100 West Chestnut Apartments

An excellent place to live. The building is in a great location close to transit and within walking distance of everything in the Gold Coast /​River North area, the units are great, and the view of the Chicago skyline from the apartments (and rooftop) is unbeatable. The management staff of Kevin, Gerda, & Ashton are extremely helpful and personable, as is the door crew, led by the Michael Jordan of doormen, Sunny. I highly recommend for anyone who wants quality downtown Chicago living.

I am not updating my rating, but I would like to counter some of the points which were made in previous reviews:
1) The absolute only problem I have had with laundry in the last 2.5 years I have lived here is that I forgot to press the «start» button on the dryer and ended up losing my money because I was careless.
2) There is a great system for packages — it is all controlled via an online system which sends you an email and puts an alert on your online account when you have a package. Smaller packages are kept locked in the dry cleaners when the cleaners is closed, and larger packages are left in the back hallway which has cameras monitored by the doorman.
3) I have never had a single issue with billing or accounting the entire time I have lived here. There is a convenient 5 day grace period after the 1^st of the month for those of us who have the memory of a goldfish and can’t remember why the 1^st is important every month.
4) WHY has no one mentioned the amazing events this building hosts? Resident appreciation night with tons of prizes? Monthly happy hours? Monthly movie nights for adults and for families? Super bowl party? Book club? Seriously, what other building do you know of that offers so many incredible services? AND for one reasonable rent price?!
Come on people, get real. This is the best deal in River North/​Gold Coast.

Moved in here last April. While I like the location and the amenities, I’ve been having major issues with the Internet provider. Suite Solution internet is HORRIBLE. I really don’t understand why this building forces you to use them.
Doorman Sunny is awesome.
Laundry machines are all old and barely work, you have run clothes through the dryer twice most of the time.

Love coming to this places with my sister. The doorman is thee best the worker when you see them can’t help but say I will like to stay here someday ! The placed always smiling just want let the people know every where this property have class don’t have to worry about drama! Here you will be treated like king or queen right here!

Two of the things I liked about this apartment were the location and one doorman, Sunny. You’d be surprised how lax some of the doormen can be. For example, on a Wednesday evening, a non-​tenant was loitering in the lobby for well over 30 minutes. This went unnoticed by the doorman. This loitering eventually lead to the burglary of an out-​of-​pocket paying tenant, on the tenth floor.
Let it be known that management did not alert the other tenants of this incident. In addition, not a sole member of management nor doorman, besides Sunny, expressed much sympathy or remorse (and Sunny wasn’t even working that day). When you pay a premium for certain amenities, this kind of thing is inexcusable. So I would say if you’re considering this building, consider with caution as I wouldn’t wish this nightmare upon anyone.
PS superficial & cosmetic complaints: closed off kitchen is a nuisance and dark, lack of windows is depressing, outdated bathrooms (not the worst), lack of vent by stove, and unable to really control heat/​air.

Moved in a couple of days ago and found spiders building webs both outside and INSIDE of the window! Seems they don’t hire anyone to clean the exterior of the building for a long time because the webs outside are not new!
For internet they have this suite solution provider, which is the worst, I didn’t know I would have to wait for minutes to buff a youtube clip 480p, so I called the provider to upgrade, the minute I hang up the phone, my wireless signal lost, I didn’t know if the change of the internet speed can be so powerful but it did damaged my brand new belkin router, so had to get an exchange at best buy.
Old washer and dryer, sometimes you paid for it and come downstairs only to find your sheets and cloth still wet, because boom you got lucky some dryers don’t work, and there is no warnings.
Very small gym/​fitness center, barely can hold 8 people at one time. So some residents have to do yoga and stretches in the community room on the carpet, well nothing against that but I hope the sweat stains are easy to clean.
If you pay using visa card, the convenience fee is $ 36 for every $ 500. Ridiculous.
Door man seems very nice so that’s a plus.
Pretty good location that’s a plus.
Price is at a lower end of the spectrum so that’s also a plus.

Door men are the best
office staff is good
Some people are aloud to have dogs, but others are not.
Price for a 2 bed is nice. you can’t beat it in the gold coast
1 Bed price is was over the top
Mail lady is old and cray
One year i had the worst people living above me and called them in 15 times in one year, which should have been resolved by the 3^rd time. Kept me up until 4am so pray if you move here your neighbors are quite. If not go down to the property manager asap because there is a noise clause in the lease.
Section 8 is at its finest here. Drawing genitals all over the nice elevator marketing pieces. Ruining Continental breakfast so that we can’t have anything but some gross apple on the 1^st floor as you run about because their kids and them will horde all the breakfast bars. Their kids sit on the internet in the common space that is free and sit on facebook and dirty websites all day without any supervision.
Seamstress in the back is great.
Prices for parking is the highest in the whole city guaranteed.
But the worst worst worst of all is that they force you to use the crappiest internet and Cable provider I have ever dealt with (Suite Solutions). It NEVER NEVER NEVER works. It goes out because of a light storm. Don’t fart too loud or the internet goes down. I never have heard of a apartment forcing you to use a provider. Makes me want to move out of this place. Funny how the Tv and internet ALWAYS are working just fine in the lobby and 2^nd floor for section 8 who does not pay any money for the service so they can watch their dirty flix.

