The LOOP

As a UC student, I lived at the Loop during the 2014 – 2015 school year. I had a pretty good experience with the building, though as with every apartment building there are always issues. Overall, I would recommend a very specific situation if you’re considering living at the Loop. Don’t get one of the «rooms» they offer (most of them are just tiny spaces with an inadequate wooden divider) in the larger apartments. My roommate and I lived in a studio, which was great, as long as you get along for the most part and can stand not having any privacy ($ 1100 each, btw). The fact that they don’t provide a full-​sized refrigerator when two people are going to be living there is pretty ridiculous; we ended up having to get one ourselves and managed to sell it to the next people living there. Other than that, the kitchen is adequate (though our dishwasher didn’t work very well), and the bathroom is pretty spacious. The studio itself is really spacious as well. We had two beds, two wardrobes, two desks, a large futon, an entertainment center beneath the TV, and a coffee table with lots of room in the center of the apartment.
3 key points:
1. If you’re concerned about safety in IV, the Loop’s security is great. Apart from the occasional drunk people visiting friends on weekends, I never felt unsafe with the locked outside doors, the need to have a key to go up the elevator, and the card-​lock on the door. All that plus the fact that we were one floor up. I don’t think I would have gotten that at many other places in IV. There were a lot of douchey guys in the building but hey, take a walk down DP and you’ll find that x10.
2. It’s really central to everywhere you’d want to go. 1 block from campus, 2 blocks from the ocean, and in the heart of the food area, it’s perfect for those who want to be close to the «action.»
3. I found the management to be generally pretty responsive to issues. Yes, they did mess up my rent once but they apologized and got it cleared up. I also got the majority of my security deposit back. Luis, the maintenance guy, is great and I hope they pay him decently because he works hard.

If I could give this place zero stars I would, unfortunately I cannot. The other night I was outside of the building and the MANAGER comes outside and says «Nicole?» so I politely replied: «Oh hi!». He then replied «Thanks for the review», then preceded to slam the door. It was the most unprofessional situations I have been in in a while. Do not live here, and do not write a bad (yet truthful) review because if you do, the MANAGER will get his feelings hurt and call you out.

Live here if you’d like to get ripped off at every turn.

I lived at the loop for the 2014 – 2015 school year and can honestly tell you it was a huge headache for so so many reasons.
I lived in one of the units with 4 «private» rooms, which is actually one room separated by a (very splinter-​y; found that out when i woke up the first morning) hipster plywood board that doesn’t go up to the ceiling. We had a full kitchen, with a dishwasher that would leak and flood our wonderful pre-​scuffed cement floors, a refrigerator and freezer door that didn’t stay shut half the time, an electric stove that couldn’t heat an ice cube, bent shower rods, a filthy oven and drawers, and ripped chairs upon move in. Half the outlets in our apartment didn’t work, and we waited 400 years to get a replacement couch (which said would also have been done by move in). The 4^th floor gets its own laundry unit, we were told, if you just fork over some extra cash every month. We were NOT told that this laundry unit would be one from Europe. And would wash and dry — or burn the you know what — out my clothes in one sitting! And simultaneously bleed all the colors, shrink EVERYTHING, and turn whites to grays. Oh and we asked for a replacement when our first one stopped working, and it took 3 months because it got lost in the mail. ??? We were promised a Juliet balcony, too, which we discovered upon move in was not true. ???
I paid $ 1240 a month, or my parents did, (the least expensive room in my 4-​person place) and I can’t tell you how guilty I felt that they paid so much for such poor quality. The tour we got when I was looking at places to live made it look like paradise. My own room, (which don’t get me wrong was pretty nice — though I could have gotten the same thing hanging a sheet in the middle of a room), modern (looking) appliances, a high-​security elevator that needs a key to move to any floor (that was out of order half the time I lived there). They took me to the roof overlooking the ocean and I was sold. The gym is pitiful, but the fire pit and view are not too shabby!
In terms of management, they messed up my, and my roommates’ rent several times. They ended up firing the first manager who was there when I moved in. She was rude, condescending, and dishonest. The new manager was much better, but he definitely walked into a mess. There is only one maintenance guy, who had the toughest job answering to so many frustrated students and the disorganized management, but he was soo friendly and definitely deserves a raise, or some help!
I don’t usually write reviews, but I wanted to save anyone who is considering living here from the trouble. There are cheaper places with better management and a better quality of life in IV! Just keep looking. Don’t let advertising fool you.

