Franklin Plaza Apartments by Prometheus

Before new management took over I loved living here. The lobby had nice photos, beautiful fixtures, and doggy treats for our furry friends. It smelled and looked like a hotel lobby and there was a friendly face greeting you when you walked in. Not anymore… Now there’s the smell of urine, no one is in the office, and the doggy treats and photos were removed. The hallways smell like a college dorm. This new management has literally washed their hands of this building. All plants are dead, pool is dirty, and there is a new cleaning lady that hardly ever comes. Before, the gentlemen kept this building in spectacular shape. Now it has literally gone to hell. I thought this place was a bargain but now I feel like I’m overpaying. Stuff is breaking in my apartment and it takes weeks for someone to come fix it. Who owns this building anyway?!

I’ve lived here at Franklin Plaza for two years now. It used to be such a nice welcoming place to call home. Then the building was purchased by another company and new management arrived. I don’t know the name of the company that manages Franklin Plaza right now. The people who work here will not give me this information. As a resident, you will be given a generic email address and the number to the landline in the office downstairs. Don’t bother calling, because nobody works there.
Yes, there is no longer anyone working downstairs. Ever. My packages have been stolen because any mail that doesn’t fit in the mailboxes is simply left all over the lobby.
I have made several service requests and will never hear back, or will be promised repeatedly that it will be taken care of and it never is.
While there used to be daily security and daily cleaning, there is now NO security and virtually no cleaning. The plants are dead. The carpets stink of urine.
The management either does not care or does not know what they’re doing.

This place has gone soooo downhill! This place used to look so nice but definitely not anymore. First of all, the lobby used to look so nice with the coffee machine, water dispenser and dog biscuits but now it looks terrible with trash everywhere. The plants are all dying in the pool area and someone has stolen majority of the free weights in the gym (2 – 10 pounds). I also never see anyone in the front office so I guarantee that whoever owns this building hasn’t been here in weeks/​months. This place is definitely not the price.

RUN!
First, take notice of the dates when the positive reviews are written. I live here for over 3 years. Things have always been «ok» until the building was bought a few months ago. Since then, A-​W-​F-​U-​L.
Before we had a maintenance man, if something was broken or need fixed, it was completed in 48 hours. Now, if something is broken, you email the front office (because nobody works here anymore) and hope to get it fixed within a month. I’M STILL WAITING ON MY DOOR TO BE FIXED (2 months since being told someone will be there next week)!
The building itself has completely fallen apart. The carpets are all stained and soaked in animal urine. The smell is awful and it was never like this for my first 3 years. The plants are all DEAD now on the property. Literally, all it takes is somebody to water them once a week.
There has been a broken door in the hallway for over 3 months now and I’M 100% SURE ITS A FIRE HAZARD.
Packages before got logged into the computer, an email was sent to you and the package was held in the package room. NOW, no email or no package room. Packages are just left out for anyone to grab and since there is no longer security, you guessed it, packages are stolen daily.
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS PLACE NOW SUCKS!!! RUN! DO NOT RENT HERE!
NEW MANAGEMENT IS A JOKE!

GROSS!
— The hallways are filthy covered in urine and stink.
— Nobody works in the front office anymore.
— Asbestos in the building. (You’ll find out when you sign lease)
— No more security guard
— No more maintenance guy
— Nobody cleans the grounds and when they do it’s a joke.
— Try contacting anyone that works here and be prepared to wait days if not weeks for a response.
— Did I mention there is urine EVERYWHERE and never cleaned up.
— My packages have been stolen 3 times since new management took over. Never once before.
DO NOT LEASE HERE!!!

Absolutely do not rent here! Before the new management the apartment was great but the new owners are awful. They are extremely rude, don’t know how to do their job and have let the apartment go to crap. I’ve been trying to get our bill for over 2 weeks now and they can’t seem to get the correct bill sent. Now they’re even trying to charge us a late fee… STILL WAITING ON THE BILL. Luckily, we have emails and text messages proving we’ve been asking for this bill since they’re trying to say they will get their attorny’s involved. Do not rent from this apartment. Don’t believe any of the reviews that are good, they’re probably fake.

I lived here with my husband from March 2014-​December 2015 and I cannot endorse this place enough. They are professional, kind, and caring! If you have a pet, they will love you even more! This place is so pet friendly and they even remembered I had a parrot and would include «feathered friend» in their dog centered emails. More like a friendly community than another apartment complex, this place is the home of many fond memories for me. The maintenance staff, Edgar and Mario, are two of the kindest, most hardworking people you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. Breanna and Ken are also the sweetest, most caring managers committed to their jobs and making you feel at home and happy. The pool is always well cared for, the community is clean and safe, and they are always having little get togethers for the community. They have free coffee and dog treats and water, they always return calls, and will even place your packages into your apartment if you’re out. I have had two outstanding examples of them going above and beyond though. One was Edgar helping me remove a toy stuck to my parrot’s foot with a tool he had. Without him, it would have been an awful ride to the vet’s and a huge vet bill. It was so nice of him to help. The second was the manager, Lane, helping me while I was gone on vacation and my husband was away on a long work shift. My husband had forgotten to turn lights on (for my parrot, again) and Lane actually went in and turned them on for me when I asked. They are wonderful, trustworthy people and my only regret was that I moved across country away from them! Thank you everyone for the lovely home you gave us, you are all wonderful!