Relocated from Ann Arbor, MI and I lived here from July 2012 — September 2013. The location is great, staff is friendly, and I loved the convenience of having an onsite dry cleaners. I’ve always ran into accounting issues with the management company, less than 30 days in, I received a letter of eviction because they claim my account was in arrears. Come to find out it was an accounting error and the amount requested during move in was incorrect.
Then, about 3 – 4 months into my lease, another accounting error, so then I started requesting copies of my account ledger because I lost trust in their abilities to manage where my $ 1700+ a month rent was going. I tracked every rent payment and requested a copy of my ledger just to ensure it was accurate and tied it back to my bank account. Now I’m no accountant, so why should I have to do this!!! I gave them 30 – 60 day notice of my move out towards the end of my lease, as required. I requested another copy of my account ledger and a final bill. Paid the full amount, thinking hey I’m good I can get outta here and move on with my life. Nope! yesterday (¹⁄₆) received a collections notice for $ 25.83. Seriously!
I’m the type of person that takes my credit extremely serious and I will fight to the death to protect it. So I made several calls this morning (1/​7/​). Come to find it, it was a utility bill they didn’t include in the final rent payment I requested back in August 2013, because they bill 1 – 2 months late. I called the agency and spoke to a gentleman who was actually very professional (a collection agency wow!) and he had some not so good things to say about the management company but I’m just glad its all over.
So in conclusion: The location is what you’re paying for but do your research, there are other properties with more amenities and more square footage for the price. I will definitely NOT consider them when I move later this year, and I will not recommend them going forward. A management company who can’t manage their finances and I have to manage my own account for you, will not have my business.
Also they do contract with Suite Solutions (Direct TV), and this is the only provider allowed. Internet was reliable, expensive, but the cable was terrible especially during bad weather. But what do you expect from satellite.

I have lived in 100 West chestnut for 2 years. The first year I was on the 8^th floor and had no problems. I even recommended people live in my building. I will not recommend this place to anyone ever again. This past year has been horrible! About 3 months after I moved to the top floor, water started leaking into my closet from the roof. I asked them to fix it and they said they did. In the winter, we had out light fixture fall in the kitchen from the ceiling. Good thing no one was below it! They did fix it promptly though.
The worst part was in the spring. They failed to fix the roof completely before the rainy season and I had massive amounts of water leaking through the closet they said they had fixed 6 months before. It took them a month to fix it and I had a gaping hole in my ceiling and mold in the carpet for a month. Their first solutuon was to keep a garbage bag lodged in the hole for a week. When that fell, they used a bucket on the floor for a week. The way they handled it was awful and I had to fight to get only half my rent back for the month. They originally offered gift certificates and I refused.
I am now ready to leave and live somewhere else. When I asked for the security deposit back, they said I had elected a security bond instead of a deposit so I would not get it back. I told them I had neer been given a choice and did not know the difference between the two. I even found an old email exchange with them in my gmail tlaking about how I wanted a security deposit.
So although the front desk guys are some of the nicest I have found and it looks really attractive with all the décor, do not be fooled. It is cheaply run and horrible management.

Why I’m moving out…
This building has always been just «meh.» From the lack of in unit washer/​dryers to the abysmal quality of the labor and materials used throughout the unit. Recent developments have my already low opinion of 100 West deteriorating even further
A few weeks ago, the residents were informed of a TWELVE percent rent increase. Supposedly justified by the upgrading to stainless steel appliances and hardwood floors. Sounds good? Eh, not so fast. Upon being shown a unit with the new upgrades it was clear that although silver, the appliances were certainly not stainless steel and the hardwood floors were «engineered wood.» That term coming straight from the building representative showing the upgrades. I call it cheap and fraudulent. Credit should be given however for the building representative managing to keep a straight face while dishing out this b.s.
This was a decent place to live at one time. That time has passed.

Giving this building 3 stars because of Suite Solutions. Suite Solutions is basically overcharging you for low quality Dish Network cable and ATT Internet. I understand that 100 W Chestnut cannot keep suite solutions from ripping people off but they should cancel the contract with them.
Other than that, it’s a great building.

