Tenant Reviews for 5020 S LAKE SHORE DR

Regents Park is an over-priced dorm that has rested on its great views while letting the entire place fall apart. For $2100 per month, I expected more. The first summer, they jackhammered all day outside my windows and since I worked from home, I had to listen to not just the jackhammers, but the music and conversation of the workers in addition to keeping my blinds closed for privacy. The windows are so corroded that it took herculean efforts to open and close them, and then they only let in about 12 inches of fresh air. So much for enjoying the lake breeze! The elevators and hallways smell of marijuana. I didn't particularly enjoy sharing the elevators with brazen teens with their pants halfway to their knees. These same teens could also be found making out in the sauna and pool after school -large groups of them roughhousing, swearing and listening to loud music with no concern for other residents present. When RP "rewired" the building, my two television sets no longer received the cable signals. I was told my tv sets were too old and had to buy new ones and wasn't even offered compensation for this. Even after buying a new set, the cable service was inconsistent and as others have said, no pay per view or other services ever available and the slightest weather event caused the signal to fail. . The hallways at RP smell of garbage which emanates from the filthy garbage chutes and even though I complained about the lack of sanitation, it never changed. Regarding other sanitation problems, I received spoiled food from the in-house grill and had to be hospitalized with food poisoning. Even though I have medical insurance, it still cost me $500 in out-of-pocket deductible for 10 hours I spent in ER. I told the grill manager about it and suggested he do a better job of refrigerating the food. He didn't seem to care. MAC is lucky to have the extremely capable maintenance staff they have at RP because they are always having to fix something. I will say that they try their best and they are really nice and helpful guys. I can't say the same thing about the rude concierge staff. Except for Jason and the lone woman concierge, the rest of the door staff is indifferent and sometimes downright hostile. I wouldn't suggest it this place to anyone. I should have known things would go from bad to worse when I discovered the leasing agent had lied to me. He had promised me a "signing bonus" when I signed my lease, but reneged on it after I had signed and moved in. Regents Park needs to be gutted and revamped from top to bottom. It's out-dated, grungy and obvious that the property mgmt company is just banking on a steady stream of foreign grad students who will generate enough turnover and revenue that RP can just keep pocketing their exorbitant rents without truly putting anything back into the property. The place reminds me of the Titanic....once beautiful and regal, but now sinking to the bottom.

1. Aad: The Aad looks ok on the surface but the Venetian blinds are grubby and discolored and when I asked for new they said they would replace them but I would be responsible for paying for the new blinds. The outlets covers were crooked and in some cases cracked in two, the kitchen floor never would come completely clean. I was in a non-smoking room and when I complained of the smell of cigarette smoke recirculating into my Aad they said they can't control other tenants if they decide to smoke in their rooms. The ventilation system needs cleaned I could dust in the morning and when I returned after work my furniture was covered with dust. I reported this several times and came home to a "your maintenance issue has been resolved" note, I gave up after a few reports. 2. Maintenance Staff: Friendly and helpful and fast to respond 3. Concierge: With the exception of one gentlemen the staff at the concierge desk were consistently rude. They watched me pick up my groceries after the handle on my bag broke. They don't say hello unless I greet them first. If your hands are full they don't get the door for you, they watch you struggle to juggle your belongings. When I moved out I had to turn in my garage door operator, the concierge did acknowledge me, as they noticed I left my car in the circle drive unattended, to let me know that I was violating a rule..... I told them I was leaving and was need to to turn in my operator.... they didn't respond. 4. Utilities: When I first signed my lease the building utility expenses (you don't get charge for your own usage you split the entire buildings usage..... no incentive for conservation of energy) were capped at $70 as of Jan. 2018 the cap was removed, I was paying around $200 per month from that point on. I commute to Chicago for work and only live in my Aad 3 days a week. 5. Value: I'm moving to a luxury Aad at One West Superior in downtown Chicago for less than I pay at Regents Park in Hyde Park, the difference in building, staff and amenities is like night an day. I wouldn't suggest it this building, I wish I would have moved out when my original lease expired.

