SB Grand Lofts

This place is awful. One of the elevators has been broken for 5 months. One of the employees, Hector, has continually told me that the elevator would be fixed «in a couple of days». I was also in contact with one of the owners, Yaniv. He began ignoring my requests and now his emails are bouncing back! Completely unprofessional. Renters beware.

The Pros:
Security is effective, approachable, and friendly. They’re all good people.
Beautiful views.
There are some gorgeous units in the building.
Many cool tenants
Exciting neighborhood with lots of great cafes, restaurants, and shops
60 steps from the LA Metro
Lots of excellent gyms nearby
The Cons:
Management is abysmal and unresponsive, due in part to the legal anarchy of having a building with both tenants, privately owned condos leased to tenants, and owners. Our upstairs neighbor’s AC leaked onto our stuff and after sending management videos of the continuous stream, they did nothing: they didn’t contact us again, they didn’t help us contact our neighbor, nothing.
Related to management, there are a ton of leaks in this building and the water has been turned off all day at least five times this year alone.
Some tenants act like spoiled college students and don’t pick up after their dog pees all over the elevator (Most dog owners are nice and very responsible though).
The gym is horrendous: outdated, extremely hot in the summer, medieval equipment that always breaks down after some meathead pounds the weights too hard.
The elevators break down at least once a month.
The neighborhood itself is awesome, reminds me of NYC, but the homeless situation and the slight insanity of city life in DTLA can get overwhelming and even frustrating sometimes. My wife and I have seen the following in the streets:
A man shitting standing up
A guy singing in a karaōke mic while he pushed his amp in a shopping cart
Seven people passed out on the sidewalk like some massive plague
Rats scurrying in the public trash can
Cholos walking around intensely
Methheads scratching their hair out
Several bum fights, 1 involving a board with nails (or something)
A white bro getting arrested for being a general drunken douchebag
A dude pulling his dick out and peeing on the wall in front of us before declaring: «You can watch if you want to»
A group of drunk people in Santa outfits
A car accident involving a drunk dude who ran over a fire hydrant and almost drown
A guy walking through traffic with his hand down his pants
In review: this neighborhood isn’t for the faint of heart. But for New Yorkers, Chicagoans, artists and writers, actors, urban types, and people who’ve lived in the big city, you’ll be fine. You’ll sometimes hate it, but you’ll know how to deal with it.

I didn’t have a problem with the building management or any other major issues while I lived here for a little over a year (my dishwasher was terrible though). The main issue came when I moved out and they took nearly all of my security deposit even though I left my apartment in very good shape (I took photos of everything before moving in and before moving out). What they do is have an outside vendor, DTLA Management LLC, bill the invoice for the cleaning/​painting etc. which happens to be registered to Rommy Shy, a relation of Barry Shy (5^th St. Lofts LLC and other SB properties owner), and has the same office location as the 5^th St. Lofts LLC office at 600 S. Spring St. This lets them essentially claim whatever expenses they want to take your deposit as California law only requires 5^th St. Lofts LLC to send you an outside vendor’s invoice (technically DTLA Management LLC) as opposed to an itemized breakdown of number of hours worked and the hourly rate if their own employee (s) did the work.
I of course read reviews online of the SB properties and SB Grand before moving in but, I assumed that these were just some outlier cases of people complaining about losing their security deposit. If you don’t mind living in a building maintained by a property owner with questionable business practices and you don’t mind going into it assuming you will not get your security deposit back then good luck and enjoy your time at SB Grand.
*I originally posted this at what appears to be a duplicate listing for the building at
so I’m copying it here.

