Lacy Studio Lofts

If you want quiet, idyllic suburban living and a white picket fence, this is definitely not going to be a good fit. If you want to be part of an interesting community of artists, creatives, and innovators, though, Lacy is worth a look.

I’ve lived here for three years now and love it. The location, the type of people it attracts, the atmosphere and décor and so much more. Since Daniel’s started managing, things are finally running smoothly.

I have been living and working at Lacy for apx 3 years now. It’s a rad place, and the spaces are very cool. I have seen the best and worst of Lacy street and I think there have been 6 managers come and gone since I moved in. That being said its come a long way. The new manager Daniel is very hardworking and spends a lot of time taking care of biz, which is exactly how it should be. And some real improvements have happened as a direct result from him.
There are some great tenants here and it really is a perfect mix of urban living in LA.
What Lacy St is not is a luxury rental property. It’s a live work arts complex with very different types of residents. In my opinion this is a positive… sometimes residents and the management company may forget this, which can lead to some people not being happy. If you want to live in a condo type luxury space Lacy is not for you. If you like creative spaces and people Lacy is spot on.
Within the last year management has made a lot of improvements and have worked well to address most issues and complaints.
Like all places there will be complainers, and Unilocal reviews will for sure reflect this.
Nothing is perfect and property owners are in the business of making money. But overall I really like this place a lot… and honestly have a hard time thinking of where else I could live with comparable vibe /​building style /​neighbors etc around the eastside.

been here for just over a year now. signed on for a few more. we initially burned through a few managers as well as the owners finally tossing a crappy management company. the old management company they were using was running some shady business in the interest of swapping out tenants as often as possible.
Daniel B. our current manager, has gone through extensive lengths to improve the quality of landlord presence within the lacy grounds. the lead time in getting issues addressed has been much improved as well.
there’s plenty of really cool tenants at lacy that really do want the community vibe. many of us hang out, and have developed some fun relationships along with some epic times of large group gatherings.
over all, I’d say the management/​ownership are aligned now, which has made many noticeable changes for the positive. with that said, if you intend to move to Lacy lofts, be aware that there are artists that live here. that means people create, they make noise, they don’t have a regular timed schedule. this isn’t suburbia, this is the commercial district of Lincoln Heights. noise sensitive people need not apply. it’ll just make life on you and your neighbors much more difficult.

I moved in here a few months ago and was a bit weary, as the reviews here are off putting to say the least. From what I understand about the previous management though, the reviews about them were probably pretty accurate, but the place is now under new management and so far it’s a 180 degree course correction from the previous management based on the reviews. I’ve had a great experience so far. The property manager here is a guy named Daniel and he’s been awesome. He showed me around the property when I was considering moving in, was helpful in answering all of my questions and getting me everything I needed to apply. Afterward, I’ve needed help with some typical moving in issues (pointing me in the right direction for the cable and internet provider, correcting a couple of minor issues with some things in my new space, giving me some good recommendations in the area, etc.). Anytime I have called him, he’s been great about calling back quickly if I didn’t get him and generally, he just made the move super easy. As for the place itself, it’s a cool setup — most people who live here are entrepreneurs. The businesses run the gamut of just about any kind of business you can imagine. You have the LA business staples that find in any type of community like this in this city (clothing designers, musicians and film editors), but then you also have a custom bike maker, gourmet food consultants, a concert stage design company, furniture maker, a vinyl record shop, the guys a few doors down from me are a couple of badass architects and I, myself, am a general contractor and that’s just some of the people here… there are a lot more. It’s a pretty diverse community, the common spaces here are fantastic, the metro is 2 blocks away and freeway access (110 and the 5) are within a couple of blocks as well. All the units here look different but they all have that chic, industrial vibe like the places you saw people live in when they moved to NY in the movies when you were a kid (but when you grew up you realized there is no way anyone moving to NY to pursue their dream could afford a pad like you saw in any of the movies where they showed up in the Big Apple and moved into some 5,000 sq. ft. warehouse with high ceilings, wood floors, and «fabulous» accent and task lighting… think Tom Hanks in the movie Big). Anyway, these places actually do look like those and I love the feel, love the diversity of the residents, and hope it stays cool. I’ll check back in in a few months with another update to keep people posted. For now though, I definitely give this place 5 stars.