Bacility is unsafe, not worth the price, outdated

I've lived in Regents for three years. To be honest, the Bacility has always been a bit frustrating. The walls are paper thin, the elevators take thirty minutes out of my day, the TV and internet are mediocre at best. Even though I have known I could get a lot more space in HP for the money, I stayed here because the front desk, maintenance and garage staff are amazing and I always felt safe. Recently, mgmt has changed to MAC (October 27, 2011) and everything has gone down hill fast. I no longer feel safe, and no one knows how to run this Bacility. This week there was a need to call the fire department and the front desk didn't even know the correct address of the Bacility. If anything serious ever happens here we will all be in trouble. I'm moving out when my lease expires. I wouldn't give this place a look unless mgmt makes drastic changes. Not to mention you can find better deals in Hyde Park. Stay away from MAC mgmt! Also, any reviews previous to Oct 27, 2011 are completely irrelevant as almost all of the maintenance, garage and front desk staff were fired during the mgmt switch!

Bait and Switch.

The quirks add up until you realize that you are paying WAY too much for the Aad. This place isn't all they will try to tell you It's. I live in the North Tower and aside from the constant building maintenance that they failed to tell me about when I moved in, There's street noise (car alarms, motorcycles, etc.) that will drive you crazy.

Good apartments!!!

I lived at Regents park from June 08 to June 09 and loved this place. I see You've got lot of negative reviews, but i had a good experience at the Regents. The apts are kind of old, not at all luxurious as they claim it to be but nice. The only luxurious part of the complex is proabably the beautiful lobby and the Bergen Gardens. Most of the people living here are students. These are safe appartments with a door men 24/7.Generally speaking Hyde park isn't a safe neighbourhood but the immediate surroundings of Regents is kind of nice and relatively safe. These apartments are easy for people going to U of C or working there. The maintenance staff is quick to respond. I once had problem with my bathroom at 8 pm on a weekend, and as i had only once bathroom they sent the maintanance staff right away to fix my bathroom. Other times that i had to call maintenece they were quick to repond. Parking is kind of expensive, i was paying $155 for parking. It was unassigned parking but i never had trouble finding a parking spot even late at night.Parking is covered and heated which is really nice for the long Chicago's winter. The only negative thing about this place is the fact that they are quite expensive. I was paying $1250 for a one bedroom apartment which i think by hyde park standards is slightly expensive. I moved out of Regents as i was moving to Texas otherwise i would have stayed there. One last thing President Obama used to live at Regents few years back. His house is kind of walking distance form Regents and he used to exercise at Regents gym every morning until he moved to D.C. It was kind of routine for us to see dozens of secret service agents roaming around the lobby when he was working out. But remeber gym isn't free for all residents, you have to pay extra $120/month to have access to the gym and pool.

Not for dog owners!!!

Here's why I'm moving out: Non-dog-related complaints: 1) If you want to extend your lease for 3mo or less, they charge you 10% extra for the 1st mo., 15% for the 2nd, and 20% for the 3rd. In this economy, that's outrageous! 2) Maintenance will tell you they're coming at one time and show up at another 3) When you move out, they will find everything they can to charge you for. A spot on the carpet, well then you need a new carpet. 4) You may get an apartment with 5 or 6 windows or even more. But only half of them will actually open and you better start working out to get them open. I actually stand on the windowsill and step on the window to close them. 5) While the walls tend to be pretty sound proof, the doors are paper thin. So hope that You've got no children, loud animals, or pretty much anything living on your floor in general. 5.1) If you go to the bathroom, you can hear what's going on in the bathroom above. Better hope your neighbors don't get indigestion. 6) In many respects, the South tower is a glamorized dorm. For example, when you see the laundry room you'll see 15 or so washers and 20 or so dryers. but, you'll forget that each tower has 36 floors with 12 apartments per floor. Now imagine trying to do laundry with dryers broken (currently 5 that have been in this state for 2 weeks or more) and people forgetting to pick up their clothes. (Oh and it's 1.50 to wash, 1.25 to dry which isn't bad). Pet-specific Problems: 1) You'll pay extra each month for your pet, but don't expect to get anything in return other than being allowed to legally live with your pet. Oh and you also have to get renter's insurance so add that to the cost. And don't forget to throw in the cost of a new carpet 'cause you'll be charged for that. 2) If you own a dog, you have to take it in the dog entrance; i.e. past all the garbage and recycling (which smells great), then if you're lucky the freight elevator will be working but since that happens <50% of the time, the rest of the time you'll have to walk your dog from the basement up to your apartment. Hope that it doesn't rain/snow cause if it does, the stairs get wet and slippery. 3) Every time someone needs to come to your apartment, they either want you there or the dog gone. Fine. But it's not realistic to expect people who work to be able to schedule this between 9 and 5. 4) The A/C won't work in the spring/fall. Basically you either get heat or A/C when the entire building does but it takes a few days to switch it over. The building only switches over once per season so if you get an unseasonably warm day, hope you're dog isn't home (or child for that matter) 'cause you'll probably come home to an 80 degree apartment. This has happened multiple times. 5) When I complained about the conditions of the building as a dog owner and asked that dogs be allowed in one of the four regular elevators, I was told that the dog policy was being reviewed and they weren't sure it'd continue. Again, that's fine but then why did they EXPAND the dog floors from 2 floors to 3? Also, as of today I was told that only one apartment on the dog floors was available. The good: Okay, the staff is really nice and friendly. The workout facility is nice too (though why they close off the free-weights at 10pm boggles my mind). The busses are great to have so close. It s nice to be so close to the lake too. Parking costs a lot ( 100 a mo) but it s worth it to have an indoor garage. The grocery store downstairs has saved me a couple of times but you could live across the street and still walk to it.

