NMS At Lincoln

We were looking at all kinds of apartments in Santa Monica and despite the mostly negative reviews of this place we decided to give it a try… this was by far our worst experience. The receptionist alone has kept us from taking this place seriously. Her name is Brandy. There was a miscommunication regarding when we could see an apartment (no one is at fault here) however she yelled at us about inquiring the appointment time. She has some major attitude problems. I can’t even recall a time when any other person has spoken to me in that way! Totally unnecessary and uncalled for. Stay far away from this place as every other review will tell you! I wouldn’t live here even if it was free… the disrespect leaves me in awe.

I’ve been living in this building for about 18 months now. Though extremely overpriced for the tiny closet you’ll be living in, the actual units are quite nice.
However, NMS is the worst management company I’ve ever had to deal with. The staff is especially rude and unhelpful. Before moving in and signing my lease NMS was easy to contact and my inquiries were always met with a response. Once you move in, they are impossible to contact. On numerous occasions I have left multiple voicemails which all seem to be ignored. I’ve never received a response to any email I’ve sent to anyone at this company.
Usually in-​unit maintenance requests are responded to the same day. However, I’ve been asking to have screens installed in my windows since I moved in and my windows are still screen-​less. I also been receiving notices that a hot water meter is going to be installed in my unit and it never is. Isn’t this something that should have been done before anyone even moved in to the building? The washers in the communal laundry room also always seem to be out of order. For a building with so many tenants and so few washers to begin with this makes it even harder to fight for a time to be able to do laundry. For how much these apartments cost, I expect the amenities that they do provide (which is literally only laundry… that you have to lug all the way down to the 3^rd floor of the basement…) to work.
Be prepared for the fire alarm in the whole building to go off at least once a week.
The tenants of this building are a mixed bag. Some are fine. The section 8 tenants tend to be a problem (and they seem to make up more and more of the building these days). Trash is often left outside of units when the trash chute is just around the corner. Really? Come on, people. A bunch of my neighbors talk on the phone very loudly on their balconies at all hours of the night. Overall, some of the tenants here seem to be lazy and just don’t care. It ruins the overall atmosphere. There’s also an old man who lives here who I always see smoking in the parking garage. He then smokes as he rides up through the elevator and down the indoor hallway to his unit. On a few occasions I’ve found homeless people sleeping in the elevator. All of these things are gross. And not something I should have to deal with.
This building has a huge problem with mail theft. I have had three packages stolen in the past month alone. I’m not sure if it’s other tenants, which to be honest wouldn’t surprise me, or if it’s people who don’t live here. This building is not secure at all and anyone can walk right in. It’s unsettling. I don’t think it’s too much to ask to receive mail and not have it stolen, let alone feel safe in your own home.
Also, it may just be because I’m a working professional and not in a frat or sorority, but I have come to dislike the location of this building. Sure, it’s close to the promenade and you can walk to the beach, but those things make it feel like you’re living in a college dorm.
I’m completely over this building. If it weren’t for the fact that I can live here and have a dishwasher, non-​carpeted floor, parking, and laundry, I’d be gone. While I don’t feel the urgency to move immediately, I have been actively looking for other apartments for a while now.
If you’re thinking about moving into this building because it seems new and the cheapest you’ll find in Santa Monica, I would strongly urge you to reconsider.
EDITED TO ADD:
There was just a drunk man who smelled like pee in the laundry room. Who threw my laundry all over the place. Really a lovely place to live.

I feel that, after living here for a year, I finally know all I need to know to appropriately rate NMS@Lincoln. So here goes!
The living space here has its ups and downs. Everything in the units is gorgeous. Hardwood floors, brand new appliances, balconies, and spacious closets. The apartments look fabulous. However, the spaces are very, very small. The unit that I had was 430 sq. ft. (which is actually one of the bigger units in the building) and it started to bother me about halfway through my lease. I also lived with another person, so the small square footage was much too small for us over the course of a year. There isn’t any storage space either, so you’d need to plan accordingly if you have a lot of extra items in your household.
The location is what it’s all about here. The building is in walking distance to everything in Santa Monica. Everything! I loved being able to go all over downtown Santa Monica all the time without a problem and without traffic. You will love it! The building doesn’t really come with any great amenities though, which, again, I didn’t really mind until about halfway through my lease here. The laundry room is in the parking garage, so its quite a hassle to chart your laundry up and down! There is a really great rooftop lounge that is quite enjoyable though! It is also pretty nice to live right above the businesses. Right downstairs you have Starbucks, a pizza place, Jersey Mikes, Pono Burger, and Chase Bank. Really convenient! You also have Swingers and a really great wine bar called Bodega thats pretty nice.
The residents in the building are a complete mix. The building is a low-​income building, but I was under the impression at first that it was mostly young adults who were starting their future professions due to the rent being incredibly high (around $ 1,700 a month). I was wrong. I only found out just recently that a large proportion of this building is actually Section 8 housing, which I would have appreciated knowing before I moved in here… Half of the residents are great, and like I had predicted, were mid twenties-​mid thirties young professionals. The other half were questionable, to say the least. There have been a few incidences with the Section 8 residents over the course of the year (drug use, yelling, threatening people, etc.- the cops have been called several times) that guaranteed I would be leaving after my lease was up. You’ll see a lot of sketchy, homeless looking, and/​or drugged out people from time to time and you’ll keep your door locked because of it.
As for crime, there were various incidents over the past year. Cars were broken into, bicycles were stolen, and, as previously stated, the police were called because of Section 8 residents. Personally, the only thing that happened to me was that my car was vandalized in the middle of the night. However, it wasn’t that big of a deal– the person just stole the emblems off of my car.
Overall, the management in this place has been great. I’ve never had a problem with the office whatsoever, and I’m very thankful for that. The management has always been kind, helpful, and accommodating.
To sum it up, this isn’t a terrible place to live. I really enjoyed our small apartment for the past year, and I loved living in such a great location. There are definitely ups and downs here, but that’s to be expected in a low-​income building! Again, I wish I would have known about the Section 8 residents sooner, but what’s done is done. This won’t be your dream place, but it can be a great in between for you in the mean time.

3 out of 5 for small space and layout, 4 out of 5 for management, and 4 out of 5 for normal wear and tear. Humidity is an issue, but I’ve never seen mildew, mold, nor bugs.

Do not move in here. I may be the only review on their Unilocal page but the majority of tenants that I speak to feel this way.
Bugs…and its a new building? A LOT of bugs. Ants are common with new buildings but not these bugs. Its a new building so there are a lot of settling problems to the drywall is cracking and the floor is separating from the walls. The bath tub and tile in the bathroom is cracking in the grout and there is mold.
There are a lot of problems but the biggest of it all is the staff. Most unwilling to help, unfriendly, and unorganized people I have ever met. I’m a logical person. DO NOT MOVE IN HERE. Way over priced to be treated terribly.