I absolutely love living here. It feels like home and the staff feels like extended family. There is nothing better than waking up, getting coffee (maybe a piece of candy) from the front of the building and catching up with the staff. The first time I walked in to this complex I knew it was the place for us. Not only was it beyond dog friendly, which if you knew me you would understand, but Breanna gave me my initial tour and her outgoing personality and professional witty humor sealed the deal.
She is always available via email, person or phone to help out if any issues occurred. If our apartment complex was ever «inconvenienced» so to speak, the building would throw a bbq party or compensate us in some way. We once had a leak and because they realized it was time to replace the pipes, Breanna and Ken came over after hours to hand deliver dinner from our favorite sushi restaurant.
Also, she threw a dog halloween party and my dog even won me a $ 100 gift card, plus there was wine and candy there. (again if you knew me… you would know this is the key to my heart).
I hope everyone is blessed with a Breanna in their building!
Also a shout out to Ken, Lane, Edgar and Mario — you guys are the best and truly bring happiness to our Franklin Plaza Family!

Something to be aware of is that the law the protects tenants from ridiculous price gouging (Rent Stabilization Ordinance of the Los Angeles Municipal Code) cannot protect you since this place has a Certificate of Exemption Number 751-​L stating this is a Luxury apartments and normal protection rules do not apply. This means that with a 60 day notice they can jack up your rent to whatever they want. Under the LA law tenants are normally protected from large increases. But apparently if you pay off the right people, you can get an exemption. In my case (and of course others), I needed to extend my lease just one month until my new place was ready. They charged me an additional $ 1,200 on top of my rent for the opportunity. No negotiations — I tried and they threatened to increase it! WTH
Do not count on seeing your deposit back either. They’ll say before moving out not to don’t worry about cleaning the carpet, cleaning the unit or nail holes. Then whamo they charge you to replace the carpet that was only dirty from a year of normal traffic. Don’t try to do paint touchups yourself, will not matter. Basically their stance after you move out is that unless it is move in ready, you will be paying heavy fees. They take no ownership of maintaining the units — they put it on the back of the tenants — on top of the exorbitant rent.
One of the nice features of the property was the overnight courtesy patrol/​security. While rents have increased, the courtesy patrol is no longer on site and this place needs it.
Franklin plaza is not the tranquil oasis it appears to be on the surface. You here all of your neighbors conversations, music, barking, or brief nocturnal sounds
Kitchen — While cute on the surface, the kitchen is barely functional. Drawers literally 5 inches wide? The appliances are all cheap and have frequent issues. This includes the washer dryer. I have had maintenance requests on every appliance (sometimes multiple times) all within one year.
I have a one inch gap around my front door — heating or air conditioning simply go out thereby increasing utility costs. They put in a little foam sticker on part of the door but it does not seal the gaps. Even with all doors and windows shut, heating or a/​c run a lot due to no insulation. Don’t let the double pane windows fool you.
The building has the slowest elevators. Keep that in mind if using movers paid by the hour.
I am happy this is a dog friendly building with breed restrictions. Unfortunately some people take advantage of the support animal laws and bring in their untrained/​disrespectful dogs (ex pitbull who let it off leash in common areas). People also fail to pick up their own dogs poop.
While this is a nonsmoking building you certainly can get a contact high from the pot smoke in the hallways that drift into your home.
There are huge roaches present in the garage which means they are present in the building.
I endured this place for only a year — but there was just a mass exodus of the relatively long timers due to their frustration with management. I really do try to be fair on my reviews. Unfortunately I found them to be manipulative, misleading, not community oriented, and hides behind special backroom deals to bypass normal laws that protect the consumer. Obviously, this is not a home that I would recommend.

I enjoyed living here for the past year. It’s a great location. The manager and the rest of the staff are great, helpful and friendly. If I had an issue the matter was resolved in a timely manner.
The neighbors are friendly. I never had an issue. But sometime they do not clean after their pets. One issue is, I lived on the first floor so sometime the plumbing would back up and all the stuff would end up in my sink. It’s just gross but they do fix it

I had a great time here (I was only there for a month but Steve and Edgar are very helpful)
Yes, the elevator and garage gates are slow but it doesn’t really matter.
Its a great location and the apartments are quite spacious.
The city of LA allows a 4% increase in rent (to keep up with inflation) so people should really be expecting that.

I used to love in DTLA and hated it. Hollywood can be stressful but that isn’t Franklin Plazas fault. To all the hateful negative reviews: don’t freakin’ trash your apartment and then freak out when you don’t get your deposit back! Until I can afford something substantially cooler than Franklin Plaza, I don’t see myself leaving. Steve Edgar and Mario are all pretty awesome!

