3450 N LAKE SHORE DR, Chicago, IL 60657

TLDR - Skip this place. Don’t live here. While it may be cheaper than market to start, they will nickel and dime you, raise your rate above market increases to try and save their struggling profits. Positives: Great views with spacious apartments (though old and not updated). The front desk and maintenance team are very friendly (but unfairly overworked). Negative: Apparently the front desk workers had their vacation cancelled this summer. Negative: The property management team is unfriendly and unhelpful. Rent collection is arcane with limited options that take multiple days to set up. The leasing and property management staff is unhelpful. The team in charge has decided that re-doing the halls and common areas alongside monthly breakfasts and a holiday party are the superficial solution to their deeper problems. Negative: Rent is at least $200+ higher than it seems since the building passes water, gas, and communal electricity onto residents (in addition to your own electricity and wifi bills). This charge to residents means the property managers have no incentive to be more efficient. Don’t forget you have to pay $1 for each package you have delivered and fees on most forms of rent payment. Negative: The most flagrant issue is the water pipes are in dire need of replacement after years of missed maintenance. The water runs yellow. Faucets spray black gunk. Toilets leak. Worst of all there is a weird smell that you just get used to. Maintenance will fix a leak if you ask, but it springs up somewhere new shortly after. The appliances are old, and the carpets were once white… maybe (eek). low. Do yourself a favor and skip a stint in Hawthorne House with its questionably healthy water and unhelpful staff.

Don't move here if you are a single occupant and don't want to pay high utility fees that the property tacts on to your rent in addition to having to pay comedision. Water and electricity are not metered per unit therefore if other residents keep their heat or air conditioning on full blast and you don't...you will pay for it anyway. If you are reasonable with your water consumption and others are not, you will pay for it anyway. When I moved in I was disappointed in all the paint cracks seen throughout the apartment especially when I paying $2k a month. The closet rod in my bedroom was hanging off the wall. It took the property almost a month to "fix" it and they did a half---- job by only securing the end of the closet rod to the wall while leaving the middle of the closet rod still hanging off the support beam unsecured. I gave up. The appliances are not up to par for a $2k a month unit. The hallway on our floor has ceiling damage that they've made no effort to repair yet. The lobby has had a sewage smell on and off for the last several weeks which is nauseating. I should have moved to the building next door that was hundreds cheaper and had parking.

I highly advise anyone looking to move here to look elsewhere. The management here is the worst I've ever dealt with in 20+ years. They nickle and dime you for absolutely everything. If you enjoy paying to receive your own packages then this is the place for you... that's right, management charges you a fee for each package received. Hawthorne does have nice views, I will give them that, but it's hard to enjoy the amenities with all the rules and regulations. The gym and pool both open late and close early... oh and by the way, there is an apartment under the gym area so you are supposed to be quite while working out.. Hawthorne claims that there is a foot of concrete between each apartment but his is 100% not the case as I hear my neighbors open/close their blinds every morning, brushing their teeth, talking about what they're going to do that day, etc. etc. etc. All in all, this place feels nothing like a home but rather a college dorm or something along those lines. I really wish I read more reviews about this place before moving in b/c a lot of other people have had the same experiences as me.

Do you want to pay $1 for every package you get delivered? Hawthorne House now charges $1 to receive and store your package for you to retrieve from a locker. If you don't like it, tough. If a package is lost, tough. The reviews are absolutely true; great, great building With beautiful views but TERRIBLE management. Extremely apathetic to tenant issues and will point to every direction but their own. For the rent and the building advertised as luxury amenity living you would expect better service and attentiveness, but at the very least just from the human side. Also, clean the grills!!!! Not the cooking surface, both grills are infested with spiders, literally everywhere.

The best part of this building are the views and proximity to the lake, but those perks do not outweigh the very outdated apartments (carpets, old kitchen appliances, etc.) and truly criminal management. Not to mention the old system of heating/cooling that leaves you very uncomfortable for at least 1 week each year. They will nickel and dime you for just about everything they can, on top of an already very expensive rent (that increases significantly each year). During move out, they will strong arm you into paying for routine costs that are part of being a landlord.