Farnsworth-Hill

My property slumlord level disgusting with scummy neighbors. They always leave their keys inside while they go out the back door to go buy weed and then buzz me ask to “go through my back door” so they can see inside my place and see what they want to steal while I’m gone. Any official place to complain like Unilocal has their secretary Wendy defending the honor of this money grubbing slumlord day or night and publicly humiliating people who got in financial trouble because of the pandemic or health problems because of the mice roach and section 8 client infestations. What a nasty old woman.

even their business office is shabby and worn down they can’t possibly be paying her extra to white knight for the vitalis soaked real estate villains there.

I’ve lived at 1500 Chicago for about 9 months now and I really love this place. The management (David) is great and has been super accommodating. For instance, when I was busy traveling for job interviews and wasn’t going to be home to pay my rent, David helped me make a convenient arrangement. He also threw a nice party for us on the roof deck. The roof deck is fantastic, and becomes sort of a NU/​Kellogg meeting ground in the warm months. The building is not brand new, but it’s great for the price. The heating is really good in the winter because it comes from the floor and so not only does the floor feel nice when you hop out of bed, but the air stays much cleaner and less dry and in blown heating systems. The AC is also solid, though, given that it’s IL you don’t need it much. I see that there were some bad reviews, and those are probably from before David started (he’s been here like 1 year I think), because things seem really good now. I’ve got another year here but when I’m gone I’ll miss this pad.
Update ¹⁰⁄₂₀₁₅: David remains THE BEST. He helped us out again with some logistics. Much appreciated.

I have lived in a Farnsworth building for nearly 2 years. The maintainance man is Dany and he is excellent. The office staff have been nothing but accommodating, professional and unbelievably understanding. The apartment I live in is clean and well maintained. I would rent from them again.

OK– I guess I had it good in my previous apartment bldg — who would have thunk LOL! At any rate, they are run-​of-​the-​mill at BEST! They claim it is the landlord –so the owner of the Hinman building in Evanston is all about $$$$- Almost bordering on slumlord, always looking to duck responsibility and inflates the rent at lease expiration. It does not matter that it was inflated to begin with, but I have lived in this place for 1 year, and still do not have keys to my backdoor. The bathroom fixtures are pathetic and when you ask for repairs on anything — — - F-​O-​R-​G-​E-​T about it altogether! I have lived there for 1 year (too long) and enough of this greed without service — -

I wish there were a negative star. I want to be clear that I really don’t think it’s Farnsworth Hill and have no animosity toward them, but rather the landlord for whom they manage the building. I’m not sure how the other landlords with whom Farnsworth Hill works are (they can’t all suck, right?), but mine has been less than stellar to say the least. I guess if you rent in a building where the landlord specializes in students you should expect less than proactive attention? And, you should agree to renew your lease 8 months before it expires because he’s worried about filling the space? How about fixing the tile in my bathroom instead of installing useless french doors AND NOT FINISHING THEM? Seriously? Of the places I’ve lived –and, I’ve lived in THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES– my Glenwood apartment is pretty close to the top of the list of the worst, not because of Farnsworth Hill, but because the landlord expects that a candy delivery at Christmastime is better sign of his commitment to us than fixing what’s broken. Again, seriously? I’d like to shove those candies… Oh, if you only knew what it took to get someone to pay attention. It was not pretty. Argh! Happy to be moving, and I’ll do my best to leave it at least cleaner than how I found it, but will tell EVERYONE I can about the experience.

I rented an apartment from Farnsworth-​Hill, and found it to be OK, at best. The prices in Evanston are surprisingly high, and the apartment building is nothing to write home about. Since I live on the 2^nd floor, I occasionally see some small brown insects hanging out in my bathroom when the weather changes. I asked the super about this, and he wasn’t surprised. I also discussed this with other tenants of the building, and most people on the 2^nd floor have that same problem. I guess it’s pretty common. The worst part was that they raised the rent when my lease was up, despite these problems.
If you do decide to live in one of their apartment buildings, you can ask to get your floor recarpeted, a new air-​conditioner unit, and a new stove. Depending on how old those are, they are willing to make replacements before you move in (though not after).