 2023 by Max L.
Elevator and spa breaks down constantly. Fire alarms all around the building and in the rooms go off all the time for no reason. Expect homeless people outside the building constantly. If not for these issues, it would be a great place to live.
-
April 2023 by Vlad Y.
So I've applied for the apartment they have available via the website.Once you apply, they start a 24hr hold timer during which all of the applicants should submit the required information.It was 3 of us (2 adults and one guarantor) so it took a bit of time to fill up. All the applications were filled out one hour before the deadline and the processing fee ($162) was paid. Right after, one of the AVA representatives called the guarantor saying that for some reason they can't see his info, and the guarantor double-checked and confirmed that on his side the application shows up as completed. The rep said that they will extend the application time for 24hr more until they figure out what's going on.One hour later the application was canceled. We simply got an email that it was canceled without explaining anything. Credit score requests were made, $162 charge was paid.I've tried contacting their office, and, after a few attempts, was finally able to reach someone who said that leasing is not responsible for this type of issue and gave me another number. No one ever responded from this number or called me back.I've also been texting someone trying to figure out what's going on using the leasing number as well, but no help.So, basically, the application was canceled. They made a hard credit score check for the guarantor and one of the applicants never contacted back with any explanation and never issued the refund for the application fee.UPD:After posting a review and BBB complaint I was finally contacted by Angela.Unfortunately, instead of finding a solution, Angela tried to say that one of us (the applicants) canceled the application (which is not true) and the only option offered was to resubmit the application, pay the fees again, and go through the check again. This is absolutely unfair and unexpected.
-
February 2023 by Christian H.
I reached out as I found this location to be great for me. I made the appointment. Filled out the info as what i was looking for. Price point and everything, when i got there , the agent started asking what i was looking for. I expressed I already filled out the info online so they should know what I'm looking for. Once the agent realize she was not gonna able to get the info from here computer i went ahead and mentioned everything I was looking for.I wanted a studio and the agent tells me there's nothing available right now. So why make an appointment? Why was i invited if there was nothing to show? This was a waste of time for someone who needs somewhere to live by then end of the month.
-
October 2022 by Brian I.
I ultimately went with the apartments next door, but AVA was pretty nice. I didn't like how it is two buildings, so you would have the rooftop deck in one and the other would have the pool. Both buildings have nice courtyards. My friend who lived at AVA before liked it, and I think I would have also. The unit layouts are what I have been looking for. I went with Wakaba LA since I liked how it was one building with good placement of amenities. I think the fitness center is larger than several of the ones I've seen.
-
August 2022 by Jeremy C.
The management office of AVA Little Tokyo is the most important factor I gave 5 stars. They are kind and quick and responsive even after their working hours to help my asks while I was staying at the building. Thank you AVA Little Tokyo management office and staffs!
-
April 2022 by C D.
I've lived here for a year now and only thing that is consistent with good service is the maintenance team. They go above and beyond in helping fix anything in your place. Tif they're already in your unit and you ask to fix another thing, they will do it without asking you to submit another ticket. Other than that, there's nothing much. Now that the pandemic is "slowing down", they started increasing the price more than the average. Our rate increase is over 17% & they reduced the length of the lease. We had 15 months & at renewal, max is only 12 (same monthly rate for 6 & 10 month term). I understand we got a great deal during the pandemic but they should at least give some options to make the tenants stay. Just because everything is starting to come back to normal doesnt mean it's back to normal financially for their tenants. Another thing that is inconvenient is that the front office do not take any calls. When you call their phone #, it tells you to submit a ticket. You cant call them if you have a quick question anymore. You either have to submit a ticket or make an appointment to speak to someone which can take a while (or no response at all), or go to the front to ask. Very inconvenient! Seems like after the lease the service from the front office went down & they dont really care. Someone on our floor keeps on leaving their trash in front of our unit. I've sent pictures to the office and all they do is send a "reminder" to everyone instead of sharing the pictures so that whoever left those trash realizes that the email is about them. The same with smoking and dog p**** They just send reminders & there will be a fine if they're caught but no further action after that email. Lastly, they host some events but only limited # of people can attend. You know how many tenants live in here and yet you dont make an effort to make an event big enough for everyone to attend. Only 20 ppl can attend for a place that has more than 100 tenants? Looks like management read these reviews however no changes except change their phone system so that you cannot get a hold of anyone.
