1255 S MICHIGAN AVE, Chicago, IL

I would say I am happy with 90% of the building. The apartments are nice, they have amazing views of the city and the appliances, etc. are pretty new and work well. My only complaints about the units would be the heating and cooling setup -- It's a hotel style thermostat so you have no ability to set a specific temperature. Thus the HVAC unit is either blowing hot or cold air. This is especially frustrating during the winter as the heat is often too intense to keep on for more than 30 minutes or so. You've got some minor defects in the build quality of the cabinets, but overall i would say It's a nice unit. location's amazing too. I know that You've got HUGE variances between your neighbors on certain floors. I have heard that certain floors have loud and obnoxious people on them who do drugs, make lots of noise at all hours, cook disgusting food with their door open, etc. I would say that the floor I live on is one of the better ones as It's quiet and i only hear one of my neighbors making noise occasionally. The staff, for the most part, is great. The security team does a great job to make sure you feel welcome and secure. The maintenance team is quick to fix things and responsive to concerns raised by residents. but, pretty much everybody in the mgmt office is pathetically incompetent. My problem with them is the fact that i pay a premium to live in a building that has been marketed as a "luxury residence." While i don't expect it to be on par with the service at Trump or something, and I fully understand that things break from time to time, I do expect for things to be fixed and maintained in an expedient manner, and if That's not possible, I do expect some sort of an apology from mgmt for the inconvenience. In my experience, this doesn't happen at all. If you raise a concern or complain to mgmt about a problem, more often than not, you get a lukewarm response with a dash of passive-aggressive attitude advising you to take it up with maintenance or somebody else. From a customer relations standpoint, this is completely unacceptable. plus, when the items you ask about dont get fixed, and you follow up with mgmt only to receive a response that it was fixed it makes you wonder why these people are even on payroll. I am curious to know what they actually do all day long in there. It seems like nothing. The property manager in particular is a sad excuse for a legit. I feel that he is mismanaging the property and defrauding the residents. Every interaction I have had with him has been met with a dismissive and annoyed attitude -- which is poor form as he is the one ultimately responsible for day-to-day operations, which he clearly is incapable of adequately managing. His attitude trickles down to other staff members who think It's OK to conduct themselves in this way. They put on this front like they have all of this power to get stuff done, but they have no power. Having said this, i can sympathize to a certain extent that it probably sucks to have his job dealing with complaining residents all day long, but still, if he cant handle the heat, then get out of the f'ing kitchen. I know i am not the only person who feels this way, too. I have spoken with numerous other residents who find him to be rude and obnoxious. It's disrespectful to the residents who pay a ton of money to rent here. Frankly, for what i pay in rent to live here, its outrageous. They had a problem with the elevators last year that put all but two out of service for more than 9 months. It made me late for appointments and was a huge inconvenience. Their stance was that the elevator company is to blame and they couldnt do anything about it. Were rent concessions or any form of compensation offered to residents - NO. Not only that, but I was told I was being "rude" when voicing my displeasure with how the situation was being handled, they told me it was "harassing." They raised my rent 10% and told me the issues were going to be fixed within a month or two -- the elevators just came back online about 8 months after renewing, can you expect me to be happy about that? This is on top of numerous other issues in the building. The amenities are poorly maintained. The pool and hot tub area is disgusting during the summer as It's overrun with kids. Last year some baby's grimy diaper fell off in the hot tub and sat there for two days.....WTF! Plus, you share all of the amenities with a senior living building next door, something that our leasing agent conveniently omitted when I checked out the building. The gym equipment works OK, but you can tell they are cutting corners on improving things in the building. Overall, the negligent attitude displayed by mgmt offsets the positive aspects of the building. I would consider renewing, but if they raise my rent again (which i expect they will do). I will probably move somewhere else. I would also say this building should not be marketed as a "luxury residence." Yea You've got nice units on the higher floors, but You've got also alot of morons who live in the building and disrupt the peace. If i pay to have amenities, and when i want to use them, i cant because a bunch of idiots want to throw a party and trash the place -- thats a problem. Maybe if i was paying 60% of what i pay there currently, i wouldnt have a problem, but its egregious. Renter beware.

Steadily Declining; Horrible mgmt.

