All 20 tenant reviews.

“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.”

“STAY AWAY from any and all properties managed by ICM. They do not respect Illinois and Chicago laws that require them to perform maintenance requests in a timely fashion. The (one would logically conclude) undocumented workers that ICM employs enter tenant apartments without any notice and without even announcing their presence! They are adept at tricking prospective tenants at renting apartments that are not available and/or not the actual apartment that they will be moving into. Upon move in, the apartment will be disgustingly filthy. We tried to get out of the lease, but they refused. We moved into an apartment we didn't agree to and several outstanding repair and maintenance issues remain ignored as of this writing six months later. We have endured the apartment smelling of fecses for several weeks before a pipe was repaired. The bathroom is covered in black mold as the hot water is never able to be fully turned off. The kitchen sink should have been discarded several years ago and all of the scrubbing in the world cannot remove the algae. The employees are rude, hostile, ignorant and stupid people who will brazenly argue with and demean tenants when they are contacted. STAY AWAY from these people.”

“I could go on and on about the problems I've had with ICM...holes in ceilings, leaky toilets, rats, ants, rude management....the complaints are endless. Save yourself a huge headache, don't listen to the obvious leasing office agents with their "THANK YOU ICM" comments, just google them. You'll see for yourself the slumlords that they really are. Oh, and if you check out the better business beureau at www.bbb.org, they're listed under "Inner City Management Properties", not ICM Properties. Check out their stellar rating for yourself.”

“ICM has done a great job managing this building. ICM has kept both janitors plus they have two people working in the on-site office. Building is very clean, snow is never on the ground, and I see lots of smiles from management. I have been in the building for seven years and I plan on staying for seven more. THANK YOU ICM PROPERTIES!!”

“Man are these apartments HUGE! My girlfriend and I got a 2 bed w/ a ton of closets and big living room & dining room. <br><br>When we had issues with the unit the people that work for ICM really came through. They replaced our broken window in a few days and were so nice about it. Also they fixed our toilet the same day it broke. The only thing I don't like about the building is parking around here is really tough<br><br>ICM has done alright by me.”

“I disgree with you. I love the new management company. They are friendly and always wiiling to help. Icm is a great company and really easy to work with”

“The apartment I have is pretty decently sized for a studio, although there are both larger and smaller studios in this same building. The bathroom is teeny (no room for shelves or much of anything. No mildew problems in mine, but be careful. Other apartments in the building have had trouble with leaks (like pieces of ceiling caving in), and brown splotches on the ceiling and blistering paint. paint... yeah... this is an old building and what would have been nice crown moulding is a bit obscured by layer upon layer of paint. The kitchen is all right, but the fridge sticks out blocking half the sink so it is awkward doing dishes. In my apartment the hardwood floor looks good, but other apartments have tons of scuffs on the floors.<br> The building is horseshoe shaped, so how sunny the apartment is depends on where in the horseshoe it is. The larger studios have the best south-facing windows, but they are next to the sometimes squeaky elevators, so it is a tradeoff. The side apartments have worse light, but you get a sort of Rear Window effect, which is usually pretty boring, but sometimes quite interesting.<br> Noise is interesting in this building. The walls are good and thick, but the doors are thin. So if you in the back of your apartment you never your neighbors, if you are in the hallway you can hear everything. I've heard my neighbors above me once in 12 months, but apparently if you live below someone who tromps around in high heels on the hardwood floor it can get noisy.<br> Maintenance: When I first moved in the fridge didn't work and it took 2 1/2 weeks to get a new one. My sink also leaked and instead of fixing it right away they waited until the fridge came in. One of the maintenance guys is really friendly, but the other has trouble sometimes with even saying "hello". However I once left my apartment unlocked because I couldn't find my keys and came home to find it locked. (good in a way I guess since nobody broke in, but bad since somebody -either management or maintenance- was checking my door) The surly maintenance guy will let you in after hours for $25. He started saying hello to me after I paid him the fee. Insectwise, I've seen waterbugs in the lobby, and my cat killed a roach once. The fire escapes have lots of spiderwebs on the outside, but are okay inside. The elevators run fine (only been out of service once), but they are over 6 months overdue for inspections.<br> The lobby is absolutely gorgeous. Full of comfy chairs and couches. However, the management doesn't want people using it. When I first moved in, the trashcan by the elevator had an ashtray, so some people assumed that smoking was allowed. In the winter people actually started hanging out in the lobby, some of them smoking cigarettes and some people complained. Management then sent out a letter to the tenants banning smoking. That's reasonable, but they also put in the letter the fine print from the lease about the lobby being off limits for "congregation, recreation, and play". There is no A/C in the lobby so it gets stuffy/sweltering in the summer, but come winter it will be interesting to see if reading a book in the lobby constitutes forbidden "recreation".<br> The main thing driving me (and others) out of this building is the horrible treatment one gets from the leasing office. The management changed over to ICM Properties shortly before I moved in, and at first I thought everyone was making up stories about the "ladies" in the rental office. Heck, they even had a cute little doggie in the office. On second thought, dogs aren't allowed in this building... perhaps they *were* hypocrites right off the bat. When my lease came due I learned their true nature. They offered me 11 months, and I called thinking perhaps it was an error, but they were extremely rude and said it was all they offered. From their tone of voice I had apparently committed some offense to the queen by calling them. Yet I've got a friend in the building who just resigned his and it was for 12 months. Of course his rent also went up $70 a month when the new management took over. So there you go. And you know, I really didn't take being lied to well. They didn't even bother to have a decent excuse. If they had been a little nicer I would have stayed (the rent increase for me wasn't all that much - hmm... maybe I was overcharged from the get-go), but attitude counts in this world, and so I'm speaking out with my pocketbook. <br> I'm on a quest now to find a better place and I don't doubt I can do it. It's kinda silly to pay more for a lobby you can't use. I only hope this beautiful old building gets sold to a different management company. Maybe if enough people move out it will.”