-
December 2021 by Shannon G.
I've lived here for over 4 years and it has been absolutely amazing! What sets this property apart is their staff. From the community manager Angela, maintenance team Juan, Luis, and Walter and the leasing office Rhondi and Habiba are always so friendly, positive, and helpful. When I got into an accident that prevented me from lifting anything heavy, Habiba(*) brought the heavy box of groceries to my front door from the other building. The maintenance team is always so quick to come with any service requests - Walter came during a holiday when the disposal was having issues. Angela is the best community manager - always giving great food recommendations and you can tell she really cares about the property and the residents here. My only feedback would be that the 7-eleven below the building can make for some loud noise at night, but that's sort of the case for any downtown apartment. Thanks so much AVA!
-
September 2021 by Naty Leon
Nice and simple apts...
-
September 2021 by Julie Y.
I moved from out of state to CA and lived at Ava from 2018 to 2020. I actually really enjoyed my stay here. Management was not intrusive. The admin at the reception area were always very friendly and accommodating. Whenever I put in a maintenance request, they were prompt and usually came by within a day or so. I liked being able to walk to the nearby Japanese grocery store which was located only 2 blocks away. The building itself is very clean and new. I always see cleaning people every morning. The outside on the other hand, not so great. Living next to skid row.. well you can imagine. I didn't feel really unsafe though, just something you have to deal with living downtown. As far as packages go, they had an amazon locker system newly implemented which helped to decrease stolen packages. Their regular mailroom is also within the central lobby next to the reception area, which also adds a bit of security. The only complaint that I have were sometimes the fire alarms would go off at like 1 or 2AM and they are very loud. They would stop after about a minute or so, so we never really had to leave the building. The building was always pretty transparent about it and would send an email about the reason why the fire alarm went off, which I appreciated. Most of the time it was due to transients. This probably happened about 4 times during my 1.5 years at Ava. The apartment was kind of pricey. We only moved out since we bought a house and the mortgage was the same price as the rent lol. But overall had a very good living experience :)
-
July 2021 by Kevin K.
Rating: 7/10 Pricing is why I can't recommend AVA higher than a 7. Living at AVA was worth it in 2020-21 only because the pricing was more affordable, thanks to COVID-related vacancies and discounts. The build-quality of the apartment and complex as a whole is great because the building's still relatively new, the amenities are nice (but were largely inaccessible thanks to COVID), and the management/office staff were serviceable compared to other corporately-managed complexes (shoutout to the stellar maintenance crew who was on top of all maintenance requests though). Package lockers are a convenient service, underground parking is organized. There are obvious perks to living in Little Tokyo, and Arts District as well. Despite being located close to Skid Row, I haven't noticed any homeless people on premises. On the downside, there was a lingering feeling that management was more stressed about the appearances of the complex than actually making sure the everyday living experience was as best as it could be for tenants. For example, there was a period of ~2 months when 1 of the 2 elevators servicing the complex's 300+ units was down without too many updates from management about the timeline it would be fixed by. Also, management basically has no "bite" when it comes to enforcing quiet-hours policies when difficult tenants blasted wall-penetrating bass music late into the night, or when there was cigarette/marijuana smoking on balconies, or when tenants left their dogs' p*** in the hallways/stairwells. There would be a lot of emails and posters "gently reminding" tenants to do stuff but that didn't have much effect. Ironically, there was very frequent communication when the pool deck area was closed for a few weeks for a facelift; but I couldn't tell what difference it made before and after.
