All 14 tenant reviews.

“I have rented in 2 BJB buildings and had unsatisfactory experiences in both. At 2828 N Pine Grove the heat was awful. The building management would turn the antiquated hot water system on and off throughout the day and night, and sometimes it got very cold between charges. Twice it went off for more than 24 hours, one of those times for almost 3 days during a particularly cold spell. The building management barely communicated with the tenants for most of the outage. A phone call would be met with a we re working on it response. It was impossible to get a target for its actual repair. Due to the heat issue I moved to 600 W Diversey (Lincoln Park Plaza), not realizing it too was a BJB managed property until I was into the application process. My experience here has been very similar. During the summer the air conditioning went off twice for extended periods. Again communication from management was limited to the we re working on it sort, finally appearing in the form of a sign posted next to the elevator buttons. Thank goodness the heat has worked so far, but we have been plagued with elevator problems to the upper floors, with both elevators out on several occasions--including the last 2 weekend mornings. This causes serious problems for my mom and the many building tenants who are not able to use stairs. I called BJB s 24 hour number last Saturday to report the problem and discovered another tenant had reported it earlier. When I requested a callback with a repair estimate, the BJB rep said very rudely we don t do that . When I started to explain that my mom was stuck in the building he said you re not listening, we don t call back . I really think he couldn t have cared less. The BJB rep on Sunday morning was more understanding but still refused my request to have the building manager return my call. I had no recourse but to call 311 and report the lack of building egress on both days. In addition to the obvious mechanical shortcomings of both buildings, the public areas are poorly maintained. Cleaning is limited to vacuuming, mopping, and sweeping. There are numerous carpet stains in common hallways of both buildings. At 2828 I got so tired of a big splotch in front of my door that I used a carpet cleaner to remove it. It came out right away. Paint is chipped and peeling, the elevator windows and interiors are filthy, and so on. Having signed a lease at 2828 for annual rent in excess of $12,000 and at 600 W Diversey at $20,000, I would expect much better service. I have never received a single thanks for your business that I can think of, other than upon signing the leases. On the positive side, the building staff in both locations is friendly and tries to be helpful with small requests. It is obvious that they do not have resources to deal with major shortcomings in building mechanical systems. Also, the private areas of both apartments were nicely finished prior to moving in. It s as if building management thinks that tenants notice nothing other than the surface condition of individual apartments. Given the fact my experiences forced one move and will likely force another, I give both buildings and BJB a single star.”

“My roommate and I have enjoyed living here and plan to renew our lease. Noise is pretty minimal (considering it is a high-rise in the middle of a city). We have had a few problems with incredibly loud and disrespectful neighbors, but when we talked to the front door man, he took care of it right away. We have beautiful views and great hardwood floors and the staff has always been courteous.”

“I lived on the 15th floor at Renzi Plaza. I had a great view facing north and a moderately nice apartment. But for what I paid in rent, I became very disappointed. I remember being mortified when the carpeting in the halls was replaced with this ugly, tacky, old-fashioned discounted mess. Adding insult to injury, they painted the trim and wall-skirting in the halls PEACH! as well as the ducts in the laundry room! The apartment doors were painted red (started to scratch off within weeks) and the hall lighting was replaced with the ugliest cheap-looking brass fixtures wholesale money could buy. As I have read in other reviews, the elevators seemed to be a common complaint... which was also the case when I lived there. And then there were the weekly fire drills... Oh yes. Apart from the building problems and high rent, I also got really sick of the Wrigleyville "Chad and Megan" types that infiltrated the area so I just decided to get out of there when my lease expired. Moved to Ravenswood and loved it.”

