Tenant Reviews for 5140 S HYDE PARK BLVD

This place, like all places, has its ups and its downs. The view is unbeatable and the maintenance and concierge staff are great! The gym was functional and I rarely dealt with the office, so I have no complaints there. Unfortunately, there are some aspects that people need to be aware of before they move in, some of which have been mentioned in other reviews. 1. Many of the laundry machines are frequently out-of-order, not because they are broken, but because the pipes are clogged and they frequently back-up if too many are in use. 2. Be prepared to pay $150/month in utilities to cover hot(ish) water, garbage collection, pest control, A/C or heat, electricity to the common areas, and fees. Yes, they charge you a 3rd-party collection fee to pay your bill! This is in addition to your usual ComEd bill. 3. Many of the 3 bedroom apartments with bay windows flood during rain storms with strong winds. This has been an ongoing problem since at least the fall of 2012, but it doesn't seem to be getting resolved quickly. This is a real fire hazard because there is an electrical outlet on the floor right near the windows. 4. Secured parking is expensive ($130/month). Park on the street; it's free! 5. The hot water pressure is low and never quite gets hot. It's just warm enough to take a shower, but not hot enough to wash dishes properly. 6. The elevators are noisy and can be heard throughout the B apartments. Light sleepers be forewarned. 7. They will increase your rent after the first year, so be prepared. In my case, they wanted $200/month extra, a 10% increase! They say it's market value, but the average rent increase last year in Chicago was only 5%. Given all of the work this place needs, it was time to leave. In my opinion, most of these issues seem to come down to money. Aimco is a company that wants to make as much money as possible, so they will do the minimum required of them while squeezing every penny they can out of the renters. If what I described here is better than where you currently live and you can afford the rent, then don't hesitate to move in to HPT. Otherwise, walk away from the great view and don't look back.

True while living there I felt very safe and comfortable in this building and it was a super quiet building, Elevators always ran. The door men are Great. Just take pictures before you move in and after and do a walk through inspection so you would know what you will be charged with.

If you paid a deposit upon move-in you will NOT get it back. They will find some excuse to keep it by charging an apartment cleaning fee of $120 and carpet cleaning fee of $60. When you move out, take pictures or request to do a walk through with management so you don't get screwed like we did. Had I known I'd still be charged to clean an apartment I stayed to clean after moving out, I wouldn't have scrubbed a single eye on the stove or shelf in the refrigerator. Although, you are told you won't be charged for normal wear and tear, that's obviously not the truth. I had a throw rug that covered most of the living room area, but I was charged to clean the carpet that more than likely was pulled up and hardwood floor put down the day after I moved,( I watched them do this in another unit on my floor). I guess my fees went toward fixing up the apt for the next leasee or maybe they'll use it to maintain the hallway carpet which was rather nasty. On the other hand the door staff are AMAZING!!! They would apologize several times for inconveniences that tenants had to face daily...no hot water for a week because of a plumbing issue, a laundry room that had more broken washers and dryers then working units, or the leak from the laundry room that cause a blower to be used in the lobby to dry the carpeting, A broken door to the (secure) parking garage with a monthly fee that stayed open until it could be fixed. You'd think for the amount of money each tenant was charged, they would just replace the washers and dryers versus repairing them. Location was great as were the neighbors, but there are many other buildings you can rent from in Hyde Park. Too bad I didn't go with my first choice and rent from MAC properties.

I lived in Hyde Park Tower for one year and had to move. After moving into the apartment I started having plumbing problems. My kitchen sink backed up multiple times a month for 6 months before they finally got a licensed plumber in to fix it (it backed up again that night and he had to come back). My shower was cold 5 out of 7 days of the week, the other two it might heat up after 10 minutes of running. They worked on fixing this problem throughout the whole year, but still hadn't fixed it by the time we moved out. One charge (Base energy) on the utility bill went from $20 to $75 when they instated their RUBB formula 3 months after move in ($75 was what I was told the utilities averaged out to before moving in). Our apartment heating costs stayed the same, but they decided residents should pay for the buildings heating and cooling (a cost normally covered in your rent). Then when inquiring about this I was misinformed what it was by one of the ladies in Management who told me to call the 3rd party utility company. I called them and they were confused as to what the problem was and told me to talk to management. Talked to the same lady and she said that yeah it was for the heating and that she told me that the first time I came in. There is a major crack that runs through the middle of the building. Most floors show this in the wall just out of the elevators where one side of the building has lowered. One of the pictures already loaded from 2010 shows this crack going through the baseboard. It goes up the wall as well on most floors. At a resident's meeting a couple people came in from corporate to talk to us about the random fees that were coming up on utility bills (they were also trying to instate a charge for pest control), and the REQUIRED automatic withdrawal for rent policy they would instate at renewal of lease. When asked if there were options to not have them take money out of resident's accounts automatically they said, "Yes, you can move." I will say that the concierge guys and the maintenence staff were all very nice to be around, and very very helpful. Management was not very helpful, and the corporate people were atrocious (I understand they were dealing with a lot of pissed off people at the time, but the fact that they could have not instated policies that they knew would pissed these people off negate that). After all this they told me rent would increasing about $100 a month if I renewed my lease. I wanted to love this place, it has a great view, and I absolutely despise moving, but the folks here made it impossible for me to stay. I would not recomend anyone renting from Aimco.