The building isn’t so bad. Nice views. Neighbors are pretty cool. Central location. Management on the other hand is horrible. I read the reviews warning me before I moved in and I should have listened. It’s not worth living here. You’re nothing more than a paycheck to them. I’ve been living here a year and have had serious ongoing issues. Leaks over and over and… homeless junkies living on my rooftop patio space when I’m not around. Seriously.
Within the first couple months I noticed the constant sound of water trickling in the drainage pipe that ran through my bedroom. I let management know and they told me there was a broken AC unit on the roof that was leaking. You’d think they might want to fix it but they just left it that way for months. Eventually the constant flow of water created a leak around the pipe that hung directly over my bed. My girlfriend was literally getting dripped on while she slept. Like a drip every 2 seconds. For 3 months this went on! I had to rearrange my room so I could put pots in place of the bed. The bed was moved over so far I had to climb over it to get to the closet. I complained over and over and over. They sent up about 5 different maintenance guys who, all said they would have it fixed like the next day. Then they would disappear and not return my phone calls. Management ignored a bunch of my emails and calls. After about 3 months they fixed the AC but not the leak. So once it started raining the leak started up again. I’m on the 11^th floor so when it rains, it’s raining on my roof. When the heavy rains came 15 – 20 new leaks sprung up. There were so many leaks we ran out of pots and pans to catch it all and had to start using bowls and cups. They finally fixed the majority of them but still, after a year, every time it rains one of the old leaks starts up again. Management acts like it’s no big deal and just ho hum everyday stuff. A leak in the kitchen warped and destroyed the cabinetry.
All of that however doesn’t hold a candle to the squatters that security has been lax enough to let live in my storage space/​patio on the roof. (who lets a homeless person in the front door??) First time it happened somebody broke into my fenced off patio space and stole some items form my storage bins. Reported that to management and they did nothing. Several months later as I went up to plan out a BBQ pit to add to the patio, I discovered someone had converted my storage bin into a hut. They strung up blankets for shade and shoved my old chair inside. They left shoes and some clothes around and broke a large old painting I had stored and used it for shade too. Pretty ridiculous right? I mean what if my girlfriend went up there alone some night and got raped by the crazy guy living in my storage bin? You’d think that after hearing about something like that management would be mortified at how horrible of a job they did to secure the building and my property. Wrong… they didn’t seem to care. Barely phased them. They didn’t act apologetic at all. Just told me I should call the cops and did nothing more. Fast forward about 3 months later… It’s christmas time, bringing home a tree. I go upstairs to get the tree stand from the patio. I find a cracked out homeless lady wandering around in front of my patio gate. I confront her and she claims she has a friend in the building. (yeah right) I go onto the patio and find the homeless people have returned. They turned the storage space into the same little tented house from last time and left bags, clothes, mail and needles around. I’m pissed off but I just want my damn christmas tree stand. I go to turn it over and dump out what I think is rain water inside of it… nope, that’s shit and piss. All comes spilling out and now my patio smells like a sewer. They’re using the christmas tree stand as a toilet. Merry Christmas! What does management have to say? «I strongly suggest you share all of this information with LAPD.» Not even the slightest of apologies or any attempt to make amends after all the bullshit they know they’ve irresponsibly put me through all year. I’ll be moving out ASAP. And also FUCK SB Grand.

Moved in here about a month ago. Here’s my thoughts:
Agree with everyone that at times, it can feel like management is non-​existent.
Security guards: there’s about 4 of them that I see regularly, and 1 of them always seems to have a chip on his shoulder. He’d rather read a book than say hello as you enter/​exit the building. And I still have no idea how the package system works.
I haven’t seen any roaches in my apartment yet, but between other reviews and the notices to sign up for pest control, I’m a little concerned that I’ll begin seeing them at any given moment.
And the cleanliness is about what I expect from a downtown loft complex, honestly. It can be a little grimy in certain places, but the cleaning crew does a decent job of keeping the hallways nice and clean. I haven’t seen dog urine/​droppings anywhere in the past month, but I’m sure it’s bound to happen.
Some neighbors don’t seem to get along. Next door dude is black and runs a dispensery and naturally smokes a fair bit. Doesn’t bug me as I too partake, but talking to some of my neighbors, they seem to mostly be ignorant and hateful towards the guy. If you read this, next-​door dude, keep fighting the good fight!
There’s definitely a lot of owners in the building which definitely lends to a little bit of elitism against renters, but it’s not like anybody goes out of their way to make you feel unwelcome — just some annoyed middle-​aged faces honestly.
The place has a metric f*ck-ton of character though — definitely the coolest apartment I have ever rented, hands down. Love hanging my bike from the ceiling. Love turning on the rope lights strung throughout the kitchen and wine rack, and I love climbing up into my bed at night. Too cool.
My one, major complaint about this place though really isn’t the building itself. I can understand it’s not really up to the building, but I still feel that it should be reflected in my score (knocking an entire star off for this) because it should be factored into your decision in living here: there’s just too many homeless out front of the building. I can’t walk down the street without emptying my pockets of all change/​cigs without getting threatened by these drugged up transients. I seriously expected a girl last week was about to attack me because I refused to dig into my pockets for change (I just put on those jeans — knew there was no change in ‘em). She screamed at me as I hurried through the door, chastising me for having enough money for my «fancy apartment» but not having any change for her to continue her drug habit. She looked like she’d been on xannies or vics for about 4 days straight and lost her way back to UCLA (some skanky little white girl).
Despite the homeless, the location is fantastic. Broadway is kind of a useless stretch if you’re not looking to shop at Jose’s Discount Boombox store, but it’s slowly coming back as Spring and the old theaters are being revitalized, and heading West a block or two takes you to the vibrant areas around The Standard. Never bored here, just wishing for a little less homeless presence. Can we please get them some proper low-​income housing already? It’s getting out of hand, Garcetti. I can only give so much change to these people.

