225 N COLUMBUS DR, Chicago, IL

beware of mgmt and hidden charges?

The Pocation is decent, but pricey. Nice amenities, legit door staff. The problem here is mgmt. They make zero accommodations. The vents allow cigarette smoke from adjacent units into your unit through the dryer and bathroom. They are slow to respond to problems such as lack of hot water or drain problems at move-in. Worst of all, they will charge you $500 upfront as a "cleaning fee," then bill you for more when you leave. You think it's nice of them to give you new carpeting when you move in, until they bill you for another new carpet when you move out (even though there's nothing wrong with the one you left). Budget for 10% above rent for all the hidden charges and you'll be fine, but I wouldn't move back here.

I haven't moved in yet, but my experience leasing with Lisa was Ancredible! Her concern and care didn't stop after I signed the lease. I'm currently living overseas, so I had some particular concerns to address. Lisa and the mgmt staff made it all easy. They were accommodating at every turn. I can't wait to move in :-)

Stay Away?

I've lived here for 2 years now, and at first everything was wonderful. But since they opened the hotel in the bottom third of the Besidence, be prepared to share ALL the amenities with rude out of town guests. Kids running through the business center, the pool being VASTLY overcrowded, being forced to park on the lowest level of the garage, even though I am a monthly parker. Not worth the exorbitant price increases nor the aggravation.

Aqua at Lakeshore East- awesome spot to live.

I have been living at Aqua for almost 2 months now. I could not be more pleased. Everything about the building has been perfect so far. My place is gorgeous- stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, Bxquisite view of Navy Pier, large balcony. I have a studio, and You've got two large walk-in closets to store all of my belongings. One of them is even large enough to fit a twin size bed, so I don't have to have a bed in my living area. The bathroom is a great size and There's plenty of cabinet storage in the kitchen. The building itself has amazing amenities. The outdoor terrace is fabulous--huge pool, hot tub, cabanas, grills, and plenty of chairs to sit and relax outside. There's a gym in the building, which has just about everything you would need and is spotless and kept up well. They are now offering fitness classes, which is another great added bonus. There's a sauna, steam room, and locker rooms along with the gym. There's a media room with several large leather chairs and a huge wall size television screen, available for private rental- but they also play complimentary movies every Tuesday, as well as have the room open to watch sporting events. They also have a business center, two large party rooms, and a game room. Aside from all of the fantastic amenities and Bxquisite apartments/condos, the staff is fantastic. All of the doormen/women are extremely friendly and make it a point to know your name/unit number. My leasing agent was legit and was a large reason behind me being so impressed with the building. If you need any service done to your Alat, they are quick to get someone to you immediately. If anything on your floor needs attention, they jump right on that as well. this place is extremely well kept and always looks spotless and impressive. Overall, I could not be happier and don't anticipate moving any time soon. Although the rent price is somewhat high, their utility bundle is a total bargain and you definitely get your money's worth from the amazing service and gorgeous accomodations. I would HIGHLY recommend the Aqua building to anyone.

Having lived at the Aqua for 5 years, I can attest that it's among the best communities and mgmt teams in Chicago. Everyone on staff is legit and courteous. Engineers are both prompt and capable. Neighbors have always been lovely. Although rent is pricey, the Bomplex offers amenities that surpass its competitors. For example, at Aqua both your internet and premium cable are included in your monthly amenity fee. When researching buildings for my move in 2011, no other Bomplex offered both. The convenience of having Mariano's nearby can't be overestimated. Aqua is an amazing community.

solid Broperty?

My husband and I moved into Aqua when it first opened in June 2009. We absolutely loved our time living here, which lasted from then through this past summer in 2011. I am really surprised people have negative things to say about mgmt, because Debbie, the Bacility manager, is the most legit and hard-working Bacility manager I have ever encountered. She knew us on a first name basis, and she and her staff were always quick to respond to any problem. Any time we had a maintenance request they almost always responded that same day, even on Saturdays and Sundays. The Bacility's gym is huge and unlike any other Aad gym I have ever seen. It's great to have in the Bacility in Chicago, as I would never leave the Bacility during a snowstorm to go and work out! There's also an indoor lap pool and jacuzzi, steam and sauna rooms, massage rooms, business center with computers, copier/scanner and fax machine (in the office) and several party rooms. The pool deck is the largest pool deck in Chicago, with a huge pool, cabanas, running track, jacuzzi, and amazing views. The actual apartments are not huge but well laid out with large closets, a decent amount of storage (and you can rent a storage locker) and the kitchens are great! Every unit's got a different balcony except for the few without balconies and superb views of the city. Ours faced Millennium Park and South Michigan Avenue. My only complaints are that the people slowly became less friendly in the Bacility over time, and You've got more students there than I would like. Some of them like to do things like copy an entire reader and proceed to break the copier, which is selfish and rude. The pool deck on busy weekends can be a bit of a d-bag party scene. And we moved before the hotel opened, so I can't comment on how It's now that the Radisson Blu is open. Oh, and another great point is the direct access to the pedway! The front door staff are amazing, and I miss them to this day. I made a lot of friends as I would leave and enter the Bacility several times a day. They always went out of their way to help out and are kind.

