Los Angeles. Love/Hate Relationship. SPECIAL SERIES: A Tale of Two Cities. 2021. Part 2.

 

Market Lofts Condominiums.

This is Part Two in a mini-series: Los Angeles. Love/Hate Relationship. A Tale of Two Cities in my series Los Angeles. Love/Hate Relationship. 

At a minimum, be sure to read: Tale of Two Cities. Part One before reading this post. When you have a chance read the entire series starting at: Los Angeles. Love/Hate Relationship. Part One.

I entered the building and there was Ricardo, our security guard, who had just recently "turned me in" to our management for creating a nuisance violation for use of words of offensive language. He sat with his somehow perfectly naturally sparkling white teeth and smiled at me with such a "shit eating grin" it took everything to avoid what I wanted to say to someone I had previously considered a great member of our staff as I looked at him stare at me  with his bleached teeth and smug smile. The pandemic has made life challenging for everyone, day-to-day at the Market Lofts being no exception. New rules have had to be made along the way. Others have had to be bent to accommodate the times or even meet the new rules. Always, you hope those at your front desk are going to help you out at a real time of need when you are 2500 miles away and have a one-shot opportunity to accomplish a goal that the HOA, and staff itself, wants met. It's not time to bring out the rule book. 

Simply, we had someone coming to pick up things, including a judgement that was being served on him. The individual knew it was being served and agreed to it. All we asked was for Ricardo to sign a form verifying pick-up so we could send it back to the court. He refused. Mind you, another staff member, knowing the issue, had done exactly the same thing, when it was far more contentious, only weeks earlier and he was not even aware or agreeable that we were serving notice to appear. Our security, after all, were among those pressuring us to take some action against this individual. 

Our gym, movie screening room, and event room have been closed for nearly a year. Our pool and jaccuzzi were closed for a few months and now are open by appointment. While I find this a benefit, it undoubtedly is more work for the staff. We live on the 2nd floor, which is ultimately the main floor of the building. Our unit was likely the sales center for this complex. It is epicenter. The Amazon lockers, installed to take a burden off both our staff and residents alike, are literally at a wall some 5 feet from where I am writing now. Deliveries are made 3-4 times a day, 7 days a week, for our 260+ units' residents to come and capture them (which have greatly increased during COVID) 24/7, slamming metal doors. Coming to get your package has also become an outing for many while hibernating during stay-at-home orders, so people meet and chat, and talk on their phones, often overlooking our patio. Someone leered at me one day because of whatever I was speaking about in a private conversation on my patio. Likewise, people have walked by with looks of disapproval if I am not wearing a mask. Keep in mind I am more than 6 feet away and outdoors. My patio is not your common space. We happen to have a very large patio nearly 40 feet long. Walk away, don't hang out over my patio if you are bothered. Otherwise, smile, perhaps compliment my beautiful plants.

But these have been the little inconveniences of life during COVID at Market Lofts. My friend would say "champagne problems." Perhaps. I have other friends that look at our place more like inexpensive sparkling wine in comparison, but either way I am not living in the draft beer section. We are tenants, but in a condominium that should be providing a secure, luxury living experience. They have among some of the higher HOAs in DTLA, not that we pay them but the owners of our unit shell out nearly $1000 monthly for our 1 bedroom, 2 bath unit. All of Downtown living is about quality of life and convenience. COVID-19 has largely destroyed such a "model."

The building decided to be repainted during the early months of COVID. Our building has largely external hallways, and is 3/4 of a city block in size. While it is dwarfed in comparison to the hi-rises that have been built since us, it is still relatively large. It certainly is a lot to paint. Arguably, the Southwestern brown & beige color scheme was dated and simply worn. This did cause an inconvenience, especially for ourselves having such a large patio, but ultimately a welcomed one as it did provide a benefit to us all. It was handled within a reasonable time period. Unfortunately, due to poor planning on their part and circumstances they never could have predicted, its enjoyment was short-lived before being defaced, ripped open or set afire...