Tenant Reviews for 777 S STATE ST

I am writing this review because I am OFFENDED at how blatantly fake the reviews from June 1st and June 6th are. I lived at 2 East for this past academic year through Columbia College. Now of course the building has been renamed "777 South State," but of course no one actually calls it that. The address and entrance are in fact still located at 2 East 8th Street. Before I continue, I would like to list all of the positive aspects of living at 2 East 8th. First, the price is significantly cheaper than than any other dorm that CCC offers. Second, I think the Columbia community is great, as are the RAs and staff who work at Columbia College. 2East has Columbia students grouped together on the same floor, as compared to my dorm last year at the UC which has people from all different schools all grouped together. The living room and kitchen is a plus compared to the dorm style layout at the UC. I also did not have any issues with internet or cable service. I also think there are some reasonable trade-offs to be found when your dorm is significantly cheaper than the other options available. Now I want to write why the previous reviews are completely fraudulent. First, the June 1st review notes that "I lived at 777 S. State St. for the pass four (4) years." There are three things wrong about this statement. First, it is not possible for one to have lived at 2East for 4 years. For a very long time, it was a Columbia Dorm. Then the contract expired (The Chronicle has an article on this) and they rented out a different, not-dumpy building (The Dwight). The building then turned into off-campus, and then Columbia rented about half the building starting two years ago. Second, no one calls the building "777 S. State," especially if you've lived there for four years! Third, only ACCOUNTANTS (read not Columbia Students!) say "(4) Four." Clearly this is some old fart writing this review in order to boost the ratings on this website. The second fake review, written on the 6th, sounds like marketing copy straight from the website! This also references the "improved" management. Improved Management? FALSE. A new company (Chicago Apartment Finders) purchased the building and fired the somewhat sassy, yet highly professional office people and replaced them with brainless nincompoops. Almost immediately there were problems that didn't exist before. Packages magically get lost. Work orders fail to get sent to the maintenance guys. My questions unanswered. Now for the building cons. They SERIOUSLY need to find someone to fix the elevators. They are slow and scary, and people get stuck in them frequently. The Air Conditioning really does suck, and they do turn it off in August. The pool is not cleaned frequently and is quite cold. (Seriously, spare some coal for the furnace, master?) The "amazing" laundry room has like 10 washers. The building has like 800 people; 10 washers is not enough. The gym is also undersized for a building with 800 people. Honestly, the biggest problems I think are the ones that should be easy to fix. The laundry room needs double decker washers or something. The gym needs more treadmills and elliptical trainers. The staff need their brains back. Oh, and the security guards need to get an attitude check. They suck. The bottom line is that you get why you pay for; this building is dumpy and barely functional but is the cheapest student building and Columbia dorm in the area. But it shows. I chose to live here because cost and proximity to class were my primary motivations. Also note that the managers (who obviously wrote the previous two reviews) are complete idiots.

I've lived here for over a year now while Attending Roosevelt University. It's extremely convenient for students with leases per bed so you don't have to worry about your roommates paying rent. There is on site laundry, a gym, and a pool! All utilities are included even internet and cable. I've seen a lot of bad reviews on here, but the building has been under new management since April and things are definitely looking up! Looking forward to many more months here at 777 South State!

I lived at 777 S. State St. for the pass four (4) years. I have only great things to say about this building, the management, the great security teams and how well maintained the building was kept. Dollar for dollar 777 offers a lot for your buck. It has an indoor pool, W/D on location, great gym, community room, a computer lab, security cameras, cable and Internet service, great views, a very friendly atmosphere , centrally located to trains and buses and very nice neighbors. The management team has always taken care of any of my concerns / issues quickly and efficiently. I do not understand why 777 has gotten such poor reviews by others. If things were so bad, why would I have lived here for four years. Think carefully, come and see for yourself how wonderful this building is!

As far as I know, these are the cheapest apartments, not just student housing, available in the South Loop. So if cost is the only issue, then lease away, because otherwise, this building is miserable. I leased for nine months, September thru May, the entire school year. I had a room facing West, meaning I would get the afternoon sun, and it's still humid in those first few weeks. While the building advertises A/C, my room's was very broken, or nonexistent. In my first experience with the management, I filed a request to fix it. I didn't get someone to see to it until four weeks later, only after persistent asking of the assistants downstairs. More of the building's flaws were exposed as I lived throughout the year. There were strange stains on the carpet. The heat on the stovetops was radically uneven; not warm enough until suddenly too hot. The furniture, already shoddy and cheap, began coming apart. The fabric on the couches was torn with almost no wear, and one of my desk drawer refused to close. Maintenance never got around to fixing those either. Of the building's many flaws, its greatest is its elevators. More times than not, at least one elevator wasn't working. I even remember one night when none of them were operating. And when they do run, they are astoundingly slow. It took me one minute to get to the 23rd floor, and only without any stoppages. This slow speed clogs the elevator que, and it would sometimes take me 15 minutes just to get to my room from the ground floor. The internet is remarkably slow, and I had connectivity issues everywhere in the building, from my own room to the common room, which is usually empty. The walls are strangely thin, and I would've hated the constant noise from the garage band directly below me if they weren't good. The worst experience with this building however, is the management and the people running. The main receptionist (or building manager, I'm not sure her title) is rude and at times hostile to any requests I had. There is usually nowhere to turn; their student workers are under-informed and the higher management is apathetic at best. Guest sign in is a struggle. The security guards are slow and hostile. There are plenty of other student housing options in the loop. I highly recommend the others, to avoid the mistake I made

Do NOT live here if you have other options. I decided to live here because it was close to my school, and it has turned out to be a nightmare. I am paying close to 1500 a month to live in an apartment where I share a bedroom with one person and a bathroom with 3 other people. Things break all the time. The kitchen is awful. The furniture is old and terrible. Not to mention that I have lived there for about 2 and a half months and the cable and internet have only been working maybe a month and a half out of that. Here is the huge reason why I would highly advise you to not live here. The people that work here are awful. First my window in my bedroom was broken and they were supposed to fix it... which meant play with it for a while and say its fixed when it's not. I still have a very cold draft threw my room. My internet and cable literally go out once a week and they do not care to fix this problem. Like I said before I have been without cable and internet for at least a month if you add it up. I would hope with the money I am paying to live here they would offer a refund, but no i am currently fighting for it. They don't want to give me some of the money I am paying for this service back. The receptionist was extremely rude a few times down in the office. I find that crazy, especially when I am dealing with their lack of ability to fix things. And my biggest problem with the place. ---, the community director. Why this woman is working in a customer service type of position is beyond me. She is rude, she lies, and she really doesn't care about your problems. I have also been in touch with the vice president of the building who was supposed to call me back and never did. This place is extremely unprofessional. Trust me on this one, don't live here. It's just a headache.