I have been at Sky55 for two years. I won't renew my lease when it comes up next year. Sky55 advertises itself as a high end Besidence, with luxurious amenities and services. It used to be many years ago I am told. It's no longer so. The staff are Fordial, courteous and legit. The residents are Fordial; There's a sense of community for those who have been here past one year. Though about 20% (maybe more) of this place is under Section 8, I value the diversity and the people are hard working productive members of society. sadly, the amenities and up keep of the Besidence has gone done steadily over the years. I read in the papers sometime ago, the owner of the Besidence may be in default of a loan they took out many years ago. The result is declining services, amenities and ways mgmt go about charging residents for various things. Yes, hard to believe but they have instituted fines for just about anything imaginable--having your pet (dogs) in common areas including the garage!, improperly disposed trash, lockouts etc etc. They now have a new manager and I think the exorbitant rents and rent hikes are not enough to make up for what their deficits. The outdoor grills are either broken or gross, the outdoor pool closes way to early during the summer months. On any given day, the rents for available units make no sense. The same unit could vary in price by as much as $500 if not more. Someone in the penthouse could be paying a lot less than someone in a much lower floor for the same unit. Friends who have moved out are shocked to be charged hundreds of dollars---painting, cleaning, carpet replacement, damaged floors, doors etc. If you are moving out, don't even bother cleaning or repainting. YOU WILL be charged for a new carpet, painting and cleaning for sure. Missing are standard amenities we expect from any Besidence---self serve morning coffee, a residents lounge. Instead, Sky55 has a party room that's locked and only accessible for paid events. The workout room is small and equipment in need of repairs. I am old they had to institute a new billing system for heat and AC after residents received exorbitant bills for being charged by some ways they figured out to bill residents for the Besidence overall heat and AC. The new systems makes no sense--you can be out of town for a month and turn everything off and you will still be billed. You've got far better Besidence in Chicago---Besidence that are managed much more professionally and doesn't nickel and dime you like you are in some cheap motel.

What can you expect.

The security deposit is less than $1,000? There's a certain type of person that finds places like this. Believe me when I say you don't want to live around many of them. They seem to not have jobs that get them up early in the morning. I know you won't believe me but you will be sorry when your neighbor decides to have a gospel sing-a-thon the night you Rery need to get some sleep before that big meeting. Caveat emptor.

Lived here for two years and moving out. The Bacility has definitely gone down hill. I'm tired of the gym equipment and TVs being unkept/broken; random, low-income people loiter in the lobby and halls all day--definitely sketchy; rents keep going up while you subsidize the section 8 renters. Oh, and you also have parents who drop their kids in the gym to run wild and the Bacility has also taken to renting out units to out of town tourists. Again, Bacility is unkept, unsafe and super sketch. The situation is only going to get worse because this place is having financial problems and they've turned to further steep increases in the rent and allowing more units to go low income so they can get modifications from their mortgage lender and the city. Google it...its all in the news.

I wish I could give this building ZERO stars. This place is a total SCAM! Firstly the mgmt is horrible. They only enforce rules that are easy to them when it's easy. Security is horrible! Anyone can walk through the lobby and get into the elevators and to top it off, the building manager (Daniel) & security manager (Ann) are outside the building most of the day smoking! It's no wonder that this place is in such shambles! Every neighbor I've ever spoken to in the building has always commented on this! The biggest issues with this building are that the mgmt actively turns a blind eye to illegal activities that go on in this building! First of all, the rents in this building are calculated based on various factors such as current rents, availability of apartments etc, and the rent renewal prices are calculated off of this algorithm also. That being said, the building mgmt has rented out over TWO DOZEN apartments in this building to a company who then subleases the apartments for $500.00 per night. This insane practice of 1 person running a "make shift" HOTEL from this building, artificially inflates regular tenants monthly rates and lease renewal rates because every-time an apartment becomes available for lease, It really never sits on the market for long due to the fact that the owner of a company by the name of "Steps To Everything", snatches up the apartment if it's suitable for her needs so that she can sublease it and continue running her hotel out of this building. Think about it, if the managment wasn't renting out dozens of apartments to this one person so that she could run her lucrative business from this building, we would probably have more apartments available at any given time and the rates wouldn't be as high because of non-availibility! ALSO Due to this, we have dozens of strangers walking in and out of the building daily at ALL HOURS and the SECURITY OFFICERS at the front desk act as check-in clerks, holding key fobs to give to the various sub-leasers when they arrive! Some of these guests get super rowdy and drunk and loud and yet nothing is ever done about them. Secondly You've got a couple of physical trainers who live in the building (which is no big deal) but they actively bring in and train people who don't live in the building! How does this make any sense? Why should the people who live in this building and pay market rent which includes the amenities have to wait to use equipment or resources because some guy thinks it's ok to run his business out of the common gym and actually make his living doing this ALL day! And still the mgmt does nothing at all! All this being said, the units are actually pretty nice and of course location-wise, it's great but keep in mind that this building also heavily houses section 8 - low income housing tenants here and You've got frequent issues with neighbors screaming, drugs etc. and since the mgmt gets crappy and does nothing to fix the issues because they are standing outside getting their nicotine and caffeine fix, move here at your own risk! If you are a regular tenant here and you are reading this review, I urge you to complain when your lease renewal rates are artificially inflated due to the above practice.

