Daniel J Lasdon Real Estate

tl;dr points:
* Clean quiet building
* Taco Riendo at the corner, so you always have access to the best tacos the city, sorry Loco Pez*
*Loco Pez is also within walking distance if you like walking
* Great layout, high ceilings, large windows, all the things that allow you to make it your own
* Unit has dishwasher — seriously, go live without one for a week — this is massive and wonderful
* Unit has island — so you can be space efficient when you cook, host, or just want to be fancy and have a kitchen island
* Washer /​dryer down the hall — because it’s laundry, you don’t want to have to travel far for it
* Very responsive maintenance — Ernie is sincere, trustworthy, effective, and pretty funny — ask for stories*
*the man works very hard, and deserves the recognition and appreciation he has gotten in other reviews
* Safe parking — safe parking is safe parking — your mom will be happy about this
* Excellent location — Northern Liberties /​Fishtown /​Olde Kensington — that’s your community — the neighborhoods are that are driving a large part of the creative resurgence of Philly
* Walking distance to MFL Girard stop — b/​c public transport is a life saver for when Über surge pricing or regular pricing is in effect and you don’t want to risk the PPA
* Plenty of closet space, so yes you can have a wardrobe for both winter/​spring — more than just flannels
* Taco Riendo at the corner, this bears repeating b/​c tacos
Background:
Moved from Chicago from work and wanted to live close. I was able to get a 1,200 square foot apartment for a very affordable rent, and recommend you check it out.

I’ve lived in The Sewing Factory for almost one year.
Pros: Giant Space that would cost a fortune anywhere else in the city. Off street parking.
Cons: Virtually everything else. Your bills will be sky high for the few months you need heat or AC. Pet urine and exec retreat in hallways. At least 8 times this year the fire alarms have malfunctioned and gone off for HOURS at a time in the entire building. Elevator barley works. I have made several requests for the landlord to come fix my lights, the water damage in my laundry room, address the disgusting smell of smoke that is coming through my floor from the neighbors downstairs, and I have gotten absolutely nothing from them.
Listen, the place is impressive at first glance due to the size and they do a great job of cleaning up the halls when they are showing vacant apartments. The landlord has all but ignored every request I’ve made to them. I can’t wait to move out of this place, and will likely have to seek damages for the smoke damage my personal property will have from my neighbors habit.

Trash in hall ways. Strangers wondering through at all hours. Pet excrement in halls. the last was urine poured through the loft ceiling. Complaints were ignored. In a word ‘SLUM.’ You have been warned.

I live in the Sponge Factory and I love my loft! I have had a few problems with a neighbor and the staff at Lasdon is always very responsive and understanding about it. Haven’t had a problem since.
Ernie, the maintenance guy, is the best. He is always on time and helped me with many problems.
No problems with getting things fixed either.
Great experience so far. I’ve lived here since March 2010