I am very impressed with this building– particularly their leadership team. Sara Messall the Accounts Manager since my initial application has been incredible. She has responded to my emails immediately, thorough answering my questions and has gone out of her way to make sure my experience has been outstanding. Even my move-​in day was flawless– she made sure the loading zone was coned off for my moving company, gave me an extra key for the building the day I requested, and followed up on my maintenance requests immediately after I emailed her. Her professionalism is impeccable and I honestly felt compelled to comment. I am surprised the building has such low ratings– I understand that people have individual issues but my experience has really been exceptional.

There have been times when I love everything about this place and want to give it 5 stars, and times where I am not so enthusiastic. I suppose that’s to be expected with most anywhere though. I moved here in the summer of 2009 (renting by the way), and while I’ve considered leaving a couple of times, I’ve not been very serious about it despite having had gone through some annoying things. In any case, here are some of my thoughts and experiences:
Downtown. If you’ve never/​rarely been downtown… well you need to visit! It’s not for everyone, but if you like it at all, you’ll probably love living in the area. I have a unit that faces Broadway at the end of a hall, so I can’t speak to the inner courtyards, and I only share a wall with one neighbor. I get the sense that if you had a bad neighbor, sound could be a problem. When I first moved downtown, my trouble was actually the sound of the city itself. My first night I panicked a little bit when I heard the buses at night, and the garbage collection early in the morning. It took me a couple of weeks to get used to the sound. Now I can sleep through, well, a lot.
The building sometimes can be lacking in the cleanliness department, but I haven’t ever come across nightmare messes. I have had notes left on my door from a neighbor complaining about my dog peeing on the hallway floors (I don’t have pets). Some complaints are probably very legitimate, but others are like those left on my door: irrational, delusional, coming from people with unrealistic expectations… I don’t know what, but they may not be the most reliable of sources. Beyond the walls of the building, rats, insects, human and animal urine… seeing a guy peeing in the ally is not uncommon. Again, downtown is not for everyone.
I feel as if the management has its good days, but is not that great. It took me forever to get a parking spot here, and I’m pretty sure they lost/​threw away my info at some point. Even still they seem to have a difficult time contacting me about anything. There was a flood a few floors above me years ago. For some reason the source could not be pinpointed, and continued to flow way longer than it should have (disconnected washing machine hose from someone who left). Despite major efforts several times a day to alleviate the situation, I had a couple of inches of water in my apartment for days. Communication during that whole process was somewhere between non-​existent and poor. Horrible incident. I planned to leave when that happened, but my love for the neighborhood took hold and things got better. Management tends to notify tenants of things just before, during, or after the event at hand; you can’t rely on them to be prepared, responsible, or plan much at all. The front door has had issues many times. They seem to bulk hire/​fire staff (conjecture here). You get to like people, and suddenly they are all gone. The garage door in the self-​park lot seems to malfunction once a month (very sporadically). The materials and equipment in the building are not as nice as other places, which is fine if you aren’t looking for fancy, but it’s perhaps endemic of management being cheap about things. This kind of cheapness is pervasive and explains why they struggle to have a garage door that opens on queue despite paying $ 250/​month for a spot.
I love my exposed concrete floors and ceilings. I love the high ceilings. My views. My giant windows. I love the dogs in the elevators! How friendly so many of my neighbors seem to be… I only wish I knew more of them. And knew them better. I live central to everything, and in the heart of one of the best neighborhoods around. My appliances might be the cheap version of something nice, but I pay a reasonable price for something nicer than most other parts of town. Great bang for my buck. Did I mention the dogs? And everything?
If you’re going to live here, you’ll probably have to put up with some garbage (literally and figuratively) from time to time. But if you’re okay with that, which is probably the personality type that would be interested in living in this part of town anyway, you might have found a good fit.

