860 North Dewitt Place Apartments

The Dewitt Place recently became a hotel, however it certainly is not managed like a hotel. The employees are unprofessional and rude. The rooms are as dirty and unkempt as the employees’ personalities. Spend ten more dollars on the MileNorth where the rooms are nicer, staff professional, and location more preferable.

I moved into this apartment building in July 2014. My roommate and I were very excited about moving into here after the viewing/​seeing internet marketing… only to be VERY disappointed after many lies. Since this will be a lengthy review I will do bullet points to clearly point out the issues with this place.
NEGATIVES:
–told renovations that would be completed in July/​August 2014 (such as the lounge, workout room, laundry room and individuals units)…not completed until February 2015.
–rooftop renovation was to be completed in September 2014… finally was completed at the end of March/​early April 2015.
–construction was stopped for some time at the end of summer 2014 in order to obtain a permit since they did not previously have one.
–frequent plumbing problems with the kitchen sink which gurgled and had brown sewage bubble up and almost overflow requiring and emergency plumbing visit – all the while not being told why they suspected this was happening
–very LOUD construction on early Sunday mornings and countless other off hours
–best yet… in the dead of a Chicago winter NO HOT WATER FOR OVER ONE MONTH! After countless times of contacting the property management about this issue, and being entirely ignored each and every time saying «it should be working» –we had to take our own action after reviewing Chicago rental rights.
–no AC in the smaller bedroom of the 2bd apartment (not even a fan, although they did place on after requesting one).
–the temperature control was difficult in general, after the boiler was turned off in the spring it would become uncomfortably cold.
–no lightening in either bedroom at all.
–no options for overhead lighting in the living area (even though there were electric looking plates, just without proper wiring behind it)
–the incredibly thin walls did not help with construction noise… or rude and nosey neighbors.
–old windows, some do not even stay open, my roommate required and ER visit from one of the windows falling onto her hand.
–monthly AUM bills dramatically changing month by month, with no real explanation for this from management (only that they were also confused by this).
–what everyone knows as «the naked man» you can see in the building across the street from the rooftop… literally daily.
–although this is a separate company, the parking for residents ended up tricking us. we were never aware of a «resident discount» and ended up getting royally screwed come move out – due to a complete lack of communication that the parking management then did not even own up to.
–lets not forget to make a bullet for the awful management there overall, thank god someone new with more experience took over shortly before we moved out.
–never received any information after moving out about our security deposit, even after contacting them regarding this.
POSITIVES
–the door staff (Ryan, Darko, and Franklin) are fantastic, could always count on them greeting you with a smiling face, great name recognition, and always makes frequent visitors feel remembered and welcomed.
–love the flooring and paint colors they chose for the renovations in the apartment units.
–location was definitely a plus, had a great view of the air and water show.
–good closet space in the apartment overall.
Even after this lengthy review that unfortunately probably does not even cover everything (crazy I know). Just have to be glad we got out of there when we had the opportunity, and I know other former residents who feel very similar!

