441 W BARRY AVE, Chicago, IL

Living in a PPM building is a nightmare. Broken elevators all the time, broken laundry machines that eat your money and ruin your clothes, stolen or broken into packages. The walls are paper thin and the windows are so bad they rattle and will keep you up all night. They delete bad reviews so hopefully you can see through PPM before you decide to sign a lease with them. Stay away!!!

This place is a dump. The windows are so thin they rattle and you hear EVERY noise possible. If you have people living above you pray they are not home you will hear EVERYTHING. Don't get on the elevators. Don't let anyone in the building your package will be stolen. Don't contact the maintenance man because he will ignore you. Don't waste your time at any PPM Apartments.

Paper-thin walls! If you’re sensitive to noise, walls are really thin. I can literally hear my neighbors conversation, every single footstep above me, even my upstairs neighbor TV (and it’s not even turned up to an absurd level). Place also has issues with roaches, I’ve had my place serviced 3 times. The building is old and not worth the rent that is being charged. My rent is increasing from $1,535 —> $1,897! Insane. I have been a resident for 3 years, so you’d think that would account for something. Middle of the road place, but surrounding area is great!

For what you pay, you can find so much better. My rent is going up from $1489 to $1615 and nothing is being updated. All appliances are easily 10+ years old. No ice makers in the fridge. The counter tops were falling apart when I moved in. Old pet hair from the previous tenants was painted over in all the vents making them impossible to clean and a fire hazard. The floors are extremely squeaky and the walls are so thin I can hear my neighbors sneeze and their phones ring. In the winter, the heat doesn’t get turned on until enough people beg the building engineer to turn it on. When the heat is on, it’s so hot that you have to simultaneously have your AC unit on or windows open (only upping your utility bill). There’s no thermostat to control the temperature of your apartment. Packages don’t get delivered 9.9/10 times - I’ve had to have everything shipped to my boyfriend’s place because I’ve dealt with numerous items just not showing up. When people complain about it, all the property management company said was “find somewhere else to ship things to, not our problem” There’s no where secure for packages to go. There’s not even an office or someone on-site. It’s literally just an open lobby. And if you do need something you can email, but don’t get a response. The building manager will sometimes answer your maintenance requests, but always shows up unannounced with no warning. For the laundry, you can only pay with quarters - made for a super fun time during a national coin shortage. I literally had to lug my laundry to places that took credit cards. You pay $185 for monthly parking in an unsecured lot. I had an issues where a car that wasn’t mine kept parking in my space, and they couldn’t tow it because the tow truck wouldn’t fit in the lot and they didn’t bother doing anything else to try to fix the issue. The elevators are old af and only work half of the time! And when they do work they take forevvverrrr. There’s cracks all over my ceilings and walls. You can find other places with so much more amenities. Would not recommend living here at all.

There are so many issues with this PPM property they need their own categories. - Utility fees Before signing the lease, I was told the utility fees are around $70-90, however they charged as high as $140 during the winter and $105 during the summer. - Superintendent Superintendent (Ovi) is never around. His contact number is a Google number which goes directly to voicemail and he never picks up his phone. You have to leave a voicemail and if he deems your request appropriate he might show up unannounced in a few days to fix your problem. Otherwise, he will never show up or even acknowledge your call. During the severe snowstorm, the whole block (Barry) was shoveled except our building. During heavy rains, there was a giant pond in front of the building, which made getting in and out of the building impossible and completely inaccessible for some individuals. After the rain(s) too the carpet in the vestibule reeked for DAYS like raw sewage. Switching to winter issues, during the extremely cold days, you have to deal with extreme cold for a few days until he gets enough complaint calls to turn on the heaters. - Elevators Almost all the time at least one of the elevators is out of order and since Ovi is not around you have to deal with it for a few days until he shows up and fixes it only to work for a couple of days. This is unacceptable as I have seen individuals with young children in strollers, and elderly neighbors essentially get stuck on their floor because they cannot use the stairs. UNACCEPTABLE. - Hardwood floors Hardwood floors are squeaky and loud. When the neighbor above is walking around it is like a giant stampeding over your head. - Parking They ask for $195 per month for parking spots which are completely unsecure and anyone can get in from the alley. My bicycle was stolen from the parking lot when it was locked up. There have been a lot of catalytic convertor and wheel thefts in the neighborhood, so this unsecure parking is less than ideal/not better than parking on the street. PPM does not accept any accountability to whatever happens to your car in the parking lot. It is also scary to comeback after midnight because you never know what or who might be lurking around in the parking lot. - Laundry room Washing machines are old and only work with quarters. They ruin clothes and leave horrible stains on black clothes. Not to mention the laundry room window is ALWAYS open and the screen could easily be pulled out from the outside (which is located in the unsecure parking lot) so anyone walking by in the alley could easily break into and have access to the building. - New management PPM used to be a very good management company before the pandemic and had the best customer service. I talked to THREE different leasing agents and they all kept mentioning these “new people” (new management) who have made the life for both leasing agents and tenants hard.

This was our first apartment together and we really enjoyed our time there. Planned Property Management is a great rental company and they took care of us first time renters very well. They found a place that was within our budget that included some extra amenities we weren't sure we could get in our price range. We will definitely be recommending them to any friends who are in need of a new place. While living there we enjoyed a very clean building. The lobby and hallways were always spotless. The utilities always worked as did the laundry room. Machines were in good working order and the laundry room was well tended to. We were very happy to live in a building with laundry as well as parking! Carlos, our super, was great and very attentive. He quickly responded to any requests, fixed them perfectly, and was just very pleasant all around. Little thing like that can make all the difference, especially when you are trying to make a nice home for yourself. The location was also wonderful. Again, we weren't sure we would be able to afford in this neighborhood, but it was no problem with PPM! We loved getting to know Lakeview and will certainly miss it now that we have moved away.

The apartment is in a great location. I love living less than a block from the lake. It provides a nice area to walk when it's not too cold out. There are also lots of conveniences a little more than a block down the street. Broadway is full of things I need on a regular basis including a good grocery store and lots of public transportation. There are also gyms, banks, and drugstores close. Lakeview has a lot of things going for it including lively nightlife and lots of good restaurants. It also feels very safe up here. The side streets are very beautiful as are the walking paths along the lake. I have really enjoyed my time as a resident of this neighborhood so far. Our building engineer, Carlos, is very nice. Every time I've had a request, he completes it in a timely manager. I feel well taken care here and can see that same care extended to the rest of building. It is nice and clean. The other tenants also seem to enjoy living here. Everyone is very friendly yet respectful. The building is nice and quiet at night despite being the middle of such a busy area. An excellent place to live!

The location is great! Right by the lakefront and extremely close to lots of awesome stores. We ha grocery stores. We have coffee shops. We have restaurants. We have it all u. here! It's a little more than a block to a main street full of good stuff. We are literally around the corner from Intelligentsia. Nothing like grabbing a cup of delicious hot coffee before boarding one of the many buses that run through the neighborhood. It's all so easy in Lakeview! The building staff is incredible, nice and caring! I there is something we need, it is done by the next day, if not sooner. The entire building is treated with a lot of care. How many renters can say that! Every common area is spotless. The apartment was in great shape when we moved in. It's a joy living here, it really is. Besides an awesome building engineer, we have laundry and parking included in the rent. So again, we don't have to worry about finding parking or lugging a bunch of clothes halfway around the world. Moving into this building eliminated stress in our lives, not added to it. Isn't that the way it should be!