Lincoln Park Plaza

I’ve lived in the building since 2015 and I’m not sure what all the bad reviews are all about. I’ve had a really good experience with the building and the staff. I really have very few complaints.
PROS:
— Staff is quick to respond with any issues you have. They re-​painted, patched things, unclogged drains, fixed our dishwasher, etc. without complaint and they’ve never taken more than 24 hours to address an issue.
— Location is AMAZING. Everything you need is nearby.
— Building is secure, we’ve never had any security issues whatsoever. In fact each door has two types of deadbolts and a bar on it so the door can’t be jimmied open.
— Laundry room just got renovated and there are plenty of washers/​dryers.
— Extra VERY large storage lockers for rent in the basement for $ 20 a month. A steal.
— Garbage chute on each floor to toss down your garbage — very convenient.
— Building offers free cable via DirecTV (we pay $ 20 more for a DVR box so we can record), free basic (VERY SLOW) internet, and pays for heat/​AC. All great perks. Except the internet blows.
— I live on the top floor (17) and I’ve never had issues with the elevators. The longest I ever wait is like 2 minutes max. I’ve never taken the stairs.
— Tamara, who works in the main office, has been wonderful. Responsible, helpful, sweet. She deserves a raise!
CONS:
— Building is not dog friendly. Boo.
— You can’t toss down your recycling through the garbage chute so you have to walk your recycling to the basement, which can be a little annoying.
— Did I mention the internet is SUPER slow? We upgraded to AT&T paying $ 36 a month and it’s still VERY SLOW. Its just a big building and everyone is using the internet at the same time, apparently.
— The «gym» is sort of a joke. Its just a tiny room with a few machines and mis-​matched weights. So don’t get too excited about that ‘perk’.
— No roof deck.
Note: this building does have 147 units of subsidized, Section 8 housing. This has absolutely NOT been an issue at all. In fact I didn’t even know it had Section 8 until a friend mentioned it to me a few months ago. It just isn’t an issue.

600 W Diversey is the most frustratingly convenient place to live. In close proximity to a Starbucks, Chipotle, several bars, and reasonably priced gyms, it seems like the perfect complex. I assure you it is not.
When I was looking to move in, I saw a unit that I loved but the hallway smelled awful because of the garbage shoot. I asked them how long the smell had been there and they said it would be gone before I moved in. Not only was that not the case, the smell has been there almost ONE YEAR LATER. After moving in I found out that the smell had been there for a very long time so not only was I given a broken promise, I was straight up lied to about the feasibility of the smell going away just so I would sign a lease.
They will have you believe they care about maintenance but they do not. The smell persists daily and sometimes seeps into my apartment. The windows of the units have not once been clean since I moved in. During a maintenance check-​up I asked for a new shower curtain and no follow up was provided. Unfortunately the convenience of location and the relatively nice unit itself is not enough to overcome the frustrations that come with it.
Pass unless you just can’t beat the price.

If you’ve ended up on Unilocal it means you’re doing what any sane person does. Unilocal something before buying into it.
If you read through a lot of the bad reviews on here you’ll find elitist and bordering racist comments against the tenants and passerby’s of this building. I believe one of the commenters called the citizens who used to frequent the panera next door «riff raff.»
When we were moving in (after moving to Chicago from NY), my wife and I were skeptical as well. But realize that we shouldn’t believe any of the BS reviews put down by tenants who are better off not being part of this community.
Fran and Tamara have been incredibly helpful, and in fact have gone out of their way to put up with certain requests that are beyond their purview (I’m an asthamatic and I need my apartment and the hallways outside to be pristine and dust-​free /​smoke-​free /​debris-​free).
The Pros:
— Newly finished bathrooms and kitchens with electric stoves and ovens
— Heat and Air Conditioning is included in the rent!
— Great Views
— Speedy repairs when needed, we’ve never waited more than half a business day for a repair
— Very accommodating and speedy management, their offices are on the 2^nd floor of this building
— Great location (trader joes, walgreens, restaurants, bars all nearby)
— A brand new laundry room with machines that can send alerts to your smartphone when laundry is done
— Great water pressure /​hot water
The Cons:
— No roofdeck, but this is made clear to you when you’re looking
— The gym could be improved a bit, but it appears management is in the process of upgrading the amenities and this could be next on the list
— A bit expensive, but you get what you pay for, renovated bathrooms and kitchens
As a full disclosure, I was NOT compensated for my review in any way, and am reviewing out of my own appreciation for the home this building has become to me and my wife. If you need more proof of my unbiasedness feel free to Facebook (
) or Linkedin (
) me with questions.