The building manager is horrible. She has yet to return a phone call and only answered my emails after more than a week. In addition, she has screaming fights with her boyfriend on their balcony. I can tell you everything about her personal life, including his recent stay in jail. Cigarette smoke from the balconies comes directly through my bathroom vent. The gym equipment is awful and most of the treadmills are broken.

The management changed and everything went to sh*t. Elise the new manager is the worst ever. She does the «fake nice» so badly I feel sorry for her. She had attitude from day one with me. Even though I was actually going out of my way to be nice to her. I wanted to give her a fair chance after Tatiana (the previous manager) left. Tatiana was very good, committed to performing her job the best she can.
Cutting the story short…
I wanted to move out with less than 30 day notice. There were multiple complications with that on part of SB Lofts but I went out of my way to provide them with pretty pictures of my space and showing the space on short notice.
BTW they stick a notice on your door saying they will be showing your space on Saturday between 9am and 5pm. I have a cat that can’t be left with strangers so basically SB Lofts requires me to be home all day, yes! And do you think the building manager shows up with prospective tenant? No. She sends strangers to my door and expect me to show them around.
I want to cut this story short… They rented my apartment thanks to my help sooner therefore they supposed to reimburse me unused rent. They did not.
They supposed to send me $ 500 deposit back. They did not.
According to CA tenant law they had 30 days to deliver my deposit back together with itemized deductions and for every thing that is $ 125 they have to give me a receipt. They did not.
After 30 day (allowed by law) they send me invoice changing me for painting and «damage» to the floor. Painting is consider «normal wear and tear». Mine definitely was as there were very few scuff marks that could be easily removed with Magic Eraser. And they were but they still charged me for «full painting»!
The floor is a stained concrete with many cracks and uneven stains by design. Apparently a single female walking barefoot and a cat can do $ 500 damage to it.
Bottom line is CA law allows only 30 days to return security deposit. If you don’t hear from your landlord before these 30 days is up, your landlord forfeits his right to deduct anything.
I contacted the upper management about it — Sara and she admitted they miscalculated my refund and then I never heard from her again. I also asked (multiple times) both Sara and Elise about the correct legal entity name SB Lofts operates and they both refuse to tell me. They don’t operate under 5^th St Lofts LLC as the invoice I got was from. Luckily there is CA Secretary of State website! I’m filing a court case against them and if you need any information about my case contact me and I’ll be happy to help you. Luckily CA allows to sue for treble damages.

Worst experience.
The maintenance is aweful and be careful. The basement gym is dark and scary — I never went back — and the equipment is like 100 years old. They never maintain the swimming pool. Such a getto swimming pool area. Also it’s very loud. Some of our neighbors smoked (and the smoke came into our house) and other neighbor played really loud music late night. I complained but the management didn’t do anything.
Lastly, they took all our deposit money and we are trying to file a small claim. But they purposely hide their business name to make it harder to sue them! They have a lot of lawsuit going on on this building — that is why.
Also that is why you can’t get finance to buy the condo — because of lots of lawsuit. don’t move here. it was the worst experience ever.
If anyone knows their real business name, please let me know!

So far so good… Great building

This is my home away from during the week for the past 3 years. Can’t beat the location. Haven’t had issues with neighbors or maintenance. Recommend renting from private owner.

