Tenant Reviews for 8 E CHESTNUT ST

All of the negative reviews on this building including mine have been hidden on Yelp, so we'll see how long it lasts here. Let me start by saying this entire building is under construction, so be aware if you don't like noise. I knew the building was under construction and didn't have any issue with it, HOWEVER, it was never disclosed to me that I was renting an apartment two doors down from the construction office (an empty apartment the construction crew was using for equipment). This meant every day at 6:30am I'd hear them arrive, and they'd stick around until around 9pm each night. Working hours were only 8:30am to 4pm, so all of those extra hours were prepping and wrap up I guess, and involved going IN AND OUT of that apartment ALL morning and ALL evening. Yelling down the hall to each other, taking phone calls outside of my door, walking up and down the hall whistling…I could go on. One morning they were even using the hallway right outside of my door to cut something with an electric saw. My work calls were constantly getting interrupted. I even opened my door once and begged them to stop drilling outside of my door so I could finish presenting a webinar for work. The worker looked at me and said "no, someone from management would have to tell me stop" and immediately kept drilling. I had no knowledge that they were starting hallway construction that morning or I NEVER would have planned to present my webinar from home. I had simply been told it would be "sometime between June and November." I sent several email but the noise never subsided. Finally after three months of back and forth emails I was told they'd relocate the construction office. Another month and a half went by and nothing had changed. It was almost six months after I moved in that they finally relocated the construction office, and then informed me that three of the units surrounding me were about to undergo renovations. The hallway construction is also ongoing. I can no longer work from home and have nowhere to go if I'm not feeling well/take a sick day, and my dog is under constant stress from the noise. I'm now asking to simply cut my lease short and move out but they're not allowing it unless I pay money that I do not have. I feel I was rented this apartment under false pretenses and am now stuck in a nightmare. Save yourself and rent elsewhere.

Moved in here and was initially happy. Building seems nice. Nice lobby and friendly staff but ends up being more headaches than its worth. I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for a quality apt.

--------------- on the leasing team is by far the most unprofessional leasing agent I have ever worked with! She is extremely rude and does not care for the best interest of her tenants! She has made my experience living at Chestnut Place worse and worse every time I have to deal with her. She is the #1 reason that Chestnut Place is and has continued to go down hill.

After living here for a while, I am left with the feeling that residents are afterthoughts to management here. There have been a couple of times when management, with almost no notice, told residents on the floor they were going to leave all the apartment doors wide open all day to work on hallway maintenance. Not unlocked- wide open! Definitely not easy to deal with if you have a dog. Suddenly you're scrambling to lock up the animal or kennel it. They said they would have an employee hanging out in the hall all day to watch the apartments, but that's little comfort when the staff is constantly turning over and strangers often appear at the security desk. Also, the new management came in, stripped away previous free amenities, and rents began skyrocketing. Water/gas/heat are not covered in your rent like in most modern apartments, so you have to factor an additional bill for those. They seem to want to charge luxury apartment rates, but this building lacks what all the other buildings in that price range have. They are making lots of cosmetic changes, but that's like lipstick on a pig. This building has no central heating, no central air, no free heat/air/water, no swimming pool, no rooftop sundeck, etc. It has a wall unit for heating and air, like a motel room, but it doesn't work as well as I'd like. Summer sometimes brings dripping water from the unit. In winter, it can't seem to keep up on cold days. Many days, I believe you could hang meat in the bedroom and it would work just fine as a refrigerator. Now, a new insult to residents has come. They are moving the door on the building. (Just another cosmetic change.) So, just this weekend, they told residents we ALL had to change our address. Change our address!?! This is a massive, massive inconvenience for hundreds of people, and for no good reason, but I really don't think the management cares. Your needs as a resident seem to come last here, far behind the corporate owners' desire to make the cosmetic changes that will allow them to charge more than the apartments are worth. Once we get done changing our address with work, friends, family, insurance, medical, etc., I guess we better hope they don't decide to move that door again.

