Angelenos are living in horrific conditions in a supposedly luxury apartment complex on Miracle Mile — and claim the building is doing nothing to help.
Park La Brea, which boasts knock-down rental prices for as low as $2,000 for a studio, actually has numerous issues such as flooding, mold, plumbing and HVAC, renters claim.
The site, made up of 4,000 units in 18 tower blocks next to The Grove, was built in 1951 and is in dire need of updating, the residents argue.
“It’s been incredibly frustrating,” resident Karimah Aledelbi told KTLA. “We had some issues that caused severe damage in our neighbor’s unit, which resulted in, at this stage now, I think it’s been 10 or 11 weeks without a shower.”
A water leak has caused issues in Aledelbi’s unit and forced her and her partner to use the complex’s pool shower while theirs remains inoperable. But the pool shower comes with an extra $150 monthly fee.
Because of the leak, mold has spread in their neighbor’s unit, which Aledelbi claims they can smell.
“Because of the severe water damage that this leak caused next door with our neighbor, there was significant mold on his side,” she alleged. “The smell obviously permeated into our unit.”
Another resident, who identified herself only as “Rayko,” says the building’s HVAC system may pose serious and potentially life-threatening risks. She didn’t clarify why exactly.
“It may cause severe injury or possible death. Health issues and possible death to the resident,” Rayko claimed.
Another resident said their apartment was flooded for weeks but management only agreed to move her if she signed a non-disclosure agreement about the flooding problems.
“Every morning I would wake up, there would be water all over the floor,” they alleged.
A fourth resident, Jeff Eissenstat, said residents received a letter from the Los Angeles Housing Department in 2024 informing them of hazards involving “life-threatening conditions,” due to illegal construction.
“Not only do the problems exist here, but if they exist here in this building, likely they exist in all the other buildings on the property as well,” Eissenstat said.
Park La Brea is known for being affordable. The apartment says they provide “quality apartments to our residents at competitive prices.”
Several one-bedroom floor plans are below the median rent price of more than $2,900 in the central Los Angeles area.
The apartment describes itself as “a stunning residential community with garden cottages and townhomes and high-rise apartments for rent located in the heart of Los Angeles,” that has “an impressive collection of lifestyle amenities and apartment features.”
Nevertheless, there’s been a history of issues at the apartment.
Back in 2017, 16 former or current residents of the complex won a $3.5-million lawsuit against the apartment over a bedbug infestation that they said management knew about.
A janitor was also murdered at the complex in 2021 after stopping a teenager from entering a building who had the intention to hurt his girlfriend.
The Los Angeles Housing Department told the California Post that there “are violations on record at Park La Brea and there have been Notices to Comply issued at this location by the Los Angeles Housing Department,” without offering specifics.
The California Post could not find any public hearings scheduled for grievances or any code violations in Los Angeles Housing Department records. The apartment does have several rent complaints dating to between 2005 and 2010.
The California Post reached out to the Park La Brea apartments and Aledelbi for comment.
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