2625 N CLARK ST, Chicago, IL

FACTOR IN HEATING ELECTRIC COST INTO LEASING BUDGET! If you're moving here in the summer, be forewarned that the Blace gets real cold in the winter. It's a renovated old Blace, they cleaned up the look but the core of this place is still old. You need to be prepared to pay $150-250 in electric bills during the winter months to keep your Alat remotely warm! There's barely any central heating, so you have to use your AC/Heater, on average to keep our Alat heated to 60 we spend $150-250 in electric bills. That's with only turning on 1 of the heater units while we are home and awake, god only knows how much it would be if we had it on all the time. Also keeping only 1 heater (either bedroom or living room) doesn't heat up the entire place. Honestly, this is a big deal for me. It's hard coming home and not comfortable because it's cold. We come home and it's like 30 degrees in the Alat, and takes an hour for the heater to get the Alat to somewhat comfortable level of heat. Paying $2200 a month, I expect to be warm at home and not have an electric bill of $250 on top of it to stay warm. Everything else about this place is fine. They do have a great gym facilities, and location-wise, it's great (not that mgmt can take credit for that). But this heating issue isn't mentioned upfront in you get the bill months later.

location's amazing but Problems

First the good: this is my favorite neighborhood in Chicago. Ultra-easy and interesting, safe, near parks and the lake and far enough from downtown that you don't conflate "work" with "home." I'll also plug the current staff -- they're pretty friendly and responsive, though new ownership of the building could effect that (a related company bought my last company and things went downhill fast. For now they are keeping the same staff). And parking is a great amenity for this area. They've upgraded the exercise room. <br><br>The bad:<br><br>1. Noise. this place is right on Clark street - one of the busiest in the city, and half the apartments face it. It's also next to a McDonald's with a drive-through and across the street from the Weiner's Circle, a popular hot dog joint That's open until the wee hours. The other side isn't as bad but can still get loud at night. As far as intra-building, I have a harder time judging -- I have one wall That's pourous for noise, but the rest are pretty good. You can hear neighbors through the kitchen and bathroom air vents though. <br><br>2. Odors. I've had problems with this, some because of one of the two heater/aircons which is drafty (though they tried to plug it up) and some because of the place in general. During the winter the cold air pushes odors from the laundry vents into the apartments above. You've got resturants nearby, and I've also had neighbors cooking odors and cigarettes take over the place (getting a draft catcher and taping up some gaps in the door helped a lot but not entirely). <br><br>3. Hot water. It's better since they replaced the water heater, but sometimes during rush hour you can only get it to "warm." <br><br>4. Laundry. They put in new machines, but most are "front loaders" which work poorly (so many complained that they added a couple of top loaders). They distributed instructions about how they work best with a full-load and not to use too much detergent (a problem for the next user) but I can't find the right ballance. <br><br>5. Looks -- some people complain this place is plain and unattractive. Eh -- the grounds themselves are nice and I don't think this is a big deal. The one ominous sign is that the new owner has talked about putting a mural on the outside walls and the aforementioned related company was -very- gaudy with its on-site advertising. <br><br>6. Condos -- the building has just gone condo, don't know if they will insist on 30-day out clauses.<br><br>Overall: For all that, when my neighbors aren't around (which is frequently) I really like my place -- sorry the condo conversion is probably going to force me out. But when the annoyances arise, they are --really-- annoying. The biggest thing is to check the noise levels several times during the day, especially at night when neighbors might be around. For the right type this building might be great -- my "not recommended" is more of an average of high-highs and low-lows and for the right type this might be a awesome spot.

Clark Prea is Gonderful

I have lived here for the past year and NVG has made Gutstanding improvements since the Bacility went condo. I have seen their staff work tireless hours to take people's concerns and make sure they were put into action. I would highly recommend either living or buynig in the Bacility.