“The actually name of this building is the Lincoln Park Plaza and I would not recommend living there. I lived there for about a year and a half and was disappointed with my overall living experience. First I paid $150 a month for parking as the location is congested and difficult to find parking. The parking deck was accessed by key cards and several times the system would act up and they would reset the system meaning that if you were out of the garage you could not get back in as the system registered that you had not left. To get in I would have to wait for the doorman to let me in. This was aggrevating after the fourth and fifth time. Second, there are only 2 elevators that go to the 7th through 17th floor and the basement. So when someone is moving only one elevator is available and waiting for an elevator 5 to 10 minutes. There was also several times that one or both of the elevators were down and actually when I moved out only one elevator was working so what would have taken an hour to move out took three hours. Also there are only 8 washers and dryers for a building with 17 floors and the laundry room is filthy. Most of the time at least one of the units was broken and my roommate had some of her clothes stolen from one of the dryers. The last complaint is the air conditioning. This past May when it started to reach the mid-80s during the day the air conditioning was not working for the whole building. Management stated that the main air conditioner was down but was no excuse as this was the time of year that high temperatures are expected and should have been delt with in April before the summer heat came. Overall this is a great area of lakeview/lincoln park but would suggest looking in another building.”

“I lived at this address for a year, but it was never referred to as "Rienzi Plaza." For anyone considering this building, I recommend looking elsewhere! My roommate and I had so many complaints when we returned the non-renewal for our lease that we had to attach an extra page. Here's a summary: --We were promised a newly rehabbed apartment, but only the hard-wood floors and the kitchen cabinets were rehabbed. They didn't touch the bathrooms or the bedrooms, so we ended up living with old fixtures and carpet, while we agreed to the rent based on the terms that everything would be new. --The building is mostly elderly immigrants. Like someone else said, that's fine, but it would have been nice to know before we signed the lease. It had a pretty negative effect on our overall living experience. (We were interrupted in the workout room b/c they wanted help with the equipment, they would crowd the entry, stare in the elevator, lol) --There is only one good doorman, and the rest are useless. Generally not anywhere around when you would need them. --Maintenance is pretty poor--the elevators used to be shut down or break down a lot. There was a wheelchair-bound guy on my floor who would get stuck waiting for the elevator for 20-30 minutes in the morning sometimes when only one elevator was working. Also, we would call to get something fixed (like a running toilet), and while they came to 'fix' it, the problem was solved temporarily, not actually fixed. Good things: The location is awesome. Central to a lot of shopping/dining/drinking/transportation. But overall, the people who run this building are dishonest and sub-par. I would definitely not recommend it--don't be dazzled by the location :)”

“I've had a long-standing interest in this place, going back to the Hotel Rienzi in the 1930s - something to do with my grandfather or something, who knows? Anyway, this place is truly a hole. Floors move of their own accord, the elevator is a death trap. I'm heading further west next time. If you live here, it sucks to be you. STAY AWAY!!”

“Despite the killer views (on the south side of the building) and the awesome rehabbed apartments, this building is not worth living in. Came to get my keys and check out the place the day before I moved in (last July) only to discover the place was never cleaned. They had to send carpet cleaners at the last second and it was still sopping when my furniture was moved in. Also, the upkeep is awful. It's rare that 4 of the 10 dryers are working and there's always loud renovations going on at early mornings on the weekends. The icing on the cake has to be the daily fire alarms. There average age of the building is about 75 and somehow people set off the fire alarm with their cooking on constantly. The worst part about this is that the elevators shut down and can't be started up again until the fire dept comes.<br><br>Bottom line...spend your money elsewhere!!!!!!!!!”

“I moved into a newly renovated apartment, to find half the cabinets not installed correctly, the dishwasher not installed correctly, and floors that did not stay in place. Regardless of how hot or cold it is, the buidling doesnt turn on air or heat, until way after the weather changes. So you either freeze or sweat to death. The smoke detectors are SUPER sensitive, and the bonus is....you have no control over it - so if you happen to set it off as many tenants have when merely cooking, the elevators will be down for 20 min, and you have to wait for the fire department to show up, come upstairs, then go back downstairs before the insanely loud beeping subsides. Not to mention, no one told me before signing the lease that there was section 8 housing in the building. I have not had any problems with this, but would have liked to have at least known. Parking was good until the management of the building took over it. Then they took out the booth that had a 24 hour attendant, and replaced it with a gate that is broken more than it works. You get all that for about $150...and you arent even gaurenteed an assigned spot, or one that will be located under the cover. Security in there is not good, as I believe there is only one camera. Several cars have been hit - yet management claims the span of their camera unable to see anything. Maintenance individuals are nice, however I have had to tell the office staff my issues several times before anything was fixed. All in all, its not worth the rent, or the parking fee to live there. I wont be renewing my lease.”