The link above says it all. And the description from the ad…
* Can you provide certified copies of eviction notices from your two prior residences?
* Do you have a criminal record, or aspire to?
* Are you oblivious to the fact that you’re loud, obnoxious, and generally disruptive of anyone’s concerns except your own?
* Do you have at least five dogs, and do 2 – 3 of them bark constantly (bonus money if they’re trained to defecate/​urinate on elevators upon entry; double bonus if they bark, defecate, urinate and vomit at the same time).
* Is your stereo system capable of hitting concert-​level volume over several square blocks? Do you play it at 3AM?
* Do you have a boyfriend/​girlfriend that you constantly argue with at volumes high enough to disturb everyone in the building?
* Are your friends generally as big or a bigger loser than yourself?
* Do you look at homeless people on the street and say to yourself, «Someday.. .»
* Do you feel entitled to what you want, when you want it?
* If you had to describe yourself in three words, would they all be «A$$HOLE?»

I had a problem with my dryer but I finally got a new one. Tatiana and Sarah are really helpful and on top of things in regards to following up. I noticed a leak in a pipe the other night and sent them a video of it on Saturday night. Within an hour 2 people came to look at it! Great response!

Management is the worst. My BF’s kitchen sink got stopped up, as in would not drain at all, and it took them TWO WEEKS to fix it.
My BF has lived there for over 2 years, recently decided to stop paying the outrageous «valet» parking fee ($ 150/​month, and valet really means we illegally park way too many cars down here and there’s no way you can get your own car out), and what do you know two months later management decided he needed to renew his lease at a higher rate. And they gave him about 24 hours to make a decision. His rent was $ 1350 when he moved in (plus parking) and now it’s $ 1500 and he parks in a cheap lot off-​site.
The apartment itself is a great space, but all the finishings/​fixtures are the kind that are made to look fabulous from afar, but up close they’re as cheap as it gets. Also, there are roaches.
In terms of the location, it’s convenient if you take the train a lot or if you have a dog. However, it’s extremely noisy, the metro station area is full of downtown’s finest, and if you pay attention you’ll notice that the area is pretty much infested with rats, roaches and drug dealers. I have to take my dog to Pershing Square at all hours and she goes crazy over the rats.
Anyway, if you’re considering moving into any of the SB buildings, good luck.

it is literally impossible that this place could possibly get 5 stars. Any review giving it 5 stars has to have been fabricated by an employee. ALL of SB’s properties are disgusting and highly overpriced. These developers completely ruined buildings that had potential. They are all tacky and of cheap quality. They ALL smell like dog piss and cleaning supplies. Not to mention these annoying idiots spam sites like craigslist 40−60+ times a day over and over and over again. They even pretend that they are private owners leasing their own personal lofts, but it’s pretty obvious when the ads say the same exact thing. Scumbag slumlords and shady managerment.

I was tempted to write this review before I moved in. The process of viewing, re-​viewing, deciding, leasing and going back again to take pictures and measurements gave us ample opportunity to see various parts of the building and interact with staff, and it was a pleasure from start to finish. Tatiana and Brian, the leasing reps, were friendly and professional and patient.
NOTE: Whatever happens outside the building isn’t the fault of management. The fact that people pee in the alley next door isn’t the owner’s fault. The fact that there are crazy people walking around at all hours isn’t the owner’s fault.
The SB Grand building and Barry Shy have received a lot of negative Unilocal reviews and, as I indicated, I almost wrote my review based only on the leasing process just to provide some balance. But I decided to wait until we were moved in so my story could be as rounded out as possible.
We’ve been in the unit for two weeks now and here’s what I have to say… as a resident:
On moving day the elevator (the only one that goes all the way up to the top floor) was conveniently locked down for the movers. The security guys are pleasant and professional. The guys in the garage are friendly and accommodating. Maintenance requests are handled promptly. The views are great. The rooftop pool and deck are beautiful. The building is maintained very well. The hall smells of cleanser only for an hour or so a week AFTER someone mops it — no longer.
This is a great building and a great apartment and we are two very happy tenants.
There you are.

