Solterra at Civic Center

I have lived at Solterra for a while now and I am really happy here! The whole complex has a really nice look, and the landscaping is done regularly. It is a very safe and convenient location. The management people in the front office have been very, very helpful any time we have needed, responding to questions and problems promptly and friendly. I definitely recommend checking this place out!

THE GOOD:
— The community itself is nice and well-​kept.
— Quiet and nice neighbors. Never had any issues with the people who lived in the complex.
— Though it is in the City of Norwalk (a bit ghetto area), I really liked that this community felt pretty safe (probably because the rent is a bit high for this area).
— Washer/​Dryer unit in all units! So so so convenient not having to share a laundry room with other tenants. And for an apartment, finding a washer/​dryer unit is pretty rare so definitely a bonus!
— HUGE balconies! It felt like we had our own backyard! We were even able to set up an air mattress out there and it fit with more room to spare!
— I was in a 2 bedroom 2 bath unit. All units on the first floor are one bedrooms and all the 2bedroom units are on the 2^nd floor. When I first walked in, I was so shocked because you don’t expect it to be so large from the outside! High ceilings, one bedroom/​bath downstairs and one upstairs. Perfect for roommates and having privacy/​own space.
— The kitchen was pretty large. We ended up renting the «renovated» unit (sucker for granite).
— Pool area was nice and clean.
— Maintenance was done promptly (and he was very friendly).
THE BAD:
— When we first signed the lease, the lady told us that water and trash were included. THIS IS NOT TRUE! When we first got our bill, we contacted the leasing office and told them what the lady told us. Their response? «Oh, well that’s not true and that lady no longer works here.»
— The water bill is NOT just your own unit. You split the water bill with your building neighbors (I think about 4 units). This is straight bullsh*t. What if I never shower? Or I never have dishes to wash? Why am I paying for the water that my neighbor is using? I don’t use the dishwasher, but doesn’t that mean when my neighbor uses it, its still on me? I don’t know why Solterra chooses to bill in this way. Like I said, it’s straight bullsh*t.
— Like the other renters said, the gate is ALWAYS broken. I never had an issue with any break-​ins and such, but it is pretty inconvenient when you’re waiting outside the gate, pressing the gate control, only to realize I need to wait once again for someone to come and fix it.
— Don’t expect your deposit and expect to be slammed with a fat bill once you’re gone. Not only that, these damn idiots sent the final bill to our mailbox which we MOVED OUT OF. Hello geniuses?! Anyway, we didn’t end up getting that final bill since they didn’t end up mailing it to the forwarding address we provided. The third-​party bill collector they use (rudest people ever, I kid you not) contacted me and left nasty threats. Like chill dude. Paying the $ 600 bill is not a freakin problem had Solterra mailed the bill to our forwarding address. Anyway, ended up having to deal with those people because of how dumb the admins are at Solterra.
— The «renovations» and «upgrades» they advertise are seriously cheaply done. The kitchen drawers were always loose and I bled on my toes many times because of the poor nail jobs on the floor.
Generally a positive experience living here but an absolute NIGHTMARE when you leave. Just don’t expect your deposit back, expect a bill when you leave and if you’re okay with all that, then it shouldn’t be a problem.

The townhouse is very nice. Place is always kept up well. All the neighbors are extremely nice. Overaall this place is a great place to live. I would definitely recommend my family and friends to move in here.

Update was not charged for the 3 days I kept the keys. But was charged 1500 for «cleaning» ridiculous! They need to let people know that yes they charge absolutely nothing for moving in costs but they kill you when you move out with cleaning costs. Just be aware!

From the looks of things things have gotten worse and customer service there has gotten more shady so I suggest you continue looking unless you are desperate to live in a shitty apartment that is seriously not worth the price!

Great complex… Clean and good location. Leading staff is fabulous. Always ready to help :)

Too many break-in’s on Sunday night 03/​08/​2015 (6 cars).
When I asked about it at leasing office, they told me to check with renters insurance… For lost items from car
First, it’s a gated community however the gate never closes… People come and go without remotes…
Not safe for kid’s…

Let me remind you that the place is between a mental institute and a juvenile detention facility. And you still want to charge Hermosa beach rates? place is ridiculously OVER PRICED they want to charge you $ 2200 for a 2 bedroom Apt in Norwalk. The management company is a joke gates are always broken. Def wouldn’t recommend any one to move there

Since Solterra bought property there has been decline. Superficial cosmetic update is allowing increase in monthly rent without addressing fundamental problems detailed in other Unilocal reviews. I have not read any that I disagree. I’m being forced to move b4 I am ready so they can upgrade n charge more. Strangers on property some look like criminals. Smoking by the pool. Drunk people by the pool in summer. Non– residents in pool. Pool is cold in winter (b4 we used to swim yr round) multiple tenants have complained about lack of heat in pool. Management states it was always this temp. It wasn’t. Gates always forced open, small parking spaces, wild cats who sleep on convertible car tops leaving hair n smell no security visible, pool not heated (b4 we swam yr round), fire hazard of lint in dryer. Poor paint jobs. Can’t live on first because high transmission of footsteps from above. It looks better than it is. Circumstances currently keep me here

not a good idea to move here!

