1519 W 139th Street, Gardena

If you are about to lease a unit here, this is what happened to us. We rented 5,300 sq ft at 1519 W. 139th St, Gardena, CA 90249 from Merit Property Holding on a one-year term, from 5 August 2025 to 4 August 2026. The office air conditioning never worked. The unit reached about 100 °F inside on warm days. And what was advertised was not what we were asked to sign.

Written by the tenant who held this unit under a one-year lease to 4 August 2026. Last updated 11 September 2026. Everything below is a document we hold, a dated message, or a clearly labelled opinion. Where we quote the listing or the lessor, we quote them exactly.

Before you sign a lease here

Every item on this list is something that cost us money or time, and that we could have covered in an afternoon.

Do not pay a deposit before you have the written lease in front of you. We paid ours after the tour and before signing, and the terms we had been quoted changed afterwards.

Get the exact deposit figure, in writing, in the lease itself — how many months, what sum, and what it may be applied to. Keep the wire confirmation or cleared cheque for every instalment you pay.

Test the air conditioning during your tour. Turn it on and stand under it. Do not accept a description of it as working.

Visit on a hot afternoon before you commit, and bring a thermometer. An uninsulated warehouse here gets far hotter inside than the forecast.

Look at what your neighbours across the yard actually do. Stone fabrication and cabinet shops put a lot of airborne dust into a shared yard, and it will come into your unit.

Ask which parts of the complex this company actually controls, and who opens the other gate. If you take truck deliveries, this decides whether they can reach you.

Put every request and every promise in writing, including anything said to you on a phone call. Follow up a call with a short email saying what was agreed.

Photograph and video the whole unit on the day you take possession and the day you hand back the keys, with the date visible.

The unit and the complex

Conditions we lived with for the length of the term.

From day one

There was no working air conditioning in the office

The listing described the space as being in excellent condition and recently renovated, and ¶2.2 of the lease warrants that the heating and air conditioning systems “shall be in good operating condition” on the start date.

On 30 July 2025, six days before the term began, we messaged the field manager a photograph of the only control we could find in the office and wrote: “But it’s a humidity controller” and “I don’t think there is actually an ac unit inside.” He replied: “The previous tenant was turning on”, and agreed to attend the following morning. In the same exchange we wrote: “Way too hot here it’s over 90”.

Technicians attended on several occasions over the following months. We were told the unit would not be repaired because the cost was too high. A mini-split was eventually installed approximately one week before the lease ended — after we had paid rent for twelve months.

Warm months

The warehouse reached about 100 °F inside

The warehouse is uninsulated. On warm days the interior reached approximately 100 °F. On 30 July 2025, before the term had begun, we messaged the field manager: “Way too hot here it’s over 90”.

Throughout

Airborne dust from the units across the yard

The businesses across the parking yard include a marble fabrication shop and cabinet and furniture shops. Dust from that work carried across the yard and settled inside our unit.

During the term

A person was living in the parking area

During our tenancy a person was living on the premises, in the parking area. The listing describes a “Privately Gated Fenced & Secured Yard”.

Throughout

The company controls only part of the complex

The management company controls approximately half of the complex. A truckload delivery needs the operator of the other half to open their side of the gate, and that cooperation was not always given.

What was advertised, and what we signed

Left: the listing for this unit, quoted exactly, captured 23 July 2025, the day we paid and signed. Right: the lease we were given, and what we found.

The rent, and the kind of lease

The listing: “Offering a total of 5300 square feet of prime industrial space at a competitive rate of $1.23 per square foot $6,500 per month on a Modified Gross lease”
The lease: Base rent $7,500.00 per month (¶1.5), on an AIR CRE Standard Industrial/Commercial Single-Tenant Lease — Net. At the tour we were told utilities would add $700–800 a month on top of the advertised rate. The lessor then confirmed by email on 24 July 2025 that “the monthly rent of $7,500.00 will include utilities such as electricity, water, trash, and internet, which are shared with the neighboring unit.”

The free first month

The listing: “FREE FIRST MONTH RENT”, listed as a property feature, and in the overview: “** We are offering FIRST MONTH’S FREE RENT**”. No condition on the length of term is stated. Terms are advertised as 1–10 years.
What we were told: After we had paid, the lessor wrote on 24 July 2025: “the one month free rent offer applies only to leases of three years or more, per our company’s policy. I sincerely apologize for the confusion and we didn’t intend to mislead you in any way.” No three-year minimum appears anywhere in the listing. ¶1.6(a) charges us full rent for the first month.

The condition of the unit

The listing: “Space is in Excellent Condition”, and “The building was recently renovated and improved to suit a wide variety of uses.”
What we found: The office air conditioning did not work when we took possession and was never repaired. ¶2.2 of the lease warrants that the HVAC “shall be in good operating condition” on the start date. A mini-split was installed roughly one week before the lease ended.

The gated, secured yard

The listing: “Privately Gated Fenced & Secured Yard, 24/7 building access”, and “The property boasts a gated, fenced, and secured yard, ensuring the safety of your assets.”
What we found: The management company controls approximately half of the complex. Truckload deliveries required the operator of the other half to open their side of the gate, which was not always given. A person was living in the parking area during our tenancy.