I’m not completely sure what I’m paying $ 1050/​month for…
Maintenance requests take FOREVER to be attended to. One time my roommate and I went an ENTIRE week listening to a VERY LOUD smoke alarm because the batteries went out (couldn’t reach the ~modern~ high ceilings to change them myself). Currently, the whole room smells because the garbage disposal has been clogged for TWO WEEKS.
Bless the maintenance guy’s heart though, he does the best he can, given that he is the ONLY maintenance worker in the WHOLE building; management are the ones who ignore the requests I file.
On the rare occasion it rains, water seeps in through the ~modern~ sliding glass door, and is very difficult to soak up from the ~modern~ concrete floors.
Why are there two smoke detectors within 6 feet of each other in a small studio apartment? More importantly why is there a VERY heat-​sensitive smoke detector directly above the stove? I can’t even boil water without the smoke alarm blaring (seriously, why is it SO loud?).
If your room has a «compact fridge», it’s a minifridge, jammed into a corner so it’s impossible to open the door all the way.
Air conditioning is fake, heating is nonexistent, the ~modern~ shower leaks all over the floor, I have yet to see packages that were delivered a week ago, but hey! At least it came with a flat screen TV.
(That’s actually my favorite thing about this apartment, the TV is on a retractable arm that lets me position the screen directly next to my bed so I can distract myself from the panic-​inducing disaster zone that is my apartment.)

Just experienced one of the worst move-​in weekends ever… Not sure how this place gets away with charging so much money yet lacks the professionalism and customer service to tend to it’s clientele. Maybe it has to do with the age demographic of the residents who live here — mainly UCSB and SBCC students — but either way the condition of the apartment that we were supposed to move into were atrocious. Even before we arrived, I could tell there was something wrong with the way they were handling their business affairs. We attempted to get in contact with either their front desk receptionist or property management, and no one would answer or even return our messages… Back to the conditions of the apartment that was supposed to be move-​in ready and thoroughly cleaned: none of this applied. The previous occupants had not entirely moved out and left behind a dirty apartment — from undergarments to a video game console, although the place was mostly empty you could still tell that this was place was in no condition to be handed over to a new occupant. Then upon closer inspection, we began to notice some of the damage — the spiral staircase was missing a bolt to hold it in place which caused it to shake whenever going up or down, the wall divider in the upper loft was detached from the wall due to screws that had been ripped out, and finally the storage under the bathroom sink was broken causing the door to close awkwardly at an angle. These apartments are only about 2 years old so you would think that the owners and property managers would want to maintain their investment and set the bar high for customer service and satisfaction — but this clearly doesn’t apply here. We were all very disappointed to learn that not much had been done in preparation for our move-​in. When we arrived on Saturday, the front desk guy didn’t have the power or authority to do much either. Not only did he not have the managers phone number, but he didn’t know what cleaning company they used so he could arrange for them to come in and scrub the place down. We had driven over 3 hours with all our stuff packed and this place knew that we would be moving in over 2 months prior to this weekend… The guy just looked at us and told us he could push back the move in date because nothing could be done until Monday… After insisting with him to attempt to contact his manager, he finally reached out to her and eventually went up to the apartment himself and started cleaning — we were very thankful since it was clearly not in his job description to do that. But none-​the-​less, the only reason I didn’t give this place only 1 star is because they earned an extra star for being LEED certified, having a nice design, as well as their awesome upstairs gym and hangout area. The facilities are great, they just need to step it up when it comes to customer service and professionalism. And for the price you pay to live here, I don’t think it’s asking much.