**2015 update**
We are still not happy with the complex and are definitely not staying past our year’s lease. They want to raise the rent for this place over $ 100/​month, which will NEVER be worth that. You can get much better with your money elsewhere.
We moved in not too long ago and I’ve definitely had better experiences. It is not a horrible place, and it has been safe thus far; however, there are several things that I will let future residents know to ensure they look at these things before moving in. I was glazed over and didn’t see many things. Basically they have «newly renovated interior» apartments; however, the only thing you’ll find renovated is the flooring, appliances, and maybe the countertops. The bathroom, closet interiors, doors, etc. are from like the 80s or 90s… and been painted over probably 20 times or more. It is a bit ridiculous at how they think that paint will «fix» things. It doesn’t. They’ve repainted the curbs at the front entrance and it is already peeling off and looks horrible. The balconies have been repainted numerous times and make sure you check out how shotty of a job it actually is (makes sure you look up if you’re on first floor). The washer and dryer combo is really nice to have; however, the gaskets on the dryers need replacing, but because maintenance says «It’s fine» what happens is the lent tray catches some (hopefully the majority) and then the rest of it is all over the sides and the underneath of the door once opened. When you open it up, the lent comes puffing in your face. Maintenance says it is normal and that the vent catches the lent and it comes out the flaps in the wall; however, what I don’t think he understands that the lent in the vent could catch on fire — go figure. Your water, trash, and sewer is divided by all the units (from what I understand), so it is not like being conservative even matters if your neighbors aren’t. There are numerous cats roaming the property, peeing all over the place making everything stink, as well as sit on top of your vehicle (convertibles included). The property has two pools and spas; however, they only keep the one by the office clean it seems like. The office management is «okay». They can be nice, but management could definitely be improved. The assistant doesn’t know much, although she’s really nice — she could be trained somewhat better. Make sure you check out the kitchen cabinets, too, if you need space. The cabinets are ridiculously small. There was so much of my kitchen items that we had a difficult time trying to fit and they’ve have been repainted a horrible brown color, to probably hide the nastiness of the previous tenant, I would imagine. The painting is VERY sloppy. I hate to be a complainer, but there is just so much that I didn’t know about when we moved in and we’ve only been here a very short time — and I’m super disappointed… especially for the ridiculous price we are paying. For what we are paying we should be getting MUCH MUCH more!
Renters beware!

The apartments themselves are nicely kept, clean, and free of vermin.
Washer/​dryer and fridge included. Maintenance service is easy to request, and quickly done.
My hangup is the amount of «renovating» they do to the parking areas. It seems like it is always under construction.
For example, they put notices on all our doors that they would be repaving/​renovating the front entrance for one week, so we would have to use the back entrance for that time period. The notice said they would put out another notice if the repaving took longer than that. Well it did. It took about 3 – 4 weeks, and we did not get any further notices/​updates. So it was a guessing game everyday, trying to figure out if you could exit/​enter. Beyond that, it doesn’t look any better than it did before. It just looks like they took out the bricks and put them back in.
So again, now they are repaving the very front of the front entrance. Signs say you can only enter, but cannot exit (and it is blocked accordingly). Today, when I got in through the front gate, there was a big Home Depot truck blocking both directions of traffic. We went to the leasing office to have them ask the people to move it. The leasing office’s reply — «We did that on purpose».
Okayyyy… So we can enter, but can’t go very far into the parking lot because you blocked it. AND we can’t turn around to go to the back entrance because you say NO EXIT. So WTF?
Parking spaces seem like they were drawn by a 5^th grader. In the carports, you will typically have 2 spots between poles… One spot will be spacious enough to fit 1.5 cars, and the other will fit one with maybe a foot to spare.
They say they have a strict parking policy but they don’t. People will park in your assigned spot and management does nothing to help you with it.
People are double parked, or parked in visitor spaces for weeks on end, and management does nothing about it.
Also bad– you share your water bill amongst 4 units. So you’re SOL if your neighbors take 20 showers a day.

Stay in the second floor then be considerate of the people
at the first floor. Ceiling is thin. Foosteps upstairs sound like horse hoofs.
When moving out MAKE SURE they have it in writing and dont leave their office unless they give u the paperwork. Or else…
Nice thing in this place? When u call for repairs they show up!