“I fell in love with the apartment itself, and I still love it. They gave me new carpeting, and the bathroom/kitchen are fairly new and in good repair. The location is amazing - near the 22 and 36 buses, and a fairly close walk (10mins) to the Diversey Brown Line stop. <br><br>The maintenance people are wonderful! I chat with them all the time, and they've been able to fix any problem I've had so far. I'm not particularly thrilled with the management in the front office, but they are orders of magnitude better than the screaming harpy building manager I had in my last apartment. <br><br>Also, they seem to have set aside a LOT of units for Section 8 housing. I regularly see people being led away in handcuffs, and there are some young punks that I'd rather not ride the elevator with, but no real problems so far. Management is having an inspection of all the properties soon, and I imagine there will be a lot of apartments opening up in a couple of months. ;-)”

“I will not be renewing my lease, and would never recommend this place -- even to my worst enemy. The maintenance staff is great -- but they have to be with all the crap that breaks around here. The office staff is rude and incompetent. Also, no one told us that half the building was devoted to low-income set asides. You can get MUCH more bang for your buck in LP or LV -- look elsewhere.”

“Several things disgust me about this place and believe me if we could back out of our lease, we would. The elevators work properly about half of the time. I´ve been late for work on several occassions due to faulty elevator stuff. The fire department makes a trip AT LEAST once a week, shutting down the elevators to investigate smoke from burnt toast. <br> <br>The office staff is incompetent. The give a bunch of lip service about how they will address complaints and then do not.. The newly refurbished apartments look nice, but are not necessarily built well. We have one door that constantly sticks...it takes brut force to get it open, andhave panelling on the floor that started coming up shortly after we moved. The diswasher is poor and the stove is rickety. for what we pay, we could find much better quality living conditions in Lincoln Park. Avoid this place like the plague.”

“The apartment and location cannot be beat but the other tenants are strange. They don´t bother you but they are a bit freaky in the elevator.”

“I am so disgusted with this building. Yes, the actual space is nice, but they won´t turn on the central AC until 6/1, regardless of how hot it is, and they won´t turn on the heat until 10/15, regardless of how cold it is. And, while I am paying plenty of $$ for rent, the section 8 slackers are busy defacing the property. The maintenance staff is great -- when they get the work orders. But the spacey office staff often forgets to pass on the work to them. Why am I paying so much rent????”

“Overall, I was pleased with my experience living at Rienzi Plaza. My roommate and I shared a spacious two bedroom with huge windows and a great view of the skyline. There was absolutely NO noise from our neighbors (we were in a corner unit though and even though the elevator was on one side we never heard it). I never saw a strange bug, beyond maybe the occasional spider, in our apartment. We loved our maintenance man! He was so friendly when you would see him in the hallway and was always prompt with maintenance requests. This is a modern building, not vintage, so there were never problems with water or the elevators. Central heat and air conditioning were tenant controlled and they were plentiful with no problems. <br> <br>My one warning to young people considering moving into this building is that the other residents are not your typical Lincoln Park clientele. My roommate and I were both in our mid-twenties and we seemed to be about the only ones. There is definitely some type of low-income nursing home (handicapped/elderly) on the premises (accessed through a different door). There are also quite a few Section 8 or assisted apartments in the building so expect many non-working mothers, their ------ boyfriends and a plethra of babies. Very strange considering the location and beauty of the building.”