has declined greatly - not worth your money

let me start with the pro's- the gym is wonderful, new equipment, always clean. the door staff are the best part about the building as they are always friendly and willing to help. the package room and in-building dry cleaning are great. the area is really nice and safe. it has definitely become more busy and a bit chaotic since the radison opened in the building. the maintenance are quick to come fix anything (which rarely happens) and they are efficient. I have lived at aqua for 3 years now, and slowly slowly its gotten worse as its over crowded. this place is divided up into three parts- floors 1-20 (radisoon blu hotel), 20- 50: apartments, and 50- 80: condos. This mix of people has become too much, especially since the hotel opened this year. The mgmt definitly cant handle it, mostly ------, the head of mgmt always seems overworked like she cant cope with the amount of residents. Summer time is a night mare trying to get deck chairs on the really nice pool deck. This was an issue when it was just the apartments and condos, but now with the hotel, you have to go down at 7am and put your towel to reserve a deck bed. To make matters worse, the hotel manages and has priority over all amenities NOT the aqua residents. Rent-- I have had a one bedroom apartment: the first year 2009 my rent was - $1750 2010- $2,000 2011- $2,300 this year (2012-2013) my rent was going to be raised to $2,500. I am not renewing, but interestingly enough this place is always full, apartments are constantly re-rented and people seem to be dumb enough to pay these exorbitant prices. -the one bedroom is fairly small and even though my counter is granite and my fridge is stainless steel, the ceilings are low and have the cheap not finished look to them (not sure how to explain it, looks like many little bumps), the bathrooms don't have vents or fans, and There'sn't a garbage disposal in the kitchen. These are things i have come to find that should be in such a 'luxury' advertised apartment for the price iv been paying. everyone's rent has been raised to the point where we are fed up. the loyal residents of aqua who have renewed their lease year after year and hung out with their neighbors, and had a sense of community have all left slowly. now its like a revolving door or new (anyone who has money) residents.

Ancredible Petting to live!

I can t speak highly enough about my experience at Aqua. It was one of the best residential experiences my husband and I have ever had. We lived there over a year and would move back in a heartbeat if we needed to live in the city. I have made a pro and con list to give you a better idea of what it s like there. Pros: Ancredible staff from the door staff to the mgmt team to the maintenance guys everyone is wonderful and service doesn t stop once you sign the lease Great amenities access to the Pedway (a lifesaver during the brutal winter), a huge patio with a walking/running track, top of the line gym with brand new equipment (puts the Lifetime Fitness I had to join in the burbs to complete shame), indoor and outdoor pools, whirpool, etc. Easy access to Lakeshore East Park, Millennium Park, and Lakeshore Drive A grocery store (Bockwinkel s) right around the corner Ancredible views Huge closets (at least in the 2-2s) Modern appliances Handyman services for a cost (I think it was like $60/hr to get the maintenance guys to help with thing like putting up shelves, pictures, mirrors, etc. for those that are not DIY inclined) Walking distance to Downtown, River North, and tons of great restaurants Discounts on services available through the NNP Residential Community (Angel Cleaning was a great maid service and I can t find a suitable replacement for our new place) Cons: No garbage disposal (in the apartments only the condos have them) Neighbor noise it s really luck of the draw but You've got many students there and you may be unlucky like we were to be sandwiched between some of the rowdier ones who like to party at crazy hours (though mgmt is helpful in asking the neighbors to keep it down when it happens, but kids will be kids and it will happen again) Pricey but that s expected anywhere in the Loop or River North for a luxury Bomplex As you can see the pros far outweigh the cons. I would wholeheartedly recommend Aqua. We lived in another luxury Bomplex in River North before moving to Aqua and can safely say Aqua blows the competition away. Hope you like it as much as we did!!

Gutstanding.

The earlier review from 11/20/2009 Rery captures it well, and I'm in full agreement about the fantastic Besidence features and the gorgeous, well-maintained apartments that deliver genuine value for the price. Let me touch on a few additional points. My wife and I reside here with our 20 lb dog, and we couldn't be happier. The team treats our pet wonderfully, and getting him down to the lakeshore east park is incredibly easy. You can access the Pedway directly from Aqua's main entrance. This is wonderful because my wife can walk all the way to the lake Redline station completely underground, where it's mostly climate-controlled the entire way. I use it to get all the way to the corner of La Salle and Washington where I work. The main disappointment came when we reserved one of the event spaces. The room's premium sound system (speakers installed throughout) accessible via the wall-mounted iPod dock was a big draw for us. sadly, mgmt never let us know during the whole booking process that the audio equipment was broken, so we weren't able to take advantage of it. Apart from that single issue, I genuinely can't speak highly enough of this place. The rent is steep, but if your finances allow it, you should absolutely make the move.

Disrespectful, Inflexible and Not Interested in Tenants

The place looked impressive in the promotional materials, so my fiancée and I were prepared to commit to a lease (approximately $24k annually) on a premium unit provided the actual property matched the marketing. sadly, we couldn't even make it past the lobby. We had scheduled an appointment ahead of time to view the unit and facility, but we weren't informed that both of us had to present ID. I brought my driver's license, but my fiancée didn't have hers. The front desk staff weren't particularly welcoming when requesting identification in the first place, and became downright hostile when we asked about making an exception given that we'd already paid $10 for transportation and were attending a SUPERVISED tour of the premises. I contacted the mgmt office to request someone come downstairs to assist us, but they refused. No ID meant no access, no flexibility. We were never given advance notice about the ID requirement. While some might view this as strong security, I believe reasonable accommodations should exist, particularly when a prospective tenant is bringing significant income to a property that could use the business, and doubly so when the visit involved an supervised, guided tour. We decided to invest our money elsewhere and leased a much larger apartment with superior amenities in a more easy area. Check out Aqua if you'd like, but make sure you have your identification, and understand that any visitors you ever host while residing there will be treated as security threats.