Not too shabby. Big. Almost barn-​ish (as another reviewer stated). Great light. Energy efficient AC (though if you’re not used to AC bills, the first one may shock the hell out of you). And most of the time… quiet. Most of the time… in the Tie Factory. Other buildings, not so much.
I have a few… «eeeenhs» though:
Neighbors, you really should be considerate of those who do not keep your same 20-year-old-I’m-Sooooo-Cool hours. At 3am the sounds of UNTS, UNTS, UNTS is not what I want to hear for my money. We’re not all musicians with day jobs we can drift into whenever we want and grab a beer on the way to our workstation. Some of us have to be up early (6 — 7am) and simply like the space for the money and are OK with living with *some* noise (hey it’s a shared building) but if your neighbors are *asking* you to dial it back multiple times, you may want to consider a detached house.
One building seems to have ditched the tenants who park in everyone’s spot except their own (but those guys will tell you in a heartbeat to park in one of their «four spots»: points randomly throughout lot :). Um, I pay for spot XX I expect to be able to park in THAT spot daily. Park in your own spots on the way-​out side of the lot. And when you give me ‘tude, I will toss it back. If you want to park in my spot close to the door, be prepared to either not do so or pay *me* (which you’re too arrogant to do).
Washer and dryer hook-​ups? Yep. Schweeeet. No traipsing to the laundromat or creepy basement. Though, for those who really don’t ant to bother with buying a w/​d a basement coin op would be a good option.
Closets? If you’re not trying to fit your wardrobe in the W/​D room you better build your own (with owner permission of course or you won’t see your deposit back). But people have clothes and rather like having a place to hang them for what we pay here. Come on Lasdon, closets: wtf do they mean (if I have to tell you…)?
Hardwoods? And they are very, very solid. We did find a nail head popped out of one but nothing a hammer couldn’t fix and certainly not worth whining about. The floors are unique to each space and feel good under bare feet.
Yep, that means to just watch your doggie. If your dogs pee drips through the ancient hardwoods, not only will I let you know, I’ll let the building owners know. Event that *flat* nail head sticking out was not bad.
In my building there is a freight and passenger elevator. You must book the freight elevator in advance. The passenger elevator could get along with out the thug tagging. Who are these people with Sharpies anyway? We cannot read your POS signature anyway so stop trying.
That being said, STOP letting your dog pee in the halls and elevator! Also in the generously provided-so-your-butt-doesn’t-get-mugged dog walk, we are provided with poop scoop equipment. WTF is SO hard about cleaning up after your dogs you lazy fktards? DO IT! The building even provides bags! I would rather pack my weapon and go outside the building compound than step in the dog walk because of the amount of «land mines.»
Other than my bitchwhines, the building is pretty cool. Awesome space for the money.

Lasdon Real Estate owns a number of properties north of Girard Avenue; mostly converted warehouses or factories that are now «loft-​style» apartments.
On North Fifth Street are a string of Lasdon-​owned properties: the Sponge, Lamp, Tie and Sewing Factories. They range in square footage from around 1000 sq. feet to holy-​shit-​this-​is-​a-​barn proportions.
I’d never lived in a converted factory before… it has both pros and cons, like anything else.
Pros: lots of space, air, light, sunshine, hardwood floors… Newish kitchen and bathroom appliances and fixtures. Rent is reasonable for the amount of space you get, and how finished the lofts are. Our building super is cool, accessible, and when you need something fixed he is on it. There is a freight elevator so it’s easy to move in, or bring up a hundred pounds of groceries or what have you.
Cons: it’s loud. You can hear your neighbors all the time– their music, fights, cheering for the Flyers, etc. If you need total quiet, not the place for you. You can’t get Verizon wireless in our building, so we have to shell out for hateful Comcast internet. There is no doorman, so unless you install a landline to support your intercom function, you can’t get packages really at all. Also you have to go downstairs to let your guests in if you opt for no landline. There is very little storage, so you have to get creative with shelving etc.
Our Factory is overall a nice place to live, if you don’t mind the noise. It’s very serene up here, high above the street, with a beautiful view of the skyscrapers to the south and the El and river to the east.

Been in a lasdon property for nearly 5 years.
Generally it is ok.
They do some stuff to improve the building regularly but the solid reality of the lack of carpeting or proper ceilings means that you will hear you neighbors, and its luck of the draw you might get a real screwball and be married to the person and all their activities.
In the sewing factory they’ve been unable to get the elevator to run perfectly for many years. Sometimes it’ll get into a mood and get stuck pretty regularly. Also the rolling gate is very often broken. There’s also major issues with the «public» doors and the locks.
Basically Lasdon real estate seems pretty cheap with all this essential stuff. They seem to continuously repair things that just need to be-​replaced.
So if you’re looking for a place check them out, but generally its too expensive for one person, or if you can afford to be paying that much you can get a nice place closer to civilization.
But if you need space it’s pretty cheap for BIG places, the parking lot is a plus.