“The building is nice and apartments are affordable but the new management is trying to up the price and with this the people are changing. Management is very rude and has even at one point posted a sign on their door "By Appointment Only." If something breaks, the maintenance man will fix it, but will probably yell at you or at least give you dirty looks.”

“I have lived here for just over 6 months and have had a fairly good experience overall. The lobby is beautiful, although the halls are a bit dated (think the Shining). The units are spacious with nice hardwood, although they have added some ugly linoleum. There is a nice big laundry room, and you can usually always get a washer/dryer, (which are $1.00 and $0.75 respectively). I do wish they'd vacuum the elevators more often, but hey, there are two. Last week I saw my first bug, which I thought, was a roach. Turns out it's a water bug and the exterminator came with poison the next day. The only other maintenance issue I had was when I (accidentally) flushed a bottle of perfume down the toilet. After several unsuccessful attempts on my own, I called maintenance and it was unclogged by the time I got home. Management and Maintenance are nice, and there is a great (cheap) dry cleaner in the building. Overall, it's a pretty good place to live.<br><br>To comment on the drug dealers mentioned in the previous review, they're gone. CPD broke down their door and arrested them (I witnessed first hand, living only two doors down the hall.) Other than that, I haven't heard a peep out of any neighbors.”

“ICM Properties Inc. recently purchased this property and their business practices can only be characterized by such phrases as: disrespectful, unethical and felonious. If you’re the type of individual who doesn’t mind being treated like a dog by your landlord, you should love this building. They will invade your privacy, arrogantly conduct themselves in the most unprofessional manner imaginable and use every means to intimidate you into paying your rent. If you’re a person with even an ounce of self-respect, don’t consider doing business with this company. Also please take note that they have started to lease apartments in the building to the most undesirable types of persons and it is not unusual to see persons resembling drug dealers and thugs present in the hallways and lobby. The noise level in the building has skyrocketed and the facilities are already showing signs of the abuse. It is unfortunate, because the previous owners maintained the building in good condition and were quite friendly.”

“This building is superbly cared-for, and has an attentive staff. I had a spacious studio with hardwood floors and great natural light. Located in a vital Lakeview neighborhood, near the lake, shops, restaurants, and Boys´ Town. Lakeview can be hit-or-miss, but this is one of the great bargains!”