This place was amazing when it was first developed. Original owner had a great vision for creatives to come together, live, & work in a unique environment. I was a resident at Lacy Studio Lofts for about 18 months. Met great people during my stay…
Long story short, «Leonardo Management, Inc.» came into this place as a third party leasing/​managing agency & bullied people out. These leasing agents get about 15% for every unit that gets occupied. Rent went from $ 2,670 to $ 3,200 & I was force to get rid of my German Shepard because they wanted me to build a fence. The catch was I could only go through their contractors & the total cost was $ 2,200. Mind you, the fence would have only been two 4ft wooden walls w/​2×4 framing. A complete «do it yourself» weekend project that would of ran me no more then $ 150 on materials.
The floor plans are great without a doubt! but unless Leonardo Management leaves, A would stay away from headaches & random charges.

I moved here from Hollywood in November 2013 and had the most horrible living experience here in my life.
If you’re planning to live here as just residents, I advise you to look for another place.
Don’t be fooled by the looks.
The management was very unprofessional from the beginning. I was told to move in on a certain day and I asked the previous Manager Ana, if I can move in early due to my peculiar circumstance and she said no. I was fine with that until the day I was supposed to move in, she told me she was going to be gone for the thanksgiving so she was going to leave all the keys and gate parking clicker with maintenance worker. She never left the keys with him so I had to move all my stuff from the streets at 8pm.
Further more, she told me she was going to charge me extra money if I was to move in at earlier hour than 8pm on my move-​in date. I also had my mattress delivered that day while I was loading at my other apartment and the manger told me she would make an exception and let those guys deliver the mattress to my unit. Later I come back to find out the delivery guys were never let in. So I slept on the floor till it was delivered back. Not to mention, on my last trip to bring all the stuff that night, Ana told me she would put all the keys, including my mail key, house key, and garage clicker, on the kitchen counter. When I came back all the doors were locked. So I had to knock on her door at 11pm to open my door and I realized only my house key was there. I went back and asked for all the keys, and she took out the clicker from her key chain and told me to use it until she gets me a new one.
Later on my stay I found out the tenant living before me had gone to prison and I couldn’t install my internet because his service was never terminated. I had to call back and forth so many times to move my At&t internet and they kept telling me they couldn’t move it, and the manager kept telling me there is nothing she can do because the old tenant is in prison while I clearly told here the At&t representative needs to talk to her.
Also they couldn’t find the key to the mail box so they had to replace the whole lock. since the old tenant had it.
I got my keys weeks later.
I also asked her for the receipts of all my initial payments including the deposit but also took weeks to receive it. She also mentioned that there will be new cabinet, stove, microwave and a fridge that will be installed before I moved in but none of it were done, just old appliances and didn’t even have a fridge. Her excuse was that it was gonna be done for the next year because the new contract that was being written…
She also said she would clean the place and replace the filter in the AC, but since it’s a loft, it’s impossible to check it because it’s near the ceiling. When I borrowed the ladder to put up the curtains, I checked the AC filter and it was never cleaned.
I asked them to replace it to the new filter and also install a mirror in the bathroom and get me a fridge. I ended up getting my own mini fridge because
it was never getting done so I called the Landlord and complained about the manager and my move in experience.
The manager came to my unit and said how dare I call the landlord and complain without talking to her first. She started crying and said if I new how hard it is to manage this place. She also said she was pregnant. The very next day after I talked to the landlord, the mirror was installed and the filter was replaced. She asked me if I needed a fridge and I told her I already bought my own.
She also had two dogs that kept urinating on the grass right in front of my door way. Interesting fact, the tenants take there dog out on a walk and poo and urinate at the big parking lot, and every grass possible in the compound. On a hot day you can smell the dog urine and obviously see the yellow grass everywhere.
A new manager, Javiera came at the time I wanted to leave around March 2014. I had only stayed 4 months of my lease. I had a condition and had doctor’s letter that it would be best for me to leave and go to a rehabilitation center. I also had written up all the negative experience I’ve had to back up my approval of terminating my lease without a fee. The new manger said she would help me find someone to take over my lease.
However, they found someone right away and started a new lease with them.
When I asked for my deposit, she said it were used for all the damages I’ve done??? And then she went on to say that I didn’t know the law here very well because usually when someone terminates a lease, they keep the deposit or me pay for the rest of the lease if there wasn’t a new tenant. She said it would be wise for me to just let it go and be thankful that they are only taking my deposit…
I really didn’t wanna deal with this bullshit so I just let them keep the damn deposit.
I hope they are blessed by my deposit and eat shit.

