Apartment City

“Want $200 and a case?!” the bold- faced lettering reads on the crumpled sheet lying between units 115 and 117 of Johnstowne Apartments, 508 E. John St. The note continues: “My roommates and I really want to live here next year and are looking for a lease pass-down of a 4 person apartment. We will pay you $200 (that’s $50 a person!) and get you a case of your favorite beer.” The sign, posted by Selissa Mantas, sophomore in LAS, was one of several posted at Johnstowne – a complex JSM Management Inc. says, along with Green Street Tower , John Street Lofts and Gregory Place, 701 S. Gregory St., is among its most popular – reflects the trend of exchanging money and/or alcohol for an apartment pass-down. The contract, which elicits responses from “smart” to “unfair”, is a method many prospective lessees are using to obtain a unit in one of JSM’s hard-to-get properties. The term “pass-down”, coined by JSM, describes a practice which allows tenants to hold their apartment for others. Unl...

On any summer weekend, Venice Beach is the ultimate urban beach carnival : exhilarating, loud, funky and diverse. No wonder Ocean Front Walk is one of the state’s premier attractions: It’s amazing entertainment and it’s 100% free. But unlike other tourist spots — say Disneyland or Universal CityWalk — Venice is still primarily a residential neighborhood . Because of that, Venice has become an epicenter of Los Angeles’ struggle over short-term rentals, what you might call the Airbnb Problem. To get a sense of it, I took what some local housing activists have dubbed a “Lost Housing” tour of Venice on Saturday afternoon. Over the course of four hours, I visited half a dozen buildings on or very close to the Boardwalk that have been converted, without permits, from long- term rental apartments to short-term rentals, or — yes — let’s call them what they really are: hotels. If you are wondering why the rental housing market in a place like Venice Beach is so tight, look no further than y...