I’ll start by saying that I don’t think LPP deserves a low 2 stars, but I also don’t think it deserves 3, either. So my «real» rating is 2.5.
The pros:
–The apartment themselves are pretty nice. My view was amazing and it was spacious.
–The few times I needed maintenance they arrived and fixed the problem pretty quickly.
–The response rate of the management.
–Although the apartment walls are thin and you can hear everything within the apartment (i.e. what’s going on in you and your roommates room), you can’t really hear much from other apartments.
The cons:
–As I was in the loading dock on moving day (another pro), there was an old lady parked there. She wanted to get out of the loading dock and had plenty of room to do so (also, I had the dock reserved for this time). She could barely hear and I don’t think spoke much English at all. She not only hit my car once, but twice. The building is filled with rude old people who never speak English and don’t care about the people they are around (crowd the elevators, just stand in common places without any intent to move, etc.). If you’re looking for a building with a younger crowd, this is not for you.
–THE AIR CONDITIONING! It was late May before the AC was ever turned on in the building. I’m sorry, but I pay good money to live here and don’t think it’s right that I have to actually LEAVE my apartment to not be miserable. They were nice enough to let us know that we will have some «uncomfortable» days, though (insert sarcasm here). I don’t pay this much to be uncomfortable.
–The doorman is rarely there when he’s supposed to be. Yes, he knows your name and will always say hi, but having to stalk the front desk to get my packages of an evening is a pain. I don’t know where he goes, but he’s definitely not sitting at the desk.
–The elevators are HORRIBLE. They’re always breaking down so there’s only one available elevator. I can’t tell you how many times I had to wait 5+ minutes to get an elevator. If you’re in a hurry, you can expect to be even further delayed because the elevator will not come.
–The washers/​driers never worked and if you went to the office to get a refund, they gave you the contact information of the company so they can send you a check. Yes, please send me a check for 1.50? Ugh. I can’t tell you how many times there were at least half of the washers/​driers out of order. Also, how many times I had to do 2+ cycles on the drier to get my clothes dry because there was no heat coming out of it. Granted, as I’m leaving they are completely redoing their laundry room… so who knows if it will be any better. Good luck.
–No ceiling fans in unit and also no ceiling lighting in the bedrooms and only partially in the living room. In your bedroom you have to use your closet light… same with in the living room. Yeah the apartments give a lot of natural light, but what am I supposed to do at night???
Take it as you will, maybe I’m just picky with amenities, but I don’t think LPP is worth the price they charge to live here. They offer amenities, but you really don’t get any of them. If you want a sub-​par residential building with an okay staff, strange tenants, overpriced rent, but with good views… this is your place. If you actually want what you pay for, look elsewhere.

Here we are May 19^th, 2015 and it is 80 degrees out in Chicago. We have no air conditioning and they refuse to turn on the air because there will be cooler days ahead (60 degrees) in the forecast. In the newsletter, the management team explain that the residents will be experiencing some uncomfortable days for awhile. We pay thousands of dollars to live in this apartment. The fact that it is so uncomfortably hot that we have to leave our apartment to seek cooler temperatures is absolutely ridiculous. I would not recommend this apartment to anyone unless you don’t mind living in an 80+ degree apartment with no fans in the unit.