I am amazed that their has not been a review since February because everyone in the building except the manager has a complaint. I am out in a few minutes and have never been happier. I wish I had a camera. The building is dirty, stinky, being over run by dogs, loud residents and empty apartments. The turn over this summer was amazing and is still happening. AIMCO, whew. Run fast and get away from any AIMCO properties.

My sister and friend recently had a fire due to faulty wiring sparked a by the microwave the building provided! She and her children barely made it out. Although they admit fault and she's severly inconvenienced the ultimate crime is not done to her but to surrounding damaged apartments. Those tenants are receiving NO support from the builing and instead have received the cold shoulder and a "have your insurance company take care of it". Another tenant has admitted to "seeing sparks from her microwave also". The only worker that is not ducking and dodging the tenants is the doorman, which is probably because he has to remain at the front desk. HORRIBLE BUSINESS ETHICS!!!! They have lost EVERYTHING, her children are now frightened with PTSD and no one is returning her calls. My friend has asthma and they have the arrogance to insist that she move back into that same apartment unit after she gets new walls and paint??!!!...What about the MOLD that continues to grow as I type?!?!...The bottom line with Hyde Park Towers is not safety but money....I suggest you take yours somewhere else!

I LOVE my place. Bye Regents.

I've enjoyed living in Hyde Park Tower. It's clean and quiet. The view from my apartment is amazing and the building is well kept. There are a lot of rules dealing with moving in, the bike room, etc but they are usually easy to comply with. I like the workout room a lot except all of the TVs are broken (three don't work at all and one the headphone jack is broken) and even though I've filled out numerous requests for them to be fixed they still haven't fixed them. If it wasn't for the broken TVs in the fitness room, I honestly would have no problems at all with Hyde Park Tower and would recommend it. The doormen are all very nice and the building is incredibly safe. If I had a car I would pay for a covered spot in the building because parking around the area is hard to come by. The metra, 171, 172, 6, and x28 are all within one block of the building making it really easy to go to the University of Chicago campus or downtown.

I'm really confused by some of the other reviews because I think this building is very nice. My apartment is very quiet and was in perfect condition upon move-in. The staff is very nice-- if a little strict (but this keeps the building safe and running smoothly). I can only hear noise from other apartments when I'm near a vent- so in the kitchen or the bathroom. But, since I'm never trying to sleep in those rooms, the slight noise doesn't bother me at all! I feel very safe and comfortable in this building and keep meeting more and more nice people on the elevator (which IS a little slow, to be honest). Another thing that is wonderful about this building is the maintenance staff. I put in a work order for one thing and ----- came and ended up fixing about 4 things and was simply a pleasure to work with! Overall, I enjoy living here!

I have lived here for 10 months, and it has been 10 months too long. The could not pay For what it was worth I could have lived somewhere cheaper and had money in my pocket. The walls are cracked,the carpet is dirty, the elevators are yucky, and people are moving in and out like it is a shelter. People slam the doors like they are in a barn. The smell of marijuana is really strong on the higher floors. What is with the management? They will nickle and dime you to death; send you notes saying you owe late fees for months you paid early. Whoever writes the memos needs to go back to school. She writes things like this "bikes that is not operateable" and "it the trash don't fit down the garbage. A third grader would write better. But, evidently it is ok with the higher ups. The residents walk around complaining but do nothing. Typical. Someone else posted and said it had gone to the dogs. They did no lie. Well, good luck to those who are stuck there. I am going elsewhere.