Wow, looking over the reviews I can believe we live in the same place. I really like it here. Here are my PROs and...
Wow, looking over the reviews I can believe we live in the same place. I really like it here. Here are my PROs and CONs (and some neutral observations). I have a one bedroom apartment (a little over 700 sq ft) and have lived here about a year.
PROs
- Safe (tons of cops in the area, they all eat at Pompeii which is right across the street from the complex)
- Great location (right on Taylor street) with tons of bars and restaurants
- Close to public transportation (the 9, 157 and UIC bus stops are right next to the building. Only a few blocks to the pink and blue line, the 7, 8 and 12 bus stops)
- Close to the Loop (only a couple of stop away by L)
- Private parking
- Decent (but small) gym on premise
- Concierge (7 am - 7 pm, 7 days a week, hours vary on weekends) they will deal with packages, building issues, and other issues) Marta is an absolute doll!
- Maintenance on site (whenever I've needed them to fix something it's done in within hours of me reporting it)
- Close to the hospitals
- Laundry on premise
- Close to UIC
- Close to a bunch of grocery stores
- Friendly staff (they've always been polite and knowledgeable to me)
- Outdoor pool (with free to use barbecues/grills)
- Big bedroom (mine's about 11 ft by 16 ft)
- Tons of closet space (in my one bedroom, I have a small bathroom closet, 2 average closets (4 ft by 2 ft) and a large bedroom closet 8 ft by 2 ft)
- Additional storage on site ($10 a month for a 4 ft by 4 ft locker)
- Free secure, indoor bike storage
- Pet-friendly (you do have to pay pet rent)
- Private park (great for kids and pets)
- Walls between the apartment are thick concrete so I very rarely hear my neighbors (which is great because they have a baby)
- Business office with free wi-fi open to residents (right across the hall from the gym)
- Great pest control. I've never seen a bug in my apartment. Pest control stops by every couple of months to do checks
- Free coffee in the lobby weekday mornings (it's pretty average coffee so I usually skip it).
- The building also does community events: Pizza days, Wine tasting on Valentine's Day, Scavenger hunt on St. Patrick Day, a building meetup at one of the local bars, etc
CONs
- On the expensive side especially since the apartments are a bit basic
- Utilities not included
- Pay for laundry (about $1.50 per load both washer and dryer. At least the laundry room is nice looking)
- AC is a bit weak (never had an issue with the heat though)
- The only internet provider available in the building is Comcast
- Parking is expensive (I pay $160 a month to park in the resident parking area)
- Only one parking lot is open so finding a covered spot in the winter time is competitive
- Ongoing elevator issues (one of them is constantly breaking down). I believe the old company was fired and a new one brought on. They're currently renovating the elevators with an estimated re-opening of May 2015
- Cell phone coverage is spotty in some apartments, so you'll often find people on their cell phones in the halls/lobbies
- You can not paint the walls (they offer a painting service but you have to pick from approved paint colors and they charge you something like $100 a wall)
On to some observations. While this is an apartment building, a large percentage of the people living here are college students, especially medical students given the buildings close proximity to the medical district. So seeing people hanging out in the lobbies to make phone calls, work on stuff, doing errands in their PJs or just hanging out in the common areas to get away from their roommates is not uncommon. Think of it as an hybrid apartment/ dorm.
A large percentage of the populace in the building is from Asia. Traditional Asian food is very aromatic so you will smell it in the halls (and man does it smell delicious!).
Location is great. Next to a ton of restaurant, bars, shopping areas, and hospitals. So it will be noisy at times. The building is also smack dab in the middle of a bunch of college and university campuses, expect college kids.