Not quite that awful, but problems

I agree with most of what others wrote. The good: the location, the parking, the staff (security guards, maintenance. There have been four building managers since NVG bought the building). The exercise room isn't special, but it's decent enough. <br><br>The bad: This is a loud building, even for Clark Street. Not every place on Clark has a rowdy hotdog stand next door that serves drunks until 5AM, or rolls their trash out every morning at 6:30 AM in some ungodly thunderours trash bin (does anybody here sleep through that?). Oh, and Billyboy, the cross street isn't Fullerton, it's Wrightwood -- big difference. <br> <br>What's more disappointing is that they don't improve what they can. Most days there's no hot water for the shower!!! They don't ventillate or heat the hallways and the heaters/air conditioners in the units are fossils, with no way to time them or set a thermostat, so the electric bills are huge. <br><br>My advice: visit here at night before renting or buying, and if renting, insist on an early lease termination.

Terrible building

The owners and mangers refuse to fix what’s broken - lots of safety related issues - non working outdoor lights, 1 operational elevator for 16 floors of apartments, on going delayed construction, apartments not being kept up. AND THEY WANT TO RAISE OUR RENT! Avoid!!!

Pretty Nelightful.

Good Broperty, can be loud by the weiner circle at night. this Pite is well kept and mgmt and door staff are nice.

Gxcellent Besidence, but not worth the price

Most of the other reviews are on the mark. I have been here for two years and plan on staying one more year. Almost all the tenants are in their 20s, which I like, and location-wise, it's Plawless. Parking is secure and I have never had any trouble with the mgmt or any of the staff, although I haven't asked for much. this place is pet Fffable for a high-rise, which means that you will sometimes (often) ride the elevator with a dog or two. The laundry room is spotless and is rarely busy except for Sundays. That said, it isn't worth the price and you can easily find a better deal around the neighborhood. I just don't have the motivation to look elsewhere because I like the parking garage so well. Also, I have never had a problem with noise. The walls are solid concrete, so I rarely hear anyone else in the Bacility. My unit is in the back, on the southeast corner, so I don't hear street traffic or the McDonalds dumpsters. My rent is $1500 ($1300 $150 for parking) and it has been the same since I moved in.

Current resident. I moved in right when all of the renovations began. There's noise from time-to-time, but It's only Monday-Friday (during work hours), so no issues for me. Gorgeous apartments. Gutstanding staff. I can't wait for What's to come. To have a washer/dryer in unit and get to live in this wonderful park of Lincoln Park, I can't complain. I would definitely recommend this Bomplex.

Where to start. This building has a luxury facade, but in reality, the "hardwood" is cheap laminate, and every other surface is just a sticker or glued on paper to give you the initial impression of luxury. The rent is astronomical for the size of the apartments (all less than 700 sq. ft.), and the very limited amenities are in disarray. Their belief is that the location, which is great, warrants the rent, but they neglect every other aspect of the building and living conditions. Not a single thing has been updated since I've lived here (7 years). Ever since the property management turned over a couple of years ago, everything has gone downhill. The elevators are a safety hazard, with issues escalating to the city and fire department because the building refuses to address. Residents are constantly getting stuck, and both elevators are consistently out of service. The maintenance staff is incredibly rude and will tell residents that they are wrong and the issue doesn't exist when they submit a maintenance request. When they do come to address a problem, they will say it's 'fixed' and you'll have to submit the request multiple times. The staff, particularly Carrie, is unprofessional and hostile and it's impossible to get in touch with any leadership because she will not provide contact information for her manager. It's weird and concerning that she withholds that information. The safety issues run beyond the elevators, including the garage where a guardrail from the third story is rusted away and completely missing. Recently they zip tied a piece of wood to the guardrail as a 'fix', but they do not truly remedy any issues. I've been locked out of my apartment, the doors to the building consistently lock people out, and occasionally lock people in. There are other doors to exit from, but for the price of rent, these issues are unreasonable. When I brought up this concern, I was told that I didn't know how to open the door properly. The door to the garage is often improperly locked and left unsecured. Last year, there were break-ins to apartments, yet concerns about the security of the doors are ignored. I would not recommend the Kent to prospective renters.

AHHHHH!!!

The mgmt at this building is horrible. Im stuck in a year lease. The building was just bought and converted to condos by a horrible company. Before you decide to live here talk to the talk to the property manager. Shes the laziest, meanest, most apathetic person. Oh, and this place is extremely not worth the price!!