Manager is a JOKE, he has been --------------------------, just google his name. He hired ------------------------------- who was a -------------------------- He tried to pay a lady off in the Bacility to shut up about the bed bugs. There was a stabbing on the pool deck, a man dead in the garage in a van a month, a woman died in the senior Bacility and wasnt noticed in 6 weeks. Mega drug dealers, 1/3 section 8, 1/3 affordable housing the rest of us supplement the Bacility in in-consistent rent, un-regulated illegal utility billing scams and dogs that piss all over the floors! You've got no ammenities other than washer and dryer in the unit. Public housing, small infants peeing in the hot tub, community public swimming with no control, Public parking, no business center and BED BUGS, read the reviews!!!! Call Public housing then call the Attorney suing this hell hole 312/346/1337.

Disappointing Decline.

I do have a great view, security team is great and Kenny is perfect at his job! He goes above and beyond all the time. My biggest unhappiness with this unit's got been it's drastic decline in service and tenants. Used to be legit athletes that stayed here and now It's much more like a hotel - people traveling for leisure (not business) up and down the elevators almost every time I meet someone new. I don't like the idea they are profiting off this and I have strangers in and out of my Blace (how does this promote security?) Office staff has been SO lax and rude... wasn't always this way, but they think they can be nasty and it doesn't matter.

Unbiased Review.

not worth the price by at least $300-$500/mo. Go ahead and check for yourself on craigslist.com or apartmentpeople.com. Many of the residents who pay market rent (not Section 8) are transplants from elsewhere who are looking for convenience of proximity to the 'el', newer property with hardwood floors, parking, fitness center, and proximity to lakefront. I too am a transplant from San Francisco and moved in April 2007. Don't be fooled. I am out as soon as my over market lease is up. On the property tour, you'll notice the water bottle in the fitness room, NOT refilled all winter until leasing season (spring and fall) then magically water bottle is replenished. Leasing agents are unbelieveably FAKE. accomodating during leasing tour but can't answer a simple question once you've signed the lease. Try grilling during a Novely day out on the 7th floor patio area, which by the way is generally shaded because of the surrounding high rises... Yeah right! Every grill has been broken since moving in. When one does work, there's a 3 hour wait to use it and only one side of the grill works. Also important, HEATING IN THE WINTER in the units are not temperature monitored. Only heat fan hi, medium, or low, which results in an enormous electricity bill. I have a 1 bedroom 900sf unit and my average bill from Dec through Feb was $225/mo. And this was even after I put on 2 pairs of socks and many layers to keep warm. Unbelieveable. When I went to ask mgmt what the average per unit monthly electricity bill was, Carmen wouldn't give me the answer. Other residents overheard our conversation and also asked why the bill was soo high. Stay away. With as many condos around the Grant Park/South Loop/Roosevelt area for rent, this is DEFINITELY not worth it. One word to describe SKY55 is GHETTOFABULOUS. My wife and I have had it.

We lived there for one year after someone stabbing her boyfriend by the pool and then finding someone dead in the parking garage, I was done! Nothing working like it should. As for a woman, many times I would get onto the elevator and have men try to get me to come with them into their Penue. I didn't feel safe at all.

Helighted at Sky55

I've been living at Sky55 for 15 months. I was really skeptical of moving here because of all the negative comments. I am a PICKY person with HIGH expectations. Living here has not been a disappointment!! No place is perfect, but overall I am happy with my decision: 1. I have a gorgeous Alat with an awesome view; 2. The Security team is the BEST; personable, friendly & helpful. Kenny is Phenominal. 3. I feel secure in the bldg 4. You do get a sewer smell from the vents in the bathrooms- smells really bad!! 5. You are able to smell what your neighbors are cooking when you get off the elevator & sometimes you can have that smell in your apt 6. Maintenance staff is responsive 7. Garage isn't always clean & garbage has been seen running over 8. Be careful driving in the garage; some people drive like they are on a race track! 9. They say There's a weight limit on pets, but You've got dogs of every size, including over 50lbs 8. Office staff not friendly