Only giving one because it won’t let me give negative stats!
DO NOT MOVE HERE! Leonardo Management has destroyed this property like they do with all the properties they run! They are a joke! These are COMMERCIAL lofts, live work lofts! Not residential! They have forced all of the real working tenants and replaced them with screaming kids! Not cool! These were the best lofts to live and run a business, not so anymore. Management would rather have parties and let the property fall apart. They have ruined the lofts by putting substandard replacement parts in kitchens and baths. They have destroyed the «Creative Environment» of this place. LEONARDO MANAGEMENT IS THE WORST THERE IS! Just look what they did to the Redondo pier… that’s a bigger joke! Wonder how bad they’ll screw up the 1030 Echo lofts on Sunset and Alvarado! They screwed up Santa Fe lofts too! They need to stop!

I have played in lofts for the past 12 years, before it was hip and I have looked at their properties at two occasions over the course of five years when I wanted to rent. Their business is borderline crooked. Just a pack of hungry take and run people with a some newcomers as the company face.
In case you didn’t know, a loft is a space that has the following qualities:
1– It is RAW.
2– It is CHEAP because it is raw.
3– It is a MINIMUM 3000 square feet.
It would be great if greedy developers stop calling their menial studios «lofts» and it’s a shame that so many starry-​eyed people are coerced into these this without knowing.

Read the review on Creative Environments of Hollywood. Same place — same management. Stay away.

When I first moved into Lacy it was great, we had a great group of people and the previous owners went out of their way to make sure the community was happy and taken care of. I had a great review up here for years! I just noticed that my old review is up and decided I NEEDED to change it. Lacy sold to new owners a couple of years ago. First, they jacked up my lease by $ 1600 per month!!! So I decided to move (along with most everyone else) which I did, just to find that after signing another lease and paying all the moving cost, they called me pleading that I rent my old place at a lower rate than I previously was paying (slap in the face — I was never late on rent and was very active at helping take care of the place — I cleaned the Koi pond, changed filters on AC units, helped in all kinds of ways to keep things nice). In addition, they lost my lease and actually were charging me less then my rent. We paid the actual lease amount knowing it would bite us later if they ever figured out their mistake. Three months in a row, we told them what our rent was (higher) and every month, they got it wrong. I’ve got a couple friend who live there still. They just got notices that their cams went up and they received bills for over $ 4,000. How can a company that is on top of their game be off by $ 4000 per unit at over 40 units — that’s a miscalculation of $ 160,000. In addition I was paying for a space they said was $ 1900 Sq. feet — my unit was 1600 when we measured it. The cam is supposed to cover the «shared, common areas», but they allowed people to block off those common areas for their own personal use, even though we were all paying for those spots. It’s simply a mess there. In addition, it was an adult lease place when we signed our leases, but the new owners started moving families with little childen in there while our leases were active. The new owners have no respect for the people they move in, the leases we signed and they have no problem surprising their tenants with astronomical lease hikes and Cam costs that are obviously their oversight in the first place. Not good.
Lane

My wife and I just passed on a loft here because they are super shady. I had read reviews of this company (Creative Environments of Hollywood) and their properties (see Cosmo Lofts reviews) and they are pretty spot on.
They use commercial rental tactics to pass you their expenses which although it is legal they do not explain anything to you even when directly addressed about it. They told us our unit would be 900 square feet which when they add in hallways and other common areas this is true… that is what your paying for, but the actual loft unit we would have moved into was only 780 square feet.
Here are 2 links everyone should read before considering a lease with this company.
We went there 3 times to look at the property over a month and the front gate has yet to be fixed. Also, they try to pull a bait and switch with units telling you one is available and when you go to look at it it isnt anymore but a more expensive one is, and if you dont fall for that and call a week later magically a cheaper unit just opened up even though they said that nothing would be coming free in that price range just a week before.
Stay far away from them and you will be much happier.