1040 W GRANVILLE AVE, Chicago, IL

I've been living here for quite a few years, and overall I'd say my experience here has been positive overall. I am comfortable and feel safe here. When I moved in, my Alat had been freshly refurbished so I had new fixtures and carpet, good window, fresh paint on the walls. Utilities are included in the rent, which is really nice. I haven't had a single pest problem. The exterminator comes around to do preventative spraying once or twice a year. As other reviewers have mentioned, the plumbing sucks. Water pressure gets minimal, but it gets the job done. If I go away for the weekend I usually have to let the water run for a while as it will come out brown for a few seconds (pretty gross). Be sure to get a water filter for your drinking water. The heat here is unbelievable. (steam heat from radiators) You will never be cold in the winter. I have come home countless nights to an Alat That's 80-85 degrees in the dead of winter. I am not joking. I have to keep the window open or run the air conditioner during most of the winter. Even if you close the valve on the radiator, you will still roast. The maintenance staff here is Pmmaculate. I can't praise those guys enough. If you need something fixed, they take care of it promptly, which is something you don't always find in other buildings. I like having the front door staffed at all times, and most all of the staff working You've got really nice and easy to deal with if you need something. The mgmt staff...If I could avoid dealing with them in the past, I have. The nicest way to describe them is scatterbrained. I will leave it at that. The fitness center is newly remodeled and now looks great. It's not free for residents sadly, but we do get a discount. The discounted rate is about $500 for a year long membership. Rents go up every year, and the amounts are not negotiable. With my newest lease, I am now paying more rent than friends pay for their Alat which is 3 times larger than mine. sadly, I was unable to move at the time, so I was forced into the lease, but I don't plan to be here much longer as soon my rent will be over $1,000. For a tiny one room studio, That's just ridiculous, in my humble opinion.

NO RESPONSE BACK

I HAD INQUIRED ABOUT AN APARTEMNT AND I CALLED ON YESTERDAY AND NO RESPONSE BACK YET IN ADDITION, I CALLED BEFORE . I SPOKE TO AN -------- LADY ON THE PHONE AND TOLD THEM TO CALL ME BACK / CONCERNING THE UNIT THEY HAVE LISTED ONLINE

Horrible Pocation to live.

I've hesitated writing a review because I don't want to be one of those people who, in a state of anger and frustration, unleashes on some unsuspecting business, person, or whatever, but today I finally had enough. I've lived here for over 5 years, and did not have too many issues at first, which is why I stuck around so long. Then little by little, it got worse and worse until I can hardly stand living here anymore. This place has too many issues to name, but to go through a few: 1) rude and unstaff actually helps - last summer I had a broken arm, which made opening the heavy front doors quite difficult; not only did none of the staff lift a finger to help, I actually saw more than one desk clerk laugh at me as a I struggled; 2) broken promises - when I moved into my place, I was promised that several things would be fixed, but only one of those promises were kept and the rest apparently forgotten, even though I contacted them several times about it; 3) incompetence by billing people - if they forget to charge you for something, expect it show up on your bill at some point all at once, and they're going to expect it all then or you're out; 4) safety - especially at night, the desk clerks often step away from the desk, leaving you locked in the foyer with no way into your Alat, which is bad when you're a young woman who has been followed home by some creep (this happened to me, and I was stuck waiting there for 5 minutes while the creep stood outside the front door); don't expect an apology when the clerk gets back. You've got more problems, but I think that's enough for now. You've got a few employees who are Gutstanding, but for the most part, they are rude and unhelpful. I've finally had enough and am moving when my lease is up. Save yourself the trouble. Don't live here!

I loved my Alat. This was my first Alat on my own and I only left because I decided to live with my ex and they told me I couldn't have a roommate in a studio (this did aggravate me since I don't feel it's their right to tell me who I can/can't live with). Anywho! the door staff was really nice, most knew me by name, one even knew my mom by name, haha. It made me feel safe coming home at night from either being out or babysitting, I was 19 when I lived there and I'm not over 5ft or weigh more than 100lbs...so it was nice to know there was someone that could see me come in:). They were always friendly, one even tried to comfort me when I came home crying! I got e-mails when I got packages, and they even called when I got food packages (edible arrangements, etc). They call when you have visitors...they got so used to my ex that they didn't even call to okay letting him up, which impressed me-they actually pay attention to what goes on in the building. I had no problem with maintenance, I had one favorite guy who pretty much always came to fix my things, which made me happy. He was really nice and always told me exactly what was wrong and what he did, he even cleaned my bathtub (amazingly) after cleaning out my drain once. I did have roaches...they were renovating the Alat next to mine, and I had a hole in the wall behind my fridge....it was terrifying! They were POURING out! I went to Dominick's, bought raid, and ran out of it in the same night! But the next day they started fixing the problem. An exterminator came every week to spray until I gave him the okay that I was comfortable with him stopping, and I never saw a roach after that! Rent wasn't difficult...I was unemployed 7 months of living there and still managed to get by on babysitting money! I did not have a car...the el is a block away. Parking cost an extra $100..which i don't understand why people complain about, it's gated and you're guaranteed a spot...try finding that around! I loved my first Alat, it was cute and just fine for me:). I would, and have, reccomended this building. I don't really have any complaints about mgmt, some guy named Jeff showed me my Alat, had me sign my lease, and had my sign my lease away when I subleased....that's the closest I've ever came to dealing with mgmt. As for visitors, parking isn't the worst, you can either pay...and keep paying if they stay more than 2hrs, or just drive around and find a spot on winthrop/kenmore, or have them take the el!