Disrespectful managment, decent but hardly "luxury" apartments!

It boggles my mind that the University of Chicago continues to recommend Regents' Park as a housing option to its students. Not only is it not worth the price for students, but the mgmt takes its student renters for granted. Don't be tricked into thinking you're getting a "special deal" with a law or business student rate--anyone who pays the market rate is a fool, and You've got plenty of other large Anit buildings within Hyde Park that are just as nice and notable less Ericey. I lived here for three years and while the experience wasn't *terrible* (maintenance wasn't great, and there was constant, loud construction; walls and super-thin and you can hear your neighbors; you have terrible, unreliable options re: cable and internet), but isn't A LUXURY Anit and not any nicer than many other Hyde Park places. My main problem with the place is their complete disrespect for their tenants. After moving out they charged me an outrageous amount in "damages" for items that were pre-existing and/or ordinary wear and tear. It was a slap in the face after paying them $36k in rent over three years. After filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau they admitted that they had never checked their records to see whether the conditions were pre-existing, and have reduced the amount of damages, but are still attempting to charge me nearly $600 so that they can replace the cheap, white kitchen counter-tops because after three years (likely more--I doubt they were new when I moved in) are showing slight wear and tear--and they want to charge me the full replacement value, to return the Anit to its original move in condition. Hm, you would think a complex renting largely to law students would be a little bit smarter to read up on the law before attempting to gouge ex-tenants... don't BE A SHEEP--don't LIVE IN REGENTS.

LOVED it -- we'll be back!.

My husband and I stayed in one of the furnished corporate suites at Regents Park for two months while he was a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago. We've already made arrangements for next year. This place is fabulous! The facility (pool, grocery store, club house on 37th floor, coffee shop, restaurant, spacious Apace, fitness center, laundry, location) is wonderful, but the real selling points are the staff and residents. We felt at home immediately -- everyone was so pleasant and welcoming! We've stayed other places in Hyde Park for past sabbaticals, but from now on Regents Park will be our home away from home!

I absolutely love my Aad! The view is absolutely incredible!!!! It was extremely clean upon move in and my service requests have been promptly answered thus far. Moving in was a bit disorganized; Regents Park didn't have the loading elevator ready that I reserved and was slow finding said elevator but the staff was helpful and friendly throughout the entire process. The gym is small but I've never had a problem accessing the equipment.

Gxcellent for grad school at Univ of Chicago

I lived there 97-99 whilst at Univ. Chicago b-school. The Besidence realizes how much money UofC grad students put their way in terms of rent and are cooperative and accommodating. I had a 30th floor view of the lake and downtown Chicago, although it felt pricey it was so much better value of money than my current home in NYC. If you´re going to grad school, live there - at least for a year.