I moved to this apartment community in the summer of 2014. The property manager and her office staff completely lied to me and other new residents in order to get us to sign leases and I’ll share a rendition of some of the issues I have experienced because I think it is unfair to allow others to move in here blindly, believing the office staff, as I did: 1) At the onset of touring the community (with the property manager), I was told that they were undergoing a complete renovation and the construction would be complete by the end of the year for the entire apartment building, but common areas (ie. Gym, lobby, laundry room) would be done by September/​October. The truth is that common areas are just now being finished, 4 months after the estimated time, but it has been terrible living under the construction zone noises, dust, chemical smells, and construction workers taking up all of the elevators and forcing residents to use the stairs up 18 floors. Construction on actual units and the roof is unknown. 2) When touring the community, I asked if there were time constraints under which construction would be taking place. The property manager assured me there was no construction before 8 a.m. on weekdays, 9 or 10 a.m. on Saturday’s. I also asked if rent prices would greatly escalate after my first year was up or if they were planning on keeping rates generally around the same range. The truth is construction often starts before 8 a.m. both on weekdays/​weekends, and waking up to the sound of jack hammers over my head has almost become normal routine. As for an increase in rent, when I recently inquired, it seems that the rough estimate they could provide me is that rent would be raised by around $ 300! That is quite significant and contrary to what I was led to believe. 3) The pictures used to show prospective residents what the community will look like are a combination of what 860 N. DeWitt will look like and other Village Green properties in the area. So don’t let the pictures fool you, as the apartment community will definitely not look as nice as what they try to make you believe. 4) The elevators break weekly/​every other week, often times resulting in residents being trapped in the elevators and the fire department having to come out. The city has sent out various inspectors and it is a serious problem. 5) Whenever a complaint is brought to the office staff, specifically the property manager, she immediately gets defensive, says that she has been honest about what to expect at all times (which is not true), and proceeds to make the person bringing the complaint feel as if they have done something wrong for complaining about the terrible living conditions. It’s quite shameful.
On a positive note, the door staff (not the office staff) here are all amazing and despite the horrible living conditions (due to construction and elevators), the residents appreciate the great lengths the door staff has taken to try and help us throughout the process. Also, the renovated units are very nice, just not the construction going on all around you. If you are considering moving here, wait until 2016 to make sure all construction is done.

My room is now constantly smelling of cigarette smoke. I have notified the management but nothing is being done. The rent is cheap, which is the main attraction. The elevators are constantly broken. If you have a car, you have to have it valeted in their parking garage (which I think is pretty inconvenient.

So… I’ve lived at this apartment for approximately two years. However, those two years did not run concurrently. I moved into a one-​bedroom unit in May 2011 and although the unit is very spacious, I think I’ve gotten to the point that space isn’t everything. I have requested maintenance throughout my tenure living at 860 and have ALWAYS had to get a little aggressive via email in order to see things get done. The units are extremely outdated and need lots of work. They keep re-​coating the walls with fresh paint each time someone moves in and or out and evidently use an in-​house painter/​mechanic/​apartment keeper. One guy does it all, seriously.
If you’re planning on using this as a starter apartment to get on your feet in Chicago and figure out where you actually want to live and settle, it’s not too bad. However, the heat isn’t dependable, the water doesn’t always work correctly, especially in the bathroom.
The elevators (needs its own paragraph) are horrendous. They are always out of service. There are only three in this building and they all don’t work correctly. The elevators take you to the wrong floor, don’t stop at floor level and just don’t respond to being called. It’s seriously a safety hazard!
Please steer clear of this building!

Okay, i’m going to try and be fair with this review. I lived at this apartment building for 4 years. The positives: very safe Streeterville neighborhood, located in downtown Chicago, nice building, partially rehabbed apartments, spacious yet reasonably priced apartments, doorman, in house laundry, a tailor and dry cleaner in the building, roof deck, really close to lake, close to museum of contemporary art.
The negatives: horrible management, horrible plumbing (seriously, you would get 1 – 2 seconds of hot water, then it would switch to ice cold freezing water, no way to remedy as all the plumbing in the building is connected), uppity ass people who were constantly in other people’s biz, while its dog friendly a lot of the residents are big jerks about dogs anywhere near them, lake shore park is so highly regulated, the grass is fenced off 9 months out of the year, there is really no where close to eat that is reasonably priced, parking garage is expensive $ 200/​month.
I’m not going to get into the numerous arguments and out and out fights that my husband and I got into with residents here. a lot of it stemmed from their belief that because we had a dog, we must defer to them. They verbally abused us on several occasions, and not one to back down, we often fought back. We had to call in management on more than one occasion to intervene and also threatened to call the police to report an abusive neighbor.
However, if you don’t have a dog, and don’t mind being chewed out by old angry people on occasion, then this is the place for you. In all seriousness, the apartment it self was nice, big, no pests and semi affordable. We also enjoyed living in downtown for awhile, but am very happy now to have left. So it was really a trade off.