Tenant Reviews for 540 W BRIAR PL

I have lived in my apartment for almost 2 years and I have never had any problems. The space is quite large given the price. I looked for awhile in the area and apartments at the same price point were so small! Square footage wise, this place is easily the size of some other 1 bedrooms in the area. The kitchens are big! Plus there's room to negotiate, I was able to get a good deal on my unit. The property management has always been easy to work with. I've called twice for a repair (both minor) and Jerry - the maintenance worker that is usually always in the building, has come the same day both times and fixed both issues on the spot. It's old construction - done right, and the walls are very thick. I can't hear my neighbors and I've never heard the people above me walking around. There are plenty of washers and dryers in the building, the elevators aren t the nicest (but at least they re there). The only other thing I would say is that everyone tends to keep to themselves, which is nice if that s what you re looking for, but if you re looking to meet people or have a good relationship with neighbors this is probably not the spot for you. The location is amazing and there are plenty of shops and restaurants/bars in the area, yet it does not feel noisy because it s slightly away from the main street.

Up until now I have generally been pretty happy living at 540 W Briar. It's in a great location, it's safe, the tenants are generally young and friendly, the maintenance is very responsive, and while it's nothing spectacular, you get what you pay for. The only issue I have had is with the laundry. Up until now I have always felt comfortable doing my laundry in big buildings w/ lots of other people, but the other day a pair of my brand new [designer] jeans mysteriously went missing from my laundry. They were never left out of the machines, which means that someone opened up the dryer and took them. I am very shocked that this happened here because I have never had a sketchy feeling from anyone I've seen around, but I guess you just never know.

I just went to these apartments today to see one, I wasted my time clearly- First the leasing office personnel was wearing rags which looked very unprofessional, then he rushed me through the "model", which looked horrible-no fridge/broken cabinets/sheet metal steel closet doors? I heard someone blasting music from below and asked him about it he replied "we never get noise complaints" and I said why because everyone is noisy? He hurried me out and refused to answer my questions about the people that might live around me saying it was against the fair housing act-and was persistant on letting me know that the area is safe. I looked up the fair housing act and my question had nothing to do with it-actually I was able to answer it myself by looking at census data. you have to pay a dollar every time you have a guest parking... Lastly I saw some kids in the parking lot that looked like gang bangers in busted down vehicles, the smell coming from the car smelled illigal. i will never get caught in this area again

ICM Property Management who owns this unfortunate building are about the most unethical, lying, cheating and thieving gang of punks you re ever going to meet as a landlord. They fragrantly violate the city and state tenants rights laws as if they don t exist. They are rude and disrespectful. This building is old and everything in it is old, if something should break they are going to blame it on you and drag their feet about fixing it. When they do attempt to fix something, they will send the janitor Jerry around who is completely incompetent and he ll drag his 350 pound self into your apartment and accomplish nothing except creeping the hell out of you. People move in and out of here like it has a revolving door, they often rent to questionable people who are scary (a couple years ago, one tenant murdered a cab driver in the street outside the front door, he was a drug dealer) (http://www.statesattorney.org/presscityworkercabbie01.htm). Often criminals and drug addicts rent apartments in buildings managed like this because they are the only landlords who will tolerate them, expect to find that here. Not all the tenants are like this, many are very nice people who didn t know what they were in for when they moved here. Do yourself a favor, don t consider living here.

the apartment was overpriced considering how scummy it was. everything was rusty and falling apart. the light fixture fell one day and crashed into a million pieces. the plumbing is old and constantly breaking down, the water is brown. what a rip off, the cabinets were put together with glue. every time something would break or fall apart, which was quite frequently, instead of sending someone up to fix it the ----- in the front office would try to blame it on you. the janitor, Jerry, is CREEPY. like stalker rapist-esque creepy. we think he's some ----ed up vietnam vet, but he'll hang out outside your door or wait by the front door to scare you and all of your friends away with his grunting and ---- talking. he'll even go through your laundry. he thinks he's a security guard, he's just a scary weirdo whom residents constantly complain about yet hasn't been fired. the other janitor, enrique, is cool. very nice guy. feel sorry for him b/c he has to work w/ jerry. but the management are jerks, they don't want to do their jobs or fix anything and will talk down to you condescendingly and are just plain disrespectful. don't live here. it's a total rip off. waaaay too expensive, go elsewhere. i wouldn't have stayed so long if moving wasn't so annoying a task.