First off, the good:
–Great location
–Nice little workout closet when you can’t make the gym (treadmills, bikes, etc)
–Friendly doormen
–Nice wall-​to-​ceiling windows
Now, the bad:
–The residents. Some of them are downright crazy. Like another reviewer said, there are many people who live here that I would cross to the other side of the street if I saw in public. It’s just very, very strange. You can’t have yuppies paying $ 1,500 a month living among section 8 tenants. I’m sorry, it just doesn’t work. You can feel the tension in every uncomfortable elevator ride.
–The lobby/​décor area. Seriously needs repairs.
That’s pretty much it. But given what you pay in rents, look elsewhere.

I live here now, and I actually just renewed my lease in a 2 BR apartment. I agree with many reviews that there are some problems with this building. It has recently come under new management and, while there are still annoyances, they are at least being acknowledged by management. Overall, I would say that this is a good building to live in, and especially will be once the construction is done on the lobby.
First thing, the location is amazing. It is easy to get to the brown line, and the 36÷22÷151 buses are basically right outside. The red line is also easy to walk to at either Belmont or Fullerton. The area is a blast, Pride parade goes right by, there are tons of bars/​restaurants/​stores right by, etc. The location is definitely the biggest reason I decided to re-​sign here.
Next, the staff is all super friendly. They may be harder to find at certain times, especially with the construction going on, but once you locate them, they are very helpful. Especially Patrick, the front door guy, and the maintenance guy, both extremely friendly. Patrick remembered my name and apartment number after picking up ONE package!
The apartments themselves are very nice, but I would say the common areas not so much but they get the job done (with the exception of the elevators). The elevator situation is the one thing in this building that drives me CRAZY. It is not at all uncommon to have only one working elevator for floors 7 – 17, and it can take forever to get up or down. One time both elevators were not working for several hours, and this seemed like a real liability issue, major fire hazard! The sun deck has been closed for the majority of the time that I have lived here, which is too bad because I definitely was excited about it when moving in.
I think they just re-​did the gym, and it is pretty nice I would say, not many weights, but a few of each: bikes, treadmills, ellipticals and brand new TVs. The laundry facilities are great, I have never once had any problem getting a machine at any time or day, and they are actually open 24 hours.
They are currently doing a TON of construction on the lobby to put in a commercial space, and that has caused issues with elevators, accessibility, tele-​entry, etc. but supposedly it should be done soon. This is one thing that has also been a little frustrating, I feel like I chose this place in part for the security provided, and half the time they just keep the door open when they say that someone will be there to admit guests, but like I said, should be resolved soon.
Other reviews mention older people, «Crazy» people, and section 8 tenants. There are a lot of older people in this building, but I have never had a single problem with a fellow tenant, in fact they have been incredibly friendly from the day I moved in.