— There’s no standard system for handling packages. Sometimes they are delivered to your door, and other times they sit down in dry cleaning for over a week.
— An uninvited guest somehow made it upstairs to bang loudly on the door of my apartment at 3am on a Saturday. Where the hell was the doorman?
— The guest suite: great idea when you’re touring the building, but worthless when you book the room for someone, and it turns out that the staff didn’t leave the key with the doorman. My guest was stranded without a hotel and left Chicago 2 nights earlier than planned.
— They offer free cat-​sitting when you go on vacation, but apparently that means not refilling water and blocking the cat’s access to his litter box for 4 days. I was never called or texted about this and know to never use this service again.
— The elevators are slow and usually one of the three isn’t working or is being used for a move. I schedule when I enter and exit my apartment around the rush hour times because the wait it so much worse than what it was in my old high rise.
— I scheduled a pick-​up with the Salvation Army, and despite them driving to the building 3 times, the items were never picked up due to bad cell phone service, and one doorman moving the items to a back closet and not notifying the doorman on a future shift. For donations, I’m now going to have to take the Green Line to Goodwill and definitely won’t be able to use my pick-​up and delivery dry-​cleaning service. Awesome.

Coming from a «vintage style» apartment in the Lincoln Park area, I would have to say 100w Chestnut was a huge upgrade. It was pricier but a lot of what you pay for is location. Our unit was also recently renovated so brand new appliances, new clean floors, etc. Very satisfied with everything while there! Laundry room was never too busy (except typical Sunday crowd), good clean workout area, and all common areas were always very well kept. Love the in-​building dry cleaners and package pick up as well.
Maintenance can take awhile on routine requests but every issue I’d ever brought up had been addressed. Also, slight mold issue in the bathrooms but that is because most highrises cannot be built with standard bathroom ventilation.
All in all, satisfied!

I decided it would be a great apt, well I was totally wrong, this is by FAR the worst apartment I have ever had, even compared to dorms I was living in. Crappy phone signal, I had several important phone calls I had to make but couldn’t do so in the building because of massive dropped calls. SECOND the internet speed is ridiculous, it always drops on me, shuts down, etc. Third, they have no ventilation so our apartment easily grows mold in places you wouldn’t expect. And when you burn something you HAVE to open a window, in 100 or –10 degree weather.
They have no emergency maintenance workers, and two of the doormen are really unhelpful.
This whole summer I have been woken up at 7 am by the sound of construction, and vibrating floors.
Elevators either not working properly, or reserved for move outs. (I wonder why)
The pool never seems clean and feels like your in a russian bath house, and they even have the nerve to increase their prices.
Yeah they have breakfast, and yeah the office is attentive, but it is really not enough. When our bathroom flooded no one was here to help, we had to yell at people to get things done…
I will never recommend this apartment to ANYONE and warn them to stay away. It is beyond terrible.

I’m downgrading my rating of 100 W Chestnut because of how their management company has decided to stick it to consumers with the crappiest ISP/​TV provider known to man.
Earlier this year, the building switch exclusivity from Comcast to a company called Suite Solutions. This company has worse service, similar customer service, and higher prices than Comcast. They also directly lied to me about their internet speeds, and their pricing. So now I’m paying more than I was, for a worse service.
Outside of this, the building is still great. I’ve been here a number of years, and have no desire to move, but the one thing I deal with every day is the internet, and the current situation is beyond frustrating.

I’ve lived here from summer 2008 through Feb 2011 and have loved it — the only reason I’m moving is because I’m relocating to the west coast. I couldn’t speak more highly of the management staff (Marisela and Jennifer), the doormen (Gary’s the best!), and the maintenance staff (especially Mike and Martin) who were always ready to help me with any maintenance needs, even those that probably shouldn’t have been handled by them (like installing a special showerhead). The location is perfectly placed between downtown and Lincoln Park, with easy access to all public transportation, and having the parking garage available to park my car (especially in the Chicago winters) has been really convenient. The building is kept so warm in the winters that I’ve rarely needed to even turn on my heat (which is included), so that saves a lot of money in a cold climate. The only bad thing I can say about the building is that the onsite fitness facility’s cardio equipment leaves a lot to be desired. But overall, I’d totally recommend living here!

I really enjoy living here. The rooms are spacious, the management team and doormen are very friendly, and I can’t complain about the free breakfasts Mon-​Fri.
The neighborhood is absolutely amazing. There are tons of restaurants, shops, etc. I would definitely recommend this building.

I lived there until Sept 08 and thought it was a great value. The doormen, maintenance staff and leasing office were very pleasant and helpful each and every time I needed them. The apartment itself did the job– a nice, clean, well maintained place in a great location. I also appreciated the free continental breakfast on weekdays.
My biggest complaint is that the parking garage next door, which isn’t run by the building, was a nightmare to deal with. Plenty of spaces available, but there was no ticket taker on site. The equipment was constantly breaking, and if the person in front of you had a problem, nobody else could exit for minutes at a time. Very frustrating.
My only knocks on the apartment bldg itself are that the elevators are slow at times and the gym is a bit small. But I don’t think any of these are deal breakers, at least at current prices.
I give it 4 stars for the building itself, 5 stars for the staff, 1 for the garage.