one of the janitors is a ------- -------. he will follow you around, stare at you, scare away all your guests, and then scoff at you when you need some thing fixed, and treat you like ----. the women who work in the office are condescending -------. maintenance is awful, every time something breaks they will try to blame it on you instead of just fixing it. then the janitor comes up to fix it and you think he's gonna go crazy and have some vietnam flashback and crush you. the apartments are way smaller than they're worth, and many of them are seriously lacking in sunlight. like i said, they suck and maintenance. the elevators, which are supposed to be inspected annually, haven't been inspected since 2004. the worst was this one time last summer when they had the water and the elevators off at the same time, for three miserable days, so people were carrying jugs of water up nine flights of stairs. they gave the residents no warning and no apology. not to mention, the janitor is a creep!! this place is okay for temporary residence, if you don't mind being ripped off, but don't get too cozy.

I moved in here about a year ago, looking to move to a larger place than my current studio. I have a studio apartment facing the inside of the "U". It is pretty bright inside most of the day, especially in the morning. The hardwood floors were in decent condition, the only spot that wasn't that good was covered by my couch. The apartment was quite large for a studio, and the kitchen was really large for a studio as it has its own room with plenty of cupboards. Upon moving in, I had the blinds replaced by maintanence and there was a new fridge installed. The stove worked good and the sound from other apartments was non-existent through the walls, ceiling, and floor. All in all I thought it was a great place to live. I had moved from MI and didn't really know what to expect. I parked at a garage around the corner, so I never really had to street park, but it wouldn't be easy to do so right by the apartment building. There were a few negatives, but nothing that I hated. The heater in the main room had a nonfunctioning on/off valve, but I never turned it in to Maint. I just turned off the others and opened the window in the winter when it got too hot. I did have a run in with a water bug once in my apartment, squashed it and had the apartment sprayed for bugs. The only other inconveince was the lack of power outlets, but lets be honest, its a studio. I had issues with blowing the fuse all the time, but I had the breaker replaced within a day and things were hunky dory. The lobby is huge, but nothing to really do in it, the laundry room was a laundry room, sometimes it got a little crowded but never had to wait a long time. The workout room isn't really a work out room but, it gives you something to do when the laundry is going. 2 elevators, only one down for about a day in the past year that I was aware of. Maintanence would bring packages to your door and leave them inside if you weren't home and would always knock when they arrived. The people in the office were always helpful to me whenever I stopped by. All in all, it was a great first place in Chicago. I think people need to remember that it does have some faults, but nothing major and for the price its a great place. I don't think any of the negative comments left by people took into consideration the rent they were paying and the location and good things they took for granted. If it was a new build condo, it would have cost a ton more.

Not sure how it's possible these folks could get any negative reviews. This was my favorite apartment in Chicago, prior to buying a condo. The location was awesome, and the building was always spotless. Great laundry room -- the "workout"room is a joke, but I wasn't expecting Bally's along with my studio. The office gals were super friendly and helpful. I had to move out early and they were super easy to work with, and didn't charge me any sort of sublease fees or anything. The apartment was also great -- cheap, big, and in one of the best locations in Chicago. No complaints whatsoever -- I would rent with ICM any time.

Yes, ICM has a sketchy history of maintenance, but I have had no major problems. Mine is by far and away a huge studio with amazing natural light (facing the lake) and is the quietest place I have ever lived. The walls are cement cinder block and unless your neighbors are obnoxiously loud, you will not hear a peep unless you are in the hallway. Overall, I'd recommend this buildig for someone looking for something quiet, affordable, and liveable.

The on-site office has been amazing in helping me move to Chicago. Moving can be very stressful and the girls in the office did a great job in assisting me. Our building has TWO engineers and they are always walking around with a smile on their face. I have referred 2 other friends to ICM and they both got great apartments.