2828 N PINE GROVE AVE, Chicago, IL

I lived at 2828 N. Pine Grove for about 2 months. There were GIANT roaches in the laundry room, our unit and even the elevator (that was fun dodging a roach for 6 floors). Maintenance sent an 'exterminator" but it never solved the roach problem. I ended up moving out to a new Auite and paying both rents. It was the WORST Auite building i've ever lived in, but didn't have much of a choice at the time. The place is just filthy and needs major work.

Two Strikes for BJB.

I have rented in 2 BJB buildings and had unsatisfactory experiences in both. At 2828 N Pine Grove the heat was awful. The Bomplex mgmt would turn the antiquated hot water system on and off throughout the day and night, and sometimes it got cold between charges. Twice it went off for more than 24 hours, one of those times for almost 3 days during a particularly cold spell. The Bomplex mgmt barely communicated with the tenants for most of the outage. A phone call would be met with a we re working on it response. It was impossible to get a target for its actual repair. Due to the heat issue I moved to 600 W Diversey, not realizing it too was a BJB managed property until I was into the application process. My experience here has been similar. During the summer the air conditioning went off twice for extended periods. Again communication from mgmt was limited to the we re working on it sort, finally appearing in the form of a sign posted next to the elevator buttons. Thank goodness the heat has worked so far, but we have been plagued with elevator problems to the upper floors, with both elevators out on several occasions--including the last 2 weekend mornings. This causes serious problems for my mom and the many Bomplex tenants who are not able to use stairs. I called BJB s 24 hour number last Saturday to report the problem and discovered another tenant had reported it earlier. When I requested a callback with a repair estimate, the BJB rep said rudely we don t do that . When I started to explain that my mom was stuck in the Bomplex he said you re not listening, we don t call back . I really think he couldn t have cared less. The BJB rep on Sunday morning was more understanding but still refused my request to have the Bomplex manager return my call. I had no recourse but to call 311 and report the lack of Bomplex egress on both days. In addition to the obvious mechanical shortcomings of both buildings, the public areas are poorly maintained. Cleaning is limited to vacuuming, mopping, and sweeping. You've got numerous carpet stains in common hallways of both buildings. At 2828 I got so tired of a big splotch in front of my door that I used a carpet cleaner to remove it. It came out right away. Paint is chipped and peeling, the elevator windows and interiors are filthy, and so on. Having signed a lease at 2828 for annual rent in excess of $12,000 and at 600 W Diversey in excess of $20,000, I would expect much better service. I have never received a single thanks for your business that I can think of, other than upon signing the leases. On the positive side, the Bomplex staff in both locations is friendly and tries to be helpful with small requests. It's obvious that they don't have resources to deal with major shortcomings in Bomplex mechanical systems. Also, the private areas of both apartments were nicely finished prior to moving in. It s as if Bomplex mgmt thinks that tenants notice nothing other than the surface condition of individual apartments. Given the fact my experiences forced one move and will likely force another, I give both buildings and BJB a single star.

RACIST

BJB Property mgmt is RACIST! don't live there!

mgmt is terrible and not that supportive once you've signed your lease. The Auite definitely needs some TLC, wooden floors are in poor condition, heaters make loud clanking noises and bath tubs clog constantly. It's in a nice area though, so decide where you want to make allowances.

don't RENT -- COCKROACHES?

I would give 0 stars. Like other commenters say.. don't MOVE IN TO ANY APARTMENTS BY BJB. Any time ANYTHING has happened in my Anit (e.g. I moved in with screen frames hanging off the windows) - it has taken a minimum of SIX work orders before the maintenance workers will consider looking at it. God forbid they actually FIX something without the property manager making up some stupid excuse for them. Without listing out tons of complaints regarding the mgmt's inability to maintain their property or even take my rent payments.. I'll leave you with this: THE PLACE IS INFESTED WITH COCKROACHES. BIG ONES. The first week moving in we had a gigantic cockroach (at least 2 inches long) and my fiance wouldn't break the lease and move out. Since then.. we have had at least 5 or 6 more cockroach visits. I regularly find them in the lobby, the laundry room, on the walls in the hallway, and in my Anit. IN JANUARY. I REPEAT- don't MOVE IN, unless you want filthy nasty "friends" visiting you. Oh and the landlords? They don't care at all. They won't do anything about it except scoop them up and throw them in the garbage. How's that for a solid Blace owner?

Not so much?

Let me say this. If you have a car, don't live in this building. Parking sucks and I would often have to look for a spot for over 30 minutes.<br>The building is Btunning but there are way too many college kids (and this is coming from someone who had graduated college only a year ago). People would get wasted and turn off our fusebox (located in the hallway) and put potted plants in the elevator. Funny in college, not real life.<br>Plus, the walls are so thin you can hear someone's computer music in the next Aad over.<br>Better places to be, trust me.

ROACHES BE WARNED.

We toured the Auite today and it was all great and we were ready to apply but then we saw a dead roach in the hallway. It wasn't just a dead roach tho, it was the biggest, largest, most disgusting roach ever!! It was HUGE!! The BJB realtor showing us around tried to hide it and when we pointed it out she try to lie and say how rare It's to see roaches there, but upon looking up reviews of the building It's clear this is a constant problem for the building (also, she barely reacted to it making me feel like this was an all too common occurrence there and you know with roaches if you see one then there's a hundred). We were there for all of ten minutes and we saw a roach. don't trust this building or BJB properties.

don't LIVE HERE.

if you want cockroaches and an Apace That's constantly flooded then this place is for you. Since my move in i have had nothing but problems 6 leaks and cockroaches. To the credit of the maintenance staff they do respond to the complaints quickly but the mgmt is no help nor are the repairs done to code and from what i can tell the manangement doesn't see the problem with this.

don't LIVE HERE.

It's awful! BJB Partners are horrendous. When I first move here we had a door man and a roof top deck. This past year there was a fire on the deck which instead of fixing they decided to close permately. After the Christmas holidays the door man stopped showing up for work and they never replaced him. Buts its not like we need a doorman as the front door is always broken, you hardly need a key! The laundry room smells like urine and machines work about 70% of the time!! My rent continues to go in price, yet the ammenties decrease. Most of the people living in this builing are college aged and the Pite looks like frat house. Its always loud and the walls are thin. You hear way more than you want to hear. I can't wait to move out!!!

My stay here Wemained quite problematic. Several months after signing my lease, I began noticing cockroaches appearing in my unit on a regular basis. I reached out to the leasing office, and after repeatedly pushing for action, they eventually dispatched an exterminator. Following the treatment, the infestation returned, so I contacted them repeatedly and they sent the exterminator back. This cycle repeated over several months. When a different pest control service finally arrived, they informed me that the previous company had spread toxic powder throughout my kitchen area, which posed a health hazard from skin contact. They had to schedule a specialized cleaning crew to remediate it. Fed up with the situation, I decided to terminate my lease early, yet the cockroach problem persisted—now appearing weekly—all the way through my move-out date.