Love this apartment! So addressing the bad reviews, yes rent does go up. It’s freaking HOLLYWOOD! Also every apartment I’ve ever lived in rent usually goes up after the lease is over. And ok yes the elevators are slow, but I usually just take the stairs since it’s such a small building anyways. And when I do use the elevator it’s not that bad. Waiting an extra 30 sec isn’t going to ruin my day.
I used to live in the building next door and they were great and cheaper, but you get what you pay for. The apartments here at the plaza feel like home! They are beautiful apartments. I LOVE having a washer and dryer in unit rather than having to carry all my laundry down the hallway or to a laundromat. They also just gave us new toilets :)
Steve is an AMAZING manager. He always goes the extra mile to help out and is so friendly! He helps make this place feel like home. The maintenance guys are also amazing! Edgar is always willing to help out with everything!
Out of every apartment I’ve ever lived in, this place feels most like home. The people are great, the dogs are cute! And the apartments themselves are so nice! Ignore the disgruntled people! Also the gym is actually really nice. I use it frequently and haven’t had any problems. Oh and living close to Runyon is awesome too!

DO NOT RENT FROM THIS PROPERTY OR COMPANY (Prometheus). I lived here for two years, fulfilled the terms of the lease, and even endured being moved out twice for renovations and tenting. I never was late on rent and when I left I cleaned and left the property undamaged. Ever since I left, the property has been trying to extort over $ 700 dollars from me for time I did not live in the unit. They were fully aware of my departure and the manager even told me when I informed her I was leaving that they were immediately placing my unit on the market and that if I could not find another place, I may have to move anyway. She called me about 5 days before I was moving and said that I never told her I was leaving. I am a professional who takes care of her bills and manages her credit. I would never leave anywhere on such terms and I am baffled at their attempts to collect rent after I have left when they never returned the balance of my deposit. Currently they are paying a collection agency to attempt to collect this false debt. At this point I am going to have to obtain legal counsel to get the harassment to stop. Worst apartment experience in Los Angeles to date.

I am interested in living at Franklin Plaza but have not been able to get anyone on the phone to schedule a viewing! The number they give is an offsite third party office in North Carolina who refers you to the leasing office, who unfortunately never answers the phone. If this is any indication of how hard it will be to get in touch with the management once I’m living there, I want no part of it. Worst customer service I have ever dealt with. DO NOT LIVE HERE

My husband and I lived there for 18 months and loved it. When we were there, the on-​site manager was a sweetheart and was prompt with all of her tenants needs. Maintenance was also wonderful and quickly fixed whatever problems that may have risen.
The community is awesome! Living in the heart of Hollywood, with only a $ 5 cab ride to your weekend night life, daily hikes on Runyon Canyon is only blocks away, and people are pretty friendly. I definitely miss this place and hate our condo building in Bev Hills (who knew living with a bunch of old people who are MISERABLE and mean would be terrible, ugh!)
None the less, I highly recommend anyone to move here, great amenities (washer & dryer!!!), flat screen TV’s in every unit and cool people as your neighbors.

*****UPDATE*****
This place does not value tenancy retention.
I was served my new «leasing options», a.k.a. my eviction notice, where I was given the opportunity to renew my lease for an additional 12 months at a cost of $ 164 extra a month. Meaning my rent would increase by $ 315 since June 2012. When i tried to reason with Steve, the property manager that hates his job, he reacted by dripping in condescension.
Although I love living in the area, I’m not going to renew my lease. I’m basically being evicted out of my apartment for paying my rent on time, never causing problems, living a quiet existence.
If Prometheus reads this, please look into firing Steve. He doesn’t have anything postitive to offer the company nor the tenants that live in the building.
*****
I’ve been living at Franklin Plaza for about 2 years and as of the last few weeks I’ve quickly become a non-​fan. Although I like living here — location, apartment size, amenities — I’m appauled with how corporate has decided to manage tenant loyalty.
I was ready to sign my annual lease paperwork and couldn’t believe to see that my rent was increased by 9.5% or $ 150 per month. Are you effing kidding me? Last year, my rent went up $ 30, or just over 2%. Average. Normal. What makes this place so special that they think they can bump the rent that much? Average LA County is 2.9%.
When I asked, (mind you, nothing against the building manager, she’s awesome) I was told that the rent had to be adjusted to market value because a luxury apartment building opened up down the street. And that since this is a privately owned property, they can adjust prices as much as they want… ummmm…aren’t the majority of properties privately owned?
So, i had a big decision to make — sign or leave. I had 2.5 weeks to figure out my fate (as I got the paperwork late — not sure why). I could have signed a month to month lease, however, my rent would have jumped more than $ 1000 over my ²⁰¹¹⁄₁₂ rent. Seriously… that’s what the paperwork said. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a new place in such short time and was forced to resign.
If you’re considering moving in, don’t bother. Help yourself by finding another «privately owned» property that treats loyal tenants a bit better.