Do yourself a favor, and don’t live here. Why? Well where to start…
1. Ignore any of the «amenities», etc they say that they have.
The free internet and TV is about as bad as they come– while living here I would have trouble checking my email, the internet was so slow. And don’t even consider streaming Netflix or any gaming system, because it’s not going to happen for you. The DirectTV set up also sucks, as signal is lost and the picture becomes scratchy at least once a week.
The sun deck MIGHT have been nice, except the entire time I lived here it was closed.
The air conditioning also might be included in the price of the apartment, but you have no control over the temperature or when it’s turned on and off. Meaning well in to May when it’s 80 degrees and the staff have decided to turn the AC off for the weekend, you end up sweating your ass off, as the apartment windows barely open. OH and that’s when the AC is actually working and not broken.
The door men– while they seem like nice people, for the time that I lived here, they were always walled up in some office, out of view of the door, with no attention to people coming in and out of the building. Um hello, isn’t your job to provide security as a door man? Especially with all the riffraff now accumulating outside due to the recently opened PaneraCares…
The elevators. I can’t even. The elevators make me miserable daily. I lived higher up in the building and the amount of times I walked up and down 17 flights of stairs while living here was RIDICULOUS. There are two elevators for the entire 7 – 17 floors of the building and they are RARELY both working. Its not uncommon to wait 5+ minutes for the elevator to pick you up, and then take 5 more minutes just to get up or down due the volume of people and stops it makes. While I lived there, it got the point where I’d avoid going out on days when the elevators were «out of order» because it was a 10+ minute ordeal.
2. The staff are not helpful and often rude.
Whoever works in the office and answers the phone needs to take a lesson in customer service. You’re job is to be accommodating to your residents. Apparently though, they missed that memo. If ever I would call with a question or problem, they’d given me attitude and excuses for why they can’t do anything about it. Rude. The ONE exception is the «Engineer». He’s always respectful, nice, prompt with repairs and doesn’t make excuses.
3. The building population.
On much of the bottom 10 floors and sprinkled throughout the top floors of this building is section 8 housing. Now I’m all for helping people out, but at the end of the day, I didn’t plan to pay $ 1,500 a month to live in a section 8 building. There are a lot of characters I see walking in and out of the building that if I saw on the street, I might cross and avoid eye contact. I often also feel like I’m living in a nursing home by the amount of old folks who live here. Now if that’s something you’re fine with, great for you. But I believe the fact that you’re moving into a section 8 building is something they should tell you in the contract.
4. The apartment’s themselves.
The ONE redeeming feature of this building are the massive windows. I’ve never seen them be cleaned, but they still do provide a pretty sweet view. And to be perfectly honest, I was blinded by the view when apartment hunting and moved in without asking any questions. While I enjoyed the view and my cute one bedroom apartment while living here, the horrible customer service and maintenance of the building and amenities has completely clouded my judgment of this building. And its sad, because it has great potential… if only it had better management.

Based on the above reviews, I am very grateful that I didn’t live here (now that I’ve moved I can reveal that I lived here:
; Andre W spent his free time stalking me to eat hamburgers and to teach him about beer) but I did park here. After spending 2.5 hours driving around my neighborhood looking for parking, I vowed never to park on the street again. And, after getting a tip that parking on Chicago streets during the winter was a f00l’s errand, I knew I had to find a garage.
My first garage was this hot mess on Broadway close to the Intelligentsia Coffee. It was heated, cost in the $ 100s, but was a good 8 – 9 blocks from my place. In sub-​degree temps, that’s a LONG walk. And, forget it if you’ve forgotten something. Plus, it was falling apart. The stairs were crumbling and I was pretty sure that it was just a matter of time before I was attacked, even if there was a semi-​awake attendant out front. So, the search began for a new garage. Being that I lived on Diversey, I’d passed LPP many times. I voted there. I side-​stepped residents as I powered my way east and west on the street. It… had a garage. And, it was MUCH closer. And… it was expensive.
For $ 239 every month, I paid for:
–Closer, more convenient parking;
–A garage with little to no monitoring;
–A garage filled with people seemingly incapable of parking in ONE spot;
–Garage management who did nothing about the situation (imposing fines, etc.; park in two spots, pay for two spots);
–Unheated garage;
–Uncovered garage (if you were unlucky enough to move your car at the wrong winter moment);
–Uneven plow jobs for said uncovered parking;
–A lack of preferred parking spaces for those of us who had monthly contracts (the garage was open to the public and, given its location, was very popular with Chicagoans and tourists alike);
new lessons in curse words as I shook my head and hand to fork over $ 239 a month for parking (it hurts to even write it now);
maintenance men who parked in front of the stair doors, making such entry impassable (and, again, management did nothing to dissuade such behavior; TOW that mess); and
–The ability to PARK ON THE STREET BECAUSE MY GARAGE WAS OUT OF PARKING FOR THOSE OF US WITH CONTRACTS. Yes, during certain games, parades, air & water shows, COLD NIGHTS, etc., I paid for the privilege to NOT park in my garage.
I’ve learned my lesson. Whether it’s a building or a home, parking is a non-​negotiable. I don’t miss this at all.