Because I was moving to IV for college, my dad really wanted to find somewhere that i would be safe, and get more of a university feel. I was extremely excited to move into the LOOP, but within the first week i knew that it wasn’t worth the money. The first issue, the management. They switched managers at some point throughout the first few months, but neither of them were helpful at all. Gil’bere really never cared to listen to what I had to say, his favorite line was «shoot me and email.» I could never just get him to listen right then and there, not to mention the emails i would «shoot him» would either be ignored or responded to a week or two late. Second issue was the ants. It really didn’t help that two of the girls that i lived with were complete slobs, but even when there was no food left out the ants would trail in throughout the kitchen. One day i was watching a movie in bed, and i had a cup of orange juice on my desk next to me. I put the OJ down for about 5 minutes and when i turned back my desk had ants everywhere, and the cup was covered in ants. The issue got a little better as the winter months approached but just when spring came around the ants came back too. Oh, and the management ignored all emails that i sent about this issue. The third issue was the apartments in themselves. First off they are TINY, like really tiny. The bathrooms were nice, but the showers were completely leveled with the bathroom floor and there was no barrier to keep water from getting everywhere. The floors are «polished concrete» which makes it feel like a prison cell, cold and uninviting. There was absolutely NO storage other then the kitchen cabinets. No where to put a broom, vacuum or anything of that sort. Honestly if the the LOOP was 3 – 400 dollars cheaper in rent maybe it wouldn’t have felt like such a rip off. The one thing that made the whole year there worth it was the rooftop deck/​gym. GORGEOUS views of the ocean, and i loved showing it off when people came to visit. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to someone, but i wouldn’t say that it was a nightmare. Had a few of the issues been resolved, i would have had a much better experience living there.

The Loop looks great on paper but living there was just average and overpriced. The worst thing though was dealing with the management, very frustrating! On move in day a bronken blind was reported and still has not been fixed a year later. Ants moved in soon after my son did and they were lucky enough to stay the year too. Management did not respond to emails or to any other efforts to contact them with problems or questions. When my son moved out, leaving the room in tip top condition, we were told the security deposit would be returned within a week. Six weeks later still no deposit. Its nearly impossible to get someone on the phone to help so finally an email told us they sent our deposit to the wrong address! Instead of getting our deposit to us quickly, knowing they made a huge mistake, they claim they could only get us our money in another three to six weeks! The management at The Loop is terrible! Live somewhere else!

I had high expectations when I moved into the LOOP last year because (1) it was the first building of its kind to be put up in IV and (2) it had a higher rent than many apartment complexes in IV. Turns out that my expectations were met. The building was always really clean. The building had awesome wall decorations, the hallways are lined with classic and recent photos of IV. My room was modern and clean; beats any dingy Craigslist collection of IV living room furniture. I especially loved how large by bathroom was, it was great when my friends and I would get ready to go out on the weekends. Even my friends who lived in Icon, the building next door, were impressed by the amenities at the LOOP when they would come over to my place. The on site building manager, Gilbere, was always so nice and attentive to my needs. Anytime I had a problem they were apt to help. Occasionally management even put on free pizza party events. The top deck was my favorite place to hang out winter or summer. I spent hours laying out, working out, and warming by the fire pit in the winter.
The building is in a prime location; close to campus and close to all the food places. It was dangerous having Crushcakes down stairs, I’m addicted now!
I really recommend living at the LOOP for at least one year during your time in SB. I recently graduated and it was by far my favorite place I lived in IV.

I just went to visit my sister at the Loop over the weekend. Wow I wish I had that option when I went to school there! They have an awesome roof top and on the first night I was there we laid on the chairs, hung out and enjoyed the beautiful view. You have a view of the ocean and all of IV. I never used any of the equipment, but they have a nice gym out on the roof as well!
The next day we even rented paddle boards (free) from the front desk and the location couldn’t be better because we walked the short 2 blocks to the beach.
I’d recommend living there if you haven’t found a place for next year. Super nice people that live there and a fun environment to be!