Catalyst

If I could buy a unit here as a condo I probably would. I have looked at about 20 competing buildings in and around the neighborhood and this is the best. Price wise, I feel, all the buildings are priced tightly in terms of the various trade-​offs so it isn’t about price shipping. Amenity wise, this building is top notch. I love the building being a mid-​rise as you get all the feel of a luxurious high-​rise and also the feel of a small community home where you are a person and part of the family as opposed to a cold busy hotel feel. The location is well balanced. The staff is world class. The tenants are young professionals. I have lived here since they’ve opened two years ago and just signed another new lease.
Go look elsewhere so you can see what I mean and know confidently that Catalyst is the place to live. Maybe I’ll see you at the rooftop pool with a drink one day!

We just moved out of the Catalyst (and only moved because we purchased a place in the area). I cannot say enough nice things about the building and the team working there. I really felt like they were my family and I always felt ‘at home.’ The building itself is beautiful and new with amazing amenities. There are a wide variety of people living there (single in their 20s, empty nesters and new families with little ones (like mine)). The building tries to strike a balance for all of the people living there and hosts events for everyone. They are very responsive (for example, with maintenance requests, noise complaints, etc.) and always very friendly. My son will truly miss his home and the friends he made there.

I just moved out of the Catalyst apartment building having lived there 10 months. The rating above says it all. It’s as good as it gets for apartment living. From my move in to my move out everything was great. The apartment was fantastic and price competitive compared to other buildings in the area. The amenities are amazing. The fitness center and yoga room are better than I’ve ever seen in any building. The concierge downstairs become not just people at the door but your friends. I had to move out a couple of months early to take a job in a new city and the leasing staff and property manager were incredibly accommodating on my move out and even rented my apartment for me saving me a ton of money. From the social mixers hosted by the property, to the other fun tenants to all of the great amenities and staff this is a perfect building. If I could give 6 stars I would.

After looking at several high-​amenity apartments in the West Loop like Left Bank, Echelon, K2 — we chose Catalyst primarily because:
1) New & modern — still has that brand new apartment smell… you know the one.
2) More sophisticated — compared to some of the other apartments that carried a frat party feel
3) Smaller building — less traffic, quiet atmosphere, more intimate events
4) Location — right off the highway, grocery stores abound, and a few mins walk away from restaurant row or Ogilvie Station.
After living here for 3 months, we couldn’t be happier. We have felt validated on just about everything. Even with a couple hiccups here and there (as the new building works out the kinks), you can see a concerted effort to take care of any reported issues promptly. The service has been great from maintenance to front desk to office management.

Best mix of modern amenities, recreational space, resident services, proximity to Ogilvie Station.
We had looked at most of the major apartment complexes in the West Loop/​Ogilvie Station area of Chicago and excluded any places that would require more than a 15 min walk to the Ogilvie Station. That includes K2, Alta, Echelon, Left Bank, 180 N Jefferson. We couldn’t be happier with our choice. Our feedback after moving in 3 weeks ago.
Pros:
New construction — could not ask for cleaner apartments
Modern aesthetics — open and beautiful kitchen space and appliances, bathrooms are roomy, and common areas on the 4^th floor and penthouse are all nicely done, rugs in the bedrooms, and a nice choice of laminate in the common areas
Management and Maintenance team — very considerate and friendly personnel that respond quickly to online requests, and little touches that show the overall strategy is resident satisfaction and keeping the apartment complex in excellent shape.
Perfectly sized complex — the other high rise apartment complexes had a little bit of a reputation of being loud on weekends which is fine if you’re single and wanting to meet new people, but if you’re starting a family for example and value quiet, this is a more moderate in size apartment complex with most of the amenities seen in other larger buildings (except a basketball court) such as a yoga studio, nice pool space, BBQ space, TV room with free coffee 24/​7, etc.
Nice construction details — parking space is generous ($ 250/​mo) and the windows and wall are of excellent build quality and the room is very quiet and we do not have any issues with hearing neighbors, etc.
Utilities — included in a $ 100+/mo services fee is gas, cable TV with Comcast and internet (²⁵⁄₅ package). Other buildings would utilize internet providers with a sketchy history of providing promised speeds. Comcast is not perfect, but since this is the first residential building in Chicago that is wired top to bottom with fiberoptic cable, the included internet package currently gives us 34.72 mbps download and 15.96 mbps upload speeds.
AC/​heat — a major issue for us is freedom to manage temperatures, and looking at apartment complexes is not as simple as asking whether the building is a one pipe or two pipe system. Even two pipe buildings like Left Bank, K2, Alta limit your ability to turn on heat or cold until certain thresholds meaning there can be periods of weeks where temperatures are too hot or cold. Catalyst offers free access to heat and cold air ²⁴⁄₇ 365 days of the week. We were told from other complexes that they limited access to be «eco-​friendly».
Proximity to Ogilvie Station — it is about a 20 min walk to Millenium Park, to Magnificent Mile, and a 3 min walk to Ogilvie Station. Since there is a parking lot between Catalyst and Ogilvie, one can exit Catalyst and walk across the parking lot and after that you are only one block away from entering the building that houses Ogilvie Station. Huge bonus for those who fear the windy winter weather.
Front desk services — very nice personnel who remember your name, and often open the door for you. They have an automated e-​mail service to notify you of packages that arrived, and confirmation that they have been picked up which I have found to be very reliable.
Pet friendly — not only is the building pet friendly with a dog walk park on the 4^th floor including a «dog spa» where your pet can get a bath after sweating outside (I have yet to see it used but seriously…), but for the non pet owners, they limit pet owners to certain floors (4^th and 5^th floor and other floors). Pet owners do have to pay an extra fee but you are getting at least stuff your pet can tangibly enjoy.
Restaurant access — adjacent to Randolph Street aka «restaurant row» — Nice restaurants such as Girl and the Goat, Sepia and more causal eats like Little Goat diner all within 1 – 3 blocks.
Convenient grocery access — Mariano’s is 2.5 blocks away, a new Whole Foods will be finished in Jan 2015 about 1.5 blocks away, and Jewel Osco is about 5 blocks away.
Playground access — one block further out from Mariano’s is a nice but busy children’s playground and park
Excellent walk scores — pretty much true for all of the West loop area, although the buildings get old and sketchy when you go north past Jewel Osco
Cons:
price — competitive to other high rises but not for everyone, but you do get what you pay for and currently they are offering 2 months free rent for a 1.5 year lease
views — are not as impressive as the views we saw from Left Bank for example, and the nearby parking space is a little bit of an eyesore, but on the positives you have unobstructed views of the downtown skyline on the north facing side
limited availability — even though the building just opened this year, the building is already mostly rented out, so choices are limited

After looking around at many apartments around Chicago, including many of the newly built buildings I am confident in endorsing the Catalyst. Unfortunately I am unable to move into the building as the sale of my condo has fallen through but both of the leasing agents had been very helpful and understanding of my situation. They were willing to accommodate me within a very short time and then adjusted when that time frame changed.
As far as the building goes, my only complaint is the entrance doesn’t really look like an apartment building. It kind of looks like an office building but the rest of the building and its location more than make up for it. In fact, between the gym, party room, outdoor grilling area and pool I think this building has one of the best, if not THE best, amenity floors in the Chicago rental market.
Pricing is okay but they are running some fantastic deals right now making the all in cost very reasonable.
I am disappointed I will not be able to make the move but recommend that everyone check it out!