Tenant Reviews for 1150 N Lake Shore Dr

I had a great apt and landlord. Loved location. My issues were, some of the tenants— racist AF. Not use to having a person of color living in their building . I experienced a lot of micro aggressions. Most of the staff was ok, except a few doormen. One head one treated me like I was the help before he realized I was a tenant. Others who have been there for decades are lazy and jump for white tenants to open the door, but me they let me wait. Others have their own slick ---- they doing like on the side parking rates, selling key fobs and more. Rates for move in and move out is ridiculous and the building’s manager when I was there needed some professional training. Overall nice building with some ------ staff and residents. If you’re not white beware.

There is a rental cap, about 1/3 of building is rental, 2/3 is owner occupied, so people in general care for the building and are respectful. Some people have lived in the building for decades. If you are renting, it is likely direct from a unit owner. There is 24/7 front door staff and they are rather strict on entry which is great for security. Location is unbeatable.

Avoid this building and the scummy tenants that live there. Crooked lying scum live in this building. A tenant kept accusing me of doing something I was absolutely not doing just because they had a weird smell in their apartment, despite his revolving door of women he would sneak up and down the elevator and out the side door, I'd say he was trying to distract management from his debauchery.

Jean Star the land lord was unprofessional and unreasonable, made the move out process very difficult by citing all kinds of flawed reasons to hold up the security deposit. We are disappointed and pained by her attitude and unfairness. There was also no prior warning when she brought in prospective renters, inspite of complains and she acted difficult and called us at all times inspite of being given a date of move out. Disappointing experience

My wife and I have rented in this building for a little over a year and we would strongly encourage potential renters/buyers to look elsewhere. Although the lake views are fantastic and listings tend to be cheaper than others in the area, our experiences with the building manager, condo association board, and one landlord (Jean Star) has been a constant source of disappointment and frustration. My wife and I tend to be pretty easy-going and have lived in multiple apartments in Indianapolis and Chicago without any trouble. That is why we were shocked by the unprofessional and unkind behavior we repeatedly encountered in this building. Below are a few points to consider from our experiences; however, I want to note that the doormen and other building staff are absolutely wonderful people. Furthermore, our current landlord (we moved units after 1yr) is perfectly pleasant as are some of our neighbors. Our criticisms are only a reflection of the behavior of the property manager, board, and landlord. 1. There is $800 in total non-refundable move in fees, which we were told is to discourage renters. When we moved units, the property manager suggested asking the board in writing to waive some of the $500 move-in/out elevator fee (renters are not allowed to attend board meetings). We did so and received a reply that our move-in and move-out fees would both be reduced 50%, i.e., they were going to charge us $1000 to move between units but graciously reduced it to $500. 2. Our previous landlord, Jean Star, repeated entered our condo without warning. When she did so when my wife was home she remarked that she thought we would not be home. When she did so again, I called and expressed my concerns. She said she did not understand why we would care if she entered when we weren't there.... She also accused us of damages that she had previously apologized for when we moved in. We hired a lawyer to protect ourselves, but she finally returned the full security deposit. 3. The property manager underquoted fees to both our realtor and me when asked directly about them. When we later expressed our frustrations, he was incredibly dismissive and insulting. We asked if there was anything else to do before moving units and he said "no." A couple days before the move, my wife was checking over things and he told her we had to schedule time on the moving elevator with one of doormen and it was already booked that morning - I guess me confirming the move date with him and giving him a $500 check 3wks in advance was not enough. Ends up he triple booked the moving elevator that day. I could go on but will leave you with those 3 points so as not to make this review too exhaustive.

I would advise against renting this condo apartment. The units are landlord owned. Most of the owners are old, and very difficult to reason with. I lived at an apartment, and paid $1600, when I expressed the desire to move out in the middle of my lease by finding a new suitable tenant, the landlord and her greedy agent Lois made it very obvious they wanted to keep my deposit, and would not approve of any potential tenant for a sub let, no matter how good a candidate. Not only that, they wanted me out quickly, without paying my deposit back as promised (after cutting about $850 in moving out fees), they day I moved out, they already had tenants come in for a potential $1700 rent. The condo association is very difficult to handle, no move ins or outs on weekends (you have to skip work) , the fees / parking are exorbitant, and frankly, you can find way better amenities for the price in the city.

Management a pain to deal with. Owners who own most units are old and too conservative - they have formed an association which will not agree to anything you ask, no matter how reasonable it sounds. The association consists of old farts who are not flexible, and who insist on doing everything their way. If you want to buy or rent a unit in the area, it would be wise to choose something else instead. Parking is too expensive (300 deposit 250/month), fees upon move in include $300 non-refundable to the association as well as an additional $300 non-refundable "move in fee". Moving out requires another $300 non-refundable "move out fee". They do not help you with move in/out at all, all they do is reserve the service elevator for you, so I don't know where this money is going. Will definitely not recommend this old drab building to any prospective buyers or renters. I'm glad I'm renting since I get to move out as soon as my lease expires.