WARNING - NEW AWFUL MANAGEMENT AS OF 2015! The old management was phenomenal (as you'll note in many other reviews). However this new management is lacking basic human integrity if you ask me. I'd like to live in a place where I trust my surroundings, and the new management has far from earned my trust. You might be in okay shape if you can afford a lawyer before signing their contract. But I doubt dealing with them is worth your stress. See yelp for many other newer reviews. I have so many examples of their lack of integrity, but I'll just name a couple newer ones which have not yet been posted on yelp: (1) I asked via email what the lock out fee would be for the upcoming year, and they told me via email $30. Then just 19 days later we get a notice saying the new lock out fee is $75. To be fair, the email said on the bottom "these rates may be subject to change." But please??? like management didn't know they were changing the fee the very same month. Give me a break and go buy some integrity. (2) also note that although they may SAY the gym is free when showing you the place, they have REFUSED to put this in our contract even when specifically requested, with the explanation that the gym fee "may be subject to change". HA! Wouldn't be surprised if the gym were an extra $250 per month starting the day after you sign your lease! Overall: There's a difference between morality and legality, and the new management is lacking the first and skirting the line on the second. I'm honestly very afraid of retaliation from the company in some manner just because I'm posting this. But from overhearing elevator discussions, it seems there's quite a bit of fear around speaking up against this company, which is a huge problem in and of itself, and I decided that something needs to be done. RUN AWAY OR LAWYER UP! Good luck with your apartment search!

The old management of this building was great. Unfortunately, the new management at this building seems to be the exact opposite of the old management. After taking over, they immediately took away the free storage units and majorly increased parking fees. Then they destroyed and painted over the beautiful and famous Richard Haas mural in the lobby! People I've spoken to have experience huge rent increases since the takeover, and the rents listed on the website say for "new residents" only. This makes me suspicious. Based on their actions so far, I do not trust this management company and cannot recommend this building.

The building has a no smoking policy, but that doesn't stop marijuana smokers from moving in and smoking in their apartments. The odors in the hall and into your apartment are very strong because there is not an adequate ventilation system. The new management has not been able to stop it. The other negative is limited high speed internet choices. The maximum speed offered at the building is 18mb from one of two available providers, AT&T or a continually revolving, more expensive option from a third party that also provides your satellite dish service, but still only offers 18 mbs.

I've lived here for quite a few years now and never had any complaints against management, staff, or neighbours. Great location, great amenities, great sound insulation, and what was great value. Now that the building has been sold to a mammoth management company (used to be a family-run business, it seems), they've demonstrated that they're a money-grabbing corporation that charges higher rates just because they can. A great example is the parking situation: They're farming the management out of the attached parking garage out to a 3rd party company because "that's what makes the most sense". No, they're doing that because what used to be a private parking garage will be made into a public one next year. So they've increased rates by 40% and in return, we now get non-reserved parking, and the possibility of somebody off the street parking next to you. Existing residents even had to pay a "registration fee" for this new parking system. They're now aggressively pushing for fake reviews on Yelp and Google. You'll notice the theme of the new, five-star reviews: Everyone is "looking forward" to the new lobby (because, really, you live in the lobby of your building?), the construction noise is totally fine, and the rent prices "are reasonable for the area/neighborhood". Yelp recently took down a five-star review because it was against their terms of use (read: fake review; the review did not contain any profanity, etc.) I'm sure they're no better or worse off than any other big management company, but Chestnut Place is no longer the family-run place it used to be.

I lived here with my husband pre-kids, we moved out for two years when we bought a condo . . . But then sold and moved back! We LOVED living here! We had two kids here and would have probably stayed longer if we had not moved out of state. The building manager, staff and doormen were all friendly and helpful. I can't say enough about the service. The location is fantastic - walkable to grocery stores, your pick of which Starbucks you want, shopping, markets during warmer weather, Lake Michigan . . . Overall the ideal apartment home.

I lived there for 2 years (2011-2013) and recommend it. The price and location are excellent. Management is terrific and it's office is open every day. The maintenance people are excellent and fix things within 1 or 2 days of letting management know. The building has 24-hour doorman and has a OK gym. The building is located on State street, which is noisy. Of course, if you close the windows, you'll place will be much quieter. Definitely great place to live!