I receive very frequent emails about this review — lots of questions from everything about bugs to rent to if we can «hang out» if they move in (boys, Unilocal is not a dating site!), and even creepy shit like what floor I live on. But most questions I am happy to answer, and the fact is, I love this building. I’ve lived here over a year now and plan to keep staying. My rent is cheap, my appliances work just fine, the building staff is friendly — I can’t say enough about this place. They put suggestion cards in the lobby and I can’t even think of anything to suggest.
My neighbors are awesome. I really like the people I get to live near. It’s a well-​rounded building — everything from families to couples to singles. But there’s definitely that «hip» sensibility around (maybe too many FIDM students?). As for the «ghetto» nature that Jeremy C. discussed, I can understand that. The lower floors pay lower rent, thus higher instances of tattoo-​laden, pants-​sagging, pot selling individuals. The floors higher than me have more instances of designer-​clad adorned smugness, dangling BMW keys with their large stock portfolio. Classism at its finest!
I’m sorry to those people who have been burned by this company. I’m sorry that the place smells too clean. I’m sorry its hallways are too complicated to understand (I know how confusing circles can be!) I’m sorry us renters are free-​loading off your home owners fees. I’d like to thank you for raising the overall classiness of the building, because a majority of the lofts are owned, rather than rented, which I think makes for better neighbors. I mean, who wants to live next to ghetto renters like me?!
I will keep living here though. There’s no problem with my plumbing or electrical wiring. There’s no problem with my windows or my appliances. Downtown rocks, and I’d totally recommend this building to anyone looking to rent in the area. High ceilings, huge windows, large bath tub, decent amenities, great location. But don’t take my word for it! The less people crowding the poolside, the better.

i’ve been looking to live in dtla to be closer to my job, and rent is NOT cheap if you want to live in a decent place. i figured the prices at sb grand might be too good to be true, and after reading all the horror stories about barry shy and his associates, i thought maybe i was making the biggest mistake of my life by even considering this building. alas, after meeting with sara, the girl working in the leasing office and looking at the unit, my roommate and i were in love with the concrete floors, exposed ceilings, and amazing views.
i was still uncertain about the parking situation as (yes) they do charge you $ 150/​month for valet service that hoists your car up onto hydraulic lifts to make room for another car to park under it. however we loved everything else about the place that we decided to sign the lease and if absolutely necessary, find another lot to park in later down the road.
on move in day sara was extremely helpful, making sure we had everything we needed. a smoke detector was beeping, and our faucet was missing its handle, but both were replaced while we were still there moving and building furniture. the doorman was very friendly and locked an elevator for us to use exclusively.
i had to park my car in the dreaded underground lot but i found the valet to be friendly and skilled at backing up my car to the elevator so that i could unload my things. i really believe that if you have a good attitude and are friendly to people serving you, you’ll get the same in return. i wouldn’t be surprised if the people writing those horror stories either warranted bad service somehow or it was just an unfortunate occurrence.
now we’re settled in and i love my place. i have an amazing view of pershing square from my bed and we have a huge tub with plenty of space for candles. it’s quiet at night and so far i have no complaints of noise from neighbors. the only complaints i can think of are that the refrigerator is flush to the wall with no room to move, so when the door is opened it grinds against the drywall and creates a dent… that and the fact that parking is $ 150/​month. but for the low price of ~$ 1700 for our 2 bedroom loft, overall i feel it’s worth it. oh and yes, the gym IS a dungeon, so if you’ve heard about that, it’s true.
overall i’m glad we took a chance with this building, and really you can’t beat this location for this price, and of course the fact that my commute went from 1.5 hours to 10 minutes! no it’s not luxurious, and no, it’s not south park. you’re going to have bums walking around outside, as well as people in suits and hipsters alike. the building is old and has character in my opinion. like i said before, if you have a good attitude and (probably more importantly) pay your rent on time, i would recommend living here.

This place is getting better at the same time as its getting worse…
I love that I can hear my loftmates partying into the wee hours of the morning… sometimes I pretend they even talk to me and invite me to their little shin-​digs but alas…
I don’t like the owner and the fact that he owns everything downtown (Bary Shy).
I love walking out my door and into the surrealism that is Downtown LA.
I don’t love the ongoing construction outside my window that starts before the sunrise.
I love my roof-​top swimming pool and jacuzzi and the view of all of Downtown.
I hate my rent.
I love my evil red dog.
Come on down if you wanna check out some gorgeous sunrises/​sunsets. I promise I won’t make you feel inferior or un-​hip because you don’t live in Downtown LA :)