Good apartment, bad neighborhood

Unlike the other posters, I have found all of the staff have been friendly. At Christmastime they have cookies, cakes and tea downstairs and I've never lived in another building that did that. The maintenance is prompt - if you report it in the morning, It's usually fixed by the time you get home from work. this place is well kept and luxurious for the price. <br> <br>but, It's annoying that they do work on your apartment without advance notice. A few times I have come home and had to figure out what happened. The past six months there has been a lot of construction which was annoying but only temporary. I have only seen one roach in my entire time there - roaches are not a problem on my floor. <br> <br>My only problem is that the apartments are small for the price and the neighborhood is full of bums and junkies - not dangerous, just depressing sometimes.

Many Problems!

My kitchen sink backs up and overflows 1-3 times weekly. They keep plunging and won't do anything to fix the problem. After Dnlit I won't go outside, lots of weird disruptive people hang out on the streets.<br>Rents are reasonable now I know why. You never know when someone has been in your Aad they don't leave work orders or notice of entry.

awesome spot

I've been living at the Sovereign for nearly 10 months now and absolutely love it (I just signed a lease renewal for an additional year). Here are my thoughts: Pros: 1. Price!!! I'm paying about $600 for a medium-size studio on the top floor with a beautiful, unobstructed lake view. Not only that, AC is included AND every utility is covered. Talk about a great deal! 2. Safety gets good compared to most buildings around the neighborhood. Their is a front desk to buzz in people and cameras are everywhere. 3. mgmt is also pretty solid. Every time I've had a problem, it's been resolved within 24 hours. Cons: 1. Neighborhood is a little bit sketchy, but definitely not dangerous,. 2. No hallway ventilation. Totally sucks when someone decides to fry some fish. Anyone who complains about this place needs to grow up. This isn't a newly-built, Gold Coast high rise. Most of the whiners I've met demand unreasonable services for the rent they are paying.

Boor service..!

If you like having the mgmt tell you they don't have time to talk to you about your lease, having mgmt reply to a question asked "I don't know all I do is show apartments here" and if you enjoy sleeping in and waking up in the middle of an Alat showing that you were never informed about. This Prea is for you!! I filled out a security form allowing certian friends upstairs, the paper got misplaced and my friend was waiting for me to get home from work, I asked mgmt where the paper was and who monitors the book the response I received was "I don't know I just show the apartments." It's always good to know mgmt does nothing with security book. I had a question reguarding my lease and when I have to be out of my Alat, thinking they would take an extra 5 minutes with a resident to figure this out, no... "I don't have time right now!" I worked late one night I didn't have work the following day I thought I would be able to sleep in. I was woken up in the middle of my Alat being showed, no phone call no notice of any kind.

not great, not bad

I lived there from 1998-2000. I didn't have many problems. but, I went away for two months, during the winter. I lived on the third floor, and the "decorative" nonfunctional balcony outside my window flooded, because they didn't maintain the drain. It caused my apartment to flood. When I came back there was mold on the walls below the windows. Also, there was a leak in the wall behind the front door, that was moldy. I had been gone TWO MONTHS, and in that time, nobody cleaned the carpet or the mold. Imagine my surprise to come home to a fungus garden in my apartment. I took bleach to it and in the process got some on the carpet, but they didn't get mad about that. How could they? When I moved out I hired the maintenance crew to clean the apartment and help me move, and they did a great job. I had to sublet my apartment, as they wouldn't let me out of my lease early, and that was a pain. They wouldn't accept a check directly from the new tenant, so I had to send them a check each month, despite being in Australia. Overall, it was a decent place to live. The door staff was adamant nobody shall pass without clearance, which was nice, but they had my phone number wrong in their directory, so my guests were constantly turned away. I didn't figure this out til the last month I was there. Parking, another 100 bucks, was expensive, but worth it. I demanded my space be moved because my car got hit when it was in the spot near the construction at the time, and they complied.

This Pocation Still Haunts Me.

I looked at this Ppot almost a year ago and I thank god I decided to move somewhere else. <br>-The neighborhood id grimy and nasty. <br>-The lobby isn't as nice as it seems. Cigarette butts allover. <br>-Desk attendant was horribly rude. <br>-The Aad showed was grimy. No kitchen? <br>Its a total scam. They trick you with the nice entrance and amenities but the Ppot is a DUMP.