Same thing as users above. I lived in this building for 1 year. It was horrible. AC/​Heat/​Electricity constantly went off and the company BJB (Maybe BCB, I forget) didn’t give a crap. The inside of the apartments were pretty nice though. Staff was OK except the office staff who could never give a straight answer or hold themselves accountable for all the crap that went on. The never not once in my 1 year there cleaned the exterior of the windows or even bothered to vacuums the hallways. Elevators were slow and always broke. This place also has a lot of old people and crazies. They are trying to get rid of the section 8 housing but it is still really present. I highly recommend looking somewhere else especially with the amazing amount of NICE properties in the area. Please don’t live at this hell hole.

I was never super happy with this building — but the last straw was when my apartment was burglarized when I wasn’t home. No sign of forced entry and no one else was broken into — so makes it very shady since I lived on the 13^th floor. Management didn’t seem to care and said there was nothing he could do (even though they have video tapes and «security»). I stopped trusting anyone who worked there and I didn’t feel safe anymore. I moved out soon after.
On top of that — elevators, heat, and A/​C break quite often. They do try to fix things as soon as possible though — except elevators can take awhile because it’s not the internal engineer who fixes them. Utilities are included but our internet was on-​and-​off super slow.
On the plus side, the windows in apartments are huge (decent views) and the windows in the elevators are pretty cool…
I’d recommend not moving in and finding another place nearby…

I have rented in 2 BJB buildings and had unsatisfactory experiences in both. At 2828 N Pine Grove the heat was awful. The building management would turn the antiquated hot water system on and off throughout the day and night, and sometimes it got very cold between charges. Twice it went off for more than 24 hours, one of those times for almost 3 days during a particularly cold spell. The building management barely communicated with the tenants for most of the outage. A phone call would be met with a «we’re working on it» response. It was impossible to get a target for its actual repair.
Due to the heat issue I moved to 600 W Diversey (Lincoln Park Plaza), not realizing it too was a BJB managed property until I was into the application process. My experience here has been very similar. During the summer the air conditioning went off twice for extended periods. Again communication from management was limited to the «we’re working on it» sort, finally appearing in the form of a sign posted next to the elevator buttons. Thank goodness the heat has worked so far, but we have been plagued with elevator problems to the upper floors, with both elevators out on several occasions – including the last 2 weekend mornings. This causes serious problems for my mom and the many building tenants who are not able to use stairs. I called BJB’s 24 hour number last Saturday to report the problem and discovered another tenant had reported it earlier. When I requested a callback with a repair estimate, the BJB rep said very rudely «we don’t do that». When I started to explain that my mom was stuck in the building he said «you’re not listening, we don’t call back». I really think he couldn’t have cared less. The BJB rep on Sunday morning was more understanding but still refused my request to have the building manager return my call. I had no recourse but to call 311 and report the lack of building egress on both days.
In addition to the obvious mechanical shortcomings of both buildings, the public areas are poorly maintained. Cleaning is limited to vacuuming, mopping, and sweeping. There are numerous carpet stains in common hallways of both buildings. At 2828 I got so tired of a big splotch in front of my door that I used a carpet cleaner to remove it. It came out right away. Paint is chipped and peeling, the elevator windows and interiors are filthy, and so on. Having signed a lease at 2828 for annual rent in excess of $ 12,000 and at 600 W Diversey at $ 20,000, I would expect much better service. I have never received a single «thanks for your business» that I can think of, other than upon signing the leases.
On the positive side, the building staff in both locations is friendly and tries to be helpful with small requests. It is obvious that they do not have resources to deal with major shortcomings in building mechanical systems. Also, the private areas of both apartments were nicely finished prior to moving in. It’s as if building management thinks that tenants notice nothing other than the surface condition of individual apartments. Given the fact my experiences forced one move and